ukswrath

I agree, needs a little dirt don't you say?

You go Pat!

Should have been emailed to you. You can also check http://www.501st.com/members/searchform.php

Yes I believe you need to be a member to gain access to membership areas. My TK build is done, just waiting for gloves I ordered a month ago to arrive from Europe, yikes! You should enjoy this, here's my ATA TK re-Build threads, yes there's part one and two. What NOT to do , but just in case you do. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29683-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-1/ http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29684-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-2/

OMG! ah hahaha

Well welcome to the clan my friend. A lot of great people at the GGG as well as FISD. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. Measure twice and cut once. Hope to see you on troops. As for troops there's plenty. Get registered with the GGG , if you haven't already then head to "Event Announcements and Sign-up" for troop info.

Your neighbor is probably saying "Honey, the neighborhood watch has new armor"

Hey Brian are those the Imperial boots?

SWEET! Open it up I wanna see... Nothing like the smell of plastic. Another GGG trooper in the makiing, AWESOME!

Great job Glen

Nice build Pelayo, good luck

Can you imagine just when you thought you'd switched over from the VOX to your phone and you say "Hi Honey" then it dawns on you it never switched over and your fellow troopers give you that deer in the headlight look.... ah hahaha

BTW love the "Shim it real good" post. Never thought of the acetone and scrap trim stew method . The creativity that comes out of FISD never seizes to amaze me. Great job.

Many, many thanks to all. Patience Scott I want to display this more than you unfortunately I'm still waiting for my gloves/guards to arrive I ordered last month. I was half tempted to clean up my TD gloves then remembered the reason why this post exists .

Thank you sir

Thank you

Well I'm hoping my nightmare is someone else's saving grace. Never say never and never regret. Thanks for the props

