TikiTechie TLJ First Order TK Build Thread

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

When standing straight you do appear to have a little gap between the cod ridge and under the abdomen, the belt is squished out a little. I would try to bring the cod up a little then have someone else take your photo. 

 

If you look at this EIB application she was 5'5" and appears to have cut her cod down. Albeit I think the thighs needed rotating a little to reduce the large amount of black showing

 

 

And here's a very nicely spaced cod and thighs, height 6'2", gives you a better idea about heights and adjustments

 

[TikiTechie[TK]]

Day 29+

 

Adding an elastic connector between cod & butt plate seems to have worked better than expected.  I'm not sure if it's totally solved the cod placement issue, but it's a lot better. 

 

 

It didn't take as much tension as I thought it might to strap front to back. Just enough to pull things together

 

Seams & Joins

The rest of the work left is mainly getting my crappy looking joins looking better. 

Choosing to use ABS paste has been challenging for sure. If I can make it work, I'll be happy but in either case I will likely end up painting the kit just to get a nice even color & that glossy shine.

 

Troubles

 

The gaps between the joined pieces really doesn't want to disappear so I get a lot of lines that don't seem to sand out, like this:

 

Here are some of the worst offenders
 

All 4 sides of the gauntlets are pretty rough

 

The Kit-Kats look pretty decent on the sides:

 

 

The top edge is hard to get to so sanding is proving tough, as is evident here:

 

Ab sides have a much more noticable shadow in the gap on the one side.  

Right:

 

Left: (The trench  The surface is pretty smoothed out aside from some pits I can fill, but it has a shadow and doesn't really hide yet.  Not sure it will even with additional layers of paste.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by TikiTechie

[neoakaj[501st]]

I am glad to see this moving along and so quickly! I am glad you got the kit!

[TikiTechie[TK]]

Looks like some of my codpiece images are getting removed by imgur.  Oops. I'm requesting them to reevaluate.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Cod photos being taken down, that's weird, wonder if anyone else has had that problem.

 

ABS paste is challenging to get to a nice finish, a lot of times it's also small bubbles from the drying of the thinners. I have found thin coats to be the best, I also use fine sandpaper towards the end of the process and automotive cutting compound as that is a little coarser than just polish and can help to bring back some of the shine.

 

 

[TikiTechie[TK]]

3 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Cod photos being taken down

Just too steamy for the internet!

 

3 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

ABS paste is challenging to get to a nice finish, a lot of times it's also small bubbles from the drying of the thinners. I have found thin coats to be the best, I also use fine sandpaper towards the end of the process and automotive cutting compound as that is a little coarser than just polish and can help to bring back some of the shine.

It does seem difficult to work with. I'm not very patient, so that doesn't help.
I have gotten bubbles, but I did glob on thick paste along the side seams.

Is Novus #2 less course than the automative (headlight?) compounds?  I have been going 400-600-1k-2k-3k route, sometimes starting at 150/220 if there is a real big mountain I can't tackle.  I follow it up with #2 and Clean & Shine. Sometimes the results are better than others.

 

One suspect of trouble is that I used E6000 to shim the gauntlets together. Where there is a slight gap due to my less-than-perfect cutting, I think the glue may be peeking through and not playing well with the acetone/abs mix.  I think it's too far along to be able to pull apart pieces and re-fuse with another adhesive, so I am making the best of it. Or attempting to.

I do intend to get this kit gloss-painted, but that's not in $cope right now. 

[TikiTechie[TK]]

5 hours ago, TikiTechie said:

Looks like some of my codpiece images are getting removed by imgur.  Oops. I'm requesting them to reevaluate.

Looks like they put them back up. I guess it wasn't the hotness of the pics their algorithms expected.

[TikiTechie[TK]]

9 hours ago, neoakaj said:

I am glad you got the kit

Same. I am looking forward to getting this done.  Thanks for answering all the questions I've had.  Makes it a lot easier to build with experts nearby.

[TikiTechie[TK]]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:36 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

a little gap between the cod ridge and under the abdomen, the belt is squished out a little.

Just a note that the black area is not the belt, although it is webbing.
I had built an "interface" between the snaps on the code and a velcro attachment to the inside of the ab-bottom-section. I've seen this elsewhere, maybe Captain's Drydock's videos.  
The webbing I've used doesn't hold it's shape well so I may end up changing to some other material.

For now, I scooched up the belt as you can probably see in subsequent posts.  Just rebuilding the strap with less flexiible materials will probably help. 

But that little bit did have a big affect, so kudos for catching that!

[TikiTechie[TK]]

I am calling the initial build complete. There is probably things I will discover as I try on, size & take submission photos that need to be addressed, but I am happy with it so far.

 

WRT the gauntlets, there has been a lot of filling & sanding (and swearing) trying to get them joined smoothly and fixing up my blundered early cuts. 

 

 

 

One bit I'm not sure if is just a getting-used-to thing or if there is more sizing to be done, but the shoulder/yoke/chest seem like they ride a little high on my shoulders. My helmet seems to constantly be banging against the front.  Normal? More shoulder trimming?  I initially went easy on the trimming, so it may be time to start thinning it down.

