Bulldog44

Now that's cool!

I received my RS PVC kit in 2012 and I must say I was surprised at how thin most of the parts came. But when I ordered extra parts in recent months, they do seem much thicker in comparison. Maybe they changed things since then.

I went with the PVC kit after reading that it would hold up better for trooping, at least thats what i can sort of remember reading on the RS site way back in 2012. Hearing now that is more prone to damage is rather troubling and i'm kinda worried I made the wrong choice for what I planned on using it for. During my build the PVC has been pretty easy to work with and seemed flexible enough but I guess trooping is another story. I had one major incident when one of the ridges around the bottom thigh bent and now there is a white line you can see but it didn't snap or crack. To reduce future stress cracks & buckling along the edges, I left very little on the return edges on parts that will need to be flexible like the chest plate, AB plate and on the back edges too, especially where the brackets are attached. So far no noticeable signs of things popping off during my test fits. After I screwed up trimming the knee ammo pack , RS sent me a new one but they sent an ABS one by mistake. In comparison to the PVC , their ABS looked duller and way more off white. They kindly sent me a new PVC one, matched my kit perfectly. The ABS ammo pack feels light & brittle but I can't vouche for the flexibility since it is still untrimmed. There were spare ABS strips included in the box and I just gave them a nice test of flexibility , as Troopermaster says, very flexible. It's a tough choice especially when you account for price and if you are a first time buyer. Hearing that the PVC is going to crack more than I had thought, I am concerned but I am totally pleased with the way it looks, really white and shiny liked I hoped it would be. I think if you want to strictly stick to the original movie TK , then go with ABS, also Troopermaster said it works better with the original strapping set up. The PVC is still a good choice if you are looking for a bright shiny white TK, still looks original but idealistically original ( if that makes any sense). Maybe more members will chime in and give you their experience with both materials and then you can have a better idea of which plastic suits your needs and preference. You can see the difference in color of the untrimmed ABS ammo pack and the PVC ammo pack already trimmed: ------------- Hope this helps more than further cloud your decision. Good luck and don't rush to buy ( which i somewhat did.) You'll feel comfortable at whatever decision you make after lots of research.there was once a post I saw where somebody posted their ABS & PVC armor side by side. Let you know if I find it.

Thanks again Germain. I will try redoing the straps for the chest to add some slack. I stitched them up pretty good so it will take some time to undo them. Probably best to just make new loops. This weekend I tested out some paint markers to use on the bracket screws and rivet heads. Not sure if this is the best product for this but it is easy to use & dries quickly. If this is not a good idea, please let me know before I start this weekend. I will be using a liquid masking to keep this stuff from getting on the armor. This stuff was recommended by one of the Japanese Garrison members. Just have to paint it on with the cap brush and let it dry for 30 minutes. Takes time but it covers hard to get areas and easy to remove. Next I tried my hand at making the bicep strap hooks using the tutorial by SIMpixels. I had a few problems getting the right bends and ended up with hooks that fell short of the right space to clear the return edge of the bicep. I used a blow dryer to heat the PVC and make it flexible enough to bend. then used a metal file to shape the hook . This was not thick enough so the hook is quite narrow. Also, I found that filing the lines where the bends would go weakened the plastic and then they would eventually crack off whenever I tried to make an adjustment. Hooks were too long so I had to trim off more from the edge- Glued onto the inside of the biceps- You can see that I had to bend the hook part out more to clear the return edge. Seeing how the hooks do not quite function or place as they should have due to my poor craftsmanship, I had another go with a different design. I looked at the photo reference below and noticed that the hook used on an original TK bicep looked more roundish. Using the blow dryer set on high heat, I warmed the PVC strip and used a round metal hammer handle to shape the hook. I used just my fingers to form the PVC strip around the metal bar and held it into place until it cooled. Then I heated the area where I wanted to bend back the hook and used the edge of a piece of lumber to push the hook down at the desired angle. This is really hard to put in words so if anyone is interested I can make a "How To" doc or video. I haven't attached these yet but tested how they will work. Looks like a perfect fit . The hooks reach over the return edge and rest directly on the bicep surface. The hook hangs back into the bicep so when your arm is inside the armor it presses up against the hook and it springs forward, enough to catch the shoulder bell strap & keep it all in place. Lastly, I had tried numerous ways on how to attach the outer drop boxes with the inner boxes without making it permanent. I wanted to be able to store things inside the boxes, ex. personalised TK cards or whatever. I had some flat metal brackets with predrilled screw holes sitting around so I tried bending them to the needed depth into a hook shape. I used a screwdriver shaft to form the bend. 1Before bending the brackets down into their final position, I secured them on the inside of the inner boxes between the Chicago screws that I used to attach the elastics. Then I bent the bracket into place. After that I used some double-sided removable tape to set a rectangular magnet into place on the inside of the outer drop boxes. (Temporary until I think of a nicer way to fix these into position.) The outer & inner boxes lock together perfectly! I will add a safety strap attached to each box from the inside in the event the magnet separates from the tape. The magnet strength is quite powerful and pulling on the elastics to open the boxes will end up a mess so I will also add a small pull tab attached to the inner box to open the boxes. Hope this all makes sense.

