TK-Recruits ATA Armor Build[*ATA]

[TK-Recruit]

Let me just say, that the first emotion I experienced upon seeing that giant box of goodness on my front entrance was joy! I am absolutly mind bogglingly overjoyed. This is the first set of armor I have ever seen unassembled and untrimmed. All i've ever seen before are the shiny fully assembled suits of other troopers.

 

Now let me also say that the second feeling can be most accuratly described as overwhelmed. I've looked at build threads in the past, but now that i have a bunch of armor in hand I feel somewhat at a loss. These are new waters for me, and right now they appear dark and murky and somewhat storm tossed.

 

To Begin. Here is my list of what I have ready for the assembly process.

 

1 ATA Armor and Helmet Kit

1 Dremel

1 Rivet Gun

1 Exacto Knife

 

 

Here is what I don't have.

 

__ Sandpaper (what is appropriate grit number?)

__ Straps (Best place to get appropriate straps?)

__ Glue

__ Snap Snapper Thingy

__ A Pair of Plastic Cutting Scissors for trimming (not sure this is neccesary because of sharp knifes available)

__ Spray Paint (Was thinking Krylon Fusion Plastic Paint + Rust-oleum Clear Gloss)

 

 

Other Parts of TK that as of yet are not high on my priority list include

 

__ Canvas Belt

__ Helmet Doohicky's and Gadgets

__ Green Plastic Lenses

__ Underarmor

__ Blaster (hopefully this will be on the way soon)

__ Ab Buttons

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So this is it, this is the beginning. I've never done anything like this before and part of me is petrified i'll screw it up!

 

If you guys have any advice for a beginner, suggestions on ideal products to use for snaps or can direct me towards a particularly clear and comprehensive build I would appreciate that.

 

Other than that, once i have a hold of a camera again i'll post some pictures.

 

Here I go! gulp...

[NoVATie[Admin]]

As far as snapping and straps go, just go to your local arts and crafts store. Jo-Anns is closest to me and they had the industrial strength velcro I needed, along with snap tool and snaps. I found Plastic Weld at Autozone, but later found E-6000 at Jo-Anns. Since E6000 dries clear, that would be my choice for my next suit of armor. The Plastic welder dries yellow. I got sandpaper at Home Depot, just a little 3M block, and I also got a bag of clamps there for about $11. Hope that gets you started

[firebladejedi[TK]]

I would worry about paint, strapping, snaps and all that later on nearer the time.

 

There are a ton of info on building up armour and helmets here, just take your time and start on the easy things first. Check everything over and one piece at a time using a pencil look at your ref pics and mark where you think you want to trim things.

 

Some items will most likely have trim marks molded into the armour and some things will have to be trimmed to fit you specifically.

 

And dont worry if in any doubt post up pictures of what you are about to cut and ask for help, im sure you will get a lot of it.

 

Good luck and enjoy it

[TK4205]

Have fun building. It was a joy for me too to get my first untrimmed kit.

 

 

 

Lately I've been fixing a TE2 that someone ..........painted.

[2155TK[TK]]

You forgot your the shoes!

 

Good Luck with your build and pls post progress pics!

[lordvader1974[501st]]

I'm with Darth Brodie. Post LOTS of pics!

[Sgt JB]

MAIN THING YOU NEED!!! Patience....patience....patience... as a seasoned model builder who's spent $100s of dollars on a single kit before, I can tell you that the first thing to do is take a deep breath, calm down, and take your time. if you rush it, you'll make mistakes. just remember to take your time, and you'll do great!!! and I agree PICS. mainly cuz I've got a set ordered, and I wanna see how it all looks

[Sonnenschein]

I second that... Progress pics, please'! out of personal interest.

 

Hey, correct me if I am wrong, but this could be the first ATA build up thread

 

K.

 

Good luck!

 

Ps: Why would you order ab buttons?

[Murray1134[501st]]

Hit up your local Wal-Mart or Jo-Ann Fabrics type of store, pick up some E-6000, Industrial Velcro, Industrial Snaps (depending on the set, you might need a hammer), nylon webbing and/or elastic.

 

That's a good place to start.

[TK-Recruit]

On ab buttons, I remember I saw a thread about ab buttons that are very screen accurate and where highly recommended. They are far down on my priorty list but i'm just taking things 1 at a time.

 

1st thing is first. Trimming (carefully) and glueing (also carefully)

 

Helmet will be my last project. Will get started on that tommorow.

 

I'll just take it a step at a time, and I should be alright.

[Madmartigan]

On ab buttons, I remember I saw a thread about ab buttons that are very screen accurate and where highly recommended. They are far down on my priorty list but i'm just taking things 1 at a time.

 

1st thing is first. Trimming (carefully) and glueing (also carefully)

 

Helmet will be my last project. Will get started on that tommorow.

 

I'll just take it a step at a time, and I should be alright.

