gattirenata

So, my friend came over last night to help me out a little! And it was nice for once to not be lost alone! Yep! We both were completely lost! But it was good cause I guess 2 brains think better than one. I worked on one thigh on sunday... Didn't glue anything yet but it's all taped and it looks good! But I'm still not sure if I need to cut more on the top. So he suggested we work on the midsection first and then with that put together we will have an idea if the thighs are good. Alright! So I basically put the cod, ab, kidney and chest plates taped on me the way they are to have an idea and.... Good lord!!!!! Hahahahah soooooo huge! And that's where we got completely lost! I don't want to cut the ab plate! Whatever I do it seems I will get into some of the details of it! and it will end up being tucked in under the chest plate anyways. He suggested I try not to cut the cod piece (yep! Separated it from the ab cause I thought I was going to cut it!) It can just be tucked in under the ab plate. Ok! It seemed fine! Both of those pieces need heavy reshaping and trimming on the sides but that's easy! Then... Kidney! HOLY MAJOLY! That thing is huge on me! Well the only good thing is that I have a small butt so will not have the problem some girls had with the plate lifting up a bit over the toosh! Good! One less thing to worry about. But then... The kidney plate is the exact size (height on the sides) of the ab and cod pieces together. If I tuck the cod piece or trim it... I get a kidney plate that does not match in size :S What to do? What to do??? Will have to trim A LOT of the kidney plate I guess! And then we decided it was better to trim the cod a bit. Then we decided not to. Then we decided we don't know what to do. Gonna have to trim the kidney piece anyways because otherwise the back plate overlaps it. And it's supposed to be just above it right??? So to not get too much of one or the other we decided to trim a bit of both. Instead of trimming the bottom of the back plate we decided to do it on top! Since the shoulder parts will end up touching the ones on the chest plate cause they are too big anyways, my friend suggested trimming there. The top. So it will make it a bit shorter and give some room between the shoulder parts. Well... It makes sense right???? Everybody has been so quiet here and I really really really need opinions!!! Please pretty please!!! We r getting together again tonight and I need to make some decisions cause gosh knows when I can get someone to help me out again! So at least the back needs to be done tonight! Please, opinion?????? Thanks --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?mbbfah Renata Gatti SL 5323 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks guys! I'm trying to be on track! Yesterday I worked on it from around 11:30am to 8pm. If I didn't have to clean up I'd have gone even later! A friend is coming over tonight to help me out. And another one is coming tomorrow night to show me how he did his lenses. His never fog up so i wanna do it like that! I really hope I can get this finished and approved by wizard world Philly! Got myself 23 days! Wish me luck! --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?ckthcf Renata Gatti SL 5323 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok! Really forced myself to work on it this weekend. After FCBD. Yesterday I basically worked on it from 4pm to 2am. Even had dinner while working! Salmon tastes do much better with some abs dust on it! Hahahaha Anyways!!! I did stare on it for 20 minutes tho! Completely lost! I realized I'm not really sure where exactly I should cut on the shoulder straps (that was easy to find a reference pic, tho do problem solved) or the little box that go on the ab plate! Couldn't find anything with that one so I'm waiting for a friend who's coming tomorrow or the day after to help me out! I realized also it's not a good idea to start trimming the back parts (back, tooshie, kidney) without being able to really see how they look like! So that's why I asked for my friend to come and help! I started gluing the inside strips last night and after I ran out of clamps and had to wait I started working on the legs! I'm not trimming the front, just the back, as suggested by one of you smart people! It didn't seem like I need to trim much on the length which is weird since I'm just 5'2". I put the shoes on to get them in place and stuff. It looked got so I just trimmed the return edge that was there and made another one but smaller! Don't want that thing too big and diggin in my boots! (btw those boots will look awesome in the whole assemble but they are mighty ugly when I wear them with regular clothes hahahha) This morning the back strips were glued so I did some more!! And again while waiting I'm working on the legs! Now gotta decide how much to take off from the legs and hopefully I won't have to reshape it that much. The heat gun is def the reason I don't wanna do this anymore. It's sooo stressful! Before I figure out it would be easier to sandwich the plastic between the pieces of wood, I used the heat gun on the edges and they got some waves on them. Nothing too had but not right either. I can't fix it cause... Well I tried and just made it worse! It will be hidden under the strips of plastic but still! I'm very pissed! Thank goodness it was just one! Here are some pics literally fighting with the magnets! Those damn things! Hahahha --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?0bm0pe Renata Gatti SL 5323 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I lost all my motivation. So sad! :( --- I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?zhhfgo Renata Gatti SL 5323 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome advice! I had no idea so I messed them up and was going crazy cause the gaps between the ears and the helmet were HUGE! Someone in my garrison took one quick look and was like HELLOOOOO!! Wrong ears on the wrong sides!!! Hahaha

