bzb
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Posts posted by bzb
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Here's the photo I was referencing from DragonCon. The torso looks like it fits well but the limbs look like they were rushed and are a little big. My worry is that the forearms are going to do the same thing on Shannon... is it just a matter of trimming the wrist back and then heat bending a new return? Or just leave them trimmed without a return like a TK?
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I'm a big dummy - once we put the ab piece in place, the thighs made more sense as to where they should be located, and fit just fine. Masking taped her up, and it's fitting really well. So far everything has been cut directly on the indentations and fits beautifully.
The arms are probably going to need to be trimmed down considerably, though. I saw photos of one lady who had an almost-completed Jes Gistang at DragonCon. My guess is the armor was assembled only on cut lines and not shaped to her tiny body... it was ill fitting and did not look "right". My wife is going to be pretty annoyed at all the test fittings by the end of the week, I'm sure
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Masking tape progress.
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Nice... I'd personally like to avoid painting, if possible - maybe that's another 3rd level requirement?
It looks like if I can cut nice straight lines, the overlap method should look pretty nice.
Ran into an issue with the thighs. It seems like the point at the top is going to really restrict her movement. Maybe my wife just has long shins and short thighs... not sure what's going on here.
How much of a return is needed on the thighs?
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On 9/6/2014 at 12:41 AM, Sith Lord said:
I certainly hope we'll be seeing someone else doing the modelling as the build progresses!
Whaaaaaa? You don't want to see my gender bend Jes Gistang?!
I hope my wife is in the mood for me to armor-molest her over the next few days
It'll be going on this lady:
It will hopefully turn out better than her first attempt at a TK:
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As I'm getting tired, I swapped over to easier parts... then of course ran into my first issue.
Did anyone else have end caps that are basically the same diameter as the pipe? Is it just a matter of heat gun and squeeze it on?
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May I suggest the "Like" button gets swapped out to a Stormtrooper thumbs up?
If not, I'm taking away my Like from your post. YOUR MOVE, ERIC.
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Trim trim trim trim trim trim.
Fat guy in a little coaaaat. Fat guy in a little femtrooper armorrrrr...
I don't know if my wife is going to be mad or happy that I'm destroying the dining room and leaving bits of white plastic everywhere... again.
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So I take it this does NOT have to be sludged, sanded, and painted now?
(Which would be amazing news for me...)
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Shannon has been approved in the Jes Gistang Female Legacy Armor (TK-30305)
Kit: KW Designs Jes Gistang
Helmet: KW Designs Jes Gistang
Blaster: Hyperfirm DLT-19
Neck Seal: Darman velcro close
Boots: Gio (crow62)
Gloves: Gorilla gloves
Compression suit: Eastbay ladies
Helmet liner: Vega motorcycle helmet liner sz Small - $8.54 from Amazon
Helmet fan: 12V cage fan
Adjustments from stock kit for approval:
1. Helmet: KW Designs
2. Comic style backplate: KW Designs
3. Clone-style boots: Gio
4. Thermal Detonator: all white 2" PVC pipe, scrap ABS
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 115 lbs
Bust: 32"
Waist: 27"
Hips: 36"
Shoe: 7.5US
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Original post:
So the most amazingly packed brown box (#33) came today.
STORMTROOPER EXPLOSION!
I'm gonna look sooooooo amazing in this suit.
It's for my wife, Shannon, who is 5'6" 115lbs. This armor is TINY - but then again, I've been working with Vader for the past 6 months, so my perspective is probably a little skewed.
Purchased:
Kev's Fem Trooper armorBlack elastic
3/4" - went through about 5 feet, used for shoulder straps to shoulder bells, inside shoulder bells, shoulder bells to biceps, hand plates, and side armor attachment
2"- used a couple feet to attach the butt plate to kidney, and the insides
White elastic
3/4" - about a foot used for the knee plates
2" - shoulder straps, about 2 feet purchased
Black nylon webbing 3/4": about 3 feet, used for thigh attachment
E6000: only needed a bit for a couple parts. Used white.
Zap-A-Gap & Zip Kicker: one 2 oz bottle of each got me through this build.
Line 24 snaps: minimum of 10 needed, but have more for any mistakes. Shoulder straps 4, Side armor snaps 2, Thighs 4. Later dded to Chest plate to ab plate to keep the chest down (4 more).
On Order:
Gio's Fem Trooper Boots
Kev's Fem Trooper Helmet Kit
Eastbay compression suit
Still need to acquire:
Neck Seal (Darman)
Fan Kit (Probably Echo if he does another run)
Helmet Padding
Voice Amp (Aker 1505)
Looking forward to this build! -
That looks FANTASTIC! Can you give me any detail on the chromed paint?
