NastyNoah

Thanks Jens, the thigh ammo and the sniper plate were difficult to get attached but I am grateful I took the extra time to do it and do it right.

Wal-Mart carries the Starter brand which is very similar just half the price of UA.

Tuesday night update ! Took the clamps off of my thigh ammo belt and everything is looking good. Was able to add the split rivets and I am very happy with the way it looks. I would like to think everyone that commented and helped me out with this. Made a ton of plastic snap plates tonight. First i drilled a hole all the way through each plate just large enough for a 1/8" rivet to go through. I then used a 1/4" bit to to make a counter sunk recess for the head of the rivet to sit in. I was able to rivet the male fasteners to the snap plate and it went a lot faster using the rivet gun over the snap setter tool. Using this method I can get more of the snap plate connecting with the glue and the armor pieces. I should have taken some more pictures of this but I think everyone will understand. I added the two male snaps to the but plate bu have not permanently fixed them to it yet. Let me know if this is correct before I make anything permanent. The rest of my night was spent attaching snap plates to the armor. Maybe I will be able to do a test fit by Friday.

The buttons are not ABS they are some kind of oily plastic caps. I am going to rinse them with water and dish soap tonight then slightly scuff with 400 grit paper. If that doesn't work I will just buy some of these off eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/290656348177?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I have now tried two different kinds of primer and Testors paint and everything seems to rub off of these little plastic pieces very easily. Does anyone know a trick to get the paint to stick to these?

I cant wait to replace my avatar as well, and add my TK id number to my postings.

1- I am using the webbing for the snap plates because I can get it affixed to the armor easier than the plastic plates. I am still using plastic snap plates in parts of the armor that are not curved or contoured. I'll post more pics of this as I progress. 2- I had not thought about the belt scratching up my armor. Thanks for the tip, I will take care of that tonight.

One week ago today I received the big brown box and in that time I believe I have accomplished quite a bit on this build. I am already starting to wonder what I am going to do once it is complete. I have spent the last three months researching this project in anticipation of starting on it and now I know I will be done here very soon and right now I am too broke to start on another kit. Any ways I was able to glue the thigh pack on after some trial and error. I had to drill out the RT rivet bumps and into the thigh seam where I put a temporary fastener in to hold everything in place. I then applied the E-6000 to every point that made contact with the thigh, and clamped it down. I started on some strapping tonight and plan on doing quite a bit more tomorrow after another trip to Tandy leather.

My Wife just sent these to me and I knew everyone here would appreciate these.

Make a holster, convert a Hasbro, if you can sew make a belt, purchase things you will need on eBay, etc... I now know from experience you will need a ton of magnets and clamps. \whatever amount you plan on buying go ahead and double it.

More progress I have been working away on different parts of my armor today since about 10 am. Decided to take a quick break to update this thread and do some more research before I begin gluing on my snaps. Trimmed about 1/2 inch off the back of the thighs to get a snugger fit and glued them up. I have now completed all the clam shell type pieces. Attaching the sniper plate to the sides was made possible with the use of 6 clamps and some patience. The sniper plate is one piece that really needs to be reworked to fit better. Snap plates. I am going with a mix of standard plastic snap plates and the webbing ones. For the webbed plates I used an old guitar strap I had lying around that was 2" wide. I cut it up into about forty strips then seared the ends of the strips with my trusty propane torch. I am sure they will not fray at all. One I completed the searing I plugged in an old cheap Radio Shack solder iron to use as the punch. The soldering iron worked perfect and was very fast but I don't recommend doing it inside unless your wife is gone and you have the windows open. It does create some smoke and puts off a foul stench similar to Governor Tarkin. But the size hole it creates is perfect and since it is melted it will not fray. Now it is time to set some snaps. Only 20 something left to make. I have noticed the snaps don't get a good grip on the webbing like the ones I did using the plastic. I don't think this will cause any problems but if any of you with some experience know other wise please let me know before I get to much further. Ab buttons. I found this bag in the bottom of my brown box and at first was unsure what they are for. I now realize these are the ab buttons. I drilled some holes in a 2X4 simulating the lay out of them on the armor. i then used some gray primer to get them ready for the Testors paint and while I was at it I painted my TD at the same time. I have now learned that the primer does not stick to these little plastic pieces at all. It wipes right off with a finger. I will have to try another route with these.

