SageLeader's TFA FOTK Build (Walt's Trooper Factory)

[sageleader]

Hey all. Been wanting to join the 501st for years now and finally got some TFA armor from Walt's Trooper Factory (thanks for nothing, Anovos). Not quite sure where to start. I have all my parts and tools but I have a few questions:

 

1) Do I just start cutting first? How do I know exactly where to cut? On the CRL it's hard to tell how much lip to leave on some pieces. 

2) After cutting, I just sand the edges right? 

3) How do I know which pieces to connect to which other pieces? Most are obvious but some I'm unclear about.

4) Should I have my gaskets before I do any fitting?

5) How do most people attach the armor to itself (e.g. the chest piece) and to the undersuit (e.g. the knee cap)? I'm a bit unsure how to make it so I can easily get in and out of the armor.

 

Anything else I should know before getting started? I'll post some pictures once I have cut out the pieces.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hello and welcome aboard, research is the key to this hobby. CRL is only part of the costume and isn't there to show how to put together, more the finished appearance.

 

1: Follow others build threads and check with the reference gallery's, a great build to follow is @ukswrath very detailed.

2: Correct, I use 400 grit to smooth any sanded edges

3: See #1

4: Yes gaskets take up some room so you will need to check fit with them on. Also wear your undersuit, can make a difference

5: See #1

 

There is a whole section dedicated to the FOTK armor

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/218-first-order-battle-group/

[indiechixor[TK]]

Welcome to the forum! I would also highly recommend reading through one of the excellent build threads out there. Obviously there will be variations due to different manufacturers, but i've been referring to Ukswrath's build thread (as mentioned above) for months, and i'm actually building a Phasma! Many of the photos and lessons learned will aid in your construction. 

 

If you're more of a visual learner, there are some excellent YouTube videos that go over how to get started.

 

Good luck!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Welcome Tony, good luck with your build. Take a look to the Build threads and suggested links. 

 

I'm working on a TFA Trooper too. 

 

looking forward for your advances.  remember. "Measure twice, cut and glue just once. "

 

 

[sageleader]

I made some of my first cuts this week! I still have to sand the tops but I'm going to do all the sanding together most likely, so my plan is to cut all the pieces first. Not sure if that's a good idea.

 

 

Also, should I leave the excess material on the sides of the pieces so that when I go to fit it later I can keep some as needed? I'm talking about this part on the bottom of this picture.

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

IMO, at this stage you can leave the excess. later when you start assembling you will be more confortable trimming a bit more plastic.

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Hi Tony and welcome aboard.

We have another new member also building a WTF FO TK who may also be able to assist you with some questions he has asked.

Now he is building the TLJ version but much of the costume assembly is the same and he is on the research trail.

Check out his thread here

 

Good luck on your exciting new journey.

 

 

[sageleader]

Still working on the legs first, because I figure it will be not as big of a deal if I mess up. Anyway I've trimmed the top and bottom of the thighs and calves, so starting to sand them down. Before I go further, how does this look? It's the bottom of the thigh. Should I be sanding it down further? I've been using P60 because it's fast. Do I really need to go over it with finer grit to make it super smooth? Seems like nobody would notice that since the edges will go against the undersuit/gaskets. FYI I'm cutting and sanding by hand because I live in a small apartment in NYC and can't really deal with a lot of dust or noise.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You can still see a little trim edge remaining, "the step" or "lip" if you know what I mean, I would take this off.

 

Also finishing sanding with a finer sandpaper will help stop the sanded area from cutting/grinding into your gaskets. I finish with a 400 grit. 

 

[LTM[TK]]

Its the bottom of the thigh? I am going to remove all the return as you would not see it with  the gasket in place, as no one will be looking from the bottom up. This will also help in making sure the plastic does not cut into the gasket material. BUT, trim back until you are comfortable (like Glen has pointed out) and you can always remove more after a trial fitting.

[sageleader]

I'm finally back working on this again. I received my gaskets from Geeky Pink's so I feel like I can actually try to fit things. I still have a bunch of cutting and sanding to do. The goal is to have this done by Celebration. So I have about 90 days left.

 

A couple questions in my planning:

1) If you had to estimate how many hours it takes total to complete a kit, what would that be? Trying to gauge how many hours per day I need to spend on this.

2) Does every kit need to be completely painted? I live in NYC so spray painting would be very difficult and I'd like to avoid it at all costs. The greeblies from WTF are a little yellow so they don't match, but I can either a) 3D print my own white ones or b) paint just those and get a paint to match the ABS plastic.