Hi Tyler, I bought an RS Props PVC kit. I wanted to go the traditional route and buy the ABS but I plan on using my armor for events and thought the PVC will hold up better plus it is a lot whiter. I can't say yet that it was the better choice for durability since I am not yet done building it but will put it to the test soon. If I were to buy one for display, I would go with ABS for sure like the originals. The PVC is nice and has a beautiful white glow to it. It didn't crack on me when under stress but it does sometimes leave a permanent white bend line that is irreversible. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. Stick with ABS if you are keen to keep it original.

Finally attached my holster to the belt. I used Chicago screws to attach it since I might change up holsters in the future. I first referred to the Billhag PDF for the measurements but I slightly deviated from those measurements. 20 mm from the edge of the ammo pack seemed rather close and from the movie stills it looked a bit further away on many troopers. So I set the first hole at about 30 mm. Looks okay but probably should have stayed with the 20 mm. If the holster hung straight down then it would look great but it sort of gets pushed toward the back at an angle. Here is just a picture after the holes were punched on the holster straps. I still need to take some photos of it attached. Post those later. I was not happy with my previous positioning of the button panel so tried it again. Unfortunately there are now ugly blemishes on a few corner areas where i used the stronger PVC glue. I tinkered with the edges of the panel and shaded them down too much. I hope to get a replacement soon. For now I will stick with this and get the buttons painted. Previous Present (tilted 2 degrees to the right) Probably doesn't seem like much of a change but those darn 2 mm differences end up driving me nuts! I know I should have painted those buttons before going any further but I couldn't help seeing how everything fits. Here is my first test fitting: the family was asleep by the time I got working on this so I was left to put it all on myself and take the photos. Mobility was not bad but the chest plate is digging into my throat. I'll have to adjust the shoulder straps. The butt plate wings out on each side, the AB and kidney plate has a lot of overlap, other than that it fits nicely. I will post more photos of the armor from the side and back when I do another test fitting. Please offer any advice you think I need to improve things. Another step closer to the 501st!

I was going to do that but nothing seems to glue down very well for me so I wanted to avoid messing up the paint job. I wasn't too happy about how it was positioned anyway so I just ripped it off and will try again later. Thanks for the advice though.

After waiting the full 72 hours for the E6000 to set for the button panels, I peeled off the tape and removed the magnets to find that the corners still didn't hold. For the vertical 4 button panel I left it as is since it was too hard to get it perfectly flat on the surface. I was sure to mess things up if I tinkered with it further. For the larger button panel, I re-taped it and used the PVC glue RS Props provided with the kit. Just a little bit was needed under the 3 stubborn corners. the round magnets kept slipping off so I luckily had some small rectangular ones that sat nicely in place. Then I let it dry for 24 hours. Not sure if I am totally happy with the final position of the large button panel but I think because the area where its glued onto is such an odd shape that it will always look a bit off. The slim 4 button panel slid up a bit but as I said I will not redo this unless someone thinks it needs to be. And I finally connected the Kidney plate & the butt plate.

Looks awesome. Everything sits well looks well proportioned. Fantastic work!

