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Glueup Part II -- Strip club OK, I'm back. Got a lot done on my TK glueup and have plenty of photos. For this portion of the build I've pretty much ignored the "body" of the suit (plus I already did the Thermal Detonator and Helmet a while ago) and concentrated on the limbs, which is really where most of the gluing takes place -- all of which involves cover strips that join the components of each limb. In the previous section of my build I noted that I'd attended Garrison Carida's annual armor bash/BBQ, and got a lot of outstanding fitting help. Back home in my workshop and after a lot of cutting, taping, trying on, and more cutting and fine-tuning, I'm pretty confident I have the arms and legs sized just about as well as could be. Keep in mind that for this part of the build I did all the appendages -- two shins, two thighs, two forearms and two biceps. Although I started gluing the biceps first, the photos here don't follow any particular order. Rather, I took the shots that best illustrated each part of the glueup. The first thing I did was to finish cutting all of the cover strips, both outer and inner. A.M. armor comes with a generous amount of plain flat ABS for this. To prep the strips, I first gave the glue sides a light but brisk sanding to rough up the gluing surfaces. This was fast work by laying them out in groups glue-side up and going over them with my friend Mr. Sanding Block. I followed this up by beveling all the strip edges with a razor knife. Note that I'm beveling the corner edges on both the glue-side and outside of each strip. This is a good thing to do for two reasons. First, for the outside of the strips beveling removes all the sharp edges or any ridges created by the scoring and "softens" the sides of the cover strips. For the strips inside the armor, that's less sharp stuff near your under suit and body; on the outer cover strips, it means no sharp edges at all -- your hand can run smoothly over the armor. It will also eliminate unwanted snagging if you brush up against fabric (which you can do while wearing armor: curtains, tablecloths, the clothing of people with whom you interact, etc.). It also gives the overall appearance a nice finished look. Beveling the glue side of the strips slightly not only allows the strips to sit perfectly flush against the armor (remember, scoring can create a tiny raised ridge), but it creates a tiny area where glue can accumulate. It's very small, but having this little bevel there can help make minor squeeze-out much less visible. By the way, see those little "strings" you make when beveling? Collect them in a jar for ABS paste -- they're so thin and wispy that they dissolve almost instantly. The last bit of prep is to lightly sand the gluing surface of the armor itself, easily accomplished with a bit of folded sandpaper. By the way, for all this prep sanding I used medium to coarse grit paper. You don't have to go crazy here: The idea is to scuff sand the area where the glue goes so it makes a better bond. Although not quite as important for "dissolving" glues such as ABS cement, Duco or anything with acetone in it, a rougher surface really helps non-dissolving glues like E-6000 or the various super glues (cyanoacrylate). For the first inner strip, starting with the biceps, I used regular ABS cement. I don't particularly like this stuff, but the strips on the biceps are very short, meaning it doesn't take a long time to get it on, plus not as much time for the container to be open fuming up the shop. Still, with this stuff you gotta work fast. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see that I've penciled a line down the center of the glue side of the strip. You only want glue on half the strip, but more importantly having that line there acts as a guide for placing exactly half the strip on the component -- stick it on, and adjust as needed till the line is right on the edge of the component, and then clamp it up. At this point, I decided to switch over to the Duco cement and did the same process with each of the limb halves -- one inner strip on each edge of half of a limb, except the backs of the shins (which I'll do later). I liked the Duco WAYMO better than the ABS cement. It doesn't smell or outgas fumes nearly as much, the working time is longer, and the narrow nozzle on the tube makes applying the glue much easier than using a brush. The real beauty of Duco is that it sets in only five minutes, although I left pieces clamped up for at least 30 minutes for a really solid bond, meaning that once you get rolling the glueup process can go pretty quickly. (By the way, the cure time for Duco as listed on the packaging is setting time five minutes, handling time one hour, full cure in 16 hours.) I worked through all the limbs in turn until I had a pile of half-limbs all with inner strips in place on the halves. Gluing and clamping strips on half-pieces is easy, as nothing impedes the clamps as you can see in the previous photo. Joining the halves, however, means clamps are only useful on the ends. Fortunately, my woodworking arsenal includes some fairly lengthy spring and ratchet clamps. In the case of the biceps, I easily joined the halves for those with just clamps: All the other limb pieces are longer, and while I could still use three clamps of increasing lengths on the ends, the center of the joint was where magnets did their magical thing. For the even longer thighs and shins, it required a few more magnets. Also, because getting the slightly curved fronts of the shins and thighs to close properly, I also relied on tape. The tape worked in concert with the magnets -- the tape pulled the joint together, while the magnets squeezed it closed till the Duco set. As before, at this point it was just a matter of working my way through all the pieces, gluing the halves together in turn. Occasionally, though, as you work on armor you're likely to bump into the same issue I had. You'll probably find that gluing the first side of a two-part piece like an arm or leg is pretty easy -- everything glues up nice and flat. Trouble is, those joints aren't really flat because you're working on a round object. Add to that the fact that during the trimming process you probably removed (or added via shims) a certain amount of material. As a result, when it comes time to gluing the second side of a two-part piece, that joint may not close properly. In fact, it may be way off. The least troublesome way this typically occurs is that the piece is "sprung" open, with the mating edges some distance apart, like the forearms here: That's usually not too bad to work with if the gap is small. However, you may also find that the gluing faces of the mating edges are nowhere near parallel, as they'll need to be when joined. For example, not only did my forearms have a pretty sizable open gap as you can see in the photo above, but the mating surfaces here are at a severe angle to one another: To apply glue and get this clamped up properly, I'd have to really force this closed with a lot of pressure, and the odds of