And isn't it frustrating??? I was going crazy! I thought the iron didn't work, then I thought maybe he meant side to side hahahah I might have read that tutorial a gazillion times! I was doing it on a test piece and ended up giving up! When I went to try again was on the shoulder bells! Totally crazy moment I just left the iron there! Hahahha I was sooooo happy when it worked! Otherwise I'd prob be crying until today ahahahah

there is a possibility that i did not understand the tutorial for the return edges! that happens a lot! hahaha (sometimes i feel i need to learn English all over again! hahaha) so this is what i understood. to apply some pressure on the little iron thingie while moving it back and forth. Right? so maybe i wasn't moving it back and forth right, cause it would just not happen. the plastic did not warm up enough (iron was set on the highest temp) sooooo.... instead of moving it... i just let it there. SCARY! hahaha i used the very tip of the iron, so it would cover just a small portion. it touched the outside but i kept an eye on the inside, cause when the plastic heats up and gets soft you can see it on the inside very well. as soon as it started looking soft i BAM! bent it, moving the iron forward! not really much different then what the tutorial said, but after getting over the fear of leaving the iron in the plastic for a while, it was much easier for me! =D

OMG that is such a good idea!! I didn't think about it!! Thank you so much! Yeah the return edges are a pain and I was a bit scared cause I tried to follow te tutorials and it just didn't work for me! It's not that they were bad, I just couldn't get them done! So in the end I came up with my own technique. I'm glad u think it looks good! I saw nobody answered my post and I was like: oh crap it looks bad and ppl don't have the heart to tell me hahahahah U think the biceps is long?? I can bend my arm tho!! And that is without the return edges! I was afraid of cutting too much and then being too short after doing the edges! I'll put all 3 pieces on together and try to take a pic! (it's hard tho! Cause even being so much smaller they are not super tight tight, so they slide down so it's jar to keep them on place while trying to take pics!!! Hahah will def need foam as well) Again thank u so much for ur advise!!

here are pics of the shoulder bells i worked on earlier this week, or last week, i can't even remember!! lol i'm not sure if you can see the difference, but i actually cut 1/2" around, (but not on the bottom/base... or hatever that is called! lol) these were my very first return edges. EVER! that thing is a pain to do, but i think it looks ok! what you think when i took the pic still needed some more sanding, but i had to get more sanding paper. then today i decided it was time to stop being silly and cut that thing already! well... cut slowly and little by little. so i started on the right biceps! there was a lot of cutting. i first cut on that little bump. taped it together, put it on... took it off. reshaped a little with the heat gun, and taped it together again. and decided that 1/4" was probably enough. so i took the tape off and cut it again. then taped it again!!!! it looked nice and small!!! =P Reshaping the thing was a pain. i was so afraid of messing it up, i think i didn't keep the heat gun on it log enough so it took forever. besides... i basically burned all my fingers!!! hahahahah well... this is what i got after i cut and worked on both halves of the right bicep. i trimmed a little bit more cause that difference was way too big. there is still a little difference but not as much. i didn't want to cut more cause it's the right size now... so i figured the strip of plastic would go over it anyways... i'll take another pic tomorrow of how it looks now, so you guys can tell me what you think. it fits nicely... i'mjust hoping i'm not messing it up too much!!!!

this is it!