Continuing on, part 2.... Part 1 http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29683-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-1/ 5. Calves - As you can see the rear connecting joints were cut incorrectly and had incorrect sized cover strips improperly installed. The sniper plate was riveted instead of glued. The front cover strips either too long or too short exposing a gap between sections. Cautiously I removed the rivets and super glued sniper plate. After correctly the joints, sanding and prepping, the calves were reassembled. Cover strips were glued in place. I know it’s customary and acceptable to use “for sale†sign plastic for the inner cover strips however, since I was going through all this work I decided to order extra strip sheets from Terrell (ATA). Correct calf shape using hot water and tie straps. Prepped the water and bucket Prepped the right calf with tie straps Right side after hot water bath Left side After hot water bath Assemble connecting calf half strap & hooks from my "Rear calf closure clips" tutorial. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29132-diy-rear-calf-closure-clips-aka-%E2%80%9Cbra-clips%E2%80%9D/ or... most common, sew in hook and elastic material method Glue into calves Drill strap hook holes. Gel fill left post build sniper plate holes. Reshape and reattach sniper plate. Polish exterior. Finished 6. Thighs (right & left) & concerns (not all pics shown) - Ammo belt shaped and installed incorrectly. Cover strips were too wide, too long or too short. Both thighs were completely disassembled and reassembled. Reshape, fill in holes in ammo belt and correctly connect to thigh. I elected not to glue the elastic thigh support (due to I lost the ability to attach the torso sections keeping those screen accurate). Instead I assembled and installed a very easy to use double snap mount system, using 3†wide black elastic, thin plastic and 4 snaps. I then assembled and installed a thigh support belt. Assembly thigh straps Connect to calves Assemble connect the other side of the elastic straps to garter belt Once all thigh corrections were completed, the exterior was polished. 7. Bells, biceps and forearms – (Bells) Shaped incorrectly, incorrect or damaged strapping installed. (not all pics shown) Bells - Remove previous strapping method, sand and paint. Assemble and install bell to shoulder and bicep straps. Glue shoulder straps Glue bicep straps Biceps - (Biceps) Shaped incorrectly, jagged edges, incorrect size/length or damaged cover strips installed. Disassemble and reassemble installing new cover strips. Reshape out of round bicep in using hot water and tie straps. Trim edges. Replace cover strips. Reshape out of round biceps with hot water and tie strap (strap not shown) Before After Reshape and trim biceps of sharp uneven return edge. Thanks for the tip Adam T. Assemble and glue bicep to bell strap hooks Note: Using gloves to avoid possible burns. Using heat gun apply heat at plastic near edge of clipboard. When plastic is soft, bend around edge. Measure to ensure both hooks are mounted evenly. Hook for other side Glue in place After dried install in bell and check strap fit. Clean and polish exterior surface. 8. Belt assembly – Holster positioned incorrectly, ammo belt trimmed incorrectly and had wear damaged, drop boxes had no rear covers and were connected and located on the canvas belt incorrectly. Unfortunately the canvas belt was too damaged to reuse. Having screws run through it, gun holster and other items secured in the wrong positions it would have been more trouble to repair then replace. Correctly trim sand, polish and install ammo belt. Trim and attach holster using ANH Stunt specs. Correctly assemble, polish and attach drop boxes. NOTE: Drop boxes and holster connected with snaps being the armor will be used for Stunt and Heavy Weapons Trooper which requires the drop boxes and holster to be removed. Assemble - Drop boxes Assemble belt - Find center of canvas and ammo belt, temporarily bolt together. Align and mark drop box location in relation to canvas ammo belt Install snaps on belt for drop box and ab plate. Install drop box strap rivet. Rivet ammo belt to canvas belt Mark position on canvas belt for gun holster Drill snaps in preparation for rivet install Grind down excessive rivet prodding from snap Install holster Install rivet covers Finished 9. Thermal Detonator – AHHHHH!!! End caps were badly cracked, control panel in the wrong location badly worn, belt clips were badly bent and a screw hole drilled into the tube. Basically the TD was useless. I had a spare kit so I built it to specs. Old - New - TD Update: Through my EIB and Centurion approvals I discovered my TD was inaccurate in a couple areas and wanted to post the revisions in the spirit of correctness. Here's what the inaccuracies were and what I had to do to remedy them. The TD clips were too small in width, weren't positioned correctly and the TD itself was a 1/2" too long. Long story short I made new clips, shortened the tube and re-positioned the face plate. 10. E-11 – Hasbro with partial Droopy Do kit other electronics (not shown). I have a Hyperfirm so I will NOT be using the Hasbro. For sale if anybody wants it. PM me for pics That’s about it. What should have taken me a couple weeks has been a couple months, and my budget is all but non-existent. On a positive note I have a nice set of armor I like and mountain of knowledge when it comes to repairing ABS. May the information I’ve provided help you in your purchasing choices, a build or a build situation. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. EIB request - http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29712-tk-10116-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-ata/ Centurion request - http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29743-tk-10116-requesting-anh-stunt-centurion-status-ata144/ Part 1 http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29683-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-1/