getting it closed and clamped properly are slim -- in fact, while clamps might handle this OK magnets may not be strong enough to hold this closed. Plus, with joining faces this far off even if I could get it glued and closed with clamps, the stresses involved on the plastic would continuously try to pull that joint apart. (Even, to some extent, long after the glue has cured.) So before proceeding, I headed up to the kitchen and set a pot of water to boiling. I'll water-bath all the parts at the end to do some final shaping of course, but this issue needs some reshaping now. I dipped the forearm into the water and when sufficiently softened reformed the mating edges so that it not only eliminated that sprung-open gap, but also made the mating surface more parallel, as you can see here: It still wasn't quite perfect, but with that open gap gone and the surfaces a lot more parallel, it took only a light pressure to close the joint. Now I could far more easily apply the glue, clamps and magnets. By the way, the two forearms where the only places I had this issue. The shins, thighs and biceps were fine in this regard. Now, I just worked my way through the rest of the joints, plus I glued the 25mm closing strips to the backs of the shins. With that, the main glueup of all the limbs is complete. Let me give you a tip on how I work with glue, by the way. This is something I also do with my woodworking, and that's to "isolate" the glue as much as possible. I like to use some kind of dish or shallow tray, and always keep the glue in it. In the image above, I'm using a plastic coffee lid as my Tray of Isolation. I put my glue in it before I start, take out the glue to use it, then immediately put it back in The Tray of Isolation. Glue is easy to spill, drips on a glue bottle or tube can get on your work (or on you, which you then get on your work), and if you work like me and never set something down in the same place twice, glue is easy to lose on a crowded work table. This way, I always know right where it is and it's easy to slide it out of the way. It may take a while to get into the habit of always putting things back in The Tray, but it's worth it. Oh, wait... Did I just say the limbs were complete a bit earlier? You're probably thinking, What an idiot; those aren't complete without the outer cover strips. You're only partially right. But before I do that completing-up part, I have to do a personal completing-up part and eliminate every gap and open seam that would be visible on the armor. This isn't a requirement for any level, but those gaps would drive me nuts if I didn't do something about them and give my armor a more finished appearance. I started by mixing up a small jar of ABS paste. Then, I brushed a bit of acetone into the gap, seam or crack I wanted to work (you can see the brush in a jar with a bit of acetone in the below image). Not a lot, but just a bit of acetone brushed into the seam first really helps for the ABS paste to adhere. Then I used a thin applicator stick or that same small paintbrush to dab ABS paste into every seam or gap I wanted to fix (except the bottoms of the thighs, more on which shortly). Here, I'm doing the biceps. I didn't bother with any seam or joint that would be covered by the outer strips later, so that meant only dabbing ABS paste on the very ends of the pieces that are visible past the ends of the strips, plus the edges themselves and a little bit on the inside. Do this quickly, as ABS starts drying the second you dip it out of the jar. Clean your applicator stick or paintbrush frequently with acetone (I do this between every dabbing) and continue working your way through all the gaps and seams you want to hide. Now, just let it dry. ABS paste dries to the touch in seconds, but it takes a few hours to fully harden. This is a great task to do before calling it quits for the night. Here's what the patching job on the bicep seam looked like next morning: Now, use sandpaper to level and shape the hardened ABS. For this, I like to start with a medium/fine grit, maybe 180-grit or so. Always use a sanding block when leveling, whether the surface is flat or convex. For concave surfaces, wrap the paper around a curved object. The reason for this is that the fleshy pads on your fingers and thumb are very soft, and the flexible sandpaper will simply ride over the bump of plastic you want to level out. It'll get smoother, but it'll take forever to level it. For finish sanding and polishing, no sanding block is really needed, but for leveling it's a must. In the photo above, I'm using what amounts to a tiny stick of scrap with the 180-grit sandpaper wrapped around it. I continued sanding with increasingly finer grits, progressing through 220, 400, 800, 1200 and then a final polis-sanding with 2000 grit without the sanding block. After the last sanding, the ABS was smooth, the seam has disappeared, and the ABS has even started to take on a bit of sheen. Novus polish brought all those gap-fillers to a nice glossy shine. Now, for the bottoms of the thighs. There's a square molded portion that runs around the entire lower opening of the thighs, and the tops of the shins. The outer cover strips go all the way to the top of the shins so there's no big gap there, but there is on the bottom of both thighs. Yeah, yeah those are mostly hidden -- by the sniper knee on one side, and the small ammo belt on the other -- but Mr. Perfectionist here didn't just want them hidden, he wanted them gone. To secure that gap, I first adhered a small piece of ABS inside the molded portion at the front of each thigh, using ABS paste as the glue. Then when that was hardened, I dabbed on a small amount of ABS paste on the other side to fill the gap there. When it was cured, I sanded and smoothed it out by progressing up through sanding grits as before, then hit it with Novus 3 and Novus 2. Now the gap looks much better. Wait... gap? What gap? With the fronts finished I backed up the corresponding spots on the inside/backs of the thighs, but didn't bother doing the outside portions of those rear gaps yet. I haven't done my strapping yet, and will probably need to make the half-moon relief cuts at the backs of the shins and thighs for movement anyway, so I'll wait to fill and polish anything in back after making those cuts. Likewise, since I haven't done the strapping and upper body yet, I may still need to shave a bit more off the tops of the thighs -- and the bottoms of the shins -- for final fitment, so I'm not applying the outer cover strips to the legs just yet. I'll do that last after I've done final fitting. (In the previous photo, I'm just holding that cover strip in place.) And since I'd just as soon do all the outer strips at the same time, even though I consider the forearms and biceps completely done, I'll do those outer cover strips at the same time. So there you go. The main glueup is complete, and I have a full set of Stormtrooper arms and legs! From here, it's on to the main body. Not a lot of gluing there, except snap plates, so it's strapping and fitting. Yikes, am I actually in the home stretch? A.J.

