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You don't want to down size too much as you want the overall look to match, I have pretty thin arms and added a few blocks of foam inside to stop them moving around, works great and the glove takes care of any gaps in the front of the forearms.

Once you add the under suit, gloves and the connecting material between the bicep and forearm you may not need to reduce the overall size. If it's that much of a burden than I suggest adding fabric foam to the interior for stability instead. You want breathing room. Shortening the forearm as you've illustrated is ok.

Most everything on a TK armour is asymmetrical, it's why we love it so much. More organic and less machine like. Listen to Tony, hes built plenty of armour and we all have your best interests at heart.

If you're ambitious enough or stay in the Legion long enough, you'll end up with a nice string of detachments, too. Costumes are like potato chips- you can't have just one! (I stole that off a personal patch I freaking love). I'm TK-DZ-TI-IC-ID-IG-TX-29118 currently.

WOW, A.J.!! As a fellow AM owner I can say that you have really conquered that issue with finesse. The extra time you spent certainly made a huge difference, and this will be an invaluable reference for those with this issue. As I mentioned in my PM, you should add this as a tutorial, no doubt! GREAT job! I see a Centurion badge under your name in the near future, brother.

And you're thinking, Ah man, that longwinded Old Fart is back again. Shouldn't he be yelling at kids to get off his lawn or something? Well, yeah, it is prime yelling-at-kids season, but they're at school at the moment -- or they oughta be, the little juvenile delinquents -- so I've left my lawn unguarded for a little while to bring you up to date on my build. Haven't updated anything since March, at which time I outlined a few issues: One was my left Bicep constantly coming loose. After two troops I knew that I was satisfied with the Bicep position, so rather than replace or add more snaps to the Bicep, I simply squirted a bit of E6000 around the snaps such that it cemented one strap to the other right around the snaps. Not a lot of glue, but enough that it never comes undone on its own anymore, but would be easy to pull apart if I needed to. (Thanks, E6000.) I also had a clicking Sniper Plate, even though I had already added padding in the front of the Shin and Back of the thigh on that side. A bit of judicious Sniper Plate trimming along the top edge, along with hiking up the thighs pretty much solved that. The final issue I needed to deal with at the time was the rampant and incessant pinching around the, ahem, nether regions. The armor bites were terrible, even leading to a bleeding wound at one spot on my leg after three hours of Trooping. I shaved a bit off both sides of the Cod, as well as off the inner edges of the thighs. Next troop I still got some bites, but not nearly as many. I shaved some more off the inner edges of the thighs again, and the problem is all but gone. Since then, I submitted for and achieved EIB (yay!) and intended to immediately go for Centurion. As always, the EIB review was filled with lots of great suggestions for improvement that don't directly affect Centurion approval, but there were two things I was requested to fix before applying for Centurion: The gaps between the Shoulder Bells and the Chest plate in front, and the overlap of the Back Plate over the Kidney. The first was an easy fix by just tightening up the shoulder straps, but that Back Plate was problematic. As anybody who has built a set of AM armor knows, the bottom edge of the Back Plate is a bit odd. Now, I absolutely love AM armor and consider it to be the best out there by far. However, it does have a couple quirks and that Back Plate is one of them. For some armor, the bottom edge of the Back Plate has a nice, flat return edge that mates flat on the top edge of the Kidney Plate. AM armor is different: That bottom edge isn't anywhere near flat, and the outer tips bend down and out like little "wings." The end result is that no matter what you do, those wings will overlap the Kidney, which is a no-no in general, and a roadblock to attaining Centurion. Here's a detail from the back photo from my EIB submission: Notice in the above photo that the actual bottom of the Back Plate is right on top of the Kidney where it's supposed to be (red arrow), but those wings overhang at the sides (green arrows). What's worse, with those wings overhanging they tend to pull the Back Plate out and down over the Kidney pretty much every time you move. Here's a look at if from the side just before I started to work on it yesterday. How badly the effect is may vary from Trooper to Trooper, depending on body characteristics. If your upper back arches out at an angle, it's a bit easier to get the bottom of the Back Plate to rest atop the Kidney. In the photo below, I'm holding the Back Plate out at an angle. If your back arches out, great, but even if the Back Plate is resting in the right place along its width at this angle, good luck getting it to stay there. Lean forward and your strapping will likely pull the Back Plate down over the Kidney again. I had brought up this issue way back during my build and got a number of suggestions, most of which dealt with heating those wings and bending them up to make them level. But I could tell that heating and bending would warp the side edges of the Back Plate because of the amount of return edge I'd retained there, so I balked on heating. Then, when I got my EIB, I corresponded with JustJoseph about it and got some guidance from him, as well. Joseph has a set of AM armor, so he knows exactly what this issue is like. He agreed that trying to reshape them with heat would badly mis-shape the side edges, and suggested that the only real way around it is to start cutting off return edges to reshape those pesky wings. Again, I put it off because I wanted those edges to stay (my shoulder blades tend to push the Back Plate out, creating gaps at the side that I wanted to minimize with as much return edge as possible),. However, I want to reach Centurion level even more, so those edges had to be dealt with. After giving it a lot of thought, I determined that a combination of return-edge trimming and heat would be the best way to go. I started by outlining the cuts I planned to make on the sides... ... and along the outer tips of the bottom. It took me a long time to do these cut lines, as I kept redoing them to ensure I started with the minimum amount needed -- I didn't want to cut too much. I wanted to do this in extreme baby steps: Do some cuts, then do some heat and see what I got. Then trim some more and heat some more, and check it out. By the way, remember that last photo above. You'll see it again a bit later. So, first I used Lexan scissors to cut off most of the waste up to my lines. After that, I headed over to my drill press and used that cutter drum you saw earlier in my build to shave the Back Plate smoothly down to my lines. Then, I heated those trimmed wings up using a hair dryer and did some bending, starting with the right side wing. In the photo above, you can see the result after several cycles of trim/heat, trim/heat, trim/heat. I was indeed taking it slow. Satisfied that I had the right side as good as I could get it, I did the same trim/heat, trim/heat, trim/heat routine on the left wing. OK, both sides are looking pretty good, and you can see how the bottom edge is now more or less straight across with no corner wings dipping down. Lastly, I heated both sides a bit more to curve the outer edges inward to more closely match the curve of the top of the Kidney to help the Back rest more firmly in place. This whole process took several hours, but I was determined to go slowly. I did not want to trim any more than I had too or, worse, ruin the Back Plate and have to buy another one and start over. Hey, remember earlier when I said you'd see that photo of my proposed cut lines again? Well, here's that same photo, but I've superimposed red lines where I ended up making my actual final trims. Yeah, I ended up taking a lot of plastic off, and as time-consuming as it was it was worth it when I reassembled all the straps and hung the torso on my mannequin to see how it came together. That's about as perfect as I think it can be. I still don't like the way the AM armor isn't flat along that bottom edge -- that bottom return edge is angled, not flat -- and I may address that somewhere down the road, but for now I'm satisfied that this fixes my issue with the overhanging Back Plate. Now it's time to reshoot submission photos and achieve that Centurion certificate.

