XYDIU's TFA FOTK Build Thread (KB Props 2021)

[XYDIU]

Finally finished trimming (somewhat, still need to trim for fitment when I get the gaskets and the like): Here are the thighs trimmed and sanded (although upon a second look it seems like it may need a little more when they are glued together. 

 

Thighs trimmed 

 

The whole of the armor after everything trimmed and sanded:

 

I think an ab box may have fallen off the table before I took this pic, but nonetheless it is all done. (the abdomen also was trimmed along the bottom edge a little more too to make it more like anovos's armor. Markings were on there, but I forgot to cut out a small part, )

 

 

With that being done, now I will move onto gluing (what I can) and once I get my gaskets then final trimming and fitting the parts that that would affect. One thing related to that is the abdomen and the back part of the abdomen: Right now it, and the chest, are a little wide on me, so I think I am going to trim down the back of the abdomen, on the sides, and then curve in the rest, on the sides with a heat gun. I was just wondering if anyone did something similar and knows what settings would be the best. I tested a small piece of ABS scrap with it on high (1500 F, ~817 C ) for about 20 seconds, but it didn't seem to bend much, albeit it was thicker than most parts. 

 

On the topic of glue, I did a bit of research into plastic welders, JB Weld and Plexus, and I decided to go with JB Weld, the 5000 PSI one, (5 oz) since it was on sale on Amazon for $14, as opposed to Plexus MA310 which I could not find in stock and would have been over $100 after. Furthermore, I wanted to know what kind of "bondo" or spot putty is recommended.

 

 

  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work. I normally use a heat gun for heating plastic, it does take some time to master heating so you don't melt or misshape. For larger areas I like to use plugs, normally wood, one piece either side, helps to keep what you have bent in it's position until cooled, harder to do on curved areas, less is best when it comes to heat, there's a point where you blink and the plastic will just start buckling on it's own. I did heat and curve my sides of the chest a little and it all worked out fine. 

 

After using JB weld I just use an automotive bondo (filler), for any small scratches blade putty, then spray putty/primer filler.

 

 

[indiechixor[TK]]

On the topic of glue, I did a bit of research into plastic welders, JB Weld and Plexus, and I decided to go with JB Weld, the 5000 PSI one, (5 oz) since it was on sale on Amazon for $14, as opposed to Plexus MA310 which I could not find in stock and would have been over $100 after.

FYI, Seems like MA310 is difficult to find, but MA300 is a suitable alternative, only difference being the MA300 only has a 3-5minute fix time compared to the 310 which had 15-20mins. I just picked some up off Amazon last week.


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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Did you buy the gun and mixing tip pack?

[indiechixor[TK]]

Did you buy the gun and mixing tip pack?

Not sure if your question was for me or not, but good point- since I had previously used the MA310 I already have the gun/tips. But if you are buying Plexus for the first time, you’ll need both.


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[ukswrath[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, indiechixor said:

Not sure if your question was for me or not, but good point- since I had previously used the MA310 I already have the gun/tips. But if you are buying Plexus for the first time, you’ll need both.


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Yes it was. I've seen folks buy the mix and forget the gun and tips. Sounds like you're ready to go 

[XYDIU]

So today the glue arrived and I wanted to get started on working on the yoke and back, so I could properly size it on the sides, after checking it, but I am running into an issue. I used the clamps to make sure that everything was in order with the two, but I am seemingly coming into a problem which I cannot find any resources on:

 

The yoke is different on the new version of KB's kit, and therefore any other build threads I have seen either have the older, more common style of the yoke, or those with the same kind simply have not yet shown any updates on their progress with gluing the two. 

 

My issue is that the sides of the two, so the back and the yoke seemingly do not want to meet up whatsover. 

Mismatched side 1

 

Mismatched side 2 (this one actually sort of makes sense though)

 

The main issue with this is trying to figure out what side goes on top, which I believe the back would go on top of these two so then the chest would fit on top of that. The issue is that when I have these clamped together, as shown, then the chest won't fit properly, when I fit the bottom edge of the back (on the side) and the sides of the chest. It cause it to not fit on the yoke at all. In other words, the yoke seems to be too steep where it sits in order for the chest to sit properly and look much like the references. 