Thanks Steve! It was a bit hard to do at first without messing it up but having a practice clip to try first gave me confidence to get it done correctly. Got a lot of help by just studying what other people did here on the FISD. Once the button panels set, I will have my first chance to do an upper armor fitting. Can't wait! Hoping not to disappoint!

Cool, thanks again Germain for the feedback and kind comment. I glued the button panels on the AB plate this weekend as well but two of the corners keep popping back up. The E6000 isn't holding it too well so I am giving it another go and if it fails then I might try something stronger. To make the button panels a bit more flexible to glue down, I sanded them down on the bottom but wasn't a perfect idea. I was also going to warm them up and press them against a semi curved surface but my experience with heating the PVC has been nearly a disaster. So hope this works on the second try. 48 more hours until I know.

Worked on the TD this weekend- First I started by making a practice clip- Sorry Pic Heavy post!!!!!! Comparison of the clip I made using the RS metal strip on the left to the practice clip on the right- Practice clip was a bit too long so I adjusted my measurements for the final clips. Curved the strips around the tube Lightly scored a line for the bend. Scoring a line helped the metal fold over exactly as I wanted it to. It might have weakened the bend a bit but I don't plan on messing with this.. Measured the length of the clip that goes behind the belt- 70 mm in length, just a tad over the RS props original TD. I wanted to leave some room for error. Scored and removed the excess metal- Using a crude wood vice, I measured and made the small bends at the end of the clips- about 6 mm. Filed down the corners and sanded the edges to a smooth finish. Drilled the holes for the screws- I was going to place the scows closer to the edge of the clip like the RS TD seen in the photo reference section but I instead went with the measurements off a TD that RS props assemble for me. I mocked up the canister with the end caps and taped on the control plate to see where the clips need to be screwed on. Marked & drilled the holes. Clips attached with the screws. I used black pan head screws to match the originals but I couldn't find anything smaller that these. The head diameter is about 5 or 6mm. They are not very smooth so I ended up sanding them down. The black wore off a bit so I will repaint them later. TD canister with clips and caps in place- Glued on the control plate and waiting for it to dry- Almost finished with this! The overall length of my TD is about 190 mm but the 501st CRL states it should be 190.5 mm. Will this be a problem that is slightly shorter than stated? The assembled TD I got from RS measures even shorter. I could pull off the caps a bit but that will affect the clip placement. Hope its not a problem as it is.

Thanks Germain. I spent way too much time trimming and resetting those parts so they looked right and hopefully fit well. As you and Ian advised I will see how it all comes together with the upper armor parts. As for the gaps in the back of the shins, I might try one idea to tight them up but my wife said the same as you, not to worry as its not that noticeable. The outer and inner drop boxes are not yet attached to each other. Still thinking of a good way to attach then but make it functional to open and close. I will probably end up using some Velcro inside if nothing else comes to mind.

Good advice Ian. Need to get the top finished to see how it all fits in relation to each other. Yeah those hooks are strange, as you said if you use them as is they are hard to remove and if you bend them out a bit they pop out unexpectedly. There must be some way to get reduce the gaps. I will probably spend the weekend on a solution.

First test fit of the leg armor- I was able to put it on without cracking anything or falling over on my head. Here are the results: My dog Luke sharing his thoughts: It fit comfortably, a bit loose around the knees but can't help my skinny legs. The straps for the shins were hard to undo and there was a noticeable gap along the back seam exposing the drill holes and straps. Hoping to find a better way to close up the back better. Adjusting the thighs higher and lower was easy with the velcro attached straps but unsure exactly how high or low they need to be. Too low and the sniper plate kept catching the lower left thigh. Any thought or improvements I can make? Hoping to keep the momentum going to finish this off soon and finally join the ranks!

Thermal Detonator in progress- I already trimmed the end caps and the control plate more than a year ago. Can't believe its taken me so long to start work on this again. The aluminium strips provided by RS Props looked rather short to make the clips but I went ahead and gave it a try. I went to the home centre to pick up some 1 mm thick aluminium to cut into strips. I just a cutter knife and a metal ruler to cut this up. I had to score the aluminium many times before it finally broke off. Not the easiest or smartest way to do this but it worked and left a fairly clean edge. I just used a metal file and some fine grit sandpaper to clean up the rough parts. I curved the strips around the pipe. I kept rolling it on a piece of lumber with a little pressure to get a better. I was careful not to crack the pipe. Made a practice one too. I still need to research the actual size of the clips and find a clean way to bend them. After I figure the size out I will cut down the strips. Comparison shot: There is where I am at with the TD. Hope to finish up the clips this weekend and then put it all together.

