TK Monkus

No I do not want to look like I’m wearing daddy’s armor Thanks, I am pretty much using a couple videos and a bunch of different threads as a guide and then trying to combine all that to help in my build. Since this is my first time doing this it can be a lot at times haha. M Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Charlie. I will be trying the internal cover strips. Can I do a hot water bath with cover strips on, or would they need to come off first? Thanks, M

Hey Dan. I am, although there sizing still seems a bit big for me. I am trying to fit the suit to me which since I am skinny think will be a bit less than what their measurements are. Should I cut to those and just add padding inside? Obviously a bit late on the arms parts if so... Thanks, M

Thanks Joseph. Both pictures you posted are of the right forearm, did you mean the left or are both maybe off? Here are a couple different angles of both sides. And then pictures with an internal cover strip clamped in. Sorry the clamps make it a bit difficult to see. The left inner side is a bit oddly shaped because there is more taken off the bottom side as there was no ridge there so I took more for sizing. I marked where I could maybe cut to make that scoop more symmetrical, but don't know if the would work as I would then be taking off some of that inside ridge. I will definitely keep in mind to add the inner cover strip on the shins. Should I also do that to the thighs? Right Forearm elbow side wrist side inside Left Forearm elbow side upper as clamps made it hard to see elbow side lower wrist side inside where I could potentially cut scoop? Thanks, M

I cut those edges off the forearms and because of that I needed to remove the return edge at the tops as well, so I have removed all the return edge on all parts of the forearms. I have a fitting question. My wrist side is as tight as I think I can make it and still get my hands through, however the upper part seems like it is still pretty big and can be sized down? See the pics below. You can see the left inner side sits flush with my arm at the bottom, that evens out if my arm is in pretty much any other position. Also once the cover strips are on it will get a more "circular" shape which will create a little bit more space I think. If you need any additional pics let me know and I will post. return edge gone Right forearm Left forearm Thank you, M

Thanks guys. I appreciate the options but think