This build post (or should I say re-build) is about solutions to problems if junk happens during your build and you’re unsure what to do. It’s also a testament to how being impatient in purchasing or building armor may come with a cost. Though this particular build has been a bit painful, it’s also given me hope. Through perseverance, patience and understanding, anything is possible. Part 2 http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29684-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-2/ The Story Like most new troopers here, after a couple weeks of reading through armor threads I’d settled on ATA and put myself on the wait list. Echoing the thoughts of many who will read this this, the wait can be excruciating, especially when there’s other armor more readily available, but I wanted ATA and that’s what my budget allowed. After a month or so the anticipation turned into impatience and soon began looking at the “for sale†posts for new, already assembled, and used kits. I searched high and low for a couple weeks until I found a seller with the armor I wanted and it was already assembled. We had the same body type, it had low usage and looked immaculate. After many PM’s questioning the quality and whether it was EIB or Centurion approveable, I pulled the trigger. Though the price was a bit steep (compared to a new kit), I figured someone’s labor of love went into it and I don’t mind paying for that. I was willing to pay a little extra for a ready to wear gorgeous piece of armor, not to mention it came with a nicely modified E-11. When the box finally arrived this ole man’s face lit up like of a child on Christmas morning. As I began the unboxing, to my delight everything was neatly packed in bubble wrap however, this is where the delight stopped. Upon removing the bubble wrap my heart went from that of joy to despair. You could hear a pin drop, crickets, etc. You could have heard tears hit the floor (ok the last part was a bit much but you get my point). Then anger set in. I remember asking myself “How could this have happened, I asked all the right questions? This wasn't the scenario I was looking forâ€. My problem is I want to believe everyone is being honest especially if you’re 501st anyways, back to the unraveling. To my dismay what I had was a nightmare. Well worn, helmet as with the rest of the armor, was assembled incorrectly. The most shocking was the main torso section. The back, kidney, ab and cod plates were all super glued together with scrap plastic, I almost couldn't get into it, not to mention there was a sheet metal screw running from inside and through the kidney plate, through one section of the canvas ammo belt into the thermal detonator, REALLY!? To give some credit to the builder, you can tell there was an attempt to build it correctly however, at some point that rule sadly went out the window, BUMMER! So there I sat on the floor with my pile of unwearable plastic I obviously paid way too much for. Utterly discourage I had two choices, contact the seller and go through the painful process of attempting to get my money back or the other, as my wife loves to quote at every life’s low moment, “It’s time to pull up the big boy pants and get in the ball gameâ€. Knowing FISD had plenty of build and some what to do posts, I dove into my quest. I figured with a mountain of knowledge at my finger tips, and sheer determination I was going to rebuild this pile of plastic to EIB, and maybe even Centurion approval. I also figured most troopers here at some point may, or did, make a mistake during assembly. Maybe I can be of help. In this re-build I’m pretty certain I've come across and overcome every obstacle there is to building or repairing armor. To be clear, I don’t claim to have all the answers or solutions to every problem you may encounter, only my experiences. If you have a better solution to a problem, by all means PM me and/or post it. Troopers helping troopers is what the FISD is all about, right? Finally in this thread I’ll post pre & post armor build pics and will attempt to address every obstacle I came across and the solution. Again, if all goes well this pile of plastic will become EIB, and maybe Centurion level approvable, giving proof that anything is possible. I want to give many thanks to those who've documented and paved the armor building trail before me. Through your trial and error what I thought was impossible has become possible. NOTE: I would like everyone to understand I’m not here to bash anybody’s building skills, styles or etc, especially the prior owner/builder of this armor. I’m merely pointing out flaws or imperfections I found and my attempt, or success to repair them. Please forgive me in advance if my comments come across otherwise. With that, let’s get the re-building or should I say dismantling started. 1. The first set of pics is the armor before dismantling (with the exception of the kidney and posterior section I separated). My first obstacle was to identify which sections may or may not need complete rebuilding. Though not all the sections needed repair all needed cosmetic corrections. Finally, determine how the sections attached to one another were connected (super glue, E6000), and how to safely separate them. 2. Starting with the bucket. At first glance it looked lopsided and off center. As I disassembled it I found the front and rear sections about ½†off of center. Given the ATA face/frown section is already a bit off, the ½†made it look worse. I also notice the ears were a bit on the thin side but there’s nothing I could do but install them as is or replace. The eye sockets were unfinished and the “S†seal was cut too short (not a huge problem). Upon reassembly I ran into a bigger concern, no matter how accurate I was with my measurements the helmet appeared warped. Maybe it was overheated or something happened during the manufacturing process, I don’t know, it just seemed off. It may not be very noticeable in the pics but there's definitely something wrong. Being I've never built an ATA bucket, I made the decision to purchase a one new from Terrell and have a reputable builder put it together so I could compare the two, and boy were they different. Ultimately I decided to use my newly acquired bucket from ATA for my EIB approval and use this bucket for my TD seen here on M.E.P.D. http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=13197. 