TK-32700

36 holes later... I did a test with the elastics. Looked good. I have removed it for now. I still have to glue on the shoulder straps and fasten the split rivets, and it is a bit easier to work without having the entire thing in one piece.

It was a bit tricky, since the abdomen (and also most of the parts) isn't symmetrical. It is easy to be fooled by your own eyes -- this has happened several times during the build. The "measure twice, cut once" mantra is golden. I found the measurements in multiple build threads. I think it did line up pretty well, but I will keep it in mind when I do my final fitting of the belt.

Thanks guys! It is fun to work with the project again. I haven't done much today, but I did manage to hammer in a couple of more snaps without getting a complaint from the neighbours. By the way, I found a tiny little hammer at the local hardware store. It fits perfectly in the palm, and makes it easy to use in curved spaces -- like a Stormtrooper armour. And it is the cutest little thing! Both holes measures 15 mm from the bottom ridge to the center. Difficult to see due to poor lighting and bad angles (you really need more than two hands during a build like this!), but the center of the left snap (my right side) is 28 mm from the ridge, and the right snap (my left side) is 56 mm from the ridge. The distance between the two is 343 mm. "A single male snap on the top right corner of the ab plate is present." -- Check

Oh, right, the armor! Should really try to get it done soon. I've already got my tickets for EpVII. (First in line in my hometown, wohoo!) Well, I'd better get started again. So, procrastination, work and life in general has gotten in the way the last couple of months, but I have dusted off my workspace and started on the armor again. I finally dared to punch a hole in to install the snaps and rivets. My first victim was the butt plate. The first snap was easier than I thought, but it did not make the next snap any less scary. I hope... No, I WILL do some work over the weekend.

I had to change the DNS server on my WiFi router to Google DNS: 8.8.8.8. FISD now works like a charm on all my devices again.

I slept for only two hours last night due to a music festival in my neighborhood, so I did not get to be as productive as I hoped for this weekend. But I did a test run using tape as strapping. It was exciting to feel how the armour would sit on the body! Here I have marked where all the snaps, screws and brackets should go:

Thanks for asking, Tony! I haven't made much progess the last couple of weeks. I still have to figure out the balancing act between work and play. It seemed so easy during the vacation... I might do some work later this evening, though. If all goes well, I hope to have the internal strapping figured out soon.

Haha, only if it is made from Tauntaun skin. It sometimes gets a bit nippy here in the land of Hoth

Returning to work after the summer vacation, I feel like my build has come to a grinding halt. I have been working the early shift this week. Me being an evening chronotype, I do not function at all on days where I have to wake up before 6 in the morning. I haven't had any energy or mental capacity to do any work on the armour this week. I have the night shift next week, so I hope to have much work on the armour done during the day. I did manage to get some work done last weekend, most notably on the forearms. They were among the first parts that I worked on, so I was never happy with them. It felt like my arms had too much room. So I kept the parts in the freezer for 15 minutes, and it worked like a charm. The E6000 came off in no time. After I pulled them apart, I trimmed off 20 mm, and re-glued the cover strips. Much better fit! And I still have room to spare. I have some wiggle room in the biceps as well, but not nearly as much as the forearms. If I redo the biceps, I think it will suffice to take off 4-8 mm. Or I could just use foam padding. Finally, I have ordered a new pair of pants. Fingers crossed for no visible seams, like the last time. Fortunately, both these and the previous ones I bought were cheap. Unfortunately, I now get really weird suggestions on eBay.

Thanks! Yes, those notches came pre-made. TM is a beautiful armour, and I only hope I can do it justice. I'm going to paint the cap heads together with the side rivets. Speaking of, I don't think my Cupboard Knob Cap Rivet Basherâ„¢ will be much help with the split rivets. Will a hammer and screwdriver suffice, or should I start looking for a rivet tool?