 

Those ab buttons were for an FX upgrade. With ATA you'll be all set.

[SuperTrooper]

Those ab buttons were for an FX upgrade. With ATA you'll be all set.

 

Actually I put the buttons on mine, and know several that have put them on AP and TE2, just to save the hassle of painting circles.

[TK-Recruit]

Gad zooks, where is the comprehensive instruction manual with colored pop up directions and video guide!

 

It wasn't included in the box! *tears out hair*

[Darth_Finger]

Looking foward to seeing pics

[Runnriottt]

Gad zooks, where is the comprehensive instruction manual with colored pop up directions and video guide!

 

It wasn't included in the box! *tears out hair*

 

 

Its right here... Your posting on it.

[SuperTrooper]

I used Pete's photo tutorial found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stukatrooper/...57603721766632/

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Actually I put the buttons on mine, and know several that have put them on AP and TE2, just to save the hassle of painting circles.

 

[TK-Recruit]

The first part of the armor I started was the back plate, I took out the half circle filling in the neck area first and ended up with a bunch of excess plastic from being over cautious i'm just going to sand it away as I don't feel like cutting anything with such a small amount of material to work with. I couldn't find a good hobby scissors so i've been using a small razor blade to scour and snap the plastic. Let me just say that I get little shivers of anxiety as I do this, it's both thrilling and terrifying to be doing this for my first time.

 

After looking at the bucket I decided i'm definatly saving it as the last project. Hoping that their might be some resources to look into at my area garrison so i'm going to drop a thread down in in MWG forum and give a shout to my neighor's.

 

I'm going to try and borrow a camera, I don't have one at my house at the moment but i'll work on getting some pictures up for you guys to see.

[SuperTrooper]

I love a fine grit sanding drum for a dremel for most of finish work.

 

Also how to build a helmet:

http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=6353

[Madmartigan]

I love a fine grit sanding drum for a dremel for most of finish work.

 

Amen. Once you've trimmed within a few mm of where you want to be, nothing beats a dremel -- especially on curves.

 

For perfectly straight edges -- like where I want my ab and kidney to meet -- I snap and score right on the line I want and gently sand.

[TK-Recruit]

I'm going to need those helmet build references for sure.

 

I know my dad has a dremel in the house, me and him are going to go hunting for it soon.

 

On the topic of sanding, about what grit do I want. Right now i've just started using 150 grit by hand to smooth some of the sharper edges, I have up to 220 and i don't know what I have in the lower regions.

 

Also what i'm thinking i'm supposed to do with sanding is just slightly round out the sharp edges after i've scoured and snapped. Correct me if i'm wrong...

 

Finished rough trimming the hand plates.. only news. Now i'm off to clear out a spot for me in the garage so I have an actual workstation.

 

EDIT: If it's not too much trouble could someone post up a picture of a back plate of theirs so I can reference it to the one I just finished trimming?

[Sgt JB]

TK-Recruit, hows the pieces look? I'm on the list and I just wanna get your impressions. Pics I've seen look excellent, but just want someone's opinion that's acctually got it in hand. Thanks.

[TK-Recruit]

TK-Recruit, hows the pieces look? I'm on the list and I just wanna get your impressions. Pics I've seen look excellent, but just want someone's opinion that's acctually got it in hand. Thanks.

 

 

It's hard for me to really comment as i've never actually had a set of untrimmed unfinished armor on hand before in my life. It looks good to me, there was some bumps on the helmet, and other blemishes but I've seen those on other new helmet kits so I assume that's normal. Most of those seem to be around areas i'm supposed to trim anyway. The hardest part for me that as much as I know what TK armor looks like, now that i've got an untrimmed piece in hand I start second guessing myself about where to trim. I don't know how many times i've gone.

 

"Is that the line? no.. yes... no..."

 

Yet it looks quality to me, i'm most excited to get done with trimming. I've still got a lot to go yet and have just started on my chest piece.

 

 

Lastly, I bought some nylon back pack strapping is that something i'll want to use for the harness system? It was sort of a half-baked purchase when I was out looking for snaps. I know elastic straps are used for parts but... well yeah what do you guys think. Perhaps i'm getting to far ahead of myself.

[Sgt JB]

cool, I was just interested in your opinion. everything looks good to me from pics I've seen, can't wait to get going on mine....

[TK-Recruit]

cool, I was just interested in your opinion. everything looks good to me from pics I've seen, can't wait to get going on mine....

 

Well my opinion is that it looks good, I hope that helps!

 

Times like this I wish desperatly I had a camera right now. I finished trimming the bottom part of the chest plate, and I left a little lip of plastic there. So what i'm trying to say is, that from the front of the chest it runs down, then dips in at a 45 degree angle (or so) towards my chest. Do I want to leave that lip there? I've also left a similar little lip on the sides and top. Is this correct? I'm having a hard time spotting anything specific on the reference pictures i'm looking at.