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https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=31441 TK-77712 - reporting for duty.

This is what the forearm looks like. With the gloves, it’s not as bad. It does seem loose though. I’m going to attach the holster before glueing the halves together. Making the riser’s base seamless and keeping that seam line would be tricky if I did it after glueing. Since I have a resin and metal holster from Dan, I got it out to confirm sizing. What do you know, it doesn’t fit and would require much more bondo to build up to matching this outline. Oh well, I’ll use the BSP supplied holster and sell Dan’s. For comparison, here are the two next to each other. I’ve got the other thigh glued and curing on one side. Once this glue dries I’ll put it on to see if I need to shim the inside seam. As I mentioned, I want to attach the holster before glueing the other leg. Biceps and forearms are glued and just need the excess e6000 removed. Photos for the sake of photos. A few of the “no glue required” parts were sanded and made ready for use tonight as well. The outer chest, kneecaps, and butt are all ready to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Appears aNOvos can supply other things just not their pre orders ------

I have one on top of my knee, built my Anovos FOTK in 10 days from start to painted and approval, was just before the premier of TFA, was in such a rush trimming I dropped the Dremel with cutting disc going full speed on top of my thigh, no time to bleed so it was out with a rag and the superglue, I have a nice scar there and it reminds me each time I see it about the build, I don't regret doing it at all but boy it was annoying for a week or so