Here is another closeup of the screws installed on the Chest plate after I beveled the drill holes. They stuck out a lot more prior to doing this. Drop Boxes- This is not sticking to the originals but I wanted to be able to change up the elastics if needed or add some hardware in the drop boxes to open and close them. I haven't figured that out yet but since I had lots of extra Chicago screws, I thought they are perfect for this. I can always attach the elastics with rivets later on if I want to. Bicep & Forearm Straps- I was going to just glue these in place but I wanted more flexibility to adjust the arms so decided to use velcro sewn on both ends of the strap. Not original but practical. Thigh Straps & Garter Belt- I looped the straps and sewn on velcro to attach them to the thighs just like the arms. The strap just loops around the garter belt.

More Updates: Rear Cover strips for both shins glued on and holes drilled for the hooks & straps: For the holes, I measured 20mm down from under the lip of the top ridge and roughly 10mm in from the vertical trim line. Then 20mm up from the bottom of the shin & 10mm from the trim line. The center hole I just eyed it to about where I thought the original shins had their hole. I made sure the position also sealed up the back without too much of a gap. It measures about 11mm from the centre of the bottom hole. Hooks & Straps glued in place: Sniper Plate added: Clamping overkill but it held batter than the magnets did. E6000 held it on the first try: Again, off by the 2mm mark from my intended position but I will live with that From the top view you can see the pressure that is placed on the top return edge of the shin from the way I glued the sniper plate on. Lots of warping and buckling & the shin halves look like they are going to split from the front cover strip. Not sure this will hold up with repeated wear but so far nothing has happened. I might trim back the return edge more to relieve stress where its buckling under the pressure. Shins Completed: One other thing I was able to do last week was to get the bracket screws to sit more evenly with the surface of the armor. With regular drill holes the countersunk screws would stick out a bit and come into greater contact with the joining armour parts resulting in unwanted scratches. And it just didn't look nice. I do not have any fancy tools to drill nice countersinking holes so I found that the tip of my slim metal cutter knife had a good dull head on it. I just carefully rotated it on top of the already drilled holes with some light pressure and it slowly scratched a nice beveled hole. The drill hole ended up a bit bigger but the screws sat perfectly in the hole with little of the head above the surface. The countersunk holes also still maintain some of the plastic for the screws to grip onto. In areas where I thought the plastic was too thin, I am using clear acrylic washers on the underside of the return edge to add some strength. Not the best photo I have of this but here it goes: Hard to make out with this pic but you can somewhat see how the screw heads were protruding out a bit too much : I will try to post a better example of how the screws sit with the countersunk holes, next time.

Thanks Germain and Ian for your input. I think if I was going to build this as an accurate display piece, I would have pulled out all my hair by now. Germain , I just tried getting the corners on the button plate to around a 90 degree angle but probably it won't be as close the screenshots you posted. I think when I trimmed that I was trying to match the outer lines of the raised area where its glued down. Throughout this whole build I keep trying to stay accurate as possible but once in a while I do things that I personally think looks better.........but then later regret why I even thought that. In the process of gluing it down at the moment but If the button plate doesn't stay glued down properly, I will remove it and re-do the corners.

Uploading more progress photos taken over the summer. Just finished up the thighs and adding the knee ammo pack. I used cap rivets to attach the knee ammo pack to the thighs & hope this is correct. I didn't heat bend the ammo pack to follow the thigh bottom edges. Just attached the side facing outwards first then pulled it tightly around the thigh bottom edge and marked where I wanted the rivet on the inner thigh edge. Again I would say I was about 2-3 mm off from where I visually wanted to have placed the first rivet but that is the theme for my build so far- off by 2mm & slow ! The cap rivets provided by RS have very long stems and might have collapsed the wrong way when hammered down since there wasn't much plastic in-between. So placed 2 clear acrylic washers to create some thickness. Hard to make out but you can slightly see the clear washers on the inside of the assembly. Thighs finished: Left thigh rear: Right Thigh rear: Right Thigh Top Edge : I was not entirely happy how the cover strips cam out along the top edges for the front and rear thighs. I initially wanted to keep them looking like the RS original but decided to meet somewhere in the middle. I wanted to match some of the screen TK thigh examples but with so many variations I went with what also looked decent but reduced any unwanted obstruction when trooped in. Fire away with any opinions or advice if you have any.

