Howler's AM 5.0 Build

[Howler117]

Hey All,

 

I was encouraged by many on here to start my own build thread so I'm going to just that. I got my armor from Dave's Darkside Depot at the beginning of March and I started building it this past weekend. I'm shooting for Centurion straight away as I am somewhat of a perfectionist. Rest assured I watched the OT the whole time I was building. That being said, here is my build so far!

 

 

Build Day 1

 

I started with the forearms as I began by following ukswrath's very detailed build. I first taped the forearms up and put them on to get the fitment I wanted.

 

 

I then made pencil marks about halfway between the two halves of the forearms on each side where I want to make my cuts so that the halves butt up to each other. 

 

 

Instead of using a ruler or straight edge to draw a line down the whole of the forearms I opted to just use a piece of painters tape to make a straight line between my cut marks on either side. Then I used a pair of snips to make a rough cut down the tape

 

 

I then did some cutting/sanding to get a little closer to the return edge of the forearms to give myself a little more wiggle room when taking them on/off and to prevent it from biting into my skin when trooping. I did this for both the outer and inner pieces of the forearms

 

 

Then I double checked my fitment by butting the two halves together, taping them up, and putting them back on my arm to make sure they were exactly how I wanted them.

 

 

Once I was satisfied with the fitment, I used some of my scraps from cutting to make the inner cover strips.  For this step I wasn't really worried about the width of the cover strips as it's on the inside. I just wanted to make sure that they were wide enough to have a good hold on each side of the forearms. I've seen some others do it different ways but for myself, I added the inner cover strips onto the inside forearm piece so that half of the cover strip was hanging over the edge (as shown below). After this picture was taken I added the second inner cover strip on this same piece. When the E6000 is cured I will attach the outside half of the forearm.

 

 

 

Probably a weird next step but I moved on to the thermal detonator because it seemed easy and quick to do the little sanding and gluing that I need to do with it. I needed to trim the end caps on the detonator a little to match up better with the measurements on the CRL so I made my measurements and then put a piece of tape around them to give me a straighter guide for trimming them. 

 

 

A pair of curved scissors really helped on some of the trimming. Especially for the end caps on the detonator.

 

 

After I got my rough trim done. I brought it to the belt sander to touch it up and make it a little flatter and nicer looking.

 

 

I did not glue the end caps on as I'm planning on making it a little storage area farther along in the build.  I'm going to probably glue one side down and add some elastic onto the inside of each cap so that the elastic always keeps the unglued cap in place. At least that's the plan for now. 

 

I lined up the control panel of the thermal detonator into the middle, added some E6000 and glued that sucker down. Probably could have used magnets but I opted for tape to hold it down while the glue cured

 

 

I have the clips for the thermal detonator that are from Ukswrath but I will add those the next build day after the E6000 on the control panel is cured. 

 

I moved on to the biceps from there and did the same thing I did with the forearms. Fitted, pencil mark, cut, trim to return edge where needed, butt together, tape and re-test fitment

 

 

I'm glad I made the extra step to butt together and re-test the fitment on my parts though because I actually had cut a couple times on the biceps to get the fitments just right. I tend to cut a little less than the line I marked because I can always take more off but I can never put it back on. 

 

And again, I did the same thing as I did with the forearms and just put both inner cover strips onto one side of the biceps.

 

 

That is all I got done on my build day this past weekend. Would love to hear any comments, criticism or tips y'all have for me! Excited to get this thing done eventually and join the 501st!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

Some measurements for your TD  

 

[Howler117]

4 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

Some measurements for your TD  

 

Alright this I'm a little confused by because this picture says 7.25 overall but the CRL for Stunt ANH says 7.5 overall. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Howler117 said:

Alright this I'm a little confused by because this picture says 7.25 overall but the CRL for Stunt ANH says 7.5 overall. 

• The total length is approximately 7.50" (190.5mm).

Some varied in length, yours the gaps between the endcaps and control panel look a little small

[Howler117]

9 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

• The total length is approximately 7.50" (190.5mm).

Some varied in length, yours the gaps between the endcaps and control panel look a little small

Tbh with you I didn't measure that. I only measured overall length and endcap width. I figured if I put the control panel in the middle it would be good enough. But now that you say that the gaps do look a little small. I will measure it and try to fix it up a little better. Thanks for the input

Edited April 4, 2023 by Howler117

[Doggydoc[Staff]]

Great start on your build. Keep up the good work. 

[Howler117]

21 minutes ago, Doggydoc said:

Great start on your build. Keep up the good work. 

Thank you!