TK Monkus' RS Prop Masters ANH-S Build Thread (first build)

[Hesikaya[TK]]

Starting to look like a storm trooper. Up to you if you want to trim down the elbow side of your forearms more. They do look a little wide.

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[TK Monkus[TK]]

Starting to look like a storm trooper. Up to you if you want to trim down the elbow side of your forearms more. They do look a little wide.

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Thank you, wooo!

If I did how would I go about this? Would I just taper a cut down from the elbow? I feel like I don’t have much room to cut from the outer piece and would need to make any cuts on the inner scoop piece, but the left side is already a getting a little wonky. Also if I did it that way wouldn’t it be crooked?

Thanks,
M


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Having skinny arms they can look large, having some foam inside to centralise them can help to even out gaps so they don't look as big. As my first ATA kit had one oval and one round I heated the round one a little to make it more oval again helping the overall appearance.

 

I would wait until you have the rest of the armor on and check the look, you don't want to make them too thin or they may not match the overall appearance. 

 

Here are a few references showing the forearms.are larger then the biceps at the elbow.

[Hesikaya[TK]]

As Gmrhodes said you can definitely hold off until later before trimming then any more until you've got more done.

If you were to do it you just figure out how much you need off the elbow end and taper down to nothing before the wrist.

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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

9 hours ago, TK Monkus said:

I know movement isn't supposed to be amazing but you can see in a couple of the pictures it looks like I am flexing, that is the point where the forearm and bicep armor start to touch. I can bend a little bit more after that but need to put a little force into it, is that all normal?

 

Let me know what you think and if all looks good I will start by gluing the interior over strips to the forearms. If any additional pics are needed let me know and I will post them.

 

 

That overlap is pretty normal, but you shouldn't have to force anything. Depending on where/how much tightness you have, imagine it this way... do you think you could hold that pose (arm bent) for an hour or more?  If so, no problem, but if you have any discomfort, some trimming/adjusting may be needed.

 

             

 

Looking great so far, sir, and nice taper on those forearms!

[TK Monkus[TK]]

Thanks everyone!

 

Was hoping to get these glued up, but I will take your advice and hold off until I have the rest of it to compare to. I will also take your advice @gmrhodes13 and probably be adding at least a little bit of foam to the forearms, but that will be at the very end.

 

Since I am following the RS build videos it's on to the thighs!

 

M

[TK Monkus[TK]]

Right Thigh

 

I trimmed out my 20mm cover strips and trimmed out most of the return edge on both ends of my right thigh. I did leave a little, as you can see in the picture below, just in case and I can trim it away if need be. I have been watching the RS build videos which make everything seem so easy and then I come and look in other build threads and what not and feel like it just bogs me down with info, so I am going to try and follow RS mostly while still posting pics here and asking for advice. Also referencing the RS suit pics and screen grabs from the movie.

 

I marked my cut lines, see below, as described in the RS video. I have marked the front so it would leave about 15mm on each side and given I have a 20 mm cover strip would leave about a 5mm gap on each side of the ridge. I will probably end up trimming that down a bit more but want to give myself some wiggle room on that first cut. 

I do have a question on the back side. He had said the inner thigh was 35cm around the top scoop and then to measure from the flat ridge on the bottom at 50mm around the raised part at the knee. I started at my proposed cut line from the front, and you can see in the picture below where those marks are and they do not line up. All of these cuts seem to be vertical cuts and not slanted at all. Same on the outer thigh. He had given a measurement of 29cm around the top scoop and to measure to 45mm around the raised part at the knee. Should I just cut to the bigger part, the top scoop measurement, and then size that to myself? I am going to size this to myself after these cuts but will use these measurements as my starting point. I know there are cetain parts of the thigh that need to line up and it seems like my front will be ok, but just want to make sure the back is alright also. Cuts will hopefully be made tomorrow.

 

return edge trimmed down

 

front right thigh marked

 

back right thigh marked

 

Thanks!