I couldn't help but notice that my holster looked rather large in size and after comparing measurements to the Bilhag PDF measurements, my holster was about 1/4 of an inch or more in size especially the straps. You can see below where I trimmed the left strap down to 3/4 of an inch and the strap on the right in the photo is they way it was when it arrived. The distance between the straps is about an inch wider than the markings provided in the canvas belt. I don't want to make holes on the canvas belt for this holster if the size is incorrect. I could buy another holster but the funds are low so I might just make holes for the average size holster (Bilhag measurements) and attach my holster as is. Maybe it was a mistake trimming the strap down but the size looks more real to the screen holsters I have seen in the reference photos. I don't have a photo yet but I did trim both straps. Installed the snaps for the butt plate/ crotch strapping. I measured, marked and drilled the holes from the inside of the plate for these which looked properly centred. I should have measured and drill from the outside surface. I was about 2-3mm off it seems and this drives me crazy. Lesson learned again: measure and place place things according to how you see them from the outside if you worry about how it looks. I think I have been off in measurements this whole build by about 2 mm Good grief! Hole drilled for the split rivet to install the crotch strap: Matched up the holes drilled on the AB plate for the split rivets to the kidney plate; marked and drilled the holes. Installed the split rivets and elastic straps on the AB plate: Trimmed the Button plates to size ( not sure if the corners are too curved but hope it looks okay when its glued in place):

Glad you finally got one of the packages. I had similar lost parcel cases with the US post office and UPS. One package was in transit for weeks and never seemed to end up at my door. Another package was lost, and mysteriously arrived 5 months later with a post mark dated 3 days before I actually ordered the items. They must have time machines to pull that off or just somebody was going to get nailed with an investigation and came up with that brilliant idea! Congrats on the kit, looking forward to the build. Good luck!

Long stretch between updates. Finally got to use a PC with Flash so I can link up photos. I was inspired by another FISD member,(Tim?) to have my hand at using a sewing machine. Got the elastic strapping loops for the brackets sewn up and parts of the garter belt. I managed to bend one needle and break another while attempting to sew velcro on to some strapping. Thats when I decided to retire my efforts and hand sew the rest.

Sorry to keep this post running but I am about to attach my holster to the canvas belt but can't help notice the size difference fom the Billhag PDF.i just trimmed own the straps that attach to the belt to 3/4 but still the entire holster looks way too big. The width of the holster is slightly larger than 6 inches . The holster strap for the blaster is a tad over 1 inch. I bought this from RS props in 2012 with my armor kit. maybe they changed their dimensions since but please ring in if you have a holster with similar measurements. My concern would be that if I set holes now for this holster on the canvas belt they would be about a half an inch wider. I wouldn't be able to switch out for a new holster if I chose to later on. Is the Bilhag PDF the most accurate resource for measuremtns or is it all within a general range? Better to buy a new holster?

I still have my old Star Wars toys in storage. I spent a whole day a few summers ago going through it all and carefully wrapping up all the figures and vehicles with hopes that I might someday have a big enough house where I can display them. Sadly some guns and parts where broken, some lost but the majority of them are in decent shape. My AT-AT is almost complete minus one laser piece. I had the falcon but that ended up in the sand box with the old Godzilla toy and Alien toy I had. My snow speeder and tie fighter met the same demise. I still remember in 6th grade going to a friends house and seeing he had a Falcon, snow speeder and and X-wing in really nice condition.. I offered $60 bucks for the whole lot. the deal was going though but his mom caught wind and killed it. Memories are flooding back- I still have my first figure that i got when I was in preschool. walrus man! I must also say a quick memorial to my Greedo figure who was chewed to bits by my dog Max. No worries Max, I forgive you wherever you are!