Here is coat number 3 And the 4th I’m trying to make sure I apply the paint in different directions with each coat, that way I am getting maximum coverage. Probably going to need at least 2 more coats. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I thought I'd go ahead and get this thread started. I ordered my stormtrooper kit last night from RS Prop Masters. I went with ABS for the material, ultimately because it's apparently easier to repair. I didn't stress too much over it as I read over and over that you couldn't go wrong with either ABS or PVC. I wanted to build this suit as I love the thought of walking around a convention with it, I don't really know much about the 501st right now. I still want to try and build it to centurion specs should I decide to join in the future, and because I like the thought of having something very close to what was seen when the very first troopers burst into that corridor and shredded the rebel defense. I've never tried to build anything like this before, so I'm nervous but I think I can pull this off. Thankfully, there's a lot of information and helpful people here I got an email from RS this morning saying that they were waiting on an order of ABS to arrive, so I really have no idea when I'll get my box, but I'm looking forward to that day. I should have most of the tools I need already, though a belt sander is on my list. Watch this space!

Hey guys after a little less than a year and with a lot of help from my garrison family I have finally been approved with my Legacy TK I am the first and only in my garrison and I’m so very happy to finally be joining the ranks! I’ve been trooping as a handler for two years and I just absolutely love this organization and the friends I have made. I’m excited to say I’m finally a bad guy doing good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My DLT-19 is now on display on the wall of my lounge. Quite appropriately the 1/6 scale Afrika Korps diorama beneath the DLT-19 includes 2 MG34s, one on the sidecar, and one on a Lafette tripod mount, as well as my 1/6 scale 4-LOM in my bounty hunter collection having his DLT-19 of course.

