camprandall

Thanks for the support everyone! I'm really happy to be able to share. I'll see if I can take some belt pics and post them tonight.

Wow, there's a lot of great discussion here! I wonder if it would be good to stay on the topic of trooping issues since this is spreading to every aspect of the armor. I and others have started build threads in that area and I'd assume we'll have topics on gaskets, boots, greeblies, etc as people discuss alternatives. From seeing what happened in the TFA forum, this will quickly become a very long and hard to use thread if it goes everywhere. Just my input. Like I said, great discussions! To answer the original post, I can concur with the following. 1) The rubber gaskets are very tough to get in and out of and yes, mine were fraying where the abs rubbed them on the thighs and in the armpits. I suspect a fabric version would be much more flexible and less tight. 2) Not being able to remove your own helmet is not great. I'm hoping the gasket change fixes this. 3) The knees are a problem, but for me (at 5' 10"), that's probably just attaching them more securely than velcro. I know one trooper who just glued the velcro to itself and that's what I'd likely do if I stay with the rubber gaskets. 4) The helmet only stunk for a short bit, but I velcro'd two squirrel fans to the face and it worked great. I also added a microphone. By the way, you can easily make one of these yourself for very cheap so you don't need to wait for someone to sell them. I made two kits for $16 through Amazon. -------------

I think there were a couple of sizes Natalie. There were 6 total for the legs, one each for the outsides of the spats, shins, and thighs. Then there were one for each bicep and two for each forearm which I believe were smaller.

The discussion about there not even being more than one level to start is interesting. I see the point about the fact that those levels exist because of steadily increasing accuracy, not a desire to make a less accurate version out of the gate. I still think though that we need to consider that we won't be able to replicate the materials or process with the expense and technology they're putting into it these days so I think the focus should be on it looking accurate and using similar enough materials to accomplish that. With the shots of the TFA exhibit and the trailer, we have very detailed views on screen suits and I think that TK boots are ok in my book since what actually shows under the spats isn't much. I also think that fabric gaskets that have good ribs on them in the right direction should be ok too, as long as they are well made, which the approval process will take care of because someone always has to see good pics of any suit before approval. I'm not thinking in terms of quick approval here, but about the idea that we can be very accurate looking and not all have the exact same strapping, stitching, etc.

The cool part is even if it takes a couple weeks to get done, you and others will quickly be out there too, months before the movie comes out or the public gets any chance to buy them. It was fun wearing it at Celebration, but a part of me would have really enjoyed stomping around all day in my Classic TK. I can troop that thing all day and still have fun!

Thanks! Yeah, sanding. Even though I'm "done", I spent two hours polishing the armor after trooping and getting one spat corrected. She's high maintenance!

So after trooping this at Celebration, I decided to modify the spats. They're really silly and stick out far and velcroing them the way most of us did just doesn't work very well. Here's what I did today. Made a little recessed snap piece so that the male snap end could go through the ABS to make the greeblie more flush. Glued the male snap directly to the greeblie. I glued it on and then put a little pool of glue inside the snap and around the edges so that it would be strong and secure. I also dremelled the inside of the abs very smooth, removing any hint of return, so that I could get it to lay flush as possible. I also attached the greeblie a full inch past the end of the recessed area for it because otherwise the spats are just too wide and look like bells. It still kinda does, but this helps. Due to the weird shape of these, to make it level I needed a way to force it to rotate a bit since it can spin a bit freely on the snap. I cut a groove in the outer piece and then glued a tiny strip of thick ABS to the inner piece so that you can snap it and lock the rotation in place to make the top of the spat level. It works really well! Final product.

Finally got the helmet! Awesome!

My Super Secret Star Wars Project tote!

4/10/2015 12:44 AM Build crew party night!

4/8/2015 11:32 AM Alright, I have an expert costume maker for the Renaissance Festival taking a shot at fabric gaskets for me so here's hoping! All that's left for a complete costume is attaching the knee armor. Woo hoo! I had forgotten about the decals too so spent an hour doing those last night. UPDATE 4/26/2015: The gaskets were too complex to get done in three days, but Wyatt has a set on the way for me.

4/6/2015 10:58 PM So, now that I can finally assemble the full shoulder, chest and back, I really wonder if this suit is troopable at all. I can't bend my arm or raise it more than in the picture below, which means I can't take my helmet off, can't take a drink, etc. This seems dangerous. I'm either doing something wrong, or this thick rubber gasket situation is a disaster. UPDATE (4/26/2015): Yep, rubber gaskets suck! Can't wait for the rubberized fabric versions coming from Wyatt in a week or two. I did end up getting the rubber positioned and trimmed enough later to be able to touch the helmet, but not really take it off.

