TK-7186

I have a few little things to touch up, but decided to throw on the entire suit. I did not think I would be able to do it, but a few months later and I look like a Stormtrooper. Thank you everyone for the help along the way. I will touch up a few things, and take some better pictures for submission later this week. I am already planning future upgrades and will probably get a lot more ideas once I can start seeing everyone elses suits up close. -Gerrit

Buttons from VaderDave have been installed. To do: I need to attach the legs to the Ab, add the holster to the belt, armor to the gloves, thermal det., and decals on helmet. Then walk around in the full suit and see if it holds together.

I have learned that my wife will give me a very evil look when she gets out of the shower to find her hair dryer missing and finds me using it to heat up a piece of molding trim to fit my armor. At least I got the back plate done before she took it from me -Gerrit

No new pictures, but did my first complete test run with everything strapped in. I need to move the cod piece up higher, which means I need to add additional snap plates to the ab section. The thighs were to loose, you could easily fit a hand between the armor and the thigh. I was able to get the rear seam apart and will have to do the dreaded cutting then reglue the thigh.

Thanks for the information. For painting the boots, I have some white tire paint I was using to paint the rasied lettering on my car tires. That may work for the rubber sole of the boots. I am going to give it a shot, once I figure out where I stored it. -Gerrit

Since the drop boxes I have come apart, is okay to attach the white strip of fabric to the back of the drop box via chicago screws or do I have to glue the fabric? Thanks, Gerrit

I am nearing the end of mu ROTJ build and I have a few questions. 1) I just wanted to confrim, based ont he CRL, the ammo belt has a rivet on each end to attach it to the canvas belt? 2) What paint do you use to paint the soles of boots to make them white? 3) Drop boxes - are they aligned where the rivets sit or under the last ammo box on each side? 4) I have the trim, but have not tried it yet. Do you glue this on or just push it on and leave it? 5) I looked around, and probably missed it, if your kidney and butt plate are seperated, is there a way to fuse them together? Something I will do in the future. Thanks, Gerrit

Getting there. I need to work on the side straps for Ab and Kidney, belt, Ab buttons, trim around the armor and paint the soles of the boots white. Then I can play around with the setting up the sound system and fans inside the helmet. -Gerrit

Yes. I am attempting to build a ROTJ suit. For my first suit it will be close to ROTJ and I figure I will get more compliant as I go. I have an Ab on order with the correct button orientation and I still have to put the trim around the armor pieces. -Gerrit

Sure can. This is where I am currently at. -Gerrit

I was over thinking it while on a conference call this morning. I answered my own question as I stared at some pictures now. As long as the pieces are touching and I measure the straps at that point there should be a minimal gap. Thanks for the reply. Either I should pay attention to the conference call or the armor planning and not both -Gerrit

All my pieces are seperate and I am using snap plates and elastic to hook everything together. The snap is not at the edge of any piece of armor. Is it okay for there to be a space between the kidney plate and the rear butt piece and the ab plate and the front cod piece? I am assuming this space gets covered by the belt? Thanks, Gerrit

Thanks for the photos. i shall add these to my reference document. -Gerrit

I have printed out a variety of snap systems and there is a variety. Is it recommend to run an elastic piece from the chest piece to the back piece or leave it not connected? If yes, one or two straps for cehst to back? On the ab piece to the lower back piece, I saw one photo that had 2 one inch strips and another had 3 one inch strips. Is two sufficient? Thanks, Gerrit

Yes. I am using the E6000 glue. Here are some pics with some strapping done.

This is my first build so other more experinced builders can chime in. With that said, I cut 1 inch by 1-1\2 inch plates, bigger for double snap plates, and put the snap in the center. I then glued another plate to the back of the other one to cover the back of the snap. I read soemwhere that a reaction could occur between the glue and the metal snap that could melt the armor. I then trim the snap for the area, spread on the glue evenly, put it on the armor and let it sit with a clamp over night. The magnets are the best thing ever and in my opinion essential.

Some random photos:

More snap plates have been added. Biceps and forearms are togther. I am now ready to start adding the straps to link the chest, back, shoulders and arm pieces together. So far the hardest thing to glue are the thighs. I finally got the front of one done last night. On a postive note my thighs are big enough that I do not need to trim them. -Gerrit

Received the boots and they fit perfect. -Gerrit

I am building an RT-MOD suit for a ROTJ build.

I wonder how they got their hands thru if it was sealed on both sides. I would not be able to. Do you use velcro the entire length or a few pieces?

Thanks for the info.

On my ROTJ build I glued one side of the forearms and the other side I will Velcro. Is there a rule on the color I need to use? I was going to use white or clear Velcro, but just want to make sure. Thanks, Gerrit

So far the blue tape is working fine. No residue. I made one mistake of accidently overlapping the bicep piece on the blue tap. It is going to take me a little to clean that up. I have more pieces drying now. The picture is just a random one I found in a post. I copied all the build pictures I could fine on the site and put them in a word document to print as reference. -Gerrit

Does everyone break out in a sweat on their first build? I started gluing the snap plates in. Made sure not to use a lot of glue and smeared it on evenly. Figure I would start off slow with a couple of pieces. -Gerrit