It’s been great having you as a handler, I suppose now it’s high time I do my time as a handler lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One thing I noticed right off the bat was that my belt was positioned too low to my abdomen buttons. Not to worry! I set a new set of snaps directly below the old pair on the back of the belt, which worked out just fine! http:// Oh, and I almost forgot, I finished up the outside of the bucket. I used decals from Trooperbay. Here is the before picture of the back traps. http:// And here is the final result, with all traps painted and pinstriped. http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// http:// Last things to do are to install helmet fans, finish up the blaster, and put the finishing touches on the thighs and belt, and then I'll be ready for pre-approval!

Uh oh... the master has arrived. I am using your guide... just praying I don’t mess up too badly Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BAH! Humbug

Took a quarter inch off while keeping in mind I’ll have under armor on. Does this seem better? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If it gets moved to July I will start to look for another supplier. Honestly can’t understand the issues they are having. Is pulling the plastic for these that much harder and difficult than everything else they are making?

I think you could source all that by yourself for a less. and the "strapping kit" isn't required for any level here. I have snaps and elastic on mine and it will not prevent me from Centurion.

I've trooped in 85 degree temps on a sunny day in 80% humidity (trooper life in Georgia) and my hands never felt sweaty. My liners were damp when removing my gloves, but my hands still felt dry.

And you are correct on this! (aah the humor)

Daniel is correct on this! Rubber gloves with silk liners are the only gloves I troop in. They are incredibly comfortable.

I used the same paint on a pair of boots recently. I think I applied more than 5 thin coats and I was still getting uneven coverage. It was making me insane. I finally picked up some 2 Thin Acrylic Thinner so I could use the stuff in my airbrush. What a difference! First pic: 5 coats by hand- patchy, uneven (gah!). Second pic: Two coats of airbrushing (perfection! and yes, I should have taped off the soles...). So if you have access to an airbrush (or a friend nearby who has one), airbrushing will do the trick nicely for you in short order.

Rubber gloves work great if using silk gloves underneath

Welcome aboard! Believe it or not, you might actually miss your handling days! Eventually, anyway.

Welcome aboard Karli!

If they are indeed pushed to July of next year I foresee a lot of cancellations. (I'll hold out until it ships or Anovos goes under, though!)

I'll have to put that tab in as it definitely will keep them shifting. I still think I need move the strap to make it tighter. I think I'm using the belt to tighten everything together too much

Some cracking and flaking of the paint on the flexible handguards is completely normal and accurate. I think your handguards would be fine for Centurion. But I'm concerned about (what looks to me) as how brittle the paint is. The paint you used isn't designed to be all that flexible, and I imagine that it's going to give you some grief sooner rather than later. If you decide to strip that paint off at some point, I highly recommend using a screen printing ink for your handguards. I found Speedball screen printing ink over on Amazon works really well. Here's what my flexible handguards look like after a year and a half of trooping... There is some flaking/peeling at the wrists, but that's common. I don't have any cracking or peeling anywhere else on the handguards. Application is super easy. Clean the handguards with alcohol and let dry. Apply a light coat of paint to the handguards. Bake your painted handguards in a 250 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Let cool. Apply another thin coat of paint and repeat the baking process. Do this process until you have the coverage you like. I applied three coats to mine. Hope this helps!

Congrats on your RS purchase! The team at RS Props has incredible customer service. You won't regret this purchase for sure. You will love this suit. I'm in the process of starting my second RS TK build. Like you, I began my journey as just wanting to look cool as a stormtrooper. Then I discovered how amazing the 501st Legion is as an organization. And then I found out how supportive everyone here at the FISD is. And then I began trooping and met everyone in my garrison... and so on, and so on... It's a rabbit hole of costuming, Star Wars, family, and community. You will have a blast on this journey!!! Kudos for aiming for Centurion right from the start. It isn't all that difficult to build to Centurion specs, and you will end up looking your best in your armor. We're all here to help you get there! Looking forward to watching your build.

Thanks! No the backs of the thighs are still unglued. I still need to trim the tops down so they are a continuous line.

Congrats and welcome!

At basic, most methods of attaching are fine. Elastic around the wrist and palm (or around the two middle fingers), velcro, glue.

Nice job! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great job so far - just a few tweeks here and there and your one awesome Stormtrooper

Welcome aboard. Congrats on clearing your suit. :-)

Nice work, it is a good tip to use snaps on the elastic as an attachment as it can stretch over time and may need replacing. Although if needed the elastic will pull off the glue if you need to replace

Finished painting the ab buttons, glad that's done with. lol And I started gluing in the bicep to forearm straps. I took inspiration from Greg's (wook's) build (which followed Ukswrath's AM build) for this step and I'm using 1" elastic strap glued along the inside of the outside cover strip. Hopefully E6000 peels off of the elastic as easily as it does plastic, had a bit squeeze out onto the exposed part of the strap.

