Diana's ANH Hero Project- Restrapping and reshaping an ANH Hero kit for a better fit

[AsBlondeAsLuke[TK]]

Hello All-

It's been a decade since I posted a build thread here. I'm still wearing my other kit, and I love it. I will be trooping in it again tomorrow. I love everything about my existing kit, and the mobility I have in it is amazing. Here's a pic from May the 4th/Free Comic Book Day where I started mopping the floor during a torrential rainstorm. (The one day it rains in six months is May the 4th. Go figure.) 



But, my suit is starting to show its age.) It keeps cracking. I keep repairing it. And I've sanded it so many times that it has lost its shine on the chest plate (mainly because I have persistent cracks on the chest plate and straps that I keep repairing.) You can see these flaws on this close-up shot taken a few weeks back during "National Night Out."

 

Now, in retrospect, I probably should've just gotten another RS Props and had them build it. But, because my RS Props yellowed a lot over the years, I thought I'd try a Walts Kit. Because I am in the middle of a very complex Bo Katan build that is determined to suck the life out of me, I outsourced the building of this kit.  I didn't realize that even with outsourcing the kit, it still requires a lot of work once it comes back in order to make it fit properly. (Flawed thinking on my part.)

 

The "big box" arrived in May 2024. It was always an exciting day. It reminded me of when my RS Props arrived a decade ago. I remember being very intimidated then by all the parts and having no idea how I would ever assemble the kit. (I also thought the helmet was "eggshell thin" and would surely break if I handled it the wrong way.) There was just as much mystery and anticipation at this box awaiting me on the front porch. (I can't remember what was in that second flat box. Likely more paint or brushes for the never-ending Bo Katan build that is determined to kill me.)

 

The good news is that the kit was packed well. The shins and thighs fit, and the helmet was protected nicely in a pillowcase and then in bubble wrap and then in packing peanuts. Nicely done. The "black" helmet made me laugh.

 

The kit was built to my measurements, and like most things I've had built to my measurements, it mostly / kind of /sort of / maybe fits. You can probably see the issue right away before I even put it on. I set it down side-by-side next to my old kit. (Yes, admire how the old kit is held together by sludge and duct tape. It is truly a screen-accurate wonder with all of that duct tape.)

 

 

For a kit that is supposed to be a "woman's small," it looks very large to me. Why is the back plate so big? And the chest plate? And the cod? What small woman has such a big damned cod? And, what is with the suspenders?! The Uncle Mike's belt, you see, is my own because I quickly decided the click-click-suspender method of holding up the thighs was not for me. The pair of scissors you see is for cutting out the suspenders.

There are a LOT of SNAPs in this armor. (I nicknamed it the "snappy snap" armor. I might have been willing to put up with it if the pieces aligned correctly. Sadly, they did not. You can probably tell just by looking at this photo how the clamshell is not aligning properly on the one side. The strapping was just... off.

 

OK, well, you can see the issues. I've made some progress since these pics were taken, but that's enough for today.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hello and welcome back, some build threads you may find useful

 

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38416-crickets-rs-stunt-build-for-the-vertically-challenged/

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38842-fragarocks-rs-stunt-build-not-to-scale/

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/42868-sha-shas-wtf-anh-stunt-build-complete/

 

You may very well need to add some side shims, quite common and lots of builds to follow 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Hey Diana, looking good my friend. After watching you build your first TK I have no doubt you can do it again. Looking forward to seeing your perfection. No pressure 😆

 

[AsBlondeAsLuke[TK]]

@ukswrathHi Tony! We miss you here. If you were here, I would have dropped this build off at your house, and it would've been redone to perfection months ago. 

A fellow trooper from the garrison was admiring my sweet fan setup in my helmet after a troop on Friday night. (Her fans failed, and I was showing her how I could switch on one fan or both fans with your awesome system that slides right into the base of the helmet.)

So, I've gotten more done on the build.

@gmrhodes13 Thank you for the helpful links and build threads. Restrapping the abdomen and dropping five pounds fixed the issue with the side closing up. If it still looks wonky, I can always add a shim. I'm always up for a good challenge.

Continuing on with the story of fixing this build, most of the snaps had to go. They were very hard to close even after I oiled them and my husband couldn't get most of them snapped either. It felt like it took so much pressure to close the snaps it would snap the plastic. Not good. They had to go.  

Straps in the shoulders worked fine, so those got to stay. Everything else was tossed into my "maybe I'll have a use for it in another build" drawer.

