MintImperial’s Newbie WTF TK Build

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 9/26/2021 at 5:28 AM, gmrhodes13 said:

 I can give too much info at times and can be missed 

Not possible!

[MintImperial[TK]]

 

Question about the Han snap:

 

Does this position look okay and should it be a ligne 24 or a ligne 20?

 

This placeholder one is 24.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by MintImperial
typo

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

5 minutes ago, MintImperial said:

 

Question about the Han snap:

 

Does this position look okay and should it be a ligne 24 or a ligne 20?

 

This placeholder one is 24.

 

Hi james,

 

That  position is ok, and  line 24  as well 

 

Reference Images 

 

     

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

Hi james,
 
That  position is ok, and  line 24  as well 
 
Reference Images 
 
     
 

Thank you sir.


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[MintImperial[TK]]

Ab plate buttons painted and mounted.
I used the Humbrol colours from TrooperBay (Admiral Grey 5 and French Blue).
 

 

 

 
 
Button plates are not WTF but ordered from TrooperBay as I found the WTF ones to be too deep and not flat on the bottom.
These are much flatter.
(Same with the square buttons on the ABS belt, which I will also use in place of the WTF ones.)

I got lucky with the colour. The plastic is a close enough match.

[MintImperial[TK]]

Had a nice little package arrive from Ukswrath today.

 

Helmet fans on bracket and the trooper hearing assist setup.

 

 

It’s all mounted temporarily for now.

I jammed some of the foam packing peanuts that it shipped with in the gap behind the fans to dampen the vibrations.

They really stop the helmet from steaming up, but I was surprised how the noise fills teh helmet and stops me from hearing the outside world.

 

Good thing I also ordered Tony’s hearing assist system (SHA).

This thing is amazing.
But the mics are so good that I had to find a place far from the helmet to avoid picking up the fan noise.

After testing a few places, I finally settled on the sides of the chest plate.

Here the mics don’t clatter against anything or brush against any soft parts of the under suit, etc.

Again, mounting is temporary, held in place by sticky-back Velcro.

 

 

Also managed to heat the ABS belt with a heating iron

and attach it to the soft belt with three chicago screws.

 

Next I will fix the square tabs over the chicago screw posts

and locate where to put the snaps on the ab plate to hold the whole thing up.

 

 

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:07 PM, MintImperial said:

]I accidentally painted my helmet at the weekend.

 

What I mean is, I hadn’t really psyched myself up for it and didn’t prep properly.

Was just toying with the idea of doing it. Next thing I know I’d painted the frown and so I just kept on going.

Still haven’t painted the tube stripes or the ear screws yet.

And I have a LOT of cleanup to do on the black pinstripe outlines on the tears, traps, etc., plus some other touch ups.

I also inadvertently pressed the vocoder up against my t-shirt while it was still wet, so I now have a great print on my shirt and a furry-looking underside on by bucket, which I will have to totally redo.

 

[quoted photos and text deleted for easier reading]

 

 

I'm going to take another pass at the vocoder.
Looking at the references, most of the stunt vocoders seem to have bars 2 & 6 with higher tops,

so I plan to address that soon.

 

I will also paint more of the sides of the Hovi-Mix tips black as I believe there’s too much white showing right now.

Edited October 6, 2021 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

Repainted vocoder:

 

 

Touched up sides of Hovi-Mix tips. Still need to add screen-accurate wide mesh though.

 

 

 

And finally got round to doing the tube stripes using TrooperBay’s hand-effect stencils.

 

Left side came out quite well (but needs a little clean-up.)

 

 

Right side however was not so good. ANd my clean-up made it worse as now the middle stripes are shorter than the end ones.

 

 

It will do for my Halloween test-drive, but I’ll have to redo it before I eventually submit for approval.

[MintImperial[TK]]

Also here are all my E-11s in various stages.

 

Top:

Kassaraptor, which will be the model I use for approval once finished.

I’ve dismantled it here to cover with glitter then spray black

as I can’t buy Hammerite or Krylon wrinkle paint here in Hong Kong.

I hope to install BlasterFX in here eventually.

 

Second:

Premier Props 3D print that I’ve used mostly to wet-mould my holster.

 

Third:

A repainted Disney Parks Stormtrooper blaster from Tokyo Disneyland.

It has light & sound including a blue Stun mode.

Need to repaint it as too much silver is starting to show through.

 

Bottom:

A Doopydoo’s one configured as a Luke blaster so the scope is M-19

(Kassaraptor again and hasn’t been painted yet) and no Hengstler.

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by MintImperial
clarity

[MintImperial[TK]]

Am about to put the cover strips on my biceps and I realised that if I pre-shape the strips before gluing,

 

I’ll have a stronger bond with less tension and better adhesion.

 

So I’ve softened them up with a heating iron then placed them in their final position without a hint of E6000.

 

Just a few (not too many) magnets to make them conform to the biceps (without squishing the cover strips themselves).

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

 

Slight issue with my biceps.

 

Because my arms are quite skinny, I’ve had to cut quite a bit of meat from the biceps,

 

so one half doesn’t have the ridge any more.

 

This means the cover strip won’t be centred over the seam and won’t grip one side well enough.

 

I’ve decided to use ABS paste to weld to partially weld the gap for extra strength.

 

Looks rough at the moment, but I’ll sand it before sticking the cover strips on.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by MintImperial

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

A little bit of overkill but if you feel you need that much adhesion entirely up to you.