Probably an update that they’ve been bumped, but one can hope.

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks of white armor!! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thank you gmrhodes13

Congratulations trooper and welcome to the ranks

I couldn't help myself and reached out to Anovos for any kind of update on delivery... Here's what I sent: Hi. I have an old order for the First Order Stormtrooper Standard kit (full armour kit - not just the helmet) from back in 2016. Can you please check in with Reggie to see if there is any kind of update he can give me? The previous update said "The kits are going to begin shipping in the Spring Season before June 20th and continue shipping through the Summer Season until September 21st"? Given that nothing shipped in Spring and we're now officially 2 months into the 3-month Summer shipping window with no update - I'm really eager for any kind of update (even it it's to put me out of my misery and tell me there is another delay - just so I know something). I've been waiting nearly two years already so I'm willing to wait - it's just the lack of any communications that is killing me. Any help you can get would be really appreciated. Thanks And here's their reply: Hello, Thank you for your extreme patience, we are sending out an update this week i'm told about everything. That will contain info they have yet to tell me. So again I thank you for your patience while we get that to you! Have a wonderful day. ......................... To say I'm skeptical that the aforementioned update will actually come out this week as suggested is an understatement. We can but live in hope though. They have less than 1 month to meet the last deadline window - maybe this will be an update from Reggie to confirm that all is well and our BBBs will be arriving imminently?

As the solution with the epoxy resin is really strong and nice, i decided to do the other side of the folding stock as well. You never know what happens ;-). I am really looking forward to go on with building the blaster, finally. Repairing during the build is no fun at all :-(.

per the CRL Hand Plates Roughly pentagonal in shape, the hand plates are mounted securely over the back of the glove. As an alternative to plastic, these may be made out of latex or latex-like material. Ask your GML, they may have a different opinion on what the "mounted securely over the back of the glove" entails

And here is the final result of the painted hand guards next to the ab armor. Cant beat that comparison and shine

Updated

As Jim mentioned, I would definitely cut out a bit more in the area shown below. This will improve your mobility, and since we tend to spend most of the time with our arms bent in holding an E-11 it will help eliminate "armor bite" in that area. If you have larger biceps, you can definitely trim the return edges off of those pieces as needed as seen in the screen used ones in the second photo. As for the cod, yes, that area can be a bit thin, but I would highly suggest removing all the return edges from the bottom. The reason being (without getting too delicate) is that area can (and will) cause chafing in that area if you leave too much on, if you know what I mean. The third pic shows how much you can remove (although the edges should be sanded down smooth) but also shows a split, which can be prevented with reinforcing around the inside edges.

Actually, there are 18 costumes that are under our "jurisdiction" Mike. The best way to study the differences (as Paul mentioned) is to take a look at each individual CRL (Costume Reference Library) here: http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:FISD_CRL This will give you a lot more details on each one to help you make your decision.

Great news

Painting looks GREAT! If you want uber accuracy then the plates could have straighter edges

..hmm, i found these .. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/10786-stormtrooper-reference-library-538-hd-screens/ And https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21465-anh-stunt-legion-centurion-visual-checklist/?page=0 Hope that Helps. mine...mine...mine...mine

Excited to see how it turns out

To Glen you listen. He is wise and all knowing Keep up the great work.

You were absolutely right my belt was too low. Added the lower snaps and here where it is now. I think it’s high enough according the the CRL which says at or just below. IMO this counts as just below. But correct me if I’m wrong. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Name: Robert Rabey Future Garrison: Canadian Garrison Armor Maker: AP Helmet Maker: AP Cloth Belt Maker: AP Neck Seal Maker: Darmans Props Boot Maker: Imperial Boots Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 175 lbs TK Type: (ANH Stunt) I had no direct help (in person) with this build, but would like to gratefully acknowledge the support, encouragement, and helpful build threads of the following members (to name but a few): Willeywonka, Wook1138, Neb Sgird, gmrhodes13, TheSwede, Lucnak, Hollow-bodies, FencingCorvetteTrooper, CableGuy, Pretzel, CoatHanger, JenEcho, Suspend, ABS80, Ukswrath. Thank you for for your time and consideration! Rob