If ya cant deliver then don't offer it up... This is an old issue with makers everywhere...

For example, I'm ID-17032 and TS-17032. I'm waiting on TK-17032 (pictures submitted). And I'm already planning CX-17032.

As a few of you may know, I semi-retired, sold my house and bought a new 5th wheel to hit the road! Finally got my "TK man-cave" organized, but needless to say at 10 ft x 8 ft. it's tiny! While it's probably what most might would definitely consider TK overkill, it makes me happy so I thought I'd share a few pics.

I can't wait to see it as well. TLJ was the version I ordered through them. At the time I ordered it they offered both variants. I do not know if that is still the case however.

Cool, thanks. Off to buy gloss white . I thought I had some, but just 3 different brands of flat white. Lol

Hey Derek if you're referring to where the ends of the cloth belt meet it's vercro . Thanks for the kudos

This one doesn't get painted. Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

It's been a week since I reinforced the shoulder straps. Some of the E6000 was trapped in airtight pockets and never cured and it softened the HIPS to the point where I was able to put holes in it with my fingernail. Luckily, it came off fairly easily. I'm sure glad I didn't glue them to my armour right away. Lesson learned!

Here are some new photos from Diversity on the progress.

That's some mighty fine work there AJ!!

nice!

Congratulations trooper, welcome to EIB!

Where did you get the strips? Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think warnings like this are okay overall. Coming from the standpoint of being a guy who was cheated by a few vendors, had to dispute through Visa each time before I went with a vetted vendor, it’s just too much to put buyers at risk. Especially so when sometimes getting armor can take longer than the dispute period. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Many of us do a little trimming once we start trooping, good luck and remember to keep taking fluids

Looks so much different with that angle, Simon! The length you have glued on to the chest plate tabs is identical on both sides, it's just the angle that was throwing me. It's not that obvious in the new photos, so you should be good to go, sir. Side note: You won't be sorry you went with the 2 mm ABS. Your armor is going to be built like a tank!

Got some Riot gear and some spare parts (spats) The webbing, elastic and grips are for the shield. I broke a clip greeblie on this Troop and had to go spat-less I did manage to get the rest of the clip off (not one for using E600) and replaced it but never felt content with closing the spat by that small clip and velcro, didnt feel like doing the snap variant. Then Anovos came out with their instructions I jumped on the idea and ordered new spats from KB and a spur of the moment skull trooper helmet and the sheild and consequently had to get the baton Much more secure and less likely to brake. As a bonus the spats came from a new mold and had a much better fit then the previous ones, JSIN also confirmed they had new shins so I guess the KB kit is getting more and more accurate.

Best of luck for approval, Linz. [emoji1303]

+1

Congrats! I would only trim the inside of the thighs if you have to...