 

 

Try on is a lot more fun with all the decals in place and the pieces finished up. 

I'll be more excited to have better photos when they aren't all selfies in the basement.

Probably not easy to tell, but I did forget my neck gasket in these photos. Still not used to a new kit.

 

For the First Order!

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Will Imgur take down my photos again?!?)

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by TikiTechie

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I added some elastic from the abdomen to the chest to help to pull down the yoke once you move your arms, they do want to ride up, pressure from the gaskets and general arm movements, pretty similar setup to a regular OTTK

 

Looking good

[TikiTechie[TK]]

1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said:

added some elastic from the abdomen to the chest to help to pull down the yoke once you mover your arms, they do want to ride up, pressure from the gaskets and general arm movements, pretty similar setup to a regular OTTK

 

Looking good

Good tips. Thank you.  I wondered if I needed to cut the tops of "arm holes" back more, but it doesn't sound like that's really the problem. I can get it to set down lower, and I think your suggestion will help that.

[TikiTechie[TK]]

Spat Gaskets

Smaller changes now that I am structurally complete.

I don't love the gaps & movement on my spats so far. I would prefer the system DN uses to keep their spats in place, but alas I don't have that kit. I am sure this is not a new problem or solution, but I did pick up some insulated weather stripping from Lowe's for cheap, I think $7.  

 

 

I cut it down to a single row, but I suppose you could leave it if you didn't want to make a cut. I used scissors rather than a razor.  

 

(Yes, that's an official First Order ankle sock.)

The gap is now filled and it seems like a tighter fit on the surrounding spat.

 

 

You can keep the pill visible more easily We'll see how durable it is over time.

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by TikiTechie

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great idea and appears to work well. I used a couple of tabs of velcro to keep them at the correct hight 

[TikiTechie[TK]]

First full kit-up today.  Glad I did this before I was going to take submission pics.  I have a little ways to go anyway.  

 

Things to note here:
1. My magnetic chest clasps are not in the right place. The downside of trying to do this without actually seeing it on my own body. Looks like wearing it, my torso stretches the yoke a little wide, especially with the gaskets on.  So, they need to move in and maybe down a little.  I've considered velcro as that might be easier to adjust. I've just had a bear of a time getting the sides of the chest fastened correctly to the yoke.  Having an assistant today helped a lot, but was even still a challenge. 

2. I know, my helmet is TFA and my kit/cod is TLJ.  I have both helmets, but this one was closer to me.  

 

3. Boots arrive this week!! The last piece of the puzzle.  Using my first hand-painted chelsea boots for this. The spats at least hide the fact they don't go up high enough.  My ankles sure know the secret though. Pinchy.

 

4. The helmet is a WIP. I removed the hardhat liner for now and substituted a piece of standard foam.  Doesn't fit at all yet so it's a little bobbly.  I am going to line it like the premium DN helmet (separate thread eventually).   

 

 

 

 

My fave pose

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, almost there

[DocDan[TK]]

Nice work so far Jim! My helmet hits my yoke if I turn to far to the right or left. I adjusted my padding in the helmet and it made it a bit better.

Edited October 22, 2023 by DocDan

[TikiTechie[TK]]

1 hour ago, DocDan said:

I adjusted my padding in the helmet and it made it a bit better.

Good tip. Thanks. Glad to know someone else has gone through the same. (I guess that's why we're here.

[TikiTechie[TK]]

Getting ready to submit pre-approval pics.   

 

I did end up getting the boots from KeepTrooping. Impressive how fast they can these to my doorstep from China so fast.

Printed out blasters from the files here. Just having fun now.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by TikiTechie

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking smart trooper, good luck with approval.

 

If I could suggest bringing up your forearms just a little to give you some room between them and the hand plates, will reduce the gap at your elbows too  

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow, Jim! That's got to be some kind of speed record for a FOTK build, you look fantastic!

Best of luck with your approval.

[TikiTechie[TK]]

7 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

f I could suggest bringing up your forearms just a little to give you some room between them and the hand plates, will reduce the gap at your elbows too

Yes, they were annoying me.  Is there a recommended way? My OTTK has an elastic connecting to bicep but it seems like that might not work given the texture of the gasket material.  I suppose I could velcro them up like the shins?

 

4 hours ago, Sly11 said:

Wow, Jim! That's got to be some kind of speed record for a FOTK build, you look fantastic!

Best of luck with your approval.

Thank you! Yeah, my family can't wait to see me again.  (I think.)
 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Awesome !! Easy approval  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

8 hours ago, TikiTechie said:

Yes, they were annoying me.  Is there a recommended way? My OTTK has an elastic connecting to bicep but it seems like that might not work given the texture of the gasket material.  I suppose I could velcro them up like the shins?

Yes I have elastic from the forearm to bicep, much like the OTTK just thinner and on the rear so they aren't noticed.

 

 

[TikiTechie[TK]]

I've posted this elsewhere but I figured I'd also drop it here for anyone following this one. 
I was granted approved for FOTK at Basic level on Nov. 1.

Thanks everyone who commented and reacted. I appreciate the support of this great community & forum. It helps a lot!

 

Stay on target. For the First Order!