Airborne Trooper

Try some mineral spirit or testors paint thinner

That looks really clean! The 7th rivet is for the cod piece.

Thanks, Scott. I have it fairly smooth now and the paint I bought is a lot darker so instead I did a very light abs layer and sanded it smooth. There's still a little ridge but no where near as noticeable. My weathering and my belt will basically cover any imperfections at the end.

Nevermind, looked at Tony's new thread and went with 20mm from edge and top. Now I need to buy a set kit because my dritz pliers doesn't work very well or can't reach parts of the armor.

Thank you. My Summer I term just ended so I had to bust my butt writing essays all weekend and I haven't got a chance to do much. I was able to sand, apply another coat of ABS paste, sand and shine and I feel that it's where I want it at. I was able to drill my holes for the 6 rivets, and cod snap. My son just flew in last night and I'm going to see if he would like to help me with my build tonight. The one thing I can't find is the specific location for the right internal snap. The reference photos I've looked at appear to be between 10 and 20mm from the top and side edge. I'm using Tandy Line 24 snaps so if anyone can chime in before I drill my pilot hole I would appreciate it!

I bought Tandy Line 24 snaps off Amazon and heard they are better than Dritz. Also, check out Darman's neckseals. $45 with the zipper option or $35 for the velcro option. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21385-darmans-neck-seals/

Hardhat liner might work better. That's what I use in my bucket and it sits perfectly so I can see out the eyes.

I smoothed it out the best I could put there are still a few little pockets. There's a distinct ridge but if I sanded it down further it would eventually expose the joint and leave it prone to cracking unfortunately. I'm on the fence if I should paint it white or not. The color isn't too far off since it came from the same abs my kit is made from. I'm going sandy so it may not be a big issue. Thoughts and suggestions?

Wow that looks awesome. I'm on this stage too. Did you completely remove the return edge on the bottom of your kidney plate?

So I've been cutting and trimming away and decided to work on the kidney and cod pieces. Realized it's a little too tight for comfort so I put some big shims on that I plan on adjusting after they are all joined completely. CA glued back support and the shim piece I started off putting my abs paste with a popsicle stick and it was kind of rough, used a paint brush on later layers with better results and less sanding After a lot of sanding with 100 grit this is the progress I got it all smoothed out and used some 800 grit wet sandpaper to get rid of the scratches but decided to paint another layer of abs paste on. It's drying until tonight where I'll sand it and wet sand it again. I'll add a picture of the final result. I'm really surprised how strong it is turning out to be and lesson learned: use a brush to apply it on as smooth as possible. This will save several minutes of sanding! I spent about 1 hour or so sanding one side.

Why hasn't this been pinned yet?! Your gloves look fantastic!

Congratulations! Are you going to Police Officer status next?

What a lucky guy to have you working on his armor! Are you planning on giving the bucket your electronic makeover too?

Ah, crud, I missed that in the picture. Sand them suckers down!

Nice fitment and nice photos! Looking fantastic

Do yourself a favor and pick up some cut resistant gloves. They have them at Home Depot for like $10 and are a life saver!

Thanks for the advice, I like how yours turned out so I'll attempt to put a return edge on first then pair it together. I have a big mason jar full of ABS paste ready to be used.

Sorry to revive an older thread but this is a great tutorial. Did you end up putting a return edge on the shim? I couldn't tell on your final photos? I have to do this on mine but MTK also includes the notch in the kidney already. I'll have to fill that in as well with scrap and paste.

Mine originally fit like that. I ended up having to use wider strips on the front and back. You might be able to get away with just wider on the rear but do what's comfortable and works for you.

Oh I gotcha. I'm trying to figure out how to cut the rears in an angle so I don't have church bell knees. Luckily MTK gives a lot of extra material to work with. You've got 3 inches on height on me so I have to trim the thighs and calves

Looks like you could pull up the thighs several inches. to give your knees some mobility. I'm on this step myself but I've got to trim at least an inch if not more since I'm too short to be a stormtrooper.

Just remember try to stick to the original finishing strips in the front as much as possible. Not everyone has scrawny, British, stick arms so use larger in the rear where necessary.

Before you put the end caps on the TD pipe, use it as a guide to do the curves for the battery knee pack. Trooperbay, maker of our armor, has a great video tutorial using this process.

Fitment looks great. Start on something else or you'll become obsessed with the ears like I did. Eventually come back and thin it out some more if you want to be more canon.

Looking good! Your almost done!