wolfman

Today on cooking with Wolfman we'll be preparing one of the Imperial Department of Military Research's (aka Rottie) favorite dishes. The TK shoulder strap. The straps for the TK come flat. So in order that they will look right we'll have to curve them slightly. Start by boiling up some water. I use a small electric burner I found at a local drug store and a pot my wife abandoned. Filled half way with water. I bring it to a boil and toss in the straps. Let me heat for awhile. Once they're heated pull them out and bend them over something cylindrical a bit smaller than your child's shoulder. It'll spring back a little. There we go. I go ahead and glue it to the chest plate. It'll secure to the back plate with Velcro. Now I build the drop box'. After I trim them I cut some 3/8" wide strips of scrap plastic the glue to the inside wall of the box. Then I cut a rectangle of plastic to fit inside the back of the box and glue it to the strips of plastic. Box is done. Painting. I washed all the parts with mild dish soap, the same as the helmet. Then I hung all the parts in my shop to dry overnight. I also paint them here. I don't worry about overspray because I do a lot of airbrush work and built a negative air mover to accommodate. Others should spray pieces one at a time though. First I use Valspar plastic primer then I use Rustolium white High Performance Enamel. Reference my painting instructions earlier in this thread. Other white parts. Let everything dry for a day or two. TD sniper plate. Secured to the left grieve. First I mix up a little 2 part epoxy putty and put it into a few spots on the back side that contact the grieve the most in order to make the plate more secure after gluing. After the epoxy putty cures I glue it on using E-6000. TK knee plate. Secured to the left grieve. I run glue along the inside bottom edge and clamp it onto the grieve so that the bumps line up along the top ridge. Now the right knee amo strip. Secured to the right thigh piece. First I round off the ends. Making sure it's centered to the front of the thigh I drill through and rivet it on both sides. I'm using regular rivets instead of split rivets because I couldn't find split rivets at any hardware stores but once I do these rill be easily drilled out and replaced. The ab buttons. First TD. No center button panel and three untainted buttons mounted on the left. Simply glue it. I do this before painting. Now TK. Center panel and left four buttons are painted with the same blue and gray used on the helmet. Reference the helmet painting. After painting the buttons simply glue the panel and buttons on Compare TK to TD.

This is Charlie who is positive he's prettier than whatever I'm taking pictures of. I sand down the edges on the ab and cod piece and the kidney plate and but plate. Other than that they only need final fitting. I'm going to start by trimming out the inside go the grieves. I'll cut along the line I drew using a pair of plastic scissors. Then I clean it up and round out the corners with the rotary tool I did this with all the leg pieces. Now I trim down the belt. I run it on my sander until the sides are are only about 1/8" thick. Notice how much more flex able it is now. I do the same with the knee plates,buttons and drop boxes. We start the final fitting by taping the ab plat tightly to her. Now the kidney and butt plates. I tape them all together and make sure everything's lined up and where I want it once it's strapped up. I mark the point where I want them to meet up. Lined up and centered under her armpit. I follow the same line down to the but and cod plates. Once all that's all marked up I can start on they thighs. I just put them around her leg paying attention to try and line up the top an bottoms once I cut it. I tape the front ad squeeze the back together until the "tightness" is about right. I leave it loose for movement. Then I tape it up about where I'd like it to hang just to make sure it looks good. I slide the thigh back off and mark them in the center of the tops and bottom. I do it both front and back. This is where I will cut. The grieves. I first match up the pairs. Make sure they're right because There is a left and right. I line up and tape them together in the front. I place it on her. I turn her around and squeeze it together until I like the size. Not too loose or too tight. Now I mark it like I did the thighs. I mark the bottom. I measure from the top to where I'd like the top of the grieve to be, about 1". I then transfer that to the bottom to be cut later. It should be mentioned that I did the arms using OVERLAPPING joints method and for the legs I'll be using BUTT joints. Rottie made his armor for use with the BUTT joint method in mind. So you'll probably find that easier to use. I start the final trimming by laying a metal ruler across from the two marks I made and cutting along the edge with a hobby knife. Then bend the cut at the mark and snap it off for a clean cut. I do this on all pieces. After all the trimming is done I measure and cut strips of plastic about .5" wide to glue on the inside of the butt joint. Grieves. I start by measuring with a piece of the .5" wide material. I go about 1/8th" from the bottom. To about 1/8" from the detail at the top. I cut it at the marks then nip off the corners at about 45*. I run a small bead of glue along the inside edge of one side of the grieve. I place and clamp the piece of plastic on the inside so that half of it is still sticking out for the other half to be glued to it. I put the other half on the strip and clamp it. This is what it looks like when done. A nice straight flush joint. I do the same to only one side of the back of the grieve. I don't glue the other side. That will get a strip of Velcro to close it. For the thighs I do the same but seal up both front and back. While I'm waiting for the E-6000 to cure I decided to put together the Thermal Detonator. I know Sandtroopers don't use Thermal Detonators but I'm trying to show the full build for TDs and TKs. The pieces. First I take the piece of 1.5" PVC that Rottie provides and I taper the ends on my belt sander to help the ends fit on. You can see the slight taper. Now I run a thin bead of E-6000 along the top edge of the PVC Then I put the end cap on. I take the Thermal Detonators control panel and mark where I wanted to trim it. I then cut it on the lines I put E-6000 an the back of the control panel. I glue it to the PVC centered in between the end caps. No I tape it all tight. No I'll cut out the TD ab and belt buttons. I mark with a pencil so you can see where I cut. Now that the glue has set overnight I'm going to trim the bottom of the grieves where I marked them. I decide to hand draw lines to match the look on regular sized armor. The top of the curve is the 1" mark I made. I do this to both grieves. I use plastic scissors to cut along the line. Now the cover strips. Over every front facing joint there'll be a 10mm strip. On the back will be 15mm strips. I cut 4 strips of 10mm and 4 of the 15mm. I start one piece at the top of the grieve right under the detail. Then hold it along the seam and mark it at the bottom. I cut it at the marks and nip off the corners. Now I lay the strip on a piece of tape and run a thin bead of E-6000 down the center. Then I center the strip on top of the seam. I tape the strip down tight with several strips of tape. I repeat this for all the seams using 10mm for the front and 15mm for the back.

