VulpX

Thanks Paul! I'll trim the helmet first then, and see how everything fits with the rim intact. Right now I'm gluing the front cover strip of the second thigh, then tomorrow I'll do the back of both thighs. Things are starting to come together.

Ok, so this weekend I plan to work a lot on the helmet. Now that I started on the faceplate I can't wait to be able to wear it I have a question on the faceplate that other TM owners/builders might be able to help me with. See this picture: Do I need to trim the top of the faceplate off just below the rim? Or does it not need trimming at all at this point? I imagine trimming it would allow for the faceplate to hug the front of the helmet a little tighter.

Hahaha, it was the most extreme example. That was the first coverstrip I did on the shins, and I thought all the glue gushing out was a bit too much too. I applied the E6000 a little more conservatively on the other strips, not nearly as much is gushing out now

Thanks Tony! Allright, a slightly bigger update with some work done this last week: Shins are almost finished. Final fitting with undersuit and shoes: On to gluing. I used lots of E6000, it's dripping all over the place : Looks good right? Sniper plate on the left shin: And right now the cover strip on the back of the shins is glued and drying: This weekend I decided to do a rough test fit. Not even everything was trimmed yet, and it's held together (poorly) with tape, it just doesn't fit yet. But it felt really good to have this stuff on me for the first time This might not be noticeable on the picture, but the back and chest plate weren't even trimmed here, and a lot of the other torso pieces and the shoulder bells hadn't been properly sanded yet. I did all that by now, and I feel like I'm making decent headway. I've been a little enthusiastic with my E6000, and finished the second tube today. So right now I'm waiting for the third tube I ordered earlier this week. The only really big gluing job left is the thighs, and after that it's time to move on to fitting, strapping and making the belt. I also made a start with the helmet, and with that I really got the feeling things are starting to look like a trooper. It's just an awesome sight every time, the front of a bucket. Right eye done: Left eye trimmed roughly: And done! By the way, you don't want to know how many liters of coffee pass this mug during the build

Ok, will do that. Thanks Paul!

My 2 week gaming hiatus is over, and yesterday I went back to the build. I trimmed the shins a semi-final time, did the second cover strip of one forearm, trimmed the thighs for a first fitting and started trimming the kidney plate... It's coming along nicely, but I haven't taken a lot of pictures of those things so sadly I can't post the progress. I wanted to start on my shoulder bells too, and drew lines where the edge of the mold is clearly visible: As you can see, the pencil line is clearly not straight (on the right one the line I drew isn't correct, when following the mold it actually looks a lot like the left one). I tried looking at pictures of other TM builds, and to me their edges on top of the bells look a lot straighter. Or is that just not the case and should I follow my lines when cutting?

Thanks, I won't worry about the unevenness then. I did trim my forearms conform centurion specs this weekend, so trimmed up to the indent. The build will be a little slower this week as I received this beauty Tuesday, so I'm kind of absorbed in other stuff the next few days Really appreciate all the help!

Cool thanks! I'm going with 22mm on my legs front btw, since I have Paul's XL shins and probably also won't have to trim the thighs that much. I think 22mm would be better with my proportions. I have done the left shin too, looks about the same as the right one. I'll trim it down a little more, make a strip and see what it looks like. Also still need to do the back, I noticed the back seam isn't straight like the front, but kind of angles inward, like you see on my last picture. Is that angle too big, or about right? Thanks for all the help till now, really appreciated

I'm using E6000. I got the same advice from a DG member. Once glued all the ABS will bend, not just at the seam. So I'll try to trim some of the back, see how it goes. So, quick question, does this look good? Haven't trimmed the back yet, wanted some feedback on the fitting.

Okay, some progress this weekend. I made the first cover strips for the biceps and glued them on. I did this yesterday, and in a few hours they will have sat for 24 hours and I'll do the other strip So, now I've moved on to the shins. Can't say I like this part. I find it very hard to get good straight edges on it. I made this contraption to so it: I only did the right shin so far. I'm running into issues and I really don't want to continue with the shins before I know for certain it's gonna turn out ok. So I put them on, notice all the big gaps. I haven't trimmed the back yet, as I'm not sure if it even fits all right at the front. I'm really struggling with how I'm ever going to put them on with the cover stip glued in front. I need to bend the shin quite a bit to be able to slip it over my leg, so far that I don't think the cover strip will hold when it's in place. I don't really know what to do with them at this point. If I look at other builds the shins all seem to be done so easily.

Just received my 2mm acrylic TM kit this week. I was slightly worried at first about durability with trooping too, but now that I work on it and feel the thickness and sturdiness of the plastic I am sure that this will definitely hold up well during trooping. I'm not scared of cracks at all. And the super shiny whiteness makes it awesome to look at too

I checked some references and other builds and see that too. In T-Jay's thread you made it like this: I like that, I'll try to do that too. Sort of halfway between the two halves.