3. Onto the (most difficult) back, kidney, ab and butt (posterior) assembly. Whatever was held together with E6000 I gently softened (on the scrap plastic side) with a heat gun. (http://www.amazon.com/1500-Watt-Temperature-572%C2%B0F-1112%C2%B0F/dp/B0053U2B8G). I then cautiously separated with a butter or large sharp hunting knife. NOTE: I highly suggest buying a pair of cut resistant gloves (level 5, (http://www.amazon.com/Kaffyad-Resistant-Protection-Mandolines-Lightweight/dp/B00KXFCJJW) or something similar). ALWAYS remember to cut, slice, pry, etc, AWAY from your body NOT towards it. As for the superglued sections I purchased a Black and Decker Mouse Detail Sander (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MS800B-Detail-Collection/dp/B001H0GC04). Starting with 80 grit pads I began the rigorous process of sanding away the scrap plastic until I reached the original. Once I reached the original plastic I finished the surface off with 200 then 800 grit. My biggest disappointment came when I realized a majority of the 90 degree edges were damaged and unusable due to how they were trimmed or how connecting scrap plastic was installed. Using a Dremel (http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-100-N-Single-Speed-Rotary/dp/B002BAHF64 , http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-430-drum-sanding-mandrel/dp/B00004UDHD) trimmed the remaining edges off. Then using the B&D Mouse I finished the edges giving a mated/uniformed look as they were intended. Kidney after sanding Inside posterior section after sanding Posterior exterior after sanding Time to assemble. NOTE: 95% of the armor was assembled using E6000 (strong yet very forgiving).I fabricated and glued cover strips at the inner left & right side kidney/ab plate joints for the side split and snap rivets. Measured and drilled the left 6 split rivets holes, ab ammo belt snap and right upper ab snap holes. Cut the required 22mm notch on the left & right side kidney plate as required for Centurion. Unfortunately the ab buttons looked like they had paint thinner damage. No matter how much I polished I couldn't clean them up, and so were also replaced. Here's a small demonstration of how I painted the new ab buttons. Once I trimmed them out they were ready to install. Improper rivet placement, snap and screws left several holes in all the sections. My best option was to fill the holes using boat gel filler by TAP Plastics. It provided a pliable and strong surface that could be sanded and painted. The areas where you can see lighter white spots are holes that were filled in. Once the major problems were addressed I measured and drilled holes for all the rivets and snaps needed. Left side split rivets, snap on right, and front belt snaps. Chest plate - Excessive trim and damage from super glued strap cover removal Chest after sanding Once finished I prepped the armor for paint. Prior to painting I assembled and installed the strapping mounts used to secure the sections together. Installed rubber bolt covers over the snaps to protect them from the primer and paint. Primed then painted the interior side of all the torso armor sections. After painting the exterior was polished. As for polishing scratches out of the ABS, Novus polishes are the norm however, given the amount of polishing I’ll be doing I elected use a headlight restoration kit from 3M as well. Not only will it take out very deep scratches and polish the plastic to its original luster it’s connected to a power drill which greatly reduces the effort you have to exert. To this day I used the 3M polishing pad and Novus 1&2 for all my needs. (Novus Polish - http://www.amazon.com/Novus-Plastic-Scratch-Remover-bottles/dp/B000J41VDM. 3M Kit - http://www.amazon.com/3M-39008-Headlight-Restoration-System/dp/B001AIZ5HY). Install new Ab plate. Ab section after assembly and polishing. 4. Shoulders – Upon inspection the shoulder straps were found to be shaped and glued incorrectly. Wrong connecting fabric color (black) and incorrect bell support snaps were installed. Removed super glued shoulder straps and black nylon shoulder fabric and reshape cover straps. Assemble white elastic connecting fabric x2 and rivets (right side shown), left side similar but with out rivets. Assemble and install bell support snaps on both sections. Assemble and install Cover retainers Superglue or fabric glue knot Install Attach left shoulder connecting strap Attach strap covers After polishing and assembly Stay tuned, Part 2 http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29684-anh-stunt-ata-re-build-part-2/ EIB request - http://www.whitearmo...eib-status-ata/ Centurion request - http://www.whitearmo...-status-ata144/

Awesome job on the neck seal BTW. Give the wife a big codos. I wouldn't worry too much about the t shirt logo. Though logos on undergarments are not acceptable what we can't see, we won't comment on. Worst case scenario, black sharpie.

Might be a good idea to check other AP build threads and compare.

Now those are some serious pimp boots

a pimp

HAHA he was probably thinking, oooooh! chiny new WHITE boots, really!?

Yea I've been on his order list for a couple months now. This is the reason I went with IB, couldn't wait any longer. Still hoping he'll will start moving boots again. I currently have a pair of his for my TD and love them.