Ok it's time for another installment to the coolest non tedious thread ever! Here's the lower body laid out. I have already rough trimmed it all.

Walt sends some strips of plastic for cover strips. He recommends 7mm wide cover strips for the arms. However, I used 10mm wide because I thought it looked better. I cut some strips of the strips down to 10mm wide. I fold it at the seam I made with my hobby knife so that it snaps. I place a strip over the rivets flush at one end of the seam. I mark it at the other end. I cut it across at the line and then cut off the edges to make it look clean. I run a bead of glue down the center of the strip I place it over the rivets and along the seam. I clamp it in place and allow the glue to fully dry.

After riveting I want to trim the parts to fit each other. I trim the bits that are sticking out. The ends of the forearms that are too long.

Now that I have the pieces all glued up and let them completely dry, I'm going to add some rivets. Probably not necessary for a kids build but I figured I might as well. It gives the pieces some real strength and a finished feel. Forearms. I'm using 1/4" inch long and 1/8" diameter rivets so I drill a 1/8" hole about an inch from each end and one in the middle. Then I stick a rivet into the hole. Placing the rivet into the tool I ratchet it down until the it pops. I repeat this until all the rivets are in place For the biceps I only use two rivets. Here's what the rivet looks like inside the piece.

After I score along my pencil line I fold it over at the score line until it snaps off. For the ends and return edges I use a pair of plastic scissors, that I got from a hobby shop, to just snip up to the scored line. Just for recognition sake: Return edge Is an edge that gives a visual "thickness" to the plastic. These edges will show so if you need to trim a piece of armor shorter you'll want to do it from a bottom edge so that it's not as obvious. For instance grieves (calves) should be trimmed from the bottom and the trim line should follow the original line. I may be getting ahead of myself though. After the trimming in order to make the cut as straight as I can I run it lightly on my belt sander. Then to get the melted bits off I slide my hobby knife along the edge making a clean edge. Now I lightly sand the edges with 220 grit paper and knockdown the pointy corners so that they don't poke after the piece is built. A quick test fit. I sand off the shine about a 1/4" or so along the edge to guarantee a good bond with the glue. I marked about where for the photo. The inside of the receiving piece is sanded as well. I run a thin bead of E-6000 along the inside edge. Put the two haves together making sure the edge lines up with the overlap mark I made when sizing. All pieces go together very easily so far. I clamp the seam and tape the middle of the seam down so that it's good and tight all the way down. Careful fitting of the seam now will ensure that the cover strips lay down nicely later. Repeating all the same for the forearms. Now I trim the back and chest plates. Starting with the shoulders. Now the sides. I then clean up the edges and round over the points using 220 grit paper. I also make sure that I like the neckline. I just eyeball the pieces. I make small adjustments with the sandpaper.