Hi Chris!!! I can't figure out how to get the link for the pic on photobucket from my phone that's why I haven't been able to put pics here yet. And I haven't turned my computer in 2 days! O.o But yeah! That's exactly the color I got!!! Painted the tube stripes with French blue and got angel blue. Or blue angel for the ab buttons!

I need to check ur boards to see the events schedule! Last time I did I just looked up who was going to CVI and forgot to see the other events!!!

Hi Sherry! Welcome to the FISD!!!!! First of all u are definitely not too short for a stormtrooper!!!! Lol U are even taller than me! I'm 5'2"!!! And I know there are a few girls around here that are shorter and skinnier than me! The only thing is that... We have a lot more Plastic to cut off, and tons of work to make it fit nicely! But.... Even some guys have that problem! But it's. It impossible! Rachel from the ECG finished her armor recently and I have seen it in person and it looks amazing!!! And she is even a tad but smaller than me! I don't think there is much I can help u with cause I'm still pretty new at this and got my ATA kit a few days ago! I'm working on it little by little and didn't even finish the helmet yet! I can tell u tho that after some research most people suggested that the AP and ATA kits were the best choices for smaller ppl! Although it would not be impossible to get one of the bigger kits to fit you! Just more work I guess! I ended up buying ATA. You can't really beat the price and I saw sooooooooooo many people buying it! I knew it had to be good! And well ppl in my garrison keeP telling me that it's a really nice kit!!! So I'm pretty happy with it!

Btw.... Making those return edges are a pain! Not looking forward to doing it again.... And again..... And again..... And again!!! Hahahhaha

Hahahah that is true Chris! I'll def have to do something about the hand guards as well. They r just way too big! Someone offered to make me some to my size. I said I'd try to make them a bit smaller. There's a tutorial here somewhere. If it doesn't work I'll get him to help me or get the latex ones. Those are smaller right?!? Tray I love bobojuice's thread! I want to print all his pics and spread all over my apartment! But most of the pics is just the difference in size and then he tells what he modified and what he left how it was. When I finally got the pieces on my hand I got nervous about those bumps and couldn't find anything anywhere of people actually. Urging those off to make fit! U know??? Ok now that the freaking out time wore off a bit.... Hhahaha I got courage enough to get on with cutting again! I started with the shoulder bells. Cause talking to Rachel it made sense what she said. I'll have to finish those first so I can figure out where they go so I can find out how much of the biceps I need to trim! And then with that done I can figure out the forearms. Since those 3 are all nice and together!!! Lol I've seen many girls didn't modify the shoulder bells! But mine were huge on me! Going way past the line they were supposed to on the front! (almost reaching my boobies!!!! Hahahahahha) so I trimmed a bit all around and just took off the return edge on the bottom and added another one! It's a bit better! And the return edge is smaller than it was, but for a first timer return edge maker I think they look nice! (I can't figure out how to post pics from my phone but I'll do it when I get home!) Also finished painting the tube stripes on the helmet and someone already told me they are uneven! great! I don't even know what they mean by that! I'll get the pic on here later on and will need opinions!!!

Hahahah that is true Chris! I'll def have to do something about the hand guards as well. They r just way too big! Someone offered to make me some to my size. I said I'd try to make them a bit smaller. There's a tutorial here somewhere. If it doesn't work I'll get him to help me or get the latex ones. Those are smaller right?!? Tray I love bobojuice's thread! I want to print all his pics and spread all over my apartment! But most of the pics is just the difference in size and then he tells what he modified and what he left how it was. When I finally got the pieces on my hand I got nervous about those bumps and couldn't find anything anywhere of people actually. Urging those off to make fit! U know??? Ok now that the freaking out time wore off a bit.... Hhahaha I g

Thank u so much Mathias! There a little flap on the ATA parts... Like a little raised area where the lip for the shims start, and I was sooooooo scaredbincouldnt cut that off!! But I see yours also had something similar and u did cut that! So it's good! Especially the thighs! If I can't make those narrower hahahah I won't be able to walk with my legs closed!!! Hahahahahha Seriously! I can almost fit both thighs in one armor piece! Lol

this is exactly the help i need!!! please please tell me, how did you trim that??? this is what scaring me the most... to cut the sides.... on the length it seems fairly easy... as long as i can make the return edges back where they belong! lol but on the sides...... i have no idea how to do it!

