pandatrooper

Pretty impressive detail! Looks like he's modifying the E-11 from the Kaiyodo model kit. Looks like he was turning the barrel on a mini-lathe or something? Crazy detail nonetheless! The Sideshow TK's actually come with very detailed 6th scale E-11's now. The Kaiyodo kits are from several years back. Unfortunately, he's got the grey on the helmet all wrong in terms of screen accuracy

I think it was maybe 2007?

I love this (and the little details)

This is why I tape the parts together to prevent them from moving while the glue cures.

This is the other one I was talking about: From Star Wars to Jedi - the Making of a Saga. I have a VHS version of this that came with a VHS box set of the OT. 1 of 5 parts

Understood. We can do it FISD!

If an FISD member completes 2 EIB costumes (eg: ANH stunt, then does ESB), does that count as 1 or 2 EIB for FISD?

I always try to pick the adhesive that has the best properties for the job. Not all glue works well for everything (E6000 is close!) Some tips: Before gluing 2 parts, sand them lightly and clean them. Raw materials sometimes don’t bond well, if you sand both surfaces, this will give “tooth” for the adhesive to bite into. Clean off any sanding dust debris as well and clean the parts if possible. If you just ate some greasy pizza and are trying to glue armor, wash your hands first! Oil and contaminants can weaken a bond. I also find it’s helpful to have a tight fit for both parts instead of “space” that you need to fill with an adhesive. Try to get a secure fit first before gluing. Also consider surface area, the more surface area that you have with full contact on both parts, the more secure the bond will be. Pinning / mechanical - I think a lot of people forget to do this. There’s often situations where you could just glue something, but a simple trick is to “pin” it. Say I’m gluing a cube shape to a PVC pipe. I’ll drill a tiny hole in the cube, and glue in a pin. I often save the leftover pins from 1/8” rivets for this purpose. Drill the proper hole, and put a drop of Zap a gap on the end of the pin, and press it in the hole. It’s going to stay there. Now I just snip off the pin and only leave a ¼” or whatever on the end. Drill a matching hole in the PVC, apply E6000 to both surfaces. I’ll put a drop of Zap a gap in the pin, and now align both parts and clamp. The glue will hold the pieces together, and the pin will prevent it from moving. I would use this trick for assembling resin figures all the time, and I find I can use it on various props too. Don’t always just think that you need to use glue / adhesive alone. If no one can see it, use a form of mechanical support too like screws, bolts, rivets or pins along with gluing. You’ll get a much more durable bond and it can resist repeated impacts, etc. Having built lots of sculpture, models, costumes and props, here’s a few descriptions: Armor (ABS / Plastic) - I’ve used plastic weld for model building for a long time. It basically melts ABS and styrene type plastics to create a bond. I usually try to apply some to one surface to soften it up, then apply the other piece. Then I will brush some along the seams and clamp it. Pretty strong bond, but it only allows for a little flex on butt joins, surface to surface is quite strong. You can also get styrene tube glue. Most the ones for model kits are not as strong of a bond as plastic weld. I find it doesn’t “melt” the plastic as much. But you have more work time if you have smaller parts. Keep this just for styrene as it’s not as effective on other plastics. - E6000 provides for a MUCH longer work time, and it allows a little “give” in joins. For non porous surfaces (plastic) sand both sides, apply E6000 in a bead on BOTH surfaces, and spread it with a pop stick. Let it tack up for a few mins (in other words, take your time to get your parts aligned. I usually have tape and clamps ready to hold parts in place) align, join then clamp. I find that the bond will hold after several hours, but best to leave it overnight / 24 hours before stressing it on areas like the shins. The only downside is the long cure time, but that gives you more time to play with. I’ve used this for resin kits but I find that sometimes if you don’t spread it thin (on top of this, you’re spreading this on 2 surfaces) it will create a “thickness” that you might not want. This might throw the alignment out on other parts. - ABS / PVC cement adhesives. I’ve been using these a lot for blasters, etc. Make sure you get the correct type for the proper plastic! ABS glue for ABS and PVC for PVC. They come in different colors and have different cure times / properties. Remember that plumbers want a fast cure time so that they can install a sink or whatever, and move on. This might be too fast of a cure time for you, so pick the type that works for you. If you’re joining ABS to PVC, there’s a special version for that purpose too (since plumbers often run into this issue, trying to adapt one plastic to another. However with all of these plumbing type adhesives, you should sand both surfaces, clean them, and apply the cement quickly and evenly, and then join the parts quickly. You need to make sure that the adhesive is still “wet” in that it needs to melt both surfaces slightly to create the bond. If it’s dry to dry, it’s not going to hold. 2 part Epoxy - Can be a strong join but I only use it for surfaces that are solid and will not see a lot of flex. I sand both surfaces and apply it to one part, then join. I don’t like mixing it and some types cure yellow. I’ve found that it can get brittle over time, and it doesn’t have much “give”. Gorilla glue - I’ve only used this on aluminum. It fills gaps and foams up a little. Quite strong, but the foaming can leave a bit of a mess. Decent bond. Expensive and it can dry up in the bottle. Hot glue - I love hot glue when used properly! It works best on porous surfaces like foam, fabric, wood, etc. I’ve used it in lots of different ways, from bonding, gap filling, to even casting! Yes, you can cast with it by slowly gunning it into a mold. It results in a heavy piece since the glue is so dense, but usable for small parts. Hot glue comes in different types, there’s the standard type, and there’s a slower setting one that can be used on plastics and other surfaces, and a heavy duty one. If I need more work time, I’ll use a big hot glue gun with the slow set. If I need something quicker, I’ll use a mini gun with standard tubes. Small hot glue guns produce less heat, and the glue ends up with a lower melting point resulting in less work time and faster cure. A bigger gun creates more heat, resulting in a higher work time. The tips are big and small too, so pick the one that suits the job! Super glues - I only ever use Zap a Gap. The other types are somewhat sketchy. Zap a gap comes in different types with different properties (slow set, plastic, thicker consistency gel, etc..) I really like their adhesives. I have used commercial / industrial cyanoacrylite glues with accelerators before for making armatures for sculpting figures. It’s somewhat messy with spraying accelerator out of a bottle. It’s a “solid” adhesive and doesn’t have much give at all, very brittle sometimes. I’ve used Zap a gap on a lot of resin kits and such. It’s a good bond but I personally only like using it for “static” models. It’s OK for prop / handling use if it’s a greeblie, but for strength I’ll use something else. I don’t like using “Crazy Glue” as I find it’s very brittle and can “frost” the plastic you’re working with. I would only use Zap a gap sparingly and sometimes use it in a clever way. Say I’m gluing 2 cubes together. I’ll use E6000 in the middle, and put a drop of Zap a gap in each corner. The zap a gap will hold it in place, but the strength will come from the E-6000.

