Zaphod

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I cut pieces of 1" white nylon strapping to length (about 1 1/2" to 2"), melt the ends slightly with a lighter to stop fraying. Then melt a hole for the snap with a soldering iron. I used E6000 to glue it to the armor. Some people say that putting E6000 on the metal part or the snap will cause it to heat up and melt or deform the plastic. This has never happened to me on this build or my OT TK. However putting glue on the metal part of the snap makes it a lot more difficult to remove the snap plate if you need to (but not impossible). -Pete

Thanks a lot Josh. I'm glad I was able to help you out. -Pete

Have you thought about separating the shoulder from the elbow; cutting the bicep piece out? Maybe connecting them with some elastic straps, or not? -Pete

Thanks Boss -Zaphod

Finish Coat of Paint Back into the paint booth. I used the Mixkwik tool on every can for about a minute then got busy. I started with the smaller pieces. I figured if I messed up, at least I wouldn't have much sanding to do. I did end up having to re-do one of the spats. I got the hang of it eventually and moved on the larger pieces. With everything done, I turned off the lights, left the fan running, locked the door and went off the Caribbean for a week. Fingers crossed the whole time. Decals I used 'Window Film Application Solution' to float the decals into position. The only problem I had was, I was missing the decals for the front rectangular part of the wrist boxes. I did receive two decals for the chest cut out. One for the resin upgrade, and a different one if you decided not to do the upgrade. I was able to make the missing decals out of the chest decal I didn’t use. All is good. Holster Update I added real hardware from McMaster Carr See this post on FISD AND DONE Well sort of. The gaskets need work. I'd like to get to a point where I can get into the armor on my own, but for now the gaskets are too restricting. I may have better luck with Imperial Gaskets. APPROVED!! -Zaphod

Gaskets What can I say about these other than they feel like you are wearing rubber floor mats. The weir stick was difficult to work with, and whatever you do, do not get it on your hands, wear gloves. I made that mistake and was pealing glue off my hand a week later. I washed the gaskets in mild soap (Dawn dish soap) and let them dry completely. Best to just let them air dry so as not to get towel lint all over them. I glued the Glue Strips on one side of the gaskets first and let it dry, then came back the next day to glue the other half. It took longer but I was able to line every thing up nice. Then I put some weight on them and let them set overnight. I tried to glue both sides if the shoulder at the same time. The glue strip started sliding around; I wasn’t wearing gloves, so I got covered in glue trying to keep it all together. They turned out okay though. I sewed straps to the shoulders, front and back, and attached buckles, these are adjustable so I was able to get them good and tight. I sewed velcro to the top and bottom of the knee gaskets, only on the front. and glued the mating velcro pieced to the armor. I have nothing on the elbow gaskets, that may change. Overall, the leg pieces are too short for me and the shoulder pieces are very bulky and don’t want to fit into the bicep armor. The elbow pieces don't want to fit into the forearm armor with my arm in them. Very frustrating. If I put the armor on the gaskets and then try to put my arms in, I have more success but need assistance. I will have to start trimming these down to see if I can get them to work better for me. I should have a better idea of what to do with then once I've worn them for an extended period of time. I will update this post with any modifications I make. In the meantime I ordered a set of TK4502 Imperial Gaskets. You glue them with Elmer’s rubber cement, and set up much quicker. Easier that the floor mats and Weir Stick. Here is a link to the tutorial. I also ordered a set of Mrs. TK4502’s Fabric Gaskets, (I hear they are very comfortable). Update: Since the silicone gaskets came in from Imperial Gaskets, I have not troopes with the Anovos ones. -Zaphod

Hi Ty, I attached the cod to the AB only. For one of the photos above showing the belt with the butt attached, I placed the cod down on the belt where it would be located just for the photo. Sorry if that was confusing. With the cod attached to the AB, the belt just goes over it; I didn't attach the cod to the belt. I attached the belt to the AB either side of the cod with snaps. I attached the butt to the belt only. The belt is then attached to the AB at the back with elastic loops and snaps. About the picture above right. When I'm wearing the armor, the rubber belt and webbing belt sit just below the AB, (the rubber belt slid up across the back of the AB in the picture). I hope this helps explain it a bit better. -Zaphod