Now that the helmets are done I'm going to do armor now starting with the chest and back plates. First I took the little one to a dance store and got her a thick one piece bodysuit. I'm not sure of the brand but I think it was around 40$. I also got her some black gloves at a department store. They were 4$. Also she's very thin and tall for 6 years old. She's 53" tall and 52 lbs. So this armor is going to go together very easily for her. I have to only trim about .5" from each piece and very little from the ends of only a few. Almost like it was custom built for her. I start by placing the chest plate on her and taping it in place. Then I mark where to trim her shoulders. I want it about 1/2" from the front of her neck. I put on the back plate and mark the sides of both front and back. I tape the plates together at the shoulders and mark the back plat about 2" from the front plate shoulder mark. Now I make sure the marks on the chest and back plates look about right. It's a little difficult to measure them so I just eyeball it. Now the shoulder bells. They look just about ideal so I don't do much more than clean up the edges where I trimmed them. With the shoulder bells taped in place I put the biceps on her. I keep in mind that I want all of the seams of every piece of armor to be turned inwards. I tape them closed once I have them adjusted how I like them. I make sure the return edges are going to match up well. Then I find the middle of the two edges of the inner and outer shells. I mark it at the top and the bottom. I then measure back .5" from the mark toward the back and mark the inner shell top and bottom. Now I have her bend her elbow so that it holds the bicep in place and I tape it to the shoulder bell I use the same technique I used for the biceps for the forearms. Then I make sure it all lines up good. This photo shows the inner shell mark being .5" toward the outside. Once trimmed I'll use this extra strip of plastic to glue the she'll halves together. Now I connect the two marks with a straight edge. This is the line I will cut on. Instead of making her stand while I mark up the other arms armor I simply line up the pieces end to end making sure that they are corresponding edges and that the bump ridge matches. Then I transfer the marks. The marks should mirror each other so that when trimmed and glued the pieces will be the same sizes. So that I don't get confused which pieces go together I mark them left or right. Now I start cutting. I use a hobby knife an score along the lines I drew.

For this build I have added a padding tutorial on MEPD for the helmets. They're not very good and I don't recommend even looking at them. So I will not be adding that part to this thread. Trust me your not missing anything. I'm not good at making padding and will buy knee pads from now on. Don't go to look. You've been warned. Here are both buckets I have finished. Notice one is ANH which I will weather to be a Sandtrooper and one is ESB.

I'm going to add the screen behind the frown now. I'm using black plastic window screen I purchased from a local hardware store. I got the smallest roll I could find and I'll still have a supply to last 3 lifetimes. I cut a piece to fit and then put several dots of super glue along the frown to secure it. Now mic tips. There a good color by themselves so I don't paint them. I used the metal screen that Rottie supplied on the Sandtrooper bucket. I didn't like how hard it was to cut. I couldn't keep the strands together very easy. So I decided to try some of the plastic screen. Much easier to cut. I put the two I cut on a piece of tape to make them easier to hold. Then I used a silver Sharpie to color it. Then I placed them into the tips. I used tiny dots of superglue to secure it. Then I trim the bottoms. I use my bandsaw but a hacksaw or just sand the ridge off works too. I then find center in the mic tip cove and mark it. Then I take a 5/8" spade bit and drill where I marked. This is why I reinforced and thickened the mic tip alcove with epoxy putty earlier. I use a generous amount of super glue all the way around the mic tip tang. Then I place it into the hole and let the glue set up. Now the brow trim. I place one end near the ear where it stops and tape it. Then I run the trim tight across the brow where it will go and mark where it will end on this end. Then I cut it where I marked with scissors. Now I open up the trim with two fingers and run a thin bead of E-6000 inside the channel. This will keep it in place. Forever. Then I work it onto the brow where it belongs. Sliding the dome edge into the trim channel. Make sure it's exactly where you want it. Once the E-6000 cures it's very hard to get back off. Now the bottom trim. I use a small bead of E-6000 on this trim as well. Then I place the trim where it goes. I work it around the bucket making sure it bottoms out and also clamping it every little bit to help hold it where it goes. When I reach the other side I trim it so that it goes together tight. I use E-6000 to mate the two ends together.