M

Edited May 12, 2021 by TK Monkus

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

9 hours ago, TK Monkus said:

I trimmed out my 20mm cover strips and trimmed out most of the return edge on both ends of my right thigh. I did leave a little, as you can see in the picture below

Hi Matt,

 

What I do most of the time when building the thighs is :

 

1- to leave the 10mm each side in the front, it doesn't have to be perfect and usually there's a little ridge out. 

2- Place and glue  the cover strip. Only the front.

3- Using Painters tape , and with some help if possible, to adjust the back to my size and trace the line to cut.

 

Reference Image. you can see a little ridge

 

 

What I do to adjust the thigh in the back. Yelow lines mark the original thighs section before trimming.

 

 

 

I would suggest to post a photo before trimming to be sure of the front and back.

 

hope this can help you .  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TK Monkus[TK]]

58 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi Matt,

 

What I do most of the time when building the thighs is :

 

1- to leave the 10mm each side in the front, it doesn't have to be perfect and usually there's a little ridge out. 

2- Place and glue  the cover strip. Only the front.

3- Using Painters tape , and with some help if possible, to adjust the back to my size and trace the line to cut.

 

Reference Image. you can see a little ridge

I

What I do to adjust the thigh in the back. Yelow lines mark the original thighs section before trimming.

 

 

 

I would suggest to post a photo before trimming to be sure of the front and back.

 

hope this can help you .  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Mario!

 

I will make the front cut then do another test fit and post some pics before making any cuts on the back. May take a little off the back as I know a good amount will need to come off anyhow just to have straight edge when fitting.

 

M

[TK Monkus[TK]]

I cut the front to pretty much where it will be. There is a little room in case any needs to be taken off and I am also going to probably clean the edges up a little. The back I have not cut anything. You can kind of see there are two marks on the left side, that is from test fitting by myself and marking about where the edges were. I divided the distance in two and that is the middle number. The top and bottom are the dimensions from the RS build videos. They seem to almost match up. I will probably cut about 5mm inside my test fit markings and see how the fit is. See pics below.

 

 

Any input is welcome. 

 

Thanks,

M

[Hesikaya[TK]]

Coming together nicely.

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[TK Monkus[TK]]

Hey Guys I made my sizing cuts on the back and as expected there is still a lot of room inside, so I need to size it down a bit more. I taped up where I should size to and it makes the thigh look pretty skinny. I am a skinny guy so maybe that will just be the look as I know I need to size it to myself but just wanted to see if I need to leave it a bit wider. I know I could potentially add foam inside if I needed to, but would ideally like to try and avoid that. I have seen a few reference pics that have somewhat skinny thighs as well. I can take a couple pics wearing it as is and then taped down to "proper" size with my undersuit if that would be helpful?

 

Question: Is the top of the back supposed to sit right under your butt and the bottom of the front just above the knee? I was trying to look at some pics but with the black undersuit it makes it a little difficult. 

 

After first sizing cuts

(you can see the marks in red where I need to size down to)

 

Taped to better fit size

 

Thanks,

M

Edited May 17, 2021 by TK Monkus

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

You can size them down as much as you need to, Matt, but it would help to see how they are actually fitting.  If you have your under suit, it would give us a better idea if you could post a photo of you you wearing it.  You don't want them too loose or too tight.  

 

Once you get the circumference where you need it you can trim off those points in the front and back.

 

       

 

Another thing to consider when sizing is the return edge on the inside.  Some troopers leave this and have no issue, but others (like myself) find that these can cause chafing.

 

"Question: Is the top of the back supposed to sit right under your butt and the bottom of the front just above the knee? I was trying to look at some pics but with the black undersuit it makes it a little difficult"

 

Leave some room for mobility.. 

 

      

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I found with my skinny legs I had to add some foam into my thigh armor, you can only go so small until the armor starts looking too skinny, there is a balance between look and fit.

 

Definitely suit up before committing to trimming too much, easier to trim more off later but hard to put back on  

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

12 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

I found with my skinny legs I had to add some foam into my thigh armor, you can only go so small until the armor starts looking too skinny, there is a balance between look and fit.