Yeah what he said.

I have always wondered this exact thing.

I have already learned my lesson with the heat gun and E-6000. I only waited 24 hrs before trying to reshape one of my arms. It good to know "3 days is money" I will wait until at least Tuesday to do anything else to the sniper plate. Ouch Eric that is so simple !!!!!! I should have realized I could do that.

Replacing the smoke colored lens with accurate green lenses. This was probably the easiest thing so far. I removed the original smoked lenses, the laid that on top of some of the green lens material they sell over at trooperbay.com. Traced around it with a Sharpie, then cut along the lines with some cheap scissors I bought at Wal-Mart. It cut very easy, I was surprised that regular arts and craft scissors did the job. I then used my trusty Dremel to put the screw holes in, added the trim piece and I was done. Trace the original on to the new lens. Cut the lens Comparison picture. Inside shot of what it looks like now. I stole this pic from Xaoslords great RT build thread since I forgot to take a picture of this step. ...And now here it is !!!! I am very happy with how this came out and the simplicity of it. If I wouldn't have stopped to take the pics it would have only taken 5 min.

Attaching the ammo belt. So I have my front seam of the right thigh glued up and drying and will move on to the ammo belt later today. If any veterans are reading this post I need some input. I purchased some Centurian acceptable "movie accurate" split rivets off eBay and I have since realized I need to find a way to split them or find an alternative fastening device. The glued up front side of thigh. The ammo belt Molded rivet in the belt "Movie accurate" split rivets Is there a simple way to put these on where I won't have to spend any more (or very little) money, what are some alternative ways to attach the ammo belt?

RT-MOD Sniper plate !!! The Sniper plate does appear to be off another kit has Darth Aloha has stated in a previous thread. It just doesn't seem to fit the shin correctly. Should I go ahead and put some rivets in the sides of the plate ?

...More basic gluing, not much to see here. Not much progress to show you tonight. Just did some gluing on one thigh, the arms, and the sniper plate. Now I understand why you can never have enough magnets.

LOL !!!! If my wife new what I had spent recently she would probably demand a new car.

Your budget will go through the roof.

I am in the middle of the building process right now and I have had to run to a different store each night. Walmart for more clamps, and razor blades, Home-Depot to get a few washers, a heat gun and painters tape, Hobby Lobby for better paint brushes, Tandy for a few extra snaps. No matter how prepared you think you are you will realize you need something else. It gets aggravating but in a good way.

Is this about where I need to glue the sniper plate ? The RT plate does not fit on the shin all that well so I will wait for some input before attaching it.

I am now going against everyone's advise on not cutting the forearms. Ok I couldn't take the loose forearms so I trimmed them up a bit and I am much happier now. As you can see in the picture where I marked a line along the inner lip on the inside of the forearm. I then scored and snapped that piece off. I am only gluing the bottom half where I cut off the strip for tonight. When I close it up it puts a little bit of pressure on the molded cover strips so I am going to let the E-6000 fully cure before I "Move along" to closing it up completely. The Belt I went ahead and finished up the belt tonight by adding snaps to Tkitell cloth belt. To do this I lined up the plastic belt on the cloth then marked holes where I would need to add the female snaps. I then used a drill bit and punched holes through the belt in the locations I marked using a hammer. I totally penetrated the belt. To secure the snaps I used rivets with a washer in the back to add some strength. You can see the rivet and the washer in the above picture and the female snap in the pic below. And here is the completed belt with my Hasbro E-11. I hope to have the majority of this project wrapped up by next weekend then I will start adding the electronics and do some more mods thinking about EIB.

I moved on to the thighs and noticed that my right side is trimmed very differently. I think some one got crazy with the scissors on this piece. I plan on cutting it something like this. I just hope the difference in the thighs is not obvious.

I am going with everyone's advise on not cutting the forearms and just adding foam to get a snugger fit. As for tonight's progress just gluing up the calves and belt. Here I am applying the white Velcro to the backs of the calves Exciting action shots of glue drying Gluing my first snap plates on to the belt. Darth Aloha gave me this idea earlier today in an email message.