Now stripes and lenses. Usually I'd paint on the tube stripes using Testors blue #2715 but Rottie provides really nice decals so I'll use those. I cut the sheet in half and trim it to fit about 1/8" from the cheek when I put them on. Then I peel the backing paper carefully so that the stripes stay on the semi translucent side. Then I carefully lay them down, making sure to not let the strips touch the plastic until it's all in position. After it's placed I rub it and make sure it's all stuck down then lift the paper off. Bam! Tube stripes! Lenses. Rottie provided some really nice lens plastic. You could just glue it into the helmet because it's curved perfectly to fit but I like a more finished look. During the next few steps, be careful not to scratch the lens material. I first mark the size of lens I need by holding the material up to the helmet. I make them a bit larger than the eye, leaving room to put in screws. You can use a rotary tool or a coping saw but I use my bandsaw to cut the lens out. Then to the small belt sander to finish the edges. You can also do this by hand. Now I cut 6 pieces of plastic or wood about 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/2" and drill small pilot holes in them for tiny screws to go into. I'd tell you size of screws but I don't know, I've had these tiny things for years. I think they are eyeglass screws. I glue them in place around the eye at the three "corners" using a small amount of E-6000. Don't use much because the chemical reaction produces heat and will warp or melt the plastic. You can also use epoxy but that gets hot too. Now I hold the lens on the plastic mounts and use a Sharpie to mark where the holes need to be drilled. Then I drill them and use the tiny screws to secure the lenses in the bucket. There, nice looking lens with just a tiny bit of extra work.

Here's the soap and pad I use to wash the bucket. Here's the paints. I put the helmet on my sculpting table. It makes it easier to turn while I paint. I then spray a couple of light coats of the primer. I only allow a few minutes in between. Allow the primer to dry overnight. Now I will topcoat with this, Rustolium Professional series gloss white. I do several light coats. I make sure I have even coverage with no drips. Okay. First off I'll say I am not the steadiest hand. That said, here we go... This part is going to show the paint for the ESB version (black frown, trap stripes etc.). The rest of this thread however will portray a Sandtrooper (grey frown, no trap stripes) build. Now I paint the frown. I use a small pointed brush and try to keep it straight. Although I do keep a bottle of Testors enamel thinner to clean up any mess ups. I use it lightly because it will take off the white as well. Now I paint an outline of black around the trap perimeters. Around the ears as well. Now the back traps. Now I paint the vocoder. Now we'll fill in the traps with the Testors grey. Fill them in leaving a thin line about an 1/8th of an inch wide. I do my best to keep it straight and even but there will be some inconsistencies. Hears the ear after the grey. And a back trap. Now we'll do the trap stripes. I do them mostly freehand using original helmet photo reference. First I put tape ion top and bottom to get the lines straight. I only estimate the placement as the traps are not the same size. Now I paint the lines. Take the tape off Now the cheek traps. I don't use tape for these. I also paint rank stripes on the ears. Don't ask me about what stripe combination denotes what rank. I'm not sure and I've only seen guesses as to that.

Now it's time to paint. I prep the helmet by simply washing it with a green scrub pad and a mild dish soap. This will remove any oils from your skin, any release agents used in the heat form process and dirt and the scrub pad will scuff it enough to help the paint stick. I wash inside and out and get in all the crevasses. I then let it dry completely. To help I use an air compressor. Then I spray it with a white or clear plastic primer. Don't let it drip. One coat is enough as long as it's covered. Optionally you can tape off the eyes and vent holes and spray the inside a flat black. I don't do that with these helmets though. For every white part I will use- Rustolium Gloss White. Found at home improvement stores. For helmet and buttons- Grey: Testors 1138 Blue: Testors 2715 Black: Testors 1147 Found at hobby stores. I let the primer cure for a full 24 hours or more. Then I spray several coats of white on the helmet. Make sure you do light coats so there are no drips. Make sure your paint area is clean.

