maxsteele

I've been reading that the return edge is removed on the forearms from the wrist ends. From these photos, it looks like you removed the return edge at the elbow ends and kept the return edges on the wrist ends. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Also, I'd like to know if these Amsterdam boots will pass for basic 501st approval? If I go for EIB or Centurion, I'm more than happy to find and purchase boots that will be approved at that level, but I need to find out if these will work for 501st approval before I start painting them. If they don't, then I need to send them back and get a refund. If they do pass for base 501st approval, I'd like to get started painting them as soon as possible.

With the forearms, are cuts always going to be 7mm from the finish strip ridge molded into the forearm? And then cutting the other connecting area to fit close around the forearm?

Thanks Gaz! I'll realign my right bicep for the outside curved portion to line up at the top. With the outside portion of the bicep not lining up, do I cut off the extra to match up there as well? With the forearms, it looks like once I have it lined up correct, I just cut around so that it's flat, and take off the return edge as well.

I've looked through several forum posts and I believe I have my forearms and biceps matched up properly. I'd like some validation from a trained eye if I have them matched up. I do know that the 11 bump forearm piece is the left forearm, and the 12 bump forearm piece is the right. I also know the bicep with the 'thumbprint' is the left bicep, and the other one is the right. I also know that two sides that match up on each bicep have an inward curve, which I have matched up on both of them. I also believe that the forearms have a raised bridge that when connected together make a raised rectangle down the length, which is what you use to match up each piece. Here are my photos: Two sides of the right bicep Two sides of the left bicep Two sides of left forearm Two sides of right forearm I matched up the 'bottom' of the biceps, near the elbow, and I matched up the 'top' of the forearms, near the elbow as well. Am I on the right track?

Hm, ok. That kind of feels like spamming the forums, but if that's allowed - I can always make a "New NE - Matching up forearms and biceps - Input requested" thread. I'll give it another day.

Yeah, I've been digging through them. Most of the ones I've found skipped this part. I'll keep looking, but it would be nice if this thread caught someone's eye who is aware of the match-ups.

Ah, that's good to know. I do need to find out if these are matched up to the right pieces though. The last thing I want to do is cut off all of that extra along with the return edge, and find that I matched the pieces up incorrectly.

I've re-attached my biceps and forearms and taken two pictures of each one. I need to know if I have these matched up correctly. Two sides of the right bicep Two sides of the left bicep Two sides of one forearm Two sides of the other forearm

I taped the forearms together next. These are harder to tell which one is left and which one is right. I looked at both pieces and saw one side had a "bent" part and one side was straight, which seemed to point to a "this is where you glue the strip on one side, and stick it to the other". So I matched up the bent part with the flat part and came up with this configuration: Possible left forearm? Here is the possible right forearm: I was reading another thread which said: "Line up at the elbow end and cut of the extra at the wrist end". However, if I do that, I'm cutting off part of the return edge on the wrists. There is no way I'm putting a heat gun anywhere near this armor to try and re-form a return edge, so I'm not sure what to do about that if this is the case. That's all I'm rough-taping together tonight. All comments welcome on the biceps and forearms! Thanks! EDIT! I took at look at this page: http://www.whitearmor.net/fisd/Tutorial-arms and I noticed something about the forearms. That "bent" part I'm referring to is called the "Formed ridge line". When joining the two pieces together, the formed ridge lines line up with each other, creating the front view of the armor. The two non-formed ridge line edges join up in the back. my pics above join a formed ridge line side with a non-formed ridge line side, which if I'm interpreting that arms tutorial right, is the wrong way to assemble. The two formed ridge lines must be the ones to line up, and the two non-formed ridge lines line up in the back. Am I starting to catch on? EDIT THE SECOND: It seems there isn't a double formed ridge line for the bicep pieces, but I looked at the reference photos and I believe I found I had the wrong pieces matched up there as well. I took those apart also and swapped pieces. Now the problem I mentioned earlier in this post with the right bicep is gone. I'll get new pics of the re-taping of the forearms and biceps tomorrow. I considered deleting the pics in this post, but thought "Hey, someone could come across my thread and learn from the mistakes I made", so I'm leaving them in.

It's time for some tape assembly! I started with the biceps. I figured out from some other threads that the "thumbprint" piece goes on the left, and there is a curve on the piece that matches up with the curve on the other piece. I was able to tape these two pieces together and they line up quite nicely! Now, the right bicep - something seems wrong here. I matched up the bottom on one side like this: I see that there is something amiss already at the top with that pointed bit. Now, the real issue is when I taped up the other side: What is going on here?! Is the right bicep supposed to be like this? Is it lined up at the wrong end? I'm really not sure what to do with this.... Here is a side view. The pieces seem very asymmetrical, and have weird curves on the pointed pieces at the top that do not match up at all. Comments please!