So, this overlapping medieval strapping system was transformed into something that looked like the side strapping on my other TK and now does not overlap. This also helps the other side align better.



My husband and I both decided the backplate needed to be trimmed down to look proportionate to my frame. Not a lot, but it did need to be resized. We are fortunate we have done this once before. We keep using the other set of armor for reference to know how big the pieces should be.

So, this is the untrimmed backplate as it looked when I was trying it on at an armor party in the beginning of August. (One shoulder is not fully strapped in these pics.) 

Trimmed off just a little bit since you can always take off more later. 

I'm double-checking the CRL for what it says about return edges on the backplate. It doesn't. We decided to add a return edge since we will need it to install the "bracket" strapping system.

Creating a nice straight return edge using the heat gun and a wooden cutting board. The cutting board helped ensure the new return edge was nice and straight like it had been created from a mold.

My husband used a Dremel and pliers to remove the extra snaps. I couldn't watch as I was worried he was going to Dremel through the armor. But, all four snaps came off, leaving the piece clean and ready for brackets to be installed.

While the heat gun was out, some gentle reshaping of the kidney piece to bring that side piece in more, (to "close the gap.")
Comparing the new backplate to the old one to double-check how we are doing with sizing. The new backplate has more return edges under the arms and on the sides. But, as long as they aren't digging in and it looks proportionate, they can stay.

 

On the old armor, we created shims to hold the brackets. This worked well as the brackets never broke or cracked the armor even during ten years of heavy trooping. It is one of the few areas of the armor that hasn't cracked. So, we are going to do this method again and add the extra shims to the return edge to hold the brackets.

The armor is starting to look more like something that will fit me and that I'd actually want to wear. My husband couldn't keep the names of all the armor pieces straight, so I helpfully added labels to help with my vocabularly.

The brackets and screws were tricky to track down. TrooperBay doesn't make them anymore and my original ones came directly from RS Props. (I bought their strapping system.) Fortunately, we have a stormtrooper chat within our garrison and I've been posting over there about this build. One of my garrisonmates knew of someone through his First Order build group that knew someone that could get these brackets. To make a long story long, I got the right brackets, screws and straps.

I'm undecided about what to do about the connection between the kidney and the buttplate. The current straps seem to be holding it well My husband thinks it needs two more straps. On my original TK, the kidney and butt plate are connected by brackets. Open to advice on what to do about this area. This particular area of the armor seems to fit well as it is.


OK, that's enough for today. I'll do a post to catch up on the progress of arm and thigh strapping in another post.
 

Edited September 30 by AsBlondeAsLuke
Tagged someone in reply to their comment.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You can add more strapping on the kidney/posterior to see if that helps, to stop them coming apart I came up with some V clamps some years ago and quite a few have had success keep the pieces in alignment.

 

With a heat gun or oven you bend strips of ABS plastic into the shape of a V, only glue one side and the other remains free to allow movement when you bend. Just helps stop the butt plate from pushing back from the back plate.

 

 

 

 

Some have even tried multiple V tabs

 

 

If you wish to go down the bracket route (RS) there was someone making the brackets some years ago, they aren't too had to make you can find info in the threads below

How To fit here https://mrnostripes.weebly.com/

 

Tony made some brackets supports to help them not pull through or crack the plastic

 

CableGuys (RIP) video on fitting the bracket system

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

"@ukswrathHi Tony!....."

 

Lol awesome. Miss you folks as well. 

 

Looks like youre doing great so far. You're in good hands here. Looks lkke Glen is already helping with his mountain of knowledge.

[JBar[TK]]

Looks like you're well on your way. I recently built my first Walt kit. I think we're similar sizes. I'm more than happy to share any fitting suggestions where needed

[AsBlondeAsLuke[TK]]

5 hours ago, JBar said:

Looks like you're well on your way. I recently built my first Walt kit. I think we're similar sizes. I'm more than happy to share any fitting suggestions where needed

Thanks, John! I'll take some fitting pictures this weekend. I'm not sure what to do about the chest plate. I can't figure out if I should leave it or resize it before I add the brackets. I have a big block of time on Sunday when I can work on the armor. (I'm originally from New York. I was born in Sleepy Hollow. I worked in mid-town.)

 

[Nairy[Staff]]

Hi Diana! Been following another awesome build of yours!

 

Did you take fitting pictures a few weekends ago?