Thanks for the tip on the bottom line up Paul! I was struggling a little with that, especially on the right bicep. It's a little more misaligned than the left one. But this should help! And of course the mismatch would be covered up by the cover strip and the shoulder bell.

I wish! Nope, I don't have one, this is my first costume build ever But wouldn't I be cutting into the pattern on the forearms? I checked some reference pics, and I see you are right, a lot of them have cut off a bit more at the front. But I like this effect, it looks like the pattern on top of the arm actually sits on it. I really need to know what it is called Ok, onto what I have done yesterday evening. I took off more of the return edge on the biceps (not sanded yet). Maybe I'll take off a little more: I made a sanding board for all the straight edges. Helps a lot! Ready for fitting! So I put on the undersuit and fitted the biceps and forearms: Of course the biceps will end up higher up on my arm when they are connected to the shoulder bells. I don't think I need to make them any smaller. I can stick two fingers between the armor and my arm when I have my arms at my side, but when I flex my biceps the armor is tight. Next up will be sanding the biceps and making the cover strips for them, gluing and then the same for the forearms. I also started trimming a shin yesterday, it's all coming along nicely I would say

After working on the arms for two evenings I can confirm the 2mm ABS feels really sturdy and solid. Paul said it would have a more armour like feel to it than thinner plastic, and it sure does! Really glad I went with this. Some updates: Sorted the basic strapping kit: My little workstation: Seperated the arms: Some progress on the biceps and forearms: All edges gone on the arms: Removed return edge at the front of the forearms: Biceps done and sanded. I'm still thinking of taking of more of the return edge, especially at the inner biceps. They look less rough in reality than on the photo's, but the little edge visible on the return edge of the outer bicep still bothers me. Might take off just a millimeter more. So far, so good. Love working on it Next up is either fitting the arms or cleaning up and trimming the shins.

Yesterday was a boring day at the office. Really, really boring. It was made worse by the fact that I knew there would be a special moment at the end of the day, and that just makes all the hours that precede that moment drag on forever. But then it finally happened, a really big brown box arrived from England with my name on it and suddenly yesterday was one of the best days in recent memory The box is kinda cool, maybe I'll keep it for a Solid Snake cosplay But the contents are slightly more awesome, imho: It's really shiny. Really, really shiny. It's awesome. Oh, and it's thick. It's really feels robust, this 2 mm ABS. Thanks a lot Paul! Also included are two pairs of ears for the helmet, nice! I will update the thread again this evening with new pictures. I started with seperating the biceps and forearms, and trimmed the biceps a little. I will start with the arms and legs, then the torso and the helmet last. I really want to get a good feel for the ABS before I tackle the bucket. After all that's the part that will stand out most. The goal I'm aiming for is Centurion level accuracy, with a deadline of somewhere before the end of October. I want to get my 501st approval in before or at the beginning of November, so I'll be able to join the Dutch Garrison with the big premiere events for The Force Awakens.

Thanks for the input guys! I was also thinking of adding something like milliput or epoxy to the trigger guard holes. But I'll do this after I've disassembled it once more to give the bolt its final more accurate colouring. I'm also thinking of adding additional weathering by doing a wash with a mix of black matte paint, water and a little bit of soap. After that wash the whole blaster should have a washed look, and the contrast between the "new" looking black paint and the hard silver weathering will be a little less. This was a tip I got at the Dutch Garrison family day, really helpful. I already added so e brass weathering to the scope and front of the Hengstler. I'll update again later this week when I've done the wash.

Ok, some photos of the weathering work in progress. Waiting for my brass paint to arrive, so I can paint the scope and front of the Hengstler. All in all, I think it is turning out pretty awesome, if I may say so myself

True. I have black acrylic for gunpla so I could use that. I'll see if I can mix something up somewhere this week.

Ah yeah, I could try that too.

Hmm, ok, so I'll try a different glue first then. That comes later, I need to fix the colour of the bolt first, so I can't have the trigger too permanently attached now *Need to find some good gunmetal colour spray* Would this be a good colour? http://www.humbrol.com/uk-en/catalog/product/view/_ignore_category/1/id/1491/

Derrek, how did you attach your trigger guard securely to the grip? I have glued mine twice already, but it's still pretty wiggly. It's the part I'm most concerned about losing during trooping.

Hahaha, yeah I saw that too when I went back to check on his weathering. It's like you say, once you start it's hard to stop. But that's kind of thing you need to be most cautious of too, because too much and the whole look suffers for it.

I started weahering today. Happy with my progress. I do weather the t-tracks, because I agree that in-universe it would probably have been some sort of metal.

I saw Captain_Wordo did that in his build, it looks pretty nice. I think I'll do a little less weathering than that, but having completely unweathered parts surrounded by weathering gives a weird effect, maybe. I see there is nothing about the weathering in de CRL for ANH Stunt, so I guess that means it's up to the trooper what he/she wants.