Sithping ANH TK Build (RS)

[Sithping[TK]]

9 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Yes legal, Han wears them, called bicep hooks, helps to keep your bells at correct height and pulled into the shoulder bell.

 

 

 

 

Everyday is a school day indeed!

Great information thank you, Glen. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Although it takes extra time and costs a bit more, as Glen mentioned many find one snap at each connection sufficient, I would go with the "double snap" method.

 

 

I built my first set of armor using only one snap at each end of the nylon, but 5 minutes into my very first troop my left shoulder bell and bicep connection came apart.  I ended up removing ALL the strapping and replaced every single connection with 2 snaps at each end.  That may have been overkill, but I now do that on all my armor, and to this day I have never had a connection fail.  

 

Even if you don't use two snaps on the individual limb pieces, I highly recommend using 2 in the areas seen below.  The pic shows the original method, but note that the straps were glued on one side.  I don't suggest this.  Elastic will lose it's stretching properties over time and at some point you may need to replace one or both.  Hint:  Note how the elastic is doubled over on the snap end below.  I do 3 folds for added strength, glue the folds together and then set my snaps.  The reason being is that those connections get a lot of wear and tear when suiting up/down, so better to be safe than sorry. 

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Great tips by Glen and Joseph.

 

As an alternative, remember that you don’t have to use poppers/snaps for all connections if you don’t want to. Although the screen used shoulder bells were not physically attached to the biceps (and the “Han hooks” were very rare), the biceps were attached to the forearms. They were simply glued in place. Given the width of the elastic used on the originals (50mm wide), this actually helps achieve the look of the originals when glued. As it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever need to detach these parts, gluing direct is a suitable (and accurate) method/option for connecting the arm pieces. 
 

Here’s how I personally did my latest set of armour - bells to biceps: 

 

 

And here’s how I do bicep to forearms (like the originals), and some information on how the originals were aligned: 

Hope these alternative methods (and tips and tricks) are useful. 
 

Best wishes

CableGuy Dan 

[Sithping[TK]]

Thanks Dan, Joseph and Glen! Really appreciate all your help.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

12 hours ago, Sithping said:

Everyday is a school day indeed!

Great information thank you, Glen. 

I know it's a long list but when in doubt you can find a plethora of info in this thread , in case you need help when there's nobody online  

 

[Sithping[TK]]

Taking a break from the intricacies of the finer details and had a test fit instead.

[Sithping[TK]]

Static shot of fitting progress.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

looking good!  

[Sithping[TK]]

Thanks Mario.

[TheSwede[TK]]

On 5/25/2022 at 5:58 PM, TheRascalKing said:

The elastic and bra hooks are nonsense and only worth your time if you're going for a fully screen-accurate static display.

Ehmn….not if done correctly, I use it on all my TKs

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

31 minutes ago, Sithping said:

Static shot of fitting progress.

Looking very good

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, almost there

 

[Sithping[TK]]

Quick question regarding suiting up, I discovered it gets really warm really fast, and I don't stay in the warmest of climates (Scotland) Do most troopers use cooling system in their helmets?

Also on the same note troopers from warmer climates does the heat affect your armour's shape (melting) and colour (UV)?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Sithping said:

Quick question regarding suiting up, I discovered it gets really warm really fast, and I don't stay in the warmest of climates (Scotland) Do most troopers use cooling system in their helmets?

Also on the same note troopers from warmer climates does the heat affect your armour's shape (melting) and colour (UV)?

 

In my case I use fans inside my helmet and this allow me to troop for more time, but generally avoiding the direct sunlight .

 

The heat haven't afecte the shape or melted the plastic , but continuous sunlight expose would affect the color (yellowing the armor)

 

[Sithping[TK]]

Hi, hope everyone's having a relaxing weekend.

I managed to get a first coat on my ab plate buttons this evening.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work with the stencils. Bit hard to see from the image as it's a bit pixelated when enlarged but your paint may be a tad thick, doesn't appear to be coating very well or could be very very thin coats.

[Sithping[TK]]

Sorry the pics appear blurry, as mentioned it's a first coat, and thinly applied...better with several thin coats than one thick coat can get messy. 

I will let it dry fully for 24 hours before i reapply 2nd coat.

Thanks for the feed back.

[Sithping[TK]]

Hello everyone, updating my build thread with some fresh paint pictures.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hello everyone, updating my build thread with some fresh paint pictures.

Lovely work, trooper.

[Sithping[TK]]

Thanks Dan!

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

6 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Hello everyone, updating my build thread with some fresh paint pictures.

 Nice work  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Almost there, Paul!   I have a strange request if I may.. can you post up some close-ups of the areas below?

 

 

Phenomenal paint work on those ab plate buttons, but is the ABS/canvas belt attached to the ab plate in this pic?

 

[Sithping[TK]]

19 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

Almost there, Paul!   I have a strange request if I may.. can you post up some close-ups of the areas below?

 

 

Phenomenal paint work on those ab plate buttons, but is the ABS/canvas belt attached to the ab plate in this pic?

 

Hi Joseph, I'm happy to add some more pictures at your request. 

The belt was attached to the ab in the pic above, i've noted it has to raise a half inch or there abouts...it's on my to do list

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Thanks for those!  The reason I asked is because of the return edges.  If I could make a suggestion, it would be to smooth out the area seen below a little more.  

Any time you have an angle in a return edge (yellow arrow) it's best to round it out as much as you can.  The return edges take the brunt of any movement, and that's normally where cracks will start.  That area and the angles on the bottom of the posterior plate are where we see this happen the most, so I though I'd give you a heads-up.     I know it's a small thing, but may save you some headaches in the future.