Progress pictures, thighs: Man, those double cap rivets were a [bad word] to set! The hammer was to large for the return edge in the plastic, and I did not have any other helpful tools. I ended up with unscrewing an old metal cupboard knob, held it in my fist and used it to bang the rivets in. It looked silly, but it worked. The garter system is from Pencap510. I haven't done any extended testing, but I did try them up and down six flights of stairs in my apartment building. The garters held everything in place, and nothing important was squeezed.

Nice. I have been playing around with the iComm, and I experienced the same as you in voice mode. I will try this fix.

Haha! Yes. They are just going through a phase.

Today I reached a milestone. I have used up another roll of blue tape. Luckily, it was just enough to start on the final leg (if you excuse the pun) of the tight assembly. They are currently resting comfortably with magnets and clamps in my blue glue room. I plan on letting the glue cure for 24-48 hours. Other things done: - Test fitted the lens sheet and black mesh in the helmet. - Test fitted the foam padding in the helmet. - Installed the Hovi tips. - Done some important testing of (read: playing, goofing around with) the iComm. - Acquired: Chigago screws for the belt, white elastics for the shoulder straps, paint brushes. Unfortunately the summer vacation is over, and I was back at work today. I will try not to become stagnant. This guy will help me:

Thanks! That build thread is going in my bookmarks

When I came home today, I noticed that lingering E6000 smell from previous legs in this build. It smells like hope and dreams and sticky fingers! The thighs are coming together nicely. I had to reinforce one of the front cover strips, so that set me back 24 hours. The other one looks good for now, but the glue is still wet. Once I free up a couple of magnets, I will tackle the back cover strips. I keep coming back to the forums to check how wide they should be. The built-in search never agrees with me, but using Google site search, it seems like the consensus here is 20 mm wide. But also that they should be the same width as the shin strips for consistency, and mine are 25 mm. The screen used once were all over the place, so I guess it comes down to armour proportions and personal preferences. Last night I heated and bent shoulder strap hooks. I first tried the method from one of the howtos on the site, but between the measurements and the grooves, I could not get it to bend right. Next I tried just bending the plastic over a flat carpenter pencil. The pencil I used is 15 mm wide and 7 mm thick. That went surprisingly well. And I didn't even burn my fingers! Right now I am working on the cover buttons for the belt. How large should the square be? I have marked 25x25 mm, which will fit snugly between the ammo boxes.

The arm straps are mostly done. I still haven't done the one on top of the shoulder bells, with the sew-on snap connecting to the shoulder straps. I want to take more accurate measurements first, so that will have to wait until I actually have a shoulder strap to measure. Other work that has been done: - Added insoles to my TK Boots to get a better fit. - Glued latex handguards to gloves. - Tried on the black compression undersuit, feeling like a ninja. But I'm a bit disappointed. It turned out that the pants have very visible, light grey seams that didn't show in the picture on eBay. - Pretrimmed the belt ammo boxes and the thigh ammo boxes. - Pretrimmed the drop boxes. - Fitted and trimmed thighs. Started gluing them. - Reinforced the aerator sockets on the helmet using Sugru. I noticed something when working on the helmet in different lighting conditions. The plastic has yellowed. This has not happened to any of the other pieces, and as far as I know, the helmet are made from the same material. I'm trying to think why this has happened. None of the parts have been exposed to direct sunlight over time, and the box was not stored close to any heat source. The only difference I can think of, is that the helmet were wrapped in bubble-wrap, but I don't understand how that would result in yellowing. Anyway, it is not that noticable yet (I didn't notice it until now). And if the yellowing continues, I think I have most of the ingredients to make Retr0bright.

