TK21029

It's a video Sent from a galaxy far far away

I finished ---------- Sent from a galaxy far far away

So here's where I am as of today, might as well use this as the forum to see how they turn out. ----------- Sent from a galaxy far far away

Here are some pics Like I mentioned I'm going for the ANH Sent from a galaxy far far away

I searched myself and even what I found wasn't really screen accurate. I want ANH set which is basically brass looking, I have some brass tubing on order to see what I can make. I can post something if it turns out nice. Even the ROTJ ones I have seen aren't really accurate but they are easier to make than ANH. I want ANH because my TK is ANH. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Anyone else notice he says "my father has it" not "had"? Also , I'm not digging the new chest plate too much. Looks kinda wimpy . Sent from a galaxy far far away

ANH Sent from a galaxy far far away

I am making a set of binders, I have them pretty much done and ready to paint. All I will have left is attaching them to each other. I was wondering if there was any screen images available to use as a template? My concern is attaching them to each other. I have seen people use chain, pvc round, pvc square etc between them to attach them. Please advise

Took 1/2" off bottom of calf and all good now. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Thanks, I'll take a small amount from the bottom of the calf. As far as foam , I feel adding the foam inside the calf may cause the Velcro on the back of the calf to open up (another common problem) . I assume you mean inside the calf at the back to push it forward. If I try foam it seems it may be better to put it in the thigh to bring it back instead. Thanks for the advice Sent from a galaxy far far away

I was looking for some advice on a problem I am experiencing. I have trimmed my thighs and I still have the issue of the knee plate falling behind the thigh. I'm sure most have experienced this one time or another. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried or recommend trimming the bottom of the calf? I need to make more of a gap between my thigh and calf at the knee. I'm afraid to trim the thigh more and I was wondering if I am wrong to consider trimming the bottom of the calf (where it sits on boots) to bring the calf lower. Any advice helps,

The boots aren't that bad, I honesty don't see much anything wrong with them. They may just be being too critical, either that or I got lucky with the ones they sent Sent from a galaxy far far away

That helmet would be great for "The Rock" though with that brow raised haha Sent from a galaxy far far away

I think all AM kits have that issue, at least many people complain of this. I simply forced it in place while I adjusted other things and it ended up straight in the end. I also did NOT use all the recommended locations because holding it straight changed them. -------- Sent from a galaxy far far away

I am in the process of welding and then using abs paste to fill the weld. Then I'll sand and use Novus. I am seeing if I can find a way to avoid painting. That would be ideal so there's no matching or off color issues Sent from a galaxy far far away

Watch this video, it's what inspired me to go this method. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Not..at...all , grab a few scrap pieces you have laying around and play with it, it's incredibly easy and clean. I would recommend anyone attempting it to practice on scrap pieces. I surely did that myself. Sent from a galaxy far far away

So I researched the posts and found two proposed methods of adding shims to the kidney plate. Both are feasible and work but have their drawbacks. For instance when you bend on it while wearing you can get a hairline crack where the old seam is because the epoxy or ABS sludge is simply not thick enough there to support any stress. I tried both methods and wasn't happy for that reason and tore it apart. I ended up figuring out what I think is the strongest method to add a shim that you would want to hide. 1. Hold the two pieces together. Use a soldering iron and weld them together. Don't worry, unlike a heat gun or oven this will only heat where you want to heat and you won't damage other areas. Doing this alone will make it seem very strong but follow the next step because I trialed and error this already. Also it will discolor the ABS but it's gonna be painted so that's no concern. 2. Add rear support just as you would other parts of your armor. Note: you will want to sand your weld to get the shim to lay flat and nice. 3. Add epoxy to the front of the seam. I used Apoxy Sculpt which is available from Amazon. Use a little water while you are applying it to make it softer and so you can maneuver it. Note: you will want to sand this down also before applying the epoxy. 4. Once the epoxy is set (overnight) it's time to sand. The epoxy is tough so I used an orbital sander. I started with 220 and worked my way up to a 400 grain. 5. Now it's time to paint. I taped off everything but where my shim starts and to the end of the kidney. I used a Krylon paint because it seemed to match better than the previous recommended for my armor. Disregard the last piece of tape as I removed that before painting. 6. Once the paint is completely dry it's time to sand again. You have to blend your tape line in. I used 1500 and wet sanded until the paint blended well. At some angles you will see some color difference. This is expected unless you plan on going ahead and painting the entire kidney. I don't recommend this because it's better to have a smaller area slightly off rather your whole kidney. And you're done....in person you can see blemishes but it's the best you're going to be able to achieve without a custom mould. I'm happy with it. If you are remotely good at drywall or any other sanding and finishing it can be very nice. The most important thing is the STRENGTH! with that solder weld it's like one piece. That method can be added to thighs or other parts of armor if you are having problems holding them together. The above picture I put in the worst light to show you how the paint can be off. In other lights it's virtually invisible and the pair matches perfectly. Thanks! RS

I am the person TriumphTrooper mentioned about the shims a few above. Yes go with the AM kit, there is a couple methods I researched here for making shims and tried them both. Both are decent but both have drawbacks. I found by trial and error the best way to make it seamless and not have hairline cracks where you fill in the seam. I am at the painting stage now and wet sanding. Once done I'll make a thread of what I did. It's kinda a combination of both. Sent from a galaxy far far away

What I would have done is take a soldering iron and just touch the back while holding it right together. Don't worry heating the back will not affect the front and just touch it softly with the small soldering iron tip. It will fuse them together as one and a permanent bond. I did this when adding a shim. I would then have added a strip in the back. Nothing stronger can be done. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Good luck , I would advise to use e6000 not the glue provided. It's much more forgiving. Take your time, the build is a part of the experience in of itself. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Sanded with 600 grit and most imperfections are disappearing and shine coming back ----------

I see many people cutting themselves. If you go to Home Depot and see the variety of attachments I find that I rarely need the knife. Sent from a galaxy far far away

Part of the seam gone. I realized that you have to have a good 1/16" recess so it can be filled with the epoxy. I sanded more and added more. Hopefully won't have to do it a third time ------------ Sent from a galaxy far far away

Dimple is for your left arm.... Sent from a galaxy far far away