I'll try it tonight on my AM kit and see if I can manage it.

That's a Clever fix Eric. This method would have prevented any damage and created a more even bend / look. -----

Yes, these are the width of the strips. The length depends on how you cut your armor and what type it is. Some are longer, some are shorter. I'm not sure what you need when you're asking for "please tell me what about chest ,back plates and cod ?" You might want to clarify with more detail, but there are no "measurements" foe these pieces.

I really wish LFL would take things like this and the one that came with the 3 VHS set (from star wars to jedi: the making of a Saga) as well as the videos on the SW website, and put them on DVD / Blue ray http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Jedi-Making-Saga/dp/6303065791

Does this clear things up? ANH cover strips (the finishing strips on the front and backs of limbs) - Biceps (front and back) 15mm - Forearms (front and back) 15mm - Thighs (front and back) 20mm - Shins (front and back) 20mm Most people try to use screen accurate measurements for the front, and the same measurements if possible on the back. If they have bigger limbs, they try to shim the back with a wider strip. If that's still not big enough, then the front and back are equally shimmed if possible, again depending on your limb size.

This is awesome!!! in Youtube in 5 parts I notice in this video that someone is twisting some wires or something around the ankle of this TK (possibly to hold the shin together?) at 5:57 into the vid.

Yes, but just because you work in a Ferrari factory doesn't mean you can easily own a Ferrari.

I believe front and backs of thighs and shins are 20mm - 25mm (depending on what fits you, but I think the screen accurate guess is 20mm) The arms are 15mm.

Looks good, glad the shoulder straps worked out for you. Now I'm running strapless! I know this doesn't affect EIB really, but it would be nice to secure the ab / kidney connection at the sides. Looks like it's coming apart there?

Or you can use rare earth magnets on both sides too

I usually just clamp the stuff overnight. By then the bond is good enough to hold the parts together. I wait 24 hours before I stress the parts too much (eg: open the shins and stick my leg in). I bought enough clamps to work on 2 pieces of armor at once. one set makes the build go really slow otherwise!

I'm so jealous of those long C-clamps! Those would have made my build much easier! Nice work so far! Before you get too far, make sure to wear socks and your TK boots for test fitting. I did that with my right shin and assumed the same measurements would work on my left shin - nope. I had already cut them and glued them, so I had to do a lot of heating and shaping with a heat gun.

Thanks Deckard! When my E-11 article is complete, I will add this as a reference in the article. Thanks for posting it and offering us permission to use it as a reference!

Most people hot glue them in place.

There's a few threads discussing this topic as well, might be some useful info there ---------

Brian, what a slave driver!! I haven't done too much, other than sorting through all the pieces "test fitting" them on my body. I can see I'll have to modify quite a few areas as I'm a slim build and only weigh about 150lbs. The hand plates are HUGE on me!! Not sure if I'm going to cut them down or how to approach that just yet. I sized up the chest plate and found it's a bit long, so I'm going to trim the neck opening lower, and will likely trim the bottom edge too, and give it a return. I know there's "shoulder straps" molded into the chest and back, but I'm not going to use them. I have a different way of attaching the chest now, so I'll cut those off as I don't need them, and to make it a bit more screen accurate. I've also been sizing / marking areas for the abs / kidney as there's tons of material there (I've got like a 31" waist, so I'll need to trim a lot off) No pictures yet. I like to post updates when I have a "good amount" done, so it's likely I'll finish the torso, then post images. I've ordered an AP lid to go along with the AM kit, so I'm waiting for that too. I'll be hand painting everything (including cheek tube stripes) on this lid, I've had good practice and I'm confident with the skills required there. In the mean time, I've been working on a T-21 blaster / tutorial (it's going to be a big tutorial, fairly detailed). I'm on the last few scratch building portions, then I'll paint it. I've also been working on FID tutorials, so that's taking a bunch of time.

Searching FISD, and Google is your friend as is Youtube ----------- The Dented Helmet and RPF (replica prop forum) are also good sources. Check with your Garrison too, as they may have more info locally for you.