WARNING: The following content may be controversial! DISCLAIMER: These are my opinions from years of experience, pure and simple. Over the years I have noticed many future Troopers doing an OT (Original Trilogy) TK ask about return edges before, during (and after) their build... If this is a subject that you are curious about, grab a cup of coffee or a tall glass of frosty blue milk (this is a long post, lol) and read on.... QUESTION: "What are they, what do they do, and should I leave them, trim them down some or remove them"? ANSWER: Return edges are part of the molding process and provide strength in certain areas on the edges of your armor. They also provide a heftier look to some pieces. To help you decide whether or not to keep them is why I started this thread. Here I will attempt to go into a few details about them. Know in advance that as mentioned I personally am NOT a fan of them in many areas for several reasons (listed below). Some people love them and some may disagree with my opinions... many of you may trooped for years with no problems which is AWESOME, but many folks have had issues and questions. 1. In most areas they are not screen accurate- In looking at the screen caps and film used armor photos below you will notice their scarcity. 2. They can (and in many cases will) get very uncomfortable- Many folks like the "thicker" look it gives their armor, but they can cut into you, especially in the area where your arm bends ("armor bite") and the groin area (chafing). As Troopers we do a lot of walking and arm bending carrying a weapon, so keep this in mind. 3. If aiming for higher levels they can cause fitting issues- Examples: A. If you leave them on your forearm openings and glue on the cover strips, they will need to be completely removed at the wrists for Centurion level, making the opening too wide. This can lead to you having to remove the cover strips, reduce the sides of the forearms and re-attach the strips. Quite a pain in the posterior plate to say the least. *** See EXAMPLE 1 below. B. If they are overly thick on the bottoms of your shoulder bells, they can prevent them from lying snug against the biceps. 4. They can cause splits/cracks- Especially on some armor areas. ABS is designed to flex, and in some cases a small amount of return edge is fine, but too much can cause stress on those areas. *** See EXAMPLE 2 below Over time that stress will take it's toll somewhere, and that is usually the return edge. Anovos armor is especially prone to this on the sides of the chest/back plates and neck openings. I suggest shimming these on the rear with ABS strips and E-6000 to prevent it. Let's start with the chest plate: Note how the ones below (including the back plate) have either no or minimal edges with no cracks or splits. Now here is a screen used one with a pretty prominent edge, Notice the stress crack. Now, onto the ab/kidney/back plate: To keep them in line and prevent them from overlapping, it is suggested that you LEAVE a fair amount of the edges on the top/bottoms of the kidney and bottom of the back plate, especially if using the "classic" strapping method. Yes, these can split/crack as well but not normally. Shoulder Bells Trimming off the entire edge on the bottoms is not only screen accurate (first two photos), it allows them to rest close to the bicep (bottom photo). Third photo shows "suggested" trim lines (red) of an untrimmed bicep. My recommendation is the blue line. Biceps/forearms For sheer comfort and a sleeker look, I recommend removing ALL of the top and bottom edges before fitting/gluing them. First, no one sees the tops (covered by the shoulder bell) and the bottoms can cut into your arms (armor bite). Suggested cut lines in red. Again, if you do get armor bite you will have to take them both completely apart, remove the edge and re-fit. Better to think ahead. Some (myself included) like to leave a bit of the return edge on the outside of the top of the forearm for a thicker look. However, I highly suggest removing all from the inside part (the "scoop") where your arm bends. Again, an armor bite issue. This should also be done BEFORE final fitting. Here are some screen used examples: For level 3 (Centurion) all of the return edge on the wrist opening must be removed, including the area inside the "hump" as seen below: Posterior (butt) plate: Again, it is suggested that you leave some of the return edge on the top (and bottom in most cases) to keep it from riding under/over the kidney. Now, the BOTTOM of the posterior plate is where we often find splitting issues. Should you leave some return edge? Sure! BUT(T), when trimming the corners, (see below) be SURE not to give it a sharp angle... this is where the trouble usually starts. Instead, give it a slightly rounded angle (as shown in green). Thigh tops The tops of the thighs are where we see a lot of questions. I recommend removing all the return edges from the entire upper parts, and here is why: As mentioned above, you will be doing a lot of walking. If you have the edges (or at least a large portion of them) intact, the friction and inside facing angles can really chafe the heck out of you, especially on the inside of the groin area. (Ouch). If there are sharp edges/points on the tops (below) these will poke into you. When trimming these, just follow the existing line. Also, if you do your final fitting, glue everything together and find this out afterward, you will have to take the entire thing apart, remove the return edges, trim down the sides and then re-build/glue them back together. The reason is that afterward the opening will be entirely too large and you will have a giant gap all the way around. Not a good look. Easier to do it beforehand, trust me. As seen below, there were no return edges (or at least minimal ones) used in the films. Sniper knee plate The bottom of this piece is an area often not trimmed enough. To allow it to sit flat (or very close to flat) against the top of the calf enough for the glue to adhere properly I suggest removing most if not all of the bottom edge. Note how in the first and third photos how the sniper knee is parallel to the front of the calf. Last up, a photo that best illustrates my point about return edges and how they were not really present in many places on ANH armor. *** Example 1. of what happens when you have to reduce the return edge(s) after attaching cover strips. NOTE: For the example below I am using an ATA bicep (first 3 photos). Be aware that ATA makes the "suggested" cut line on their return edges pretty slim (a GREAT thing in my opinion). As seen on the armor in the 4th photo, if followed, the "suggested" cut line makes the return edges much wider (red line). Top view Bottom view For the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume that the ATA has those wider suggested return edges. Okay, let's say you really like the thicker look the return edges give your armor, so you left them pretty wide during fitting and then glued on the cover strips. Enough to get your arm through with a little extra room. Should be good to go, correct? BUT, you find that after having your arm bent for a while they cut into you (armor bite), so you find you have to reduce or remove most or all of it. No biggie, right? Just break out the Lexan scissors or Dremel and cut away, leaving the cover strips attached. Easy! So you remove it and then you run into the fact that the opening is now enormous. This is not a good look, and can result in the piece(s) jangling around and not being approvable at higher levels (or even Basic depending on your GML). What I am getting at with the above info. is that if you decide to remove them, it's better to do it before final fitting/gluing. Side note: Many biceps have an unusual shape at the tops (in red, below) normally located on the inside. This can be completely removed. Doing this will not affect approval at any level, and is screen accurate. It sits under the shoulder bell so no one sees it anyway! Screen used bicep USELESS TRIVIA: Many have asked about the "thumbprint" that many armorers have on the left bicep (screen used example below). Some think it is so you can tell them apart, but I was speaking with Brian Muir a few years ago (he sculpted the original armor used in ANH) and asked him about it: "To be honest, I have no idea... it was not in my original sculpt, and must have been a mistake in casting". There you have it. *** EXAMPLE 2: What causes cracks/splits: ABS bends pretty well, just as it's designed to. BUT, when there are return edges involved that changes the game. For the below example I used a 2 inch wide strip of ABS with a 1/2 inch "return edge". Looks pretty solid, right? That's because the edge provides stability. Now I am bending it up/in to simulate use over time. (More than it normally gets bent in many cases, but only to prove a point). That stress has got to go somewhere, and it's the return edge that takes it all and gives way, again causing cracks/splits. The red arrow shows a weak area where the stress in concentrated and cracks can form. Even if trimmed off afterward that area will be prone to splitting, so a small shim behind it is suggested. To sum it up, return edges are not meant to bend a lot. I suggest inspecting your armor occasionally to spot any existing/potential cracks/splits so that you can catch them before they get worse. I hope this helps answer any basic questions you may have, and always feel free to ask more detailed ones here or offer differing opinions.