Putting it all together After the primer was dry, I started fitting the armor and figuring out the internal strapping. I made a garter belt for the thigh armor, the same as my OT TK. A black 2 inch webbing belt (from Amazon) with 2 inch elastic loops attached to the thigh with snaps. Snaps and 1 inch black elastic keeping the AB section tight around my torso. My beer belly is able to keep it in place for now so no shoulder straps. Snaps and 1 inch black elastic keeping the shoulder bells in place. Two straps per shoulder bell. Snaps and 1 inch white nylon webbing holding the Thermal Detonator in place. I removed the bracket because it was holding the TD too high IMO. Now the bottom of the TD is flush with the bottom of the AB completely hiding the AB opening. Belt Butt and Cod attachment I covered above in the previous post. I'm not entirely sure if I should add an elastic strap between the butt and cod. We'll see if I have any embarrassing Happy Trooper incidents on my first troop. I cracked the back yolk when trying it on while wearing the gaskets. I posted the repairs in the Back/Yoke section on page 2. The Chest is held against the chest with snaps on the back of the resin cutout snapped to a 2” elastic strap between the yoke wings. I added snaps to the ends of the yoke wings and the inside of the chest in order to eliminate the gap between the two pieces. -Zaphod

Hey Eric, I just sent Steve Robbins (sleeverob) an email with some pics attached -Zaphod

Prep for Paint I used a Scotch Brite pad to take the gloss off the armor, and then washed everything and did a little wet sanding on the seamless areas. I built a Negative Air Pressure painting booth in my shed. I didn't want to paint inside my house and stink up the place. That leaves outside, too much dust and pollen. So into the shed I go. I built a box inside my shed using 1" x 1" x 8' pieces of cheap pine from Home Depot and angle brackets. Then wrapped it with 10' x 25' 6 mil plastic and sealed the edges with duct tape. I put two fine particle furnace filters in the back and an easy flow in front of a box fan. With everything sealed up, turn on the box fan and the walls should get sucked in slightly. I built some shelves inside and a hanging rack thing to put the parts on while drying. I turned on the fan and left it run for a few hours to clean out the dust. Then it was time to get the armor in there. My secret weapon http://mixkwik.com/ It mixes up the paint very well. I had no sputtering or spiting, and I got a finish I was pleased with. And, I didn't have to kill myself shaking cans of paint. I will say though, I didn't completely empty the cans either. When I felt it was getting close to empty, I took out a fresh can. 30 seconds with the MixKwik and Sawzall, and good to go. I gave everything a coat of primer first. I did find that the primer left a dusty coating on the surfaces behind where I was spraying. Luckily the fan kept the air flow and this dust away from the painted parts. Not sure what that dust is all about. According to the can, paint is fully adhered to the plastic after 5-7 days. So I left it all sit in the paint-booth for a week. I used that time to glue the gaskets. -Zaphod

I don't care what they say about me either Eric. As as for the cratfsman bit ........ I'm making it up as I go along, never been happier. If I can figure out the gaskets I'll be able to do more than just stand around at Rhode Island Comic Con. I'm there for the weekend, we'll catch up over a beer. Come on Wyatt, ship me those beautiful Imperial Gaskets of yours. -Zaphod

Added a few more photos to the Belt/Butt post. -Zaphod

I'm interested to know it will work out too. I'll update here if it needs to be adjusted after I get to troop in it for a while. The only problem I foresee, is getting in and out of the AB. The Belt is attached across the AB opening in the back, so I will have dis-connect the belt loop from the back of the AB on the left side to get it on and off. I'm not entirely sure how others have attached their butt to belt; there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information on this part of the build out there. -Zaphod

