MechaPumpkin

Okay, so by request here is the inside and outside of my right bicep, finished. The left is the same only opposite (or exactly the same, if you will) because the arms on AP are two of the same. Here is a pic of the front of my thighs with the cover strip on. Like I said, the AP ridge is a bit wonky, and I think this is as good as I can expect. Once I trim and sand a little, and put the battery pack on the right thigh, this will all look nicer. I also need to trim down the cover strip and the over -extended top bit on the right thigh (that's just the way it came) . . . I have now glued on the cover strips to the back of the thighs (last ones!). As you can see, my thigh trimming resulted in fairly straight seams down the back that do line up pretty decently. Considering I will have to trim off most of the ridge, I am pretty happy . . . Next up, holster attachment, battery pack and (ugh) sniper plate, and thigh rigging system!

Okay I'll try to take some of various finished pieces tomorrow. Probably a good idea in general!

The strips are longer just by accident and I just trimmed them down after. I actually left the two levels intact, but you can angle it down if you choose. The AP armour has two left arms, so one side is like that, while the other is opposite. Keep in mind you can do a lot to the top of your biceps to make them comfortable because they're hidden under the shoulder bells. Does that explain it okay? I can upload pics of all the finished pieces for you, if that might help.

New proper holster arrived! Thank you Darman! Actually fits my blaster and is from ANH not ESB. Woooo!!

Quick update . . . boy these are boring, haha I just think it's important to post everything in case there is one particular issue someone who is following this runs into (you can also message me!) Now I actually do have a note here. The ridge on the front of the thighs is really kid of wonky on AP. They're not "bad", and I'll upload close ups once the strip is dry, but they are wonky. They're not exactly the same, and the right and left ridges aren't the same and the right and left ridges of each thigh aren't the same. So it's all decent, but it's all a little . . . well wonky. If you have an AP kit than you alreay know that the right side of the right thigh is longer than the left side, at the top. Not so with the left. Anyway, just know you're not crazy if you find they don't really line up perfectly. Just do your best to align the bottom of the ridges and glue, and then when you put on the cover strips, kind of find a happy medium of where to glue it . . . where the ridge starts. Because they're a little wonky, where the ridge starts is a little hazy. The GOOD news is the battery pack on the right thigh covers most of the ridge on that one, so symmetry is not a huge issue. You also have the sniper plate on the left calf to distrack from the bottom of the left thigh. As mentioned in my last post, the bottom ridge on the left thigh is about the only uncovered ridge joint, so try to make that as nice as possible. Okay, pictures (more detailed ones to come when I take off all the clamps) . . . Thigh front cover strips on . . . Calf rear cover strip on. This is the one that will later have velcro on it, so only one side is glued on. again (because I don't want you to forget) glue the outer side on!! Here are some pics of the edge . . . More pics tomorrow when I take the clamps off and glue my last strip on! The thigh rears.

Outer cover strips on shins. I made them a bit short, but knowing I am going to trim them from the bottom up, it made sense to glue them flush with the top . . . I also closed up the backs of the thighs. They look pretty straight up and down where I trimmed them, so that was a relief. I tried to get them to pull together as best as possible at the trim, since that part won't be covered, but then I don't think it will matter as I plan to cut most of the trim off the backs. Partially because it will fit me much better, but also because the AP trim lined up pretty poorly initially, and even worse after I trimmed it. It actually is aligned pretty good. The bigger issue with it is the depth of the trim. Again, it will be gone when I trim it, so I'm going to play this part by ear. Might need to trim that before submission because otherwise it will look pretty terrible. The trim on this one is much worse. But as I said, it wasn't very good to begin with. Trimming it off will solve it. If I'm really not supposed to, I'm not sure what I'll do, but they did it on the originals, so it must be okay. Here's an original with the back trimmed off . . .

Thanks Tony! I just wanted to add, that it kind of looks overlappy and stuff (especially the second from the front, second magnet from the left), but it's just not sitting flush and won't. So I'm going to deal with that when I do the outer cover strips. I love doing inners first. Definitely the way to go!

Okay glued the two sides together on ONE side (second side later/with velcro, respectively). Not an easy task! 80 magnets and several clamps later. The tough part was trying to get the ridge detail to not separate as it it the only part exposed with no cover strip. So then I gave it some thought . . . The calves get covered all the way with a cover strip. The right thigh ridge gets covered by the battery pack. The left thigh ridge is really the only one left exposed, and even that is semi-covered by the sniper plate. So I was originally scared they were all separating, but really that was the one ridge I had to worry about most. By fluke, it looks to be one of the best. Here's a picture. The lect thigh is the second from the front. You can see the ridge on the right. Not perfect, but we'll see what I can do in post. Right now I don't want to shift anything for fear it will all fall apart like a house of cards.

