TK Monkus

Thanks Scott, I will definitely add that extra ABS inside. Can I do that at the same time I do the outer cover strip or would you recommend doing them separate? I also may shave a little bit from that back side and I can maybe cheat that cover strip to straight. That was the only other issue. That back butt joint seems to be at an angle so the cover strip won't really sit straight. Probably my fault as I think that was my first cut and it looks like I cut at a bit of an angle instead of straight. Thanks, M

Thanks Scott. For the forearms I fit them while wearing my undersuit which is compression gear so pretty much skin tight and they felt ok. I also tried on the gloves and they slid in alright. For the bicep, I am not looking to trim any more, but you can see in that 3rd and 4th pic how the cover strip wouldn't lay straight currently and so I am wondering if I need to? Unless there is a trick? I think it currently is a bit sideways. See the pic below for a top down look at what I mean about the one side sticking out a little which is also why I am wondering if I need to trim that back a little, where that red line is on the 5th pic. Thanks for your help! M

Forearm Fitting Alright I have my forearms marked up and before I cut wanted to check in as the right one is way bigger than the left (before any adjustments). I have fitted so the top and bottom of my hand graze the wrist edges as I put them on. I feel like if I go any bigger they will be to big. I have been looking at the RS suit and see there is only like 2-3mm of that ridge that peaks out from the cover strip near the wrist. I know it tapers up a little as it goes up the arm so I am just making decisions based on the wrist side. Basing on that, my right forearm will need about 80mm cut off total. I have measured and due to the size can take about 12mm off the inner ridge side and about 7mm from the outer ridge side. That leaves 30mm from both the other sides. On the left side there is way less to be taken from the ridge only about 2mm which leaves about 23mm from both other sides. See pics below of where the markings for the cuts will be. I won't be making these cuts until tomorrow so any input is welcome and appreciated. Right forearm. That first closer mark is where I will be making the cut, than the same distance on the inner piece. Here is the ridge side of the right forearm. It is way bigger than the left side. Here is the left forearm. Again the first closer mark is where I will cut, than same distance on inner side. Left forearm ridge. I could almost not even touch this but decide to take a little to try and clean up the butt joints. Thanks as always, M

Hey guys I have a couple questions, see below. I was about ready to post pics of fitted biceps for gluing but my left one still felt a bit big so I took another 5mm off each side. It now feels better, but one of the sides seems to stick out a little, it won't sit even unless I push it back in. Also the cover strip seems to sit at a bit of an angle now and I am pretty sure they should be straight, correct? There is also an edge on the top that may slightly be impeding the butt joint as well, I am wondering if I can cut that so it will lay more flush. See pics below. this sits out unless I push it back in, see pic below after I put some pressure on it and push in cover strip now lays at an angle. I know I still need to round the edges just waiting until final gluing to do so. Here is what it looks like if I straighten it. Even if I put that right edge of the cover strip as close to the right butt joint as I can, there is still a gap. Do I need to trim that "back" side of the bicep to straighten it kind of where the red line is in the pic below? I feel like if I do that the other side will be very uneven. Here is that edge I was talking about. Can I cut where that line is to try and make them meet evenly? Or should it just sit like this? Thanks in advance M

Bicep Fitting I cut the biceps to fit. The right one fits a little better than the left, but I think I am going to actually leave a little gap when gluing the cover strips to give a little extra space. I am going to cut another 10mm off each side of the front left one. I ended up taking 5mm of the back side of both biceps. I took 35mm off each side of the front right one and only 25mm off each side of the front left one which is why I think I will take another 10mm. See pics below. marked 5mm on each back side marked 35mm on the R side and 25mm on the L used a ruler to get a straight line for me to follow when cutting used my big shears to follow the line, then sanded smooth the edges. You can see the L one looks a bit bigger than the R Here is how they currently fit Right side, sorry shirt was over part of it. Left side which again looks a bit bigger Forearms sizing to come

Very helpful thank you!

Thanks Scott! Yes I will plan to divide my cutting distance by 4 and take some from each side. On the forearms though one side has that ridge so I will probably need to take more from the other flat side correct? Looks like I need to just go ahead and get cutting! Thanks, M

So I was watching Richie stormtroopers build video, which I will probably start using as a guide, and he mentioned the more slim the bicep, the better it will look. I am using the RS suit as my guide suit since that is essentially what mine is molded from and it was a screen used suit. On that suit it looks like the biceps were only a little slimmer than the forearms, if at all. I feel a bit torn between fitting to myself, and fitting to screen accurate suit... If I fit to myself will that hinder me from lvl 3, and will it possibly look off? The pics above have it fit so I can still flex my bicep and have a little room between the armor and my skin. I don't think the fits should be "skin tight" correct? I have yet to fit my forearms so maybe they will all look proportional once I do that? One of the main reasons I decided to build my own suit was so it would fit perfectly. Any help on this is much appreciated. I feel like I am getting stuck up and keep flip flopping on a decision and will never actually size it up, or down in my case. Sorry I know there are a lot of questions peppered throughout that, but I really am at a bit of a loss. Thanks! M

Left Forearm I removed the return edge from the left forearm. I left a little bit on the outside top portion again, but removed all of it from the bottom wrist side. Back top portion Front top portion Bottom, wrist side Now on to sizing the forearms.