 

Interesting you removed one of the raised ridges, normally we keep both as the minimum sizing, you trim 8mm from the rigde sides for a 15mm coverstrip on the arm sections. Then if needed you can add some foam inside to take up any slack, hopefully you haven't gone too small, which can happen, you want your arm pieces to look consistent in sizing.

 

Even on the worst bent RS thighs (and they are pretty bad) with outer and inner cover strips they are strong enough to never come apart. Just make sure you rough both surfaces with coarse sandpaper before adding glue.

 

Having an obscene amount of magnets (I have double that in the photo now), clamps and blue tape can really help speed up the assembly line.

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

A little bit of overkill but if you feel you need that much adhesion entirely up to you.
 
Interesting you removed one of the raised ridges, normally we keep both as the minimum sizing, you trim 8mm from the rigde sides for a 15mm coverstrip on the arm sections. Then if needed you can add some foam inside to take up any slack, hopefully you haven't gone too small, which can happen, you want your arm pieces to look consistent in sizing.
 
Even on the worst bent RS thighs (and they are pretty bad) with outer and inner cover strips they are strong enough to never come apart. Just make sure you rough both surfaces with coarse sandpaper before adding glue.

 
Having an obscene amount of magnets (I have double that in the photo now), clamps and blue tape can really help speed up the assembly line.

 

Thanks Glen.

Yes, I’ve got very skinny arms.
And I had to remove more meat as the biceps were either clashing with the side of the chest plate or interfering with my shoulder bells.
Not too small now, proportionally (I hope). I didn’t bring them down as small as I could have and will still pad them with foam. (I’m also doing this with the forearms.)

I should also mention that I’ve curved the flatter outer sides to help make the radii smaller. But they actually present a slightly wider shape when viewed from the front (and slightly narrower from the side, so now fit more snugly into the shoulder bells).

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[MintImperial[TK]]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:10 AM, gmrhodes13 said:

A little bit of overkill but if you feel you need that much adhesion entirely up to you.

 

Interesting you removed one of the raised ridges, normally we keep both as the minimum sizing, you trim 8mm from the rigde sides for a 15mm coverstrip on the arm sections. Then if needed you can add some foam inside to take up any slack, hopefully you haven't gone too small, which can happen, you want your arm pieces to look consistent in sizing.

 

Even on the worst bent RS thighs (and they are pretty bad) with outer and inner cover strips they are strong enough to never come apart. Just make sure you rough both surfaces with coarse sandpaper before adding glue.

 

Having an obscene amount of magnets (I have double that in the photo now), clamps and blue tape can really help speed up the assembly line.

 

It’s not going to rival your collection, but I’m building a little horde of my own!

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

Just found this great 2-inch, plastic-reinforced, adjustable Velcro tactical belt in the market today.

 

HKD30 about USD3.85. Super solid and sturdy.

 

Going to be perfect as a thigh garter.

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by MintImperial

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

That belt will be over kill, I just use a belt I made with some 1” webbing. It sits on my hips and holds everything just fine.  There isn’t much stress on the belt, the thighs aren’t heavy. 

[MintImperial[TK]]

Duly noted. Thank you, themaninthesuitcase.

 

Btw, where in Herts are you?

 

I spent much of my early life in Watford.

Edited October 16, 2021 by MintImperial

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

11 hours ago, MintImperial said:

Duly noted. Thank you, themaninthesuitcase.

 

Btw, where in Herts are you?

 

I spent much of my early life in Watford.

Hemel, been here for a few years now but I still don't really know the area very well!

[TheSwede[TK]]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:32 PM, MintImperial said:

so one half doesn’t have the ridge any more.

Not to worry, original bicep pieces did not have them either

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 10/17/2021 at 7:13 PM, TheSwede said:

Not to worry, original bicep pieces did not have them either

 

 

Good to know. Thanks Daniel.

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 10/17/2021 at 5:52 PM, themaninthesuitcase said:

Hemel, been here for a few years now but I still don't really know the area very well!

Oh I know Hemel. Or parts of it. My dad lived there for quite a few years.

[MintImperial[TK]]

Test fitting after lots of new work.
I will post individual pics soon when I get time.

STILL VERY MUCH WIP:

No Hovi-Mix mesh.

Shoulder bells too far out.

No elastic holding up forearms, so they’ve slipped down.

ABS belt drooping a little on the front.

Canvas belt too long and needs trimming.

Holster not attached.

No gloves (just Photoshopped black onto bare hands).

Thighs hanging too low and no cover strips yet.

iPhone is probably not canon.

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by MintImperial

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks like you have pretty much summed everything up, nice critiquing 

[MintImperial[TK]]

Looks like you have pretty much summed everything up, nice critiquing 

Thank you Glen.


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[MintImperial[TK]]

Worked on some soft parts today: an item that’s been bugging me for months.

I love my Darman Props neck seal with its comfort low-front fit.

But the bib has always ridden up and bulged out above my back plate.

 

Today I received a small (almost toylike) sewing machine from Amazon to attack the problem with strips of Velcro.

 

I had tried using self adhesive Velcro but it kept peeling off.

 

Here’s what I did:

 

Sewed loops onto the inside of the base of the bib along the front and back portions.

 

 

 

Then I sewed hooks to match onto the outside of my undersuit.

 

Two strips on the front (one on either side of the zip)

 

 

and one continuous strip on the back (split into three to create a roughly curved shape that takes up more slack on the sides.)

 

 

The bib now fits snug and taut on the front and back and no longer bunches up over the armour.

 

Don’t have any photos of this at the moment. Sorry.