Two quick questions, as I was sure of a few things, but after speaking to a couple people, I am a little less sure. 1. What are the proper cover strip sizes? I know the bottom line answer to this is that they used different sizes in different armours in the movies, and there is no "right" answer. I also know you should make them look apropriate to your armour, and you can make them slightly bigger if you need more room, etc. For the sake of something to go by, this is what I have read in more than one place. biceps/forearms = 15mm front and back thighs = 20mm front and back calves = 20mm front, and 25mm back Now I assumed that 25mm in back was to accommodate the velcro strip, so it would have more surface area (one half of 25mm is bigger than one half of 20mm). Some people, however, say that the calves are both 20mm front and back, and it's the thighs that are 20mm front and 25mm back. Do you guys have any feedback on this? I was going to go with the first numbers, as I don't need particularly wide thighs, and the extra velcro surface, on the 25mm back calf strips, makes good sense for me. Now, speaking of Velcro, here is my second question... 2. There appear to be two methods of attaching velcro. I have images below. I planned to go with the first one, but then I was shown the second one by Narc, and I found it very interesting. Since the VELCRO OPENING ALWAYS FACES BETWEEN YOUR LEGS (thanks again for pointing this out before I screwed up, Narc!), does it really matter? Does method two really provide any more stability (I doubt), or more hidden seam? It just seems like more work. Method one . . . Method two . . . I'm just not sure I see the benefit of the two strips (method 2) over one (method 1). Since the velcro displacement of the alignment (due to the thickness of the velcro) is just as bad in either case, and since it is only attached where the velcro is, there's no extra support. Method one, looking from between the legs, you might see velcro. Method two, looking from between the legs, you'll see gap. Any wisdom on these two points would be greatly appreciated. Again, anyone following this thread, OPENING FACES THE INSIDE, which is counter intuitive. Instintctively, you want to reach to the outside to put on your calves, and adjust them (like ski buckles), but this is WRONG because the outside is the part that is seen most, so that is to be the fancy glued side.

Yep, body suit on. Okay good, phew, hahaha. Yeah, you're right about the slow approach, BUT, in my defense, my girlfriend did the measuring and we double and triple checked and I could theoretically move them out about 10mm with outer cover strips if it was an issue. Updates soon. As always, thank you SO much guys!!!

Okay, but you guys don't think I screwed myself by trimming my thighs so they fit me width wise do you? I taped them up and they were nice and even. Or are you only referring to the trimming of the top of the thighs and the bottom of the calves?

Nope, won't be even close to impossible. Good point. I should be able to walk in it just fine . . . unfortunately no dancing until I maybe do that cut out.

5' 8" which is why most of the AP fits me like a glove (and I am SOOOO thankful for it). I may have to trim the tips off the top of the thighs and a little off the bottom of the calves.

Thanks Andrew! Your thread is one of my go to references, so I'm glad to hear you approve so far! My (soon-to-be) XO is Clamps, so I gotta represent! hahaha

Tony, how high in the back can I get away with cutting? Like I know you can sort of cut the inside of the forearms as much (to a point) as you want so you can bend your arm properly. I have seen the back of the thighs cut as high as the trim detail (removing virtually all of it), is that okay? I just feel like I would be able to bend my knees a bit more if they were carved out back there. Right now they're carved ZERO, so maybe just to the top of the trim will be enough. Just looking for some advice on that whole thing. Thanks!

Okay so I cut and glued the inner strips for my legs. There are no inner strips on the back of the calves because the calves open and close in back via Velcro under the outer strips. When measuring the thighs I put them on, overlapped them until they were snug. In my case, I cut the ridge that exists on only one side of the thigh with Ap armour, completely off. Then I cut a similar amount from the other side. The pics will show better. You can see the line on the non-ridge sides here... And here is the traditional clamp heavy photo of the inner strips drying... That's all for now!!

Quick update while I work on my legs. Forearms all cleaned up. Still planning to de-oval them, as their inability to rotate easily is restricting my movement. Here's the upper assembly on a dummy (there's also one picture of it on a mannequin)...

Your OCD is a huge asset to me, so don't ever change! I won't change it yet. Legion first, EIB second, notch third, Centurion fourth, party at my place fifth! I hate the idea of hot water for some reason, and I genuinely don't know why. Maybe I'll just wear them all day at work until they re-shape. Y'know, the ovalish ovalness.

While on the subject of my forearms, they are quite oval-ish due to the curvatures needing to line up. They also seem to be oval in sort of the wrong way as compared with my arm bones. Is this a common issue? Do people do something to round them out again or reverse the oval-ing direction? Thanks as always guys! Greg, if you haven't seen it yet, this is the pic I was talking about re: cover strip size. Do they look okay here?

They're 15mm (ish), but the ridges could be wide. Is that something I could/should fix? My forearms are a decent size and my hand just gets through the end, so I didn't want to trim more. They are definitely trimmed to the trim line. Did you see the picture of them gluing? Still look too wide there?

Quick update. I don't think I posted a picture of my inner snaps all in place, so here it is. I know when I was reading other build threads it bothered me when there was a whole piece or step missing. I may add a 4th snap at the top of the rivet side for 2 reasons. First, the top wants to spread the most because I have a large rib cage. Second, if I notch the bottom, I may have to remove the bottom snap. Here's a pic . . . Next, I finished off my forearm cover strips, but I haven't trimmed them or sanded them. I decided to make the elastics and snap them in and have a look at them joined to the biceps. Here are the straps attached to the biceps . . . Here it is, no body suit, and not completely finished, but proud enough to post a pic nonetheless, hahaha I have arms! Lastly, for tonight, here is a pic of my torso semi-assembled . . . Tomorrow my legs come out of the box . . . nervous!!!