Butt Cod and Belt (5C, 5B, 6H, 9I, 9J, 9L, 9M, 9N, 10G, 10H 10I, 10J, Soft Parts Box) Trimming the Butt and Cod are straightforward. You need to watch out for one of the boxes though, 9L. The Cod Armor Most people seem to have attached the Cod the same way, so I followed suit. Using a piece of nylon webbing belt as a snap plate, I glued it across the back of the tabs on the bottom of the AB section. The snaps go between the tabs. I glued the mating snaps to the cod. I sanded down the return edge of the cod where it comes into contact with the AB tabs. I believe the whole idea behind putting the snap plates between the tabs and not on them, is to get the cod as close to your body as possible without going behind the AB section. I glued snaps on either side of the cod, on the exposed AB tabs. These will snap onto mating snaps on the belt to help keep the belt it in place, just like on the OT TK. All of this I did after painting. The Butt Armor I really wasn't sure how I was going to attach the butt armor. I thought I would attach it to the belt with loops so the belt would be somewhat adjustable. I decided instead to attach it directly to the belt with snaps. I put the snap plates on the tabs of the Butt, again to try to keep it as close to my body as possible. I put snap plates inside the AB armor and made a couple of elastic loops with a snap at one end. The loops snap to the AB armor and the belt passes through the loops, just the nylon webbing part of the belt, the rubber goes outside the loop. The loops are hidden and this keeps the back of the belt in place and by default, my Butt. Belt and Boxes Trimming out the belt boxes was straightforward-ish. The big belt box 7C, be careful trimming, there is a step around the top, IT IS NOT A CUT LINE. I marked the cut line in the photo below. Piece 9M will be glued right on top of 7C. 6I is the back of this box and goes inside, like on the OT TK belt boxes. This is such a nice big box I figured I would have to try to make it functional. I made a hinge by gluing a piece of nylon webbing material along the bottom of 7C and 6I. In order for it to work properly I had to remove the bottom return edge from 6I. I may glue magnets inside to keep it closed while trooping. We'll see how it holds up. Those are Chicago Screws you see in the photo, to attach the box to the belt. This box is a perfect fit for my phone, so if I don't have to use magnets, I won't. I did the same thing with the next smallest box 9N 6J. Both of these boxes sit on the wearers’ right side. Horizontal Belt Boxes 10I and 10G are the backs of 10H and 10J respectively. They do not go inside, but rather butt up against them. I made some shims and glued them inside 10H and 10J, along the longer side. The backs get painted black. I figured I make these functional as well. I have no idea what I might put in there; Echo keeps a challenge coin in one. I glued strips of tin on one side and neodymium magnets (rare earth magnets). With the AB section on, and the Cod and Butt in place, time to figure out where the boxes go. I eyeballed it. Moved them around to where I think they looked good and marked the belt. I used Chicago Screws to attach all the boxes. The boxes have marks for where the screws go. I put the screws through both the rubber and webbing belt. I sewed one of the buckle halves to the webbing belt, the other half is the adjustable part. I used chicago screws to secure the rubber belt to the webbing at the fixed end of the belt. I left the other end a little longer to cover the buckle when closed. The soft ‘boxes’ of pouches go on the wearer's left and the buckle is hidden under these. The larger of the pouches gets a plastic cover (secured with velcro). -Zaphod

There are some details on the wings of the chest I didn't want to have to re-do if I put the shims there. The back pieces flex quite a bit and I'm not concerned about them cracking, just the yoke. I have yet to troop in it so I'll keep you posted on how it holds up. -Zaphod

The TFA build threads have been moved to the 501st members only area.

Steve, thank you for all the advice and assistance you gave me to help me achieve EIB and Centurion. We all look our best thanks to your keen eye for detail and advice to help us improve. You were sick as a dog when I met you in Anaheim, I still owe you a beer.

Updates added to Back/Yoke post. I had a split occur, and like most people this has happened to, it was in the same spot; right where the back/yoke support ends. The update includes my repairs as well as trimming the ends of the yoke wings off, (the part that goes into your armpit). Also included in the update: adding shims to the back section. I needed shims because of the lack of overlap I had between the back and chest. I probably could have used snaps with white elastic straps, but, I've gotten pretty handy with the ABS paste, and I haven't seen anyone post about using shims yet, so I figured, why not, something new and it might help solve a problem for someone else. -Zaphod

I will be in White Armor of some description. I had a Gasket mishap and ended up splitting the yoke right in the same spot most people have experienced this crack. I will be updating this build thread in the appropriate section when I can. I will be getting a brand new set of Imperial Gaskets (the larger size) as well a as set of Mrs. TK4205's Fabric Gaskets. Hopefully one of them will come in before Woburn; I don't think I want to troop in Anovos Gaskets if I can avoid it. -Pete

I may end up velcro-ing them, I may end up using snaps. I'll find out if my way works after my first troop porbably. As you can see from the photos you posted, velcro didn't do a very good job keeping the spats closed. We do a lot of things with our OT TK's differently from how they did in the movies, to maintain the look but stand up to years of trooping. I imagine this kit is the same. There are pictures already floating around of TFA Screen used suit with gaffer tape holding the forearm armor closed. -Zaphod

I would highly reccoment http://www.imperialboots.com -Zaphod

I picked one up today for $25. Thanks for the tip. I was tempted to buy 2 (they only had two left), but after laying down $200 for the TFA injection moulded helmet, I restrained myself. Where did you get the muzzle flash suppressor thingie? Looking forward to your updates. -Zaphod

I tried that and the thread keeps bunching up underneath. I may be quicker doing it by hand. -Zaphod

I don't suppose you remember what the settings were on your sewing machine? -Zaphod

Anyone have a coupon code thay would like to pass on?