4/5/2015 8:30 PM Here is a quick sketch of a possible internal strapping system, recommended I think by Arturo. I did something similar.

4/5/2015 3:37 PM Someone was asking about instructions for the rubber glue since theirs apparently didn't come with instructions. I've taken a picture of mine. One thing to note is that I'm not finding this glue to hold up well at all in the armpits so I've recoated it with E-6000 and will be trying that. UPDATE: E-6000 doesn't work at all on the rubber. Once that rubber glue comes disconnected, you end up with a silicone like substance on everything and you really can't reglue it. :| Again, washing the rubber parts thoroughly first is key, but I still think sewing the gaskets together is better because it leaves more room inside.

4/5/2015 2:01 AM Quick note on the thighs. What I used is essentially the garter system used by tradtional TKs. I whipped up a 1" canvas belt w/ buckle and then sewed two three inch strips of elastic around it that glue to the inside of the front of the thigh. I'm going to see exactly where I want it and then pin it there so they don't rotate.

4/4/2015 8:27 PM Whew! Another 8 hour day and another great pile of progress. We'll be done Monday night, and thank God for that! I've now logged 50 hours in the past 11 days and the team in total has logged 110. Phew! Today we came up with the belt, the strapping for the gaskets, the corsett, the cod piece, the butt place and the thermal det. Here are some pics! Most of them are without the shoulders because the glue was still drying. NOTE: Originally, I glued the shoulder armpits with the supplied Weir glue as shown below, but after testing fitting, it started to pull apart. This was likely due to not washing it well before gluing. Regardless, after wearing this a bit I realized I wanted as much room as possible so I took out the Chicago screws, tore off the glue strap, and sewed the two halves together. That worked much better!

4/3/2015 3:55 PM Ok, I think my arms are done. I'm hoping to get some feedback from our builder experts to see if this looks right. They were pretty funky to feel out since it's a very different sensation than the traditional TK. I think the biceps are likely going to end up higher when it all connects so I'm assuming I'll put the whole arms up an inch or two and maybe have to adjust it a bit. One thing I noticed is that the rubber sticks to my undersuit enough to make it kinda difficult to pull them up high enough.

Glossy!

4/2/2015 12:11 PM Ok, another grueling night and a bunch more progress. We got the following done yesterday. Tore apart and rebuilt the shins to be accurate. I had gotten the shins backwards and glued the velcro opening, which should be on the inside and facing backwards. Glued the knee and elbow gaskets and finished sewing on the velcro tabs Did all the gloss painting (some will need to be wet-sanded and recoated due to dust or mishaps) Getting close! Now need to figure out the belt and the rest of the strapping.

4/1/2015 8:45 AM Oops, forgot the drop boxes! Also, I just did a dry fit and was able to get everything into my relatively small tote that's the same size I use for my classic TK. Boots and gaskets will have to go in another bag most likely, but I'm just glad all the armor fit. Much smaller than those goliath Stanley totes.

4/1/2015 2:12 AM Another awesome night of progress, although I'm getting pretty worn out after 36 hours of personal build time in the last week. Tonight we figured out our strapping for the torso and shoulder bells. We went with an elastic strap across the front of the wings with two snaps to attach to the chest. We also lined the sides of the chest and back with velcro (where the vertical indentations are) to attach to the back. We then got the spats done, got the gaskets cut out and a little over half of the velcro tabs sewn on the gaskets. For the spats, I added a little bent backing strip in the front and then the bit of velcro so it should be nice and strong. I can see the end in sight! It was really friggin cool to put some armor on for the first time.

...and more pics.

3/31/2015 2:12 AM So, this is getting really exciting! After box 2 showed up today with the gaskets, neck seal and gloves, me and some of my crew banged out some more work. We've got a table full of scuffed and primered armor components, which is amazing since this plastic just arrived 6 days ago. So great to feel like we're heading downhill.

3/30/2015 11:17 AM Ok, before I work this morning I bent my leg greeblies and attached them. My heat gun died, so I just turned a stove top burner on high and set them on their side around it about 2 inches away for a few minutes. They were pretty easy to flex after that. I then roughed up the attachment points, glued and clamped!

3/29/2015 5:05 PM Ok, this morning I finished the forearms and biceps. I went ahead and primered those too so I could see how the bondo came out. Similar to the TD, I might fix a couple minor pock marks, but otherwise it came out pretty good.