Bicep sizing Here is the first attempt at sizing. I needed to support from the bottom otherwise it would have slid down off my arm. The exact position may not be correct and I know I need to test with my undersuit, but this is for initial cuts. Also not sure these are the best reference pics so please let me know if I should do this differently. Also I have had a few people mention not to cut these to "small" as it will look off. Would my current marks be cutting to much? Right Side front view side view back view Black mark on the left side is where I have it marked right now. I know I would need to divide that in half and cut from both sides. Left Side front view side view back view black mark on right side is where I currently have it marked to cut. Again I know I would need to divide that in half and cut from both sides. Would I only be cutting from the "top" or outside piece? Or should I be cutting from both outside and inside?

I trimmed my right forearm return edges off. I left a little bit on the top outer side, but removed all the front wrist side. I have pretty small arms and have read that leaving a little return edge can help with the fit. back top front top bottom, wrist side I am going to try and size my biceps then will trim off the return edges of my left forearm. Bicep sizing to come.

I am hand sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. Do you think that is sufficient or should I go even finer?

I couldn't wait so decided to continue with removing most of the return edge on the right side bicep as well. I have found that I prefer to use the Dremel and sand technique. back top front top bottom I removed the return edge on the Right forearm as well, but will post pics tomorrow. So I think I am now ready to size both biceps, also a tomorrow job with pics and questions to come.

I made my first cuts. I took most of the return edges off of my left bicep pieces. I tired out a couple different ways of doing this to see what worked best. First I tried using the Dremel as there was not to much that needed to be trimmed from that top back piece. I noticed it wasn't as "clean" as I thought it would be so I then took some 220 grit sandpaper to try and smooth it all off which seemed to work. next I tried the curved small scissors which seemed to work pretty well, except as I tried to round it out it would kind of "fray", see pic below. So I decided to take the Dremel to it to smooth out those bits and then sand after that to completely smooth it out, which seemed to work. I also tried a small piece just using a razor blade which gave me a very clean and smooth edge, but I wouldn't have been able to do that around the curved bit. Maybe if it was straight I would go that route. See below the pics of the results, and please let me know how it came out or if anything should be modified. I am going to hold off on the right bicep until I know I am doing it correctly, haha. I noticed the left side is thicker than the right...does that need to be evened out? There is also some of these marks that I think maybe from the sandpaper? Is that a normal thing or should that not be there? Also looking at this I think that needs to be sanded and smoothed a little more. Thanks!

That is something I am a bit worried about, having things look off because its to small. I am going to post some pics before slimming down and hopefully catch that before its to late. Foam may be in my future.

I also have thin arms so hopefully this helps hold it in place so there is no wobble.

After looking at a few more pictures of the original RS suit, it seems where I have marked in red on the back should actually stay, so I am just going to cut where I have marked in black.

Bicep Return Edge Cuts So I have marked my return edges where I think I will be making the cuts. I am going to be removing all return edges as that seems to be most screen accurate. I am also going to make these cuts, and then size it to my arm for those cuts. Here is the Left one: Here is the top front portion Here is the back top portion. Should I be marking this even lower and taking out that whole curve marked in red? Here is the bottom Right Bicep Here is top front Here is back top. Again should I be cutting along the red line instead? Here is the bottom If you think I am going about this the wrong way please let me know. Thanks!

Got it. thanks for that. I am thinking of maybe keeping a small amount on the outside but taking everything on the inside off. I am going to mark and post some pics.

Hey David, Are you talking about on the bicep or forearm? I will be removing all the return edge on the forearms, but am a little unsure how much to keep on the biceps. I will need to look at some pictures for the biceps to see how they were on screen.

Thank you!

Hello Mario, thanks for those words of encouragement haha. When I click on the video you linked it just takes me back to my build thread page...could you try re linking that? Thanks!

Hey Joseph! I'm super glad you are in here as I have a lot of your links guiding me, and you have already been huge help with resources up to this point. So it sounds like my first trims should be to cut/remove the return edges to where I want/need them? Then I was looking at @A.J. Hamler bicep/forearm and he actually uses that overlap to measure. I don't know why I am so stuck on exactly how to measure, but I think that is very helpful. So my question is will I just be cutting from one side of the armor? For instance on the left bicep, will I fit it to my arm (after taking return edges down) having the front side way overlapped and mark where that fits. Then cutting half that distance on each side of the front only? Or am I supposed to cut a bit from each piece, front and back? I will do a trial run of marking and post pics a bit later.

Next the forearms. So again I haven't done any trimming or sanding, just taped as is. I was able to figure the left from the right thanks to @AsBlondeAsLuke tip about 11 and 12 dimples, that was the easy part. I need to take these in a lot as well, see left forearm pic below. I also know I need to remove all the return edges for Centurion, which is going to make these even bigger. Am I supposed to just trim from both sides kind of where the marks are here in order to get the fit proper? I feel like in order to get a proper fit I will need to go over that "ridge" that is there. I also have that same problem as with the bicep of the sides of my right forearm overlapping, but maybe I just need to start trimming down on the sides and it will all come together? The two sides also don't seem to match up size wise but that could also be due to just having to cut them down to size. Also that second picture may be a bit confusing, the left forearm is on the right side of the picture. I don't want to take anything in to much as you can't change that, but I also don't want anything to look wrong because its so "skinny" Look forward to tomorrow and maybe making some first cuts!

Thanks, I am very excited as well! Yes the "looking off" bit is something I would love to avoid. I will definitely check out some of your vids, thanks! I think the build was a TM suit. This is the one I'm looking at.