Andy, that is probably the most straight-forward explanation of those different types of armor I have read. I have been slogging through armor history threads trying to put together what came from where. The summary you wrote should be stickied somewhere! If you have the info, could you do a similar summary on the New NE armor sold by Troopergear and TupperwareTK ?

Alright, I'm going to break out some armor pieces tomorrow. I believe I have it figured out how to "cut to fit" pieces. Please correct me if I have this incorrect: Each piece for the arms and legs has two parts. These two parts are joined together and a finishing strip is glued into place on two sides to hold the two pieces together. Where the two parts join together, there is one part that doesn't get cut at all. It's already the correct width to accept one side of the finishing strip. The other part is where there will be extra material. When fitting it onto my arm, the extra material will wrap inside the other part, and where the non-cutting part touches the cutting part, that's the point where I cut off the extra. What I don't understand is - there are two sides where parts need to be joined together with a finishing strip. How do you determine how much to take off of each side? Do you simply not take off any from where two of the parts join, and just make that the baseline, then wrap the two pieces around your arm to determine where to cut on the other side? Or do you trim off a bit from one side, and a bit from the other side, until getting the desired fit?

I think I know what you mean - sand in a little groove so the round ear piece can fit down onto the overlap piece of the helmet? Yeah, I think it's time to get some skin-pinching earth magnets.

After much concern, research, worry, and some determination, I started the rough cut of my ears. I won't be able to do much with these until I get the front and back of the helmet connected first. I need to get some clamps to secure the front & back and then worry about drilling the holes in the wrong place first.

Alright, I carved some more out of all the teeth with an xacto blade and filed them down some more. I think this is as far as I can go without feeling like I'm doing some irreversible. I think if anyone says something about my teeth once the helmet is put together, I'll buy another helmet and carve the teeth deeper. I know I've seen pics of other people's teeth and they have bigger spaces, but I'm just not feeling comfortable about going that far. Also, when comparing my teeth to Pandatrooper's HOW to: assembling ATA ABS Helmet #1 , I think I'm pretty much right there with his: So I think I'm finally done with the teeth. I like the idea of using a dremel sand attachment once I have the general shape cut out for the ears. I've put off cutting out the ears long enough and I should get some work done with those. I haven't drilled the holes for attaching the back and front pieces yet either. I might wait to have some in-person assistance for that one. Special thanks to gmrhodes13 who continues to come back to this very long thread and give me the encouragement to continue.

Here's my ATA helmet's teeth: It's been suggested that my two largest spaces should be less rounded at the bottom, but I'm thinking it starts coming down to personal preference at this point. If anyone on this thread sees an issue with my teeth, I'd love input as well.

Sounds good. I ordered my 4 oz white bottle today from dharmatrading.com . Decent price too.

I'm back from my weekend at PAX Prime! Time to get back into the build process. First, here is what I am considering the final form of my teeth: Many thanks to everyone who gave me advice! I went from "Holy shucks - I can't do this" to "Hey, I have this figured out!". Second, I have a question about the ears: Should I use the score and snap method, or cut with Lexan scissors? My concern with the score and snap method is my inability to draw straight lines (or curved lines) and with one wrong move I've scored myself a useless ear. My concern with the scissors is having jagged edges from the cutting. Thoughts?

Thanks for the answers! Did you put the paint on directly, or did you mix water into it first?

I bought these same boots and will start the whitening process soon. I have some questions! - Did you use the same Angelus white paint for the elastic pieces? How many coats on those parts? - Where did you get the Angelus paint from? - What type of brush did you use? - How long did you wait in-between application layers? - How did you use the acetone? Do you rub it on, then rub it off, or do you rub it on, let it sit for a period of time, and then rub it off?

There are choices you can make. Check out this thread: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/11538-the-various-types-of-armor-and-where-to-find-them/

Type in "originalstormtrooper" into the search for "all topics", and read some of the forum posts created already. Then you can make an informed decision on them.

Honestly, that is really only a question you can answer. It depends who you got the armor from, and the state that it's in once you get it. It depends on how crafty you are working with ABS. It depends if you have all of the tools and all of the accessories. It depends on if you get to a point where you're frustrated and you walk away from building the armor for a week. Can it be done in a month? 2 weeks? Sure. But stars must align and the armor building gods must smile upon you.

eastbay ----------- There's the shirt and pants to get from Eastbay.com . You get both for $30 and free shipping. An excellent deal and the clothes are comfortable.