 

Definitely suit up before committing to trimming too much, easier to trim more off later but hard to put back on  

 

 

 

Excellent advice there, Glen.

[TK Monkus[TK]]

Thank you both.

 

See below some pics with the undersuit on. One set of pics I have it as is, and the other I have it taped to about where the fit feels best. When I have it taped, I think I could go a little less as I can feel it kind of pushing against my leg towards the top when my leg is flexed. It seems like a middle ground between these two may be best and then as @gmrhodes13 said add some foam inside.

 

As is currently:

 

With the back taped to a more tight fit:

 

Thanks,

M

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks just like mine, I have foam on both insides of the thighs to keep them central and evens out the gap, you will find the strapping on the thigh at the front will keep them nicely positioned, I think go with what you have and and get an overall look once fully kitted up, you can always take some more off later (if using E6000), but very hard to put material back on  

[TK Monkus[TK]]

Looks just like mine, I have foam on both insides of the thighs to keep them central and evens out the gap, you will find the strapping on the thigh at the front will keep them nicely positioned, I think go with what you have and and get an overall look once fully kitted up, you can always take some more off later (if using E6000), but very hard to put material back on  

Thanks Glen. I am using E6000 so I can remove if need be. Is your foam only on the inside thigh?

M


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 minute ago, TK Monkus said:

Is your foam only on the inside thigh?

On both inside sides of each thigh, I found I didn't need any on the front as the thigh elastic holds it nicely.

[TK Monkus[TK]]

On both inside sides of each thigh, I found I didn't need any on the front as the thigh elastic holds it nicely.

Thanks! I think I’ll glue on the front cover strip, with an inside cover strip as well, and leave the back open for now and move on to the left thigh.

M


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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

It may be the angle of the photo, but it appears that the bottom is not lined up evenly.  If so, I would consider raising it unless you will be putting in mobility cuts.

                                                                                                                                                       Mobility cuts

              

[TK Monkus[TK]]

It may be the angle of the photo, but it appears that the bottom is not lined up evenly.  If so, I would consider raising it unless you will be putting in mobility cuts.
                                                                                                                                                       Mobility cuts
              

Thanks Joseph. I will make sure the back is lined up. Not sure if I will be adding mobility cuts, but that was the picture of it taped up and it wasn’t perfect as I was just trying to get a sizing feel. I am going to leave as is for now and not trim it down per Glen’s suggestion and probably add in some foam.

M


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[TK Monkus[TK]]

I trimmed off about 2mm on each side of the front as it looked like I had a bit to much of the edge showing with the cover strip on. Then I glued on an inner cover strip for more stability. I will glue the outer strip tomorrow. Is it ok to glue the outer while the inner hasn't fully cured for 24 hours, or should I just let it sit for the full 24?

 

After trimming a little bit more off the sides

 

Inner cover strip glued on

 

Thanks,

M

[TK Monkus[TK]]

I glued on the front cover strip. I will leave the back open for sizing if I need to size it down for the aesthetic. Fit wise I think it will work with adding a piece of foam to the inside. On to the left thigh.

 

Question: For the left thigh, can I just measure both sides of this right thigh and cut to those same measurements?

 

Inner cover strip

 

Outer cover strip

 

Thanks,

M

[TK Monkus[TK]]

Left Thigh

 

I trimmed out the return edges on my left thigh, not completely. I left a little on both top and bottom as that is how I had it on the right. I know it is suggested to lose all edges, but I would like to try and keep some for the look. I have also marked the front ridge section. I have it marked to 15mm on each side which like the right, I will probably end up trimming down a little bit more but it gives me a cushion. I am not sure if you can see it in the picture, but on the bottom knee side of the outer piece I am going to cut that a little wider, at an angle, to possibly have that to glue under the inner piece. Would that work? I will size the back after making these cuts. If anyone sees anything that should be different please let me know, I plan to make these cuts tomorrow.

 

Knee side return edges

 

Thigh side return edges

 

Front cut lines

 

Thanks,

M