kevnaminute

Love this thread! Not because I have TM armor (AP), but for the detailed pics! Great reference! Thanks and great work!

Question: how do you butt join with e6000? So far I've had some difficulty...I tried joining half of my cover strip to half of my forearm and then joining them. Let cure for 24 hours but the parts just pried apart after I unclamped...my method worked for biceps but shins and forearms have slowed my progress...

Isn't that one of the glues?????

The can I have came with a cotton ball on a stick. Of course I can see myself saturating the armor using that.. What's the best method for the parts? Thanks!

I want to add the inner joining strips for stability... Does it matter what thickness ABS strip you use? In other words, should it be the same thickness as the cover strip? The reason I ask is I have a ton of left over plastic from trimming... Lots of it is thin though.

Thanks! Yeah I've contacted TK boots but will have to wait... Was looking for another boot. Sorry

OK, test fitting my shins last night....is one bigger than the other? My right shin fit fine and even had an overlap in the back. I'll be using the butt join cover strip method and using the 20 mm cover strip. Had plenty of overlap in the back for a likely 25 mm coverstrip I believe. Now my left one is peculiar. There's some overlap on the bottom of the shin but as it goes up it BARELY closes and butts together. There's been no trim on either shin in the back yet so I still have full edges. Also, the left one really cuts into the top inside of my lower leg. Maybe some trimming of the return edge will help. As for boots: Is there any other good source on the web for Chelsea boots similar to the ones used on screen? ------------ If I get the chance I'll post some pics of my shin problem.

Hey Peter, I just didn't have the Dremel when I started the scoring and snapping...lol

Well, I kicked it off good on Friday night, spent a little time on it Saturday and got a good day of work in on Sunday (wife was out of town...) As most of you know with an AP kit, there's lots of trimming so that's basically what this weekend was about. Trimming the main body parts and sanding. - First, that box of plastic parts looks really intimidating when you first start. You're thinking "man, what the heck have I gotten myself into?!!" Just take it one piece at a time. THERE IS a light at the end of the tunnel and I can see it now thanks to this weekend of getting the basic trimming out of the way. Score, snap, repeat. Trim the hard parts with Lexan scissors (which, thankfully, came in the mail on Friday or I probably wouldn't have gotten any of this done). - I will also say that the biceps was probably the HARDEST part to get cut from the mold. Just really difficult! - At some point the plastic will bite you. I have a couple of small cuts on my right hand right now. My advice, that I didn't follow, wear gloves. Oh, and armor bites. You will get them during test fittings. - That exacto knife is great, but GO SLOW. I started getting cocky after awhile and tried to trim my chest plate late on Friday night and it slipped, creating about a one and a half inch mark on the front of the plate.....*@**$&*#*$# (that's me swearing by the way). I took some fine grain sandpaper to it and it's not nearly noticeable as I thought I would be. I still may try and get a replacement part from AP, though. LESSON LEARNED. Heed the warnings of the people who've done this before. - I know now why people love the Dremel so. At first I had not decided whether or not to use one, but I picked up the variable speed option at Wal-Mart. OH WHAT A TOOL! Sunday, I sat out back of the house and sanded and sanded and sanded. And believe it or not it's actually quite relaxing! The cool thing is once you start sanding all the edges and getting everything trimmed just right, you really start to see the armor taking shape. But like the exacto, be careful! A rotating sander can RUIN your armor quick. Thankfully, I had already learned my lesson with the exacto. - I had saw where the ABS dust when sanding was bad for inhalation, but I didn't think that much about it on Saturday afternoon when I took a piece just to Dremel for a few minutes and practice. BAD IDEA! I only sanded for about two or three minutes and my throat felt like I had some bad sinus drainage going on. WEAR A FILTER. - Oh, and use the boards! See what others have done! Because someone has usually run into the same problems you're having. Just some randomness that hopefully some of my fellow newbs will be able to use!

Yes Charles Thanks. That's exactly what I saw illustrated in Stuka's AP thread on flickr.

Thanks Ingrid... Your build has been extremely helpful! And now that I've looked at Stukatroopers build i think I found the answer! Thanks!

Trimmed my first thigh tonight and looks like I'm gonna have to add a shim to the back..which we'll get to later. My question is about the butt join for AP: I'm thinking, and from looking at the tutorials on the main page, that you basically trim the natural molded into the armor overlap on bOth sides of the thigh pieces and join them together...as for the back, there's only one overlap, do you trim off all of it or just what's needed and butt join it to the other side, then apply strip? The reason im asking is the tutorial shows two overlap molds on the back side of the thigh armor.. The AP i have is just one

Thanks Ingrid.... I purchased some Dritz HD snaps tonight from Joanns. Strangely, though, they had no webbing. Had elastic but no webbing.

I see everyone recommends Tandy line 24 for snapping. But can you use any snap as long as its heavy duty? Also where can you get the nylon webbing? Sorry for what I'm sure is a been there, done that post

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to getting started. Charles, Ingrid thanks for directing me to your builds - man, Ingrid, yours is a GOD SEND of info! I'll start posting as soon as I start building. Thanks again, FISD....the finish line (for my FIRST kit anyway ) is close!

My armor arrived today that I purchased from Mr. No Stripes. I was a little worred with the size (6-0, 215) of the AP based on my measurements but from initial first glance, looks like I can make everything work good....Newbie's First Kit! Now. Calling all AP builders

And you're already planning what you want your NEXT build to be...does that mean this hobby has hooked you?? Lol

Speaking as a fellow newbie, all the people on this board - from reading past posts and speaking with a few - are great guys and girls who are more than willing to help out. Dive right in!

Didn't place a bid....just amazing to see it jump like that.

$270.60....went from $190 to that final closing price in the last 10 seconds. Wow. Well, someone got a good looking lid at least.

Thanks! Yeah, it looks cool but after I posted I started thinking the same thing....

ESB stormtrooper lid on the Bay

I've mostly been researching the heck out of this place since I've joined, gathered some gear from some FISD members and started the inquiry on armor...learned a lot in the last few weeks and I've really been excited to see how much the fellow members of the FISD step up to help newbies like myself when it comes time to actually build...that gives me a good amount of confidence when it comes time for ME to put GLUE to PLASTIC....so Thanks guys, for being who your are! A few questions, though: (1) When taking measurements (I've emailed with Rob about his armor and its accomodation for larger individuals), is the waist size your PANTS waist size or actually around the belly button (I'm assuming the latter, am I right?) That being stated, am I also right in assuming that calves are measured at the largest, as are thighs, forearms, biceps, as well? (2) The Overlap vs. Butt Join method: The strip overlap method is screen accurate plus it takes longer to assemble this way...is being screen accurate the reason lots of folks choose this method (aside from the fact it also makes for solidly built piece of armor, I'm sure). Overlap just seems an easier way to construct, especially for someone who's never built armor before.... I KNOW I have tons of more questions (and will have plenty of more when the suit is in my hands), but I'm not going to overload the board right now so thanks for any help!

Re-reading the Thrawn Triology now....read it almost 20 years ago and it's held up well. Also, read Darth Plagueis by Luceno...pretty good and offers some insight into Palpatine's backstory. On a side note, anyone read the Dark Empire graphic novels? From what I heard it was pretty well done, but then I read it and....meh

Knew I'd saw that somewhere! Thanks for posting !