 

I am unsure if maybe the positioning of this is wrong, but I did make sure that it was trimmed along the line that was made into the armor so it would fit properly.:

 

As I stated, I am unsure if I just cut it wrong or something else. I didn't want to glue it until I got it to sit properly, so therefore the chest would sit so. Note: I did solve the problem earlier with it sitting incorrect, but now I think this is more of where it is positioned on the yoke, where it sits flush, doesn't line up with the back. 

 

The other thing which I did today was cut down the abdomen, and curve it a bit with the heat gun, as well as the back. 

Top of the abdomen

 

Back of the abdomen

 

Side of the abdomen.

 

One thing I worry about this is: Does it look somewhat right? As I stated before, I am not that big of a guy, with only about a 30-ish inch waist, so it required a lot of trimming off the back, as I could not cut the front and mess up the details. As pictured, it does fit well on me, with a little give, and fits under the yoke/chest and back with no issue. I just worry that it looks a little bit strange compared to the others I have seen on other build threads. Once I glue the pieces I know it will bend the back out a little more, due to pushing the seams flat, but I still worry it just looks very odd overall. 

 

 

Other than that, I didn't get anything else done today, but I would greatly appreciate any help about this issue I am having and the sort. Thank you.

 

[indiechixor[TK]]

Hey Don’t sweat the Yolk. I had the same initial thought, and ended up figuring it out - It’s Phasma, but same mold. check out my thread here: Indie's TLJ Phasma Build

I determined where to cut by taping the back, yolk, and chest on me, marking the outlines of the chest, and choosing a point well inside that line.Here’s the gap I left between the back and yolk:As for the abs and back, again take a look at my thread I think cutting down the back and attaching the sides helps a lot with fit for someone a bit more trim. You get less bulging and puckering this way, and there are several options to join the back together - take a look at some of the other TFA FOTK Trooper builds. Personally, I’m following @ukswrath tutorial here.

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by indiechixor

[XYDIU]

34 minutes ago, indiechixor said:

Hey Don’t sweat the Yolk. I had the same initial thought, and ended up figuring it out - It’s Phasma, but same mold. check out my thread here: Indie's TLJ Phasma Build

I determined where to cut by taping the back, yolk, and chest on me, marking the outlines of the chest, and choosing a point well inside that line.Here’s the gap I left between the back and yolk:As for the abs and back, again take a look at my thread I think cutting down the back and attaching the sides helps a lot with fit for someone a bit more trim. You get less bulging and puckering this way, and there are several options to join the back together - take a look at some of the other TFA FOTK Trooper builds. Personally, I’m following @ukswrath tutorial here.

 

Appreciate linking me to your thread, that is really helpful, as well as for the abdomen. I plan on cutting down the back, and then gluing the sides, right now I just wanted to test the fitment. As for the yoke, that is helpful, I may do that to mine, since it's confusing and quite problematic, at least for fitting it. I'll look more into that method tomorrow when I can get back on it.

 

Thank you!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

We have that area cut out on our Anovos kits as you can see here.

 

But screen accuracy KB added the extra material in the front, you can see the bottom of that front piece in this image

 

Also just see it here

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Coming along nicely Jacob, looks like you're getting some great advice. Keep up the good work

[XYDIU]

Ok so today I glued the first piece, the one giving me the most trouble: the yoke and the back. I got it to sit properly, after doing a bit of trimming on the inside and a little elsewhere. It still didn't want to sit flush too well on the inside, but it was able to be done so once I put the clamps and the like on there. In the photos it looks a bit messy, but I cleaned it up after I got it where I wanted. I need to get a better applicator for the glue. 

Outside

Inside

 

Until I can get something better, even like a tongue depressor or something, I will hold on gluing much more, which next being the abdomen, which I also want to wait on so I can see how this turns out once fully cured and then also size it with the abdomen on to make sure it looks good. 