Congratulations once again (now it's official) well done and welcome to the ranks trooper

Awesome post Joseph!! I also would've loved having this during my build, but you answered most of my return edges and trimming questions anyway, so all great advice from the same source. Thank you for being such a great resource of knowledge and help!!

Four grand for a TFA cod and untrimmed elbows... *seriously considers* (Not really -- but it does make me a bit lustful...)

Great Robert, Welcome to the Legion.

Hi Jonas, for Centurion level the Crl states: The plastic shoulder straps need to be held down in the back via a white elastic band to the white fabric that connects/bridges the chest and back piece. I think you may need to add the popper to a white elastic band to connect the bridges.\ cheers

When you size then be sure to wear them on the correct arm [emoji1305] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I'd have about the same room, a few pieces of foam will solve that. Also undersuit sleeve will fill some of the font when it bunches with gloves.

There are still three TFA statues on eBay if anyone wants such a paperweight, lol Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Lol well the price scared me off already Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anovos use to sell the TFA promo statues for around $10k. You still see them listen on eBay from time to time. They never sold the TLJ Executioner statues. Not sure they’ll sell the ST either. Very expensive paperweights! [emoji1787] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I used a dremel with a cutoff wheel. To smooth it out I used my belt sander. Worked pretty well. Just watch for fiberglass dust. Use a respirator and long sleeves.

Good advice! I’ll pick some up. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Happy November everyone..I have finally completed my kidney plate on a positive note but, I believe this will sadly not be acceptable as an ESB Trooper. I ended up getting a filler used for abs bumpers to fill in the pitting and it did what the abs couldn’t do. I then wet sanded it down with a fine sand paper I gotten at Auto Zone. 320, 400 and 600 was used. I picked up a rattle can of Rustoleum 2x gloss white. Sprayed lightly and gotten this. As you can see, the raw plastic and painted section is off. But...if you end up weathering the part that was fix, it will not show up as much. Sadly this might be my last thread for the ESB trooper I wanted to build. I believe I’m better off as a TD. So it’s off for me to get the strapping done.

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Anovos sent emails out again regarding the Mandalorian Helmet, received it this morning.

Sure, progress on something they announced a few months back and will make them some quick cash. But when it comes to something they announced two years ago... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

We can get caught up in building and tend to miss the odd photo or two, three, four. Great news your replacement ab boxes have arrived. I did see BSP post an image of the backplate they are modifying the mold, interested to see the updates.

I look forward to Thank you very much for your help and support. I will pay attention to the other details again and edit them. Special thanks again to Freduster for the help

GML approved last week, still waiting for LMO to assign TK.

501st access please TK 22183 https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=30274 Thank you.

Heh, he's outgrowing it right now. But his little brother is waiting in the wings.

21. ALL DONE So, ready to see it all? Vincent was very happy with his armor. We got pretty fast at putting it all on. This is the order or assembly I settled on after a few attempts: 1. black shirt and pants. 2. white socks 3. thighs 4. shoes 5. lower legs 6. balaclava 7. torso and back as one step* 8. shoulder straps 9. shoulder bells 10. biceps 11. forearms 12. gloves 13. helmet * I keep the three front pieces connected at all times, and the three back pieces connected at all times. I attach these both halves to each other on one side (as seen here), and then wrap it all around him, securing on the other side. Mobility is pretty good, but it would have been better if I has shortened the lower legs just a little. And here he is with his happy dad... A word about storage. I got a large clear rubbermaid storage bin, and keep all the pieces in there. The pieces will deform a little over time if you allow them to be store long term in a "smashed" state. This is especially true of the shoulder bells. I stand the arm pieces on their ends in the bin for this reason. I keep the two 3-piece torso parts intact for quick assembly, and store them in the bin so that they're "spooning" each other, helping to hold their shape. I also try to avoid letting the armor sit in a hot car for long periods, because this could cause the foam to get soft. I think my hard shell finishes will help prevent this, but it's not worth the risk! The perfectionist in me says I should have painted those shoe soles black. Think I'll make Centurion one day? Ironic that my son suddenly knows a lot more about what it feels like to be trooping in armor than I do. Again, thank you to all who have contributed questions and support through this project. It was a great deal of fun, taught me some new skills, and made me VERY familiar with TK armor, especially with how it should fit on a person's body. Ready to build my own! I would absolutely love if anyone of you who uses these patterns in your own projects, please post a pic or two of how it worked out for you, any mods you made, etc., in this thread here. I will be monitoring this thread closely for quite awhile, so feel free to post any questions here rather than PM me. Thanks! Bill