Armor Crafting

[JSchmit[TK]]

Hi, everyone!

 

I recently put in an order for a A New Hope TK kit from Armor Masters. I notified my local garrison about my progress, and another trooper messaged me with some links to various threads here on White Armor. He mentioned that he had to do quite a bit of hot water shaping for his kit. I did some research on this, and I found quite a few references to the practice of hot water shaping, but I didn't see anything detailing the practice. Is it literally submerging the armor in a bathtub? If that's the case, what temperature would you want the water to be, and how long would you submerge the pieces? When the pieces are warm, how do you go about forming them? Or am I completely wrong in my assumptions, and is there another way of doing this? Any information would be appreciated, as I'm just doing some preliminary research until my BBB day.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

With my ATA kit I didn't need much heat at all, just to get the shins to close a little better.

 

A few threads which may be of help

Crickets build thread has quite a few links to different pieces of armor which have been heated

 

First Torso Fitting: Back Plate Sizing, Kidney and Ab Shaping in Hot Water Bath

Trimming and Hot Water Bath for the Butt Plate

Hot Water Bath and Heat Sealing Iron to Improve Kidney Return

Ab and Kidney 2.0- Hot Water to Shape Things Up (let's do this again, shall we?)

 

 

And a what not to do thread, great care must be taken using heat   

 

[JSchmit[TK]]

Thanks for the info! It looks like the primary method is to submerge the piece in boiling or near-boiling water. How would you go about forming the part after it's been submerged. I just want to make sure I understand this process before I begin.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

13 hours ago, JSchmit said:

Or am I completely wrong in my assumptions, and is there another way of doing this? Any information would be appreciated, as I'm just doing some preliminary research until my BBB day.

 

Hi Jonathan

 

I I wouldn't worry about re-shaping the armor at this stage. Wait for your kit so you can see across the building process if a reshape is needed. Personally I haven't had to make a water bath when built my armor.

 

If you want to make some prior BBB day research, take a look to this useful Index.

 

 

 

We are here to help. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

9 hours ago, JSchmit said:

Thanks for the info! It looks like the primary method is to submerge the piece in boiling or near-boiling water. How would you go about forming the part after it's been submerged. I just want to make sure I understand this process before I begin.

Carefully. Plastic has a stage where it is very pliable BUT if you get it too hot you can loose it's shape. As I said a lot of armor doesn't need much or any heat, adding a little heat to the back of the shins you can use your hands to fold the coversrip ridge so it closes better. Using a hot water bath (of a heat gun for those experienced) does take some practice so definitely practice on off cuts first.

 

If you read through those links you will notice some had made forming blocks of wood to help keep the shape, most don't need to do this it's mainly height issues.

 

As Mario said don't worry too much about heat yet, you have a long way to go  

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Just as Glen said, don't worry about re-shaping anything yet.  Although AM is made to accommodate larger troopers, it can be successfully cut down to fit almost anyone without any heat involved.  I am 5'10 155 lbs. and my AM armor fits perfectly!  

If I could make a few comments, they would be:

 

1.  Research-  While you "hurry up and wait" for Big Brown Box day, look over some of the tons of build threads we have here.

 

2.  Start getting your supplies in order-  It's better to have everything in place beforehand.  Trust me.  I have a link here that will help.

 

3.  Order your boots-  Having these on-hand will make it MUCH easier when you get to the point of sizing the calf armor.  I suggest Imperial Boots (link here), which is what most of us wear.  They only make them in "waves" (once a month) so order early, and I recommend ordering a size bigger than what you normally wear.  You will want the ones seen here.

Having your undersuit on hand will help immensely when fitting your armor.

 

4.  When BBB day arrives, I cannot suggest strongly enough to start your own build thread.  That way, you can ask all the questions you like in one place and post up lots of photos of your progress and any issues you have.  

 

5.  Lastly-  Take... your... time on your build, and if you have an issue always ask before cutting or gluing.  We are here to help every step of the way, Jonathan, so never be shy about hitting us for assistance.  It's what we do best!

[JSchmit[TK]]

Thanks, everyone! I'll work on doing initial research and getting supplies in order as I wait for BBB Day.