 

In other news, I did purchase the metal support brackets that go inside the yoke to add support as well as support the shoulder bells. My boots should arrive tomorrow, and I have sent my sizing information to Geeky Pinks for the gaskets. 

 

More updates to come.

[XYDIU]

Quick question:

Is it alright to use E6000 on the shoulder bells to attach the “lip” on them? I don’t believe there to be too much flex there, nor it needs bondo.


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[TKSpartan[Staff]]

34 minutes ago, XYDIU said:

Quick question:

Is it alright to use E6000 on the shoulder bells to attach the “lip” on them? I don’t believe there to be too much flex there, nor it needs bondo.


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I used E6000, I agree that they have not much stress there. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

1 hour ago, XYDIU said:

Quick question:

Is it alright to use E6000 on the shoulder bells to attach the “lip” on them? I don’t believe there to be too much flex there, nor it needs bondo.


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Should be fine

[XYDIU]

Ok, so I went ahead a glued the shoulder bells:

 

 

I used E6000, as I believe there should be no issue in terms of flexing. I gave each "lip" about 1cm in the center with it tapering down on the edges until the edge. The yoke/back should be done curing in about an hour so I will then proceed to check up on that and test fit it with the abdomen before I glue that together. 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Correct no issues with using E6000, you can also use E6000 on places that flex as it will hold quite a lot, I used it on my shins as they will flex a little opening and closing.

[XYDIU]

Alright, so the boots arrived today:

 

 

They fit and all, but need to be broken in a bit.

 

On the other hand, I attempted/sort of glued one of the sides of the abdomen, but the reason I say "attempted" is because I incorrectly went about doing it, instead of gluing the backing strip to one side and letting it set, before gluing it to the other side, I instead tried to glue it to both sides and as result, it shifted everywhere getting a lot of glue on the inside, and the outsides as well. 

As I said, it was really bad....

 

I was finally able to barely get it to sit and be clamped, but on top of that, my magnets were not strong enough (new M52 ones on the way) and they were unable to close the gap in the middle. So it only, presumably, glued the very ends, and not the middle. Tomorrow once it is fully dry, I will attempt to see how bad it is, and where it actually glued. As well as probably try to sand off any and all of the glue on the outside and the inside, where it shouldn't be. The stronger magnets arrive Sunday so I will not continue gluing seams that require them until they arrive. The other side was not glued at all, so I will hopefully do much better. But I feel as if I will be able to fix this and clean it up.. First time doing stuff like this, so it was a "learning experience" of what not to do again. Hopefully it will be fixable otherwise I am unsure what I will do...

 

Anyways, more to (hopefully) come tomorrow.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

"First time doing stuff like this, so it was a "learning experience" of what not to do again."

 

We've all been there brother. Keep up the good work

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Jacob if you don't mind me asking what are you using for paint, rattle can or pro?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Sorry to hear that Jacob.  Since I hav ehad that same "glue" issue when past building TKs, I have learned to reduce the amount . Hope you can solve it.

[XYDIU]

Jacob if you don't mind me asking what are you using for paint, rattle can or pro?

I don’t have the paint yet, but I was planning on using the rattle can.


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[XYDIU]

Also quick update: Upon checking the seam, it seems to be not that bad as I thought originally. It does need sanding to clean it up but it is only a bit loose in one small area.

In other words, it can be easily fixed.


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great to hear, it can be quite daunting when you first start building.

 

With paint I found using rattle cans of automotive acrylic paint the most forgiving, dries very quickly so you can add multiple layers within a few minutes and doesn't run like a lot of enamel based paints. You can also apply clear coats which allows you to cut and polish in case you get any dust or orange peel. May be an option for you.

[XYDIU]

Mini update:

 

Glued the spats together today, used the JB Weld, as from what I have read it is recommended.

 

 

Checked the seam on the abdomen and apparently it did not glue on the majority of it, so I decided to just sand it down and re-glue what I could. (About 90% of it.) The stronger magnets arrived today so they are really helpful in gluing it together and it already looks better. Nonetheless, there is not much else that I was able to do at the current moment.