TK Monkus

Thank you, I will round out those edges. Yeah those cover strips were the ones I pulled from the right bicep and just used as a place holder for the pic. I will cut ones that are a proper length for the left. M Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got rid of the return edge on the top side of both biceps. You can see there is still a small bit on the outside but I have that there on purpose. The sizing still fits, which is nice. See below new pics with no return edges and cover strips clamped on. I have not cut out the side of the right bicep yet, but you can see the mark where I plan to. Please let me know if that is enough and if you think I do in fact need to take more off the sides. As I mentioned in an above post, my only hesitation is if I cut on the "outside" piece I will start to lose length, but I will take the word of the masters! In the Left bicep pictures the cover strips are not the correct length as they are the ones pulled from the right. Left Bicep Right Bicep Thanks M

cover strips removed, back to square one Can I re use those same strips for the same spots?

Thanks Joseph. I did look at that thread, or the part pertaining to the biceps and forearms so far. I had initially decided to keep that extra edge so it could give me a better fit without having to size the biceps to small... I also wanted to keep a little on the front for a little "fuller" look. To be honest I am pretty apprehensive about cutting that front outer piece as it seems like that will take some length off. Could I cut on the line here and get that same effect you were talking about? It also would line up with the other side. Also here is the other side with the clamps off Here is the left side that hasn't been glued yet, do you think those tops also need to come down? They are pretty even right now. Thank you, M

Hey Joseph, thanks for the feedback and pointers. It is a bit of a bummer but I do want to try and do this right the first time. Question, if I do trim down that side, I am guessing I would need to trim down the other side as well to match as I would want even height in both sides? Is it worth waiting to see if the shoulders do in fact sit to far out? Since I haven’t glued the cover strips on the Left bicep yet obviously that would be easier to alter and I am guessing that one also would need it. I am not home right now so am not looking at the pieces but will take a look and possibly post up some pics with some markings for clarification. Thanks again, M

First Gluing of Biceps I finally put some glue to plastic and did up my right bicep. I started off by getting my magnets ready by putting tape on them with some tabs. I read @justjoseph63 post about them and he mentioned how powerful they are so I was a bit intimidated. I finally pried one off and reached for the tape with the same hand the magnet was in and it shot out of my hand and back to the stack and exploded! Luckily no injuries, but wow! So I am down 2 magnets now and will order more. They came with a little cushion which had a sticky side which I thought would be great so if they shoot back to each other, they won't explode anymore. So I put the cushions on then taped them up only to realize they lose some, a good amount actually, of their power...so I spent another 30 minutes removing the tape and peeling the adhesive off Finally I had them all taped up and ready to go. I sized my cover strips and cut them then practiced cutting the notch as I wasn't to good at that right off the bat. Once I was happy I notched them all, sanded the back side with a 120grit bar to help with adhesion then sanded the sides with 220 grit and applied my first globs of E6000. I set the strip where I wanted it then clamped and added the magnets. I doubled the magnets as one on each side didn't seem to be enough. I need to order more magnets as I only have enough right now to do one piece at a time since I am doubling so will order a bunch more. Excited to see how it ends up! Questions: Do I need to add more E6000 to the backs? I only added it to the cover strip side. I may start spreading it around on the back of the strip before applying. I've been reading around and it seems the excess that comes out the sides will be easy to remove. Should I try and wipe that away immediately after gluing or is it really that easy to remove? (guess I will find out tomorrow) Does doubling the magnets actually add more pressure? That's it for tonight. Will see how it turns out tomorrow. Since I did this so late I guess I will need to wait the full 24 hours which kind of makes me lose the day to waiting to remove the magnets so I can use them on the next piece. Oh well more research! Pics below. Magnets are scary. magnet "cushions" that I realized to late actually took away some of the power of the magnet All taped up and ready to go practicing cutting the edges of the cover strip sanding down the back for a better adhesion sanded down the sides to clean them up a little First time using E6000, is that enough on there or should there be more? clamped the ends first then added the magnets between Right bicep done and waiting to dry Thanks, M

Thank you! Yep, will trim them to size then cut those off. M

Left forearm sizing and fitting forearms with undersuit I trimmed down my left forearm and it also seems to fit well. It is the same as my right where the top and bottom of my hand graze the wrist edges as they go in. I am able to get my gloves on also. Since I cut both forearms I tried them on with my undersuit. I think I have the positioning correct, but you can see the right one looks a lot bigger. I know they had mismatched sizes on the originals so I am not super concerned with that. I may need to add some foam as @gmrhodes13 suggested, but will probably do that at the very end when I finish the whole build. I tested the cover strips and they all sit straight with the ones on the ridges leaving only a small amount of the ridge visible to each side. Tomorrow I will hopefully start gluing some cover strips on my biceps and maybe forearms. Left forearm after trimming Fitting with undersuit Left side Right side Thanks, M

Scott I really appreciate all your help thus far. That does make me feel a lot better. I thought I had essentially ruined my biceps. If you don't mind below are pics with the cover strip adjusted even though it would be at a slight angle, does that look alright? If so I think I will trim the strips and glue. I know I need to trim the edges of the cover strips as well which I will do before gluing. Right bicep Left bicep Again thank you! M

Uh oh, I may have made a mistake. I was looking at the RS suit to see where the cover strips need to be trimmed and realize the bottom, elbow side, sits even with edge, there is no slant. I think I may have cut wrong. Can someone take a look at the pictures below and tell me if I messed this up?? R bicep lower upper L bicep lower upper

Did my test fit with my undersuit for my biceps and everything looked good ( to me at least) and felt good. Please let me know if something looks off to you. Since it all looked good I went and cut my cover strips getting ready to glue. Note: the pics are kind of backwards because I took them in a mirror so left and right are swapped, but I will label them. R bicep: L bicep Getting my 15mm cover strips ready

Right Forearm sizing cuts I had some downtime during work so made the sizing cuts on my right forearm, which was the bigger of the two. I kept obsessing over making the straightest cut I could, but remembered what the RS build video said about how there is going to be a cover strip so it doesn't need to be perfect. So I made my cuts than looked at the RS suit pics I am using as my guide and saw I didn't need the "wing" that was left so trimmed that down. I am pretty happy with the fit and laid cover strips over to make sure everything lined up, which it did!. I may need to add some foam in there, but that will be way later if so. I will do the left side a little later today, than hopefully be ready for some under suit test fits and gluing! marked up a cut line on all sides started getting a little crazy with making it as straight as I could, than realized there will be a cover strip so I should be ok. used my shears to make the cuts than hand sanded all the edges down with 220 grit sandpaper trimmed off the extra "wing" bit at the top end after checking my guide suite pics It now fits way better!

Thanks Charlie! That is an urge I constantly need to resist haha.

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?