Totally. I don't want to give the impression it's soured me in ANY WAY. I am loving this process and making progress every day (hammering snaps as I type this . . . well not at the exact same time). For me it's more of an interesting point of debate. I doubt I'll let 22mm of notch stand between me and my goal, but questioning that which I don't understand or agree with is important, I think. My forearms are done and I'm just making straps to the biceps now. Pics shortly!

Thanks Germain, that is a really cool chart. Sorry, I must have posted at the same time you did, and didn't see yours. Either way, I apologize for using as the basis of my argument that an AP-like armour existed in the movie and therefore, somewhere, there was a notchless kidney under a belt somewhere. I see now that there is no reason to know this for sure. That said, it is still quite possible. For example, this screen shot shows a VERY small notch because the kidney armour is shorter (the original image was used to demonstrate how white strapping was actually used in some places) . . . One might infer from this that the kidney's were cut shorter to fit the performer (which makes sense) and that the purpose of the notch was to allow the kidney to bend around their waist without digging into their pelvic bone. My only point right now is that the AP kidney looks very different and fits very different than some of the other armour, and I would PREFER not to alter it in an unflattering way that doesn't make it any more authentic, since it will be misaligned with the ab. Ideally I would suggest this be a case-by-case requirement. If your kidney extends below your ab (you are wearing larger armour), then there should be a notch at the level of your ab. I feel like one requirement implies another. Like, if you MUST notch at the kidney/ab level, you must also have a kidney that extends past the ab. I'm not really suggesting the AP armour be thrown out of acceptance (I would be crazy to suggest that), but the notch is simply made in a place that is not present on AP, so wouldn't it follow that the area to be notched MUST be there to meet the requirement? In other words, if one must notch their armour where the kidney meets the ab, doing it higher (where one must do it on AP), is wrong. I assume notch location is as relevant, and important, as something like notch size. Okay that's all I wanted to say about that. Back to the fun process of completing my kit!!! Thanks guys.

That is a very good question Steve! I had read it somewhere and stored it in my head, but you're probably absolutely right, my bad. I will try to find what I read when I'm done working later, but I have little doubt you're right. Interesting question though, if AP is fan built, why does it have two identical arms that seem to favour one side? Did one side go missing at some point? Also, I notice the thighs are designed for tab cover build, not butt and cover. Is it maybe a Frankenstein of sorts? I'm still on the fence about this notch. When put in terms of 22mm from Centurion, I get it. I will go EIB, then decide. It's no effort to do it later. I appreciate all the help and encouragement guys. I do plan to join you as Centurion, so I'll cross that bridge when I must!

I would just like to take a moment to register my gripe with the kidney notch requirement. This has all been said before, but some people might be new and reading about it for the first time. The problem with the notch is that it has no place on AP armour (which is supposedly cast from a LFL armour). The notch is meant to even out the kidney with the ab plate, but with AP armour they are already the same length and line up. So if you add the notch they are misaligned. Then the notched area is narrower than the butt plate. The alternative is to lengthen the kidney so the notch is below the ab (like it's meant to be), but then the torso is too long and the kidney is still narrower than the butt. It all becomes a big mess, and for no reason. If you look at the original notched armour, it serves a purpose. If you look at RS and TM armours, it makes sense. On AP it doesn't. Here is a photo from ANH, posted by Locitus, in defence of the notch. I completely agree this is screen accurate and was visible at times, but this is just one set of armour . . . Here is what RS armour looks like with the notch (originally posted by maxsteele). . . Here is what TM armour looks like with the notch (originally posted by maxsteele) . . . And here is the same area on AP armour (originally posted by maxsteele). . . There is simply no room for it, and it makes no sense. Again, I appreciate that it is screen accurate, but in order for it to look semi-right on AP armour it would need to be done like this (originally posted by The5thHorseman) . . . I am not arguing about whether or not this is in the CRL or whether it should be in EIB or Centurion as was the original debate. It now exists, and there's nothing I can do about it. I personally believe it should be optional, or applied on a case by case basis (as it probably was on the originals) because it is a matter of what looks better (because all we're trying to do is build the best looking armour we can, and in the case of AP this will not improve it). There is even the whole "It will be covered by the belt, so why make it a requirement when no other covered elements are required, like strapping?" All I am stating here is that I will likely not do it, or do it against my better judgement. I don't feel that butchering this armour for the purposes of meeting a criteria, that was clearly not set with this armour in mind, makes any sense at all. I will not alter my armour just to meet some standard based on an arbitrary detail found on a few sets of armour in a few screen shots. If the AP armour is in fact based on LFL armour, it has no notch. Presumably, in the films somewhere, this armour is present and notchless, under its belt. Can I prove there is no notch under the belt of some troopers in the film? No. I also can't prove there are no leprechauns. I want to go on record as saying, this is one trooper who may not reach Centurion, due to a misguided technicality.