Now I'll do the ears. This has always been the trickiest part of helmet building for me. Matching the curve of the tubes to the ears is hard but if you go really slow you can get it really good. First I do a rough trim making sure not to go too far in. Now I'll start doing the final fit. I hold the round of the ear where it goes. And I start sanding out the shape of the curve of the tube on the ear really slowly. Every little bit I stop and see where needs a little more. Remember to go slow. You can take off but you can't put it back (easily). Then I clean up the ear with 220 grit sand paper. Now I will drill holes the same size as the bolts that come with the bucket. I drill the ears alone first. Then I hold it against the bucket where it goes. You can tape it to help hold it in place. And drill through. Here's the hardware that Rottie included. I use the 4 bigger bolts on the circle of the ear and the 2 smaller to do the bottom of the ear. This is about where I drill. Using a clamp to help hold it while I drill. This is the bottom bolt in place. Now I trim the bottom of the bucket. The two halves of the helmet do not and unless I'm doing it wrong never will line up perfectly. That's what the ears and bottom trim rubber are for. Try to blend the two halves and ears together and keep in mind that you want the trim to go on without any gaps between it and the helmet, trim the helmet keeping the curves as gradual as possible. There's places like around the front, under the vocoder that the curves are a bit hard but that's ok. Before I start painting I mix up some two part epoxy putty and put it on the inside of the faceplate where the mic tips will mount. This will help to keep the area strong when we drill and mount them.

Next I find the center of the face plate by measuring between the eyes. Then I cut a piece of tape that fits between the side traps on the dome. From bottom corner to bottom corner. Then I remove the tape and find the center. Putting it back on the dome I can transfer the center mark. Now I can line up the dome to the face plate. I put a piece of tape in the center to hold it where I want it. I like a low brow line so I put it about 3/8" to 1/2" above the eye line. Then I place the dome brow line as parallel to the eye line as I can. I put tape in the corners to help hold it. After that I run a strip of tape all the way accord the brow line so it's real secure. I didn't take a photo. Now I mark a good spot on the seem line where the ear will cover it. I drill and rivet it. After I do both sides I then mark and drill and rivet another spot about the center of the ear circle just to keep it all tight while I work on the ears.

Brow line. Now I cut where I indicated, using the hobby knife. Then sand my cut smooth.

Now I take 220 grit sand paper and clean up my edges and make sure the eyeholes will be flush when I install the lenses. You can hold a piece of cardboard to the inside of the eyes to see if there's gaps that need sanding out. Ok. Now I'll trim the brow line. I use a piece of painters tape and run it from the bottom of each side trap, making sure the line doesn't run too low or too high. You can judge by eye and reference photos by comparing your line relative to the top of the dome.

First thing I like to do is to outline the shape I intend to cut out with the hobby knife. First the eyes: Then the teeth: I make sure the teeth look uniform and matching. Now I start cutting. I score very lightly where my pencil line is making sure my knife doesn't wonder. I keep scoring keeping an even pressure on the knife so that eventually works through the plastic. Stay patient so that you don't cut where you don't want to. For the teeth I use the rotary tool with a small sanding drum bit on the backside of the face plate to sand through slightly. I then use the hobby knife to trim out to my pencil lines. Again, go slow and pay attention to your lines. I've done a lot of buckets and these holes have a tendency to get bigger on me as I try to keep straightening and squaring up my cuts. Probably just me though. : P.

I started by finishing the basic trimming. That means just trimming the obvious extra plastic. Not what you'll need to trim when fitting. I didn't take photos of this process as it is pretty straight forward. Just make sure to keep return edges where needed. There's lots of reference photos on the forums if your not sure. Next I decided to start a helmet first. you'll need a pencil, hobby knife, sandpaper. Also a pair of plastic hobby scissors and a rotary tool are helpful. Rottie provides some rivets. I like to use more than he provides and will show my method. So you'll need a rivet tool.

Here's the kit as I received it. Rottie gives everything you need for the helmet. Not much trimming as Rottie has done most of it.

I got 2 child's kits from rottie, TD4934. Right now I've only got the upper body, bucket, chest, back, and arms. The plan is to build one a TD and one a TK. I'll be posting the build thread here as I go.

Everyone should also note that Bluey's taking pictures in a mirror so the gaps would be in reverse. Just saying for accuracys sake. î„… seriously though, it's coming along so nice!

Saw it in person today, looks amazing. I can already tell it's going to be one of the cleaner builds, meaning the strapping and everything is coming out really good and special attention to detail is making all the difference. I'm really looking forward to seeing this build completed! Gonna be one sweet set of armor!

So awesome! That's one of the most beautiful lids I've seen. I think I can see myself in the shine.

So sweet! Cant wait to help any way I can. I've got rivets and snaps, putty, that you hopefully won't need. I'm probably as pumped as you are! That's some beautiful armor!