TK-Dmian AP build[*AP]

[SupaTrooper]

That's bloody fantastic for us newbies here!

A pictorial to see every stage -what a great instruction manual this will be at the end.

[Dmian]

Thansk all of you!

 

Well, as requested by Joey, today snack was jalapeño nachos & Mountain Dew. I'm running out of non-cola flavored caffeinated beverages.

 

By the way, from this picture on, I adjusted the white balance of the camera, so you'll see that the armor parts are now more white than in previous pictures.

 

A little info about my brother's work:

He just started making guitars. Here you can see two Tele necks (with and without fingerboard)

 

And here a couple of Tele bodies.

 

And here one of the bodies with partial routing.

 

And a close up of a fingerboard.

 

Back to the armor.

 

I thought that maybe it would be interesting to show a nice way to cut the pieces. I learned this by cutting the armor and by a couple of tutorials (like the one from stukatrooper) that showed this technique.

 

First, find the lines you want to cut. This is a dummy piece, so no real lines here.

 

Next, mark the lines using a pencil.

 

Using a pencil will help you to see where you are cutting.

 

Then trace the cutting line with a cutter. Lightly first. And repeat a couple of times until the trace gets deeper. Try not to run over the piece to be cut with the cutter. If you plan the cutting pattern first you won't make mistakes.

 

After that make a cut on one of the edges.

 

And then cut the other end.

 

Start snapping the piece out from the edge.

 

And then from the center. Fold if necessary.

 

The piece will separate.

 

And you'll have the piece cut without incidents. Sand the borders if you want and you're done!

[Dmian]

Back to my AP assembly. It's time for the kidney and butt part.

 

I cut the parts.

 

Here's another view of that part.

 

I'm going for an ANH style, so butt and kidney need to be separated.

 

And now to the chest. The lines of the chest on the AP are not clear, so I marked them with a pencil.

 

Mark all the cutting lines.

 

I marked even the obvious lines.

 

An then cut the piece.

 

Another view.

 

And a front view. Very nice.

 

On to the back part. This is one of my favorites parts, that's why I left it for the last.

 

Here the lines are visible, so no pencil marking needed.

 

And done, with a clean cut.

 

Another view of the back.

 

And a view from the inside.

 

Now there's only the small parts left, like the belt, knee ammo, shoulder straps, etc.

You only need to get rid of the borders, so cut them out from the inside. Use the cutter on the joints, lightly first and with more pressure later. The borders will come off easily.

 

When you finish you'll have something like this.

 

And that's it!

I've finished with the cutting part!

As I told you, I'm not going to cut the helmet now. I have one ready to wear, so I have no need to assemble the AP.

 

Now it's time for the assembly. I'm going to use strips, in an ANH fashion. And I need to prepare a couple of things first.

So even though tomorrow I make work on the assembly I will probably not take pictures of that part, as cutting strips is pretty boring.

Keep tuned!

[Dmian]

Well, today I bought some materials (30mm nylon straps in white and in black, more snaps, etc.) and started cutting 20mm ABS strips. I also curved the shoulder straps, knee ammo and belt with a hair drier.

 

Edit: Questions moved to another thread.

Edited August 20, 2009 by Dmian

[AJCG]

Well, today I bought some materials (30mm nylon straps in white and in black, more snaps, etc.) and started cutting 20mm ABS strips. I also curved the shoulder straps, knee ammo and belt with a hair drier.

 

Edit: Questions moved to another thread.

 

It is looking great Sir Di que si, que se vea el arte de España

 

Cheers

 

A

[Blaze]

when you "trace the line with the cutter" is it okay to do it as if you were painting? (repeating the strokes) or is it necessary to go from the beginning of the line to the end in one motion each time?

 

..and is the "tracing and then folding until it breaks" the same way you do the big pieces like the back and chest or do those require a different technique since there's so much plastic?

 

excellent tutorial btw

I'm going to refer to this a lot, I can see.

[Dmian]

when you "trace the line with the cutter" is it okay to do it as if you were painting? (repeating the strokes) or is it necessary to go from the beginning of the line to the end in one motion each time?

Well, it really doesn't matter if what you obtain is a single line. What you need is a single trace on the plastic that you can follow repeatedly with the cutter to make it depper with each pass. If you make several, close lines the final cut might not be so clean and you'd probably have to sand it a bit more to get rid of all the extra marks you've done with the cutter. If you're not sure just go lightly and slow. The cutter will help a little if you put it closer to the plastic (and not right from the top.)

..and is the "tracing and then folding until it breaks" the same way you do the big pieces like the back and chest or do those require a different technique since there's so much plastic?

You can use the same technique for all the armor.

There are other people who prefer tu use a Dremel to do a rough cut and then sand down till it looks like they want. I like this way, because you just need a light sanding to smooth the borders and the piece is ready.

excellent tutorial btw

I'm going to refer to this a lot, I can see.

Thanks!

I'll be very happy if this thread is useful for other people. I've learned a lot from other troopers like Peter (stukatrooper), Tim (troopertim), Curtis (TK-4261), Graham (G4Tyrant), Mark (Firebladejedi) and many others. I want to put do my bit.

[tie-pilot]

Great stuff man!

 

ALSO

 

Are you going to make a telecaster style guitar? nice

[TrooperTim]

Fantastic work so far. Nice images and explanation. This is a fun thread to watch.

 

..and is the "tracing and then folding until it breaks" the same way you do the big pieces like the back and chest or do those require a different technique since there's so much plastic?

You can use the same technique for all the armor.

There are other people who prefer tu use a Dremel to do a rough cut and then sand down till it looks like they want. I like this way, because you just need a light sanding to smooth the borders and the piece is ready.

Yes. I prefer this technique mostly for larger pieces; using the saw blade to cut most of it off, then used the sanding bit to finish the edge, following up with sandpaper.

[Dmian]

Small update: I'm gluing parts and snaps right now. Will take photos and do a proper update soon.

Cheers.

[VacTrooper]

This is SO well thought-out. VERY detailed! NICE.

[naatsirhc[TK]]

Nice build thread, keep up the good work.

[puro]

Damian, your signature starts to look very nice (and green)...

[Bengine32]

Congrats and good luck, cant wait too see it done.

[Rich330[TK]]

Congrats and good luck, cant wait too see it done.

 

You don't have to!

 

http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=10476&st=0