Another quick update, but no pictures today. Not much has been done since the previous update. I took the weekend off from the build, after having spent many hours on Friday trying to get the ears right. Today I marked the placement for all of the split rivets, snaps, brackets and screws on the torso. I haven't yet decided if I want to do an accurate, permanent strapping with the split rivets, or if I want use snaps on the inside. While I contemplate on accuracy vs. practicality, I have started gluing straps on the arms, biceps and shoulder bells. I used 25 mm wide black elastics for the shoulder bells, and 57 mm wide black elastics. For some reason, the local fabric shop operates with inches when it comes to elastics. Because of this, they didn't have any of the accurate 50 mm wide black elastics. I had to choose either 37 mm/1,5 in. or 57 mm/2,25 in. Crazy imperial measur... Oh... Now I have to let the glue cure. This is the downside to using E6000. It take forever to glue something as easy as straps.

Just a quick update. I've just checked on the knee plate. The glue has cured, but it has slipped slightly to the right during the night. It's nothing you would notice when looking at it.

Thank you both! Using pencil marks and sandpaper only (no scissors or powertools), I took some flesh off the back and the circle on the right ear. The gap is much less prominent now, and I'm feeling more confident that it will look good when mounted. Next up: the left ear.

If you want a direct link to a certain post in a thread, you could click on the share-button (on same line as the username, to the right) and copy that URL.

The knee plate is glued and clamped, and should be done in about 20-24 hours. Possibly. The northern Norwegian summer temperature is working against me, wildly fluctuating between 10° to 25° on any given day. It has been difficult to maintain an ideal curing temperature in the room where I let my pieces dry. Never thought that would be an issue during this build! While I wait for that, I have moved on to the helmet. I trimmed the teeth and eye holes back when I first got it. I decided back then that I wanted a black interior. I might have chosen the screen accurate green today, but it doesn't matter. Black is fine. I've always found that a low brow looks more menacing than a high brow, so I did some fiddling and found my preferred placement. The brow is resting about 3 mm above each outer corner of the eyes, with a slight upwards curve. The center measures 5 mm above the eyes. I like this look, so I have mounted the faceplate. After that, I started trimming the ears. And I have made a mistake. I overtrimmed the right ear. It fits nicely in the back, but have a huge gap in front. I wish it was the opposite. I could try trimming the back some more, and moving the ear slightly down and back. The gap should become less prominent then. Right now, I am contemplating on letting it be, or obtaining a new set of ears. I don't know, I have to figure something out.

Who's skipping leg day? Not this recruit! The glue on the shins has set nicely. The left shin did slide a bit due to poor clamping, but it will be mostly hidden by the knee plate. I might make som ABS paste and fix it later, but I will let it be for now. I did a test fitting before I did the final cut and gluing. Front: Left front: Right front: Back: I going to sand the edges some more. That right leg does not look right. When I am done with that, I will glue the strapping. I made them with the help of a nearly 50 year old sewing machine – a Singer Golden Panoramic 670G from ca 1967. After that, I will move on the knee plate. I'm thinking it requires lots of glue, clamps, magnets and patience.

Thanks T-Jay, will do! I've done some more work on the arms. I have removed more of the edge on both forearms, and the cover strips on the forearms and biceps. I had too much of an edge on the biceps, which made it difficult to hide the height difference. Took some of it off, and shortened the strips. I still need to smooth out the rough edges, but I need to do a supply run to get more sandpaper first. Yesterday I also glued the shins. 20 mm wide strips in front, 25 mm wide strips back. I am happy with how they seems to have turned out, but I'll do my final judgement once I'm sure that the glue has set. It was a bit cold in the store room last night (14°C at the lowest), so I'll give it a few more hours before removing the clamps and magnets. Just to be sure. I want to do the accurate shin hooks, but am a bit worried that the holes will rip after a while. Do any of you reinforce the holes in any way?

Thanks for all advice! I have been tinkering with the arms and biceps all evening, and they are starting to look better. Haha, yes, it was oddly satisfying! I have removed about 3mm from the right arm. It looks more correct immediately: I might sand it down some before moving on to the left arm. I think I made the strips this long to hide the difference in height between the two halves. But it looks like it is possible to make them a bit shorter. The armor is Troopermaster 1,5 mm ABS.