Diana, what size is your suitcase??? i really like this idea instead of those huge bulky bins or big duffle bags!

Somebody please.... i don't understand one thing and nned help! can i make the parts tighter on me?? like... ok, i know they are long... and i need to trim that! but how to trim the ATA kit to be a bit tighter?? there are some parts that i can't just put foam. it's gonna be huge and i don't think i'll even be able to walk! maybe a miss some tutorials where people actually did this... thanks!!!

oh yeah! there's a screw missing... cause my friend lost it! =S we are runnign to home depot in a sec to buy another one, and also some more nuts, cause they told me it's better and more secure to put 2. and that's great cause i want to put the lenses attached on the screws inside, so extra nuts will be needed!!!!

thanks Keith!!! well... yesterday we had prop night so i brought the helmet for the ctg experts to take a look! right a way they found out the main problem! i had put the wrong ear on the wrong side!! hahahahahah so after we fixed that, the gaps didn't look as bad! we tried to do as Ingrid suggested, and they all said their own ears are not 100% perfect! with loads of Gary's ad Charles' help finally the ears are on! i need to take better pics of the front and the back, but these you can see a little bit! i'm painting a bit today and also cutting all the shim strips while the paint dries. i'm super excited to paint it cause little by little it looks more and more like a REAL stormtrooper helmet!!! YEEEEEEYYYYY!!!! lol but it's also soooo nerve wrecking! each brush stroke i think "ill punch myself in the face if i mess this up!" hahaha thank goodness haven't had to punch myself... yet! LOL

i'm making a tshirt: PANDATROOPER IS MY HERO!!!!!! =P

how cool it is to open that box for the first time??? so cool!!!!! i could NOT believe that all that is mine!!!! and here it is!!! everything lay out!! at this point i started getting extremely anxious cause i realized there are some pieces there i have no idea where they go! lol or what to do with them! the hand plates are huge. actually... everything is huge!!!! hahaha i had to go to sleep, although i really wanted to play with it, do something... try cutting it. but i had to work today early in the morning so i put everything back in the box and went to sleep. Today i finally got the lexan scissors. the one i was using before was pretty with with the helmet, but last night i tried cutting a little of the hand plates and it was a disaster. so i got home after work and decided to get on trimming. i guess everybody trims those extra edges before trimming it again to fit??? i don't that was the impression i had, so i just trimmed on the lines. the score and snap thingie was much easier than i thought it would be and in some parts the abs is soft and cutting with the scissors is a piece of cake!!! =P tools of the day! this is a humangous butt!!! hahaha i left the larger parts for last that crotch is so big i'm really thinking of using the extra room for storage!! hahahahahah the end of the day i have a bag full bits of plastic!! and a bunch of parts nicely trimmed. i can't really feel my fingers but... i am very happy that i didn't hurt myself very badly, which honestly it is a miracle. all i got was a tiny cut on my thigh! (my poor unlucky thigh. always gets hurt lol) tomorrow if i have time i'm going to cut the strips i need and try to figure out HOW in the world im going to make it fit on me!!! :P :P :P

I'm still trying all my options before I even think of using the second set of ears or think of closing the gap with abs paste! But is a good tip about the front and the back!!! Im bringing it to my garrisons prop night tomorrow and lets see what they can help me with!!! This kit is ATA! It was the fastest shipping ever. I sent the PayPal on Monday morning and got the box yesterday! I'm so glad it came on a thursday and I have nothing to do this weekend, otherwise I'd be going insane here. Well I am! I can't wait to go home!!!