 

I'll post some pictures as I get done with some sections. Do people find it's easier to trim/sand everything first and then fit different areas or to trim/sand an area (like shins) and fit them at the same time so you can complete that section?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, sageleader said:

I'm finally back working on this again. I received my gaskets from Geeky Pink's so I feel like I can actually try to fit things. I still have a bunch of cutting and sanding to do. The goal is to have this done by Celebration. So I have about 90 days left.

 

A couple questions in my planning:

1) If you had to estimate how many hours it takes total to complete a kit, what would that be? Trying to gauge how many hours per day I need to spend on this.

2) Does every kit need to be completely painted? I live in NYC so spray painting would be very difficult and I'd like to avoid it at all costs. The greeblies from WTF are a little yellow so they don't match, but I can either a) 3D print my own white ones or b) paint just those and get a paint to match the ABS plastic.

 

I'll post some pictures as I get done with some sections. Do people find it's easier to trim/sand everything first and then fit different areas or to trim/sand an area (like shins) and fit them at the same time so you can complete that section?

 

Hi Tony.   IMHO

 

1) If you had to estimate how many hours it takes total to complete a kit, what would that be? Trying to gauge how many hours per day I need to spend on this.

 

In my experience with my own kit and TK kits 90 days are enough if you work at least a couple of hours each day. 

 

2) Does every kit need to be completely painted? I live in NYC so spray painting would be very difficult and I'd like to avoid it at all costs. The greeblies from WTF are a little yellow so they don't match, but I can either a) 3D print my own white ones or b) paint just those and get a paint to match the ABS plastic.

 

I was in the same question when started my KB props FO Kit.  What I did to avoid painting the whole kit was to use ABS paste from the same pieces to fill most of the joints and fortunately found a spray paint that match the Armor color and this helped me to paint some small sections too. 

 

Good luck with your build. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sageleader]

6 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

2) Does every kit need to be completely painted? I live in NYC so spray painting would be very difficult and I'd like to avoid it at all costs. The greeblies from WTF are a little yellow so they don't match, but I can either a) 3D print my own white ones or b) paint just those and get a paint to match the ABS plastic.

 

I was in the same question when started my KB props FO Kit.  What I did to avoid painting the whole kit was to use ABS paste from the same pieces to fill most of the joints and fortunately found a spray paint that match the Armor color and this helped me to paint some small sections too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank you for your advice. I'm assuming by ABS paste you mean the guide here or something similar. Seems like that's doable as I have saved a lot of my trimmings. How did you go about matching the paint color to your kit?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

9 hours ago, sageleader said:

Thank you for your advice. I'm assuming by ABS paste you mean the guide here or something similar. Seems like that's doable as I have saved a lot of my trimmings. How did you go about matching the paint color to your kit?

 

Yes it's the ABS paste as in the guide.  About the paint matching , honestly I was a bit of  lucky strike. I make a try with 3 different makes of white paint and the 3rd one worked well.

 

Hope this can help. 

[LTM[TK]]

How goes the build?

[sageleader]

Thanks for checking in. Honestly it's stalled a bit because it's so overwhelming the amount of work that needs to be done. I've cut and sanded most of the pieces, but still have a lot to go. I live in a small NYC apartment and I don't have a ton of tools, so it's hard to make space and time. Additionally, my goal was always to bring my stormtrooper armor to Celebration. I'm going this year but the thought of building, packing, transporting a ton of plastic, and then to wear it and be uncomfortable for 12 hours at a con does not sound like fun anymore. Maybe I'm being dramatic. So I'm now thinking I should aim for a local troop first and give up on bringing it to Celebration this year. I'd hate for my first troop to be a bad experience.

 

To be honest I'd rather just pay someone to finish the kit for me so I'm not spending hundreds of hours doing something I ultimately don't enjoy. Wearing the kit is what I want, but I realized that building it is just not that fun for me. If I can't figure out a way to do that I will still work on it, I'm just going to take my time I think.

[Sly11[Admin]]

One simple rule to play buy that also take pressure off yourself.

Building armour is not a race, it's an experience .

The time you take to get your build right is the best time in the world.

If this is your first time with armour, enjoy the journey as much as you can, take your time, learn along the way as we all did on our first armour building journey.

It's like your first troop, you will never forget it, so savor it as much as possible.

The other consolation is you have a detachment full of experience at your disposal. Ask as many questions as you can, we are all here to help.

You got this Tony, and we got your back.