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It appears that you did separate the kidney and butt plate? I wouldn't use that sticky velcro on that piece... it is almost guaranteed to lose the plastic backing and then start sticking to your undersuit.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you have some flat spare ABS in the top right of your parts picture. If so, that is what should be used for the cover strips. If it's not, you can get cover strip material from someone like Trooperbay.
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Welcome. You'll find a bunch of us Atlanta folks lurk on this forum
We have quite a few events coming up in September - plenty of time to meet the good folks of the Georgia Garrison.
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Looks really, really good. Congrats on a job well done.
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If it were me, I'd skip bringing the blaster. You will have international folks traveling with you.
Don't be surprised if they may even have issue with the full helmet.
Security folks in Vegas were very gracious about letting me get a couple photos in the casinos with my bucket, but they wouldn't let me wear it for long.
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Don't forget aluminum TD clips!
Even while owning most of the tools that were required, I ended up at $1600.
This, of course, doesn't include the new parts I needed to get when I damaged them (chest, ears) nor the replacement bits like Velcro, elastics, spare gloves, spare undersuit, etc.
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These are the gloves I got for under $15. I now have three pair of them. They are extremely comfortable for an all-day troop. I have used them in very cold weather (March at a Gwinnett Gladiators game) and in 90+ degrees. The fingers even work with smartphones. I attached a pair of Sonne's non-latex handguards and they look great.
I have only worn my rubber chem gloves at two troops. Used thin cotton liners. Don't like the feeling, at all.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J95Z7Q/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1
IMO: During long troops (think 3+ hours), your comfort is far more important than perfect accuracy.
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^^ Read a bunch of the build threads and you'll see how everything is put together with straps, snaps, velcro, and glued elastic.
On most builds, the only thing that's "externally" attached are the thighs, typically to a belt via elastic loops.
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Welcome! It is an absolute blast to bring smiles to everyone's faces. Personally, I'm far more interested in the charity events, and in my experience it is really fantastic how the folks in the 501st really come together to do fundraisers and bring smiles and a break from reality for kids AND their parents.
Good luck with your build. There is a wealth of information on this site. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
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Welcome, and don't be afraid to be annoying with questions. We have a lot of guys here that give annoying answers.
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Some folks had suggested thread locker when they lost some of the bracket nuts. I previously used some blue threadlocker that I had laying around from a long time ago on a few of my bolts. No issues, but I couldn't find the bottle when I went to do some repairs to some lost nuts. Went to HD and picked up a new bottle.
Loctite Blue Thread Locker 242
I don't know if the formula has changed or what, but this literally cracked the ABS after curing.
Lucky for me, I only used it on the chest. Unfortunately, one of my Garrison mates has a lot more damage.
Repairs are in progress for me. Going to go the ABS paste route and wet sand and feather it out to attempt to match. I'm likely going to order a new chest piece from MTK, though.
So fair warning: don't use this stuff!
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The stuff was just announced, no one has actually seen what will be in production, so there's really no way anyone can know if it will be approved out of the box.
My guess, however, is that no matter what is done for a "commercially available" product, nothing anyone produces like that can possibly be up to 501st standards without *some* modification.
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Trooperbay's video series is probably 85% of what you need (and that's assuming you're 5'8" to 6'2" and a relatively lean 160-200 lbs depending on height). He builds it "as it should be" assuming that the parts will fit in a general range. I believe Mike lost some footage in there, but it's really just some of the torso trimming. You really want to a watch someone trim every piece for hours upon hours?
The point I'm trying to make here is that it's more than enough to get you completed. The torso needs to be trimmed to your size, just as every other part needs to be. And even after you're completed, you probably need to trim some more after your first troop.
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I also have trouble understanding some of the recaster arguments... but simply buying a model and recasting it is DEFINITELY wrong.
In my experience, I can see MTK has done a considerable amount of his own work. MTK may have a base set cast off of others, but he's obviously done a lot of sculpting/redesigning work on his own with certain parts. Certain parts are very evident in its differences with ATA, AP, etc when you get them side by side at troops.
Basically, why reinvent the wheel (base) but work can be done to make things more accurate/sharp/feasible for trooping/sturdy/etc.
IMO, a stolen iPhone is a different analogy - I think it's more like buying a pair of knockoff Beats headsets or knockoff Coach handbags, where someone bought the originals and just copied them, selling an inferior product at a lower cost.
Jes Gistang - research thread
in Legacy Stormtrooper (Joker Squad)
Posted
Comparing the above to Stacy's submission photo... there seems to be a marked difference. Maybe hands on the hips do that to the elbows? Not sure.
I would really like to see some video of these ladies moving around so I can see how this armor moves in comparison to my TK.