I talked to Diversity and this is what they had to say. "1st. i told everybody i have quit props. 2nd i will continue on 2 armours as a hobby. 3rd the mudtrooper was a complex armour with 50% castings. and people werent happy with the castings. " I have a FOTK on order through them. Yes it has taken longer than expected. However, my experience thus far has been good. Wayne has been upfront with me along the way explaining the challenges he has come across and what he has done to overcome them. He has been quick to respond when I have had questions or update. I switched to Diversity because the previous supplier wouldn't give me a straight answer at all and strung me along from one promised delivery date to the next. I don't know what challenges or complaints others have but I wanted to put in my experience with them.

Have you thought of posting this on the legion boards, you may get a bigger response. Strike that I just noticed you did. You could also reach out to the legions diversity team [email protected]

Leave it grey and put a black R2 dome on top. Like the van from the Fanboys movie. Is that the gun rack we talked about? It looks good. You found an ideal way to display each blaster in a suitable manner. And if things change some day, you could even think about rotating it clockwise and it will still look cool. I love it.

Even the outside didn't escape being tagged, lol.

I have built a couple of KB props FO's for my garrison mates, I currently have a couple of video on Youtube on how I did it. I also just helped a member in AZ finish her KB Phasma, she just needs to paint it. I have also helped some Californians build there armor, one mailed it to me and two others came down and I helped them build the armor over three days.

Scratches head and fires up YouTube...

Starting work on the limbs. First is a forearm. There are two distinctly different forearms. Not sure which is left or right. The difference is one is slightly longer with a deeper cut into the inner forearm piece. I’m told they are interchangeable so, based on movie stills, I’ve decided to use this piece on the trigger arm. It will be my right arm piece. The reason is that this arm will generally be bent farther when holding the blaster so ideally for comfort. So this will be the left forearm. I matched the left and right inners with their outers, trimmed off the lower return edges and did a fitting on my bare arm. I marked the inner forearm for trimming. Only the inner pieces will get trimmed because the outer pieces came trimmed properly. I marked the cut lines with a pencil and made the first cut…oh me nerves…which is the edge that will be on top and the straightest cut. The second cut cut is on an angle that will give the forearm the taper it needs to fit the arm nicely. After the first cut I taped the cut edge to the outer arm and fit it again. You can see the old line has been replaced with one that works better. I use the aluminum ruler to score straight lines. A few passes with the blade then I snap it nice and cleanly. I usually do some light passes in the groove just to make it a nicely trimmed edge. I use tape and magnets to set it up and try it on. You can see the trimmed edges and the taper. I line up the return edge end, at the elbow, and will trim the wrist end for a nice smooth line around. I’ll be using inner and outer strips to complete it. The cuts are really straight and mate nicely with the outer arm. No sanding has been done to the cut edges. Notice the stack of magnets on the left…it picked up a screw bit as I moved it across the table. The bit was still there from the bucket build. Put your stuff away when you’re done with it folks. It’s neater, you won’t likely lose stuff or damage stuff. Left forearm trimming and fitting. First the wrist end return edge goes. Again a quick fit and marking for the sizing cuts. Here we can see the difference in the two forearms. Right forearm has a slight taper at the top. Left has a fairly straight, 90 edge at the top. From Victor Matts, maker of this armour, of AM Armor: The right forearm tapers at the top as this allows the right arm to be bend more easily when carrying a blaster, while the left arm extends more straight, holding the barrel of the blaster farther away from the body. The strips run up the top and bottom of the arm so this cut should run this line. With the cuts made an the halves taped I did a test fit. Everything lines up nice and it’s ready for the inner and outer cover strips. Some troopers only use outer strips but I like the strength the inner strips add. The first inner strip ready to be glued in. I applied E6000 to the strip and secured it with clamps at the ends and these very strong magnets in the middle. Inside view. I doubled the magnets inside for better pullin power. The strip will seat perfectly flat to both halves. I’ll be doing inside strips only to start with to form the pieces. The outer strips will go on once I’m satisfied with the final fit.

Since I don’t have brushes yet, and can’t sit still, I started the assembly. Setting and clamping was tedious. The bucket is not symmetrical, which is screen accurate, so I found it a bit difficult to keep everything lined up. I had to get my big vice grip clamps to set the tubes to the face where I needed it to drill. I tried to keep the contact area where it would be covered by the ears in case I marked it up. The ABS is flexible enough to come together nicely. Drilling here will make a nice transition of the pieces. Both holes drilled, same on the other side. AM supplies all the correct screws to build a bucket. The Master, Eric Dyck, uses rivets, which I might switch to because I don’t like all the hardware inside, nuts and screw ends sticking inward. Maybe the padding will cover it, we’ll see. Both sides look good. I followed the steps in the build video by Eric Dyck as I went. It’s a great help. The right ear needed very little work to fit this well. Very little gap front or back. Right side, looks pretty good. Left side seems acceptable. I think it will be really nice once the mic’s, neck seal and paint is done. Thanks Eric for the personal help on this. The brow is not exactly as I’d hoped. More stunt on the left and hero on the right. Oddly enough it’s lower on the squint eye which only seems to enhance the look of ‘aiming’ for a shot. I might be the only stormtrooper to hit his target. I measured the height of the traps and the right side is 1/4” taller than the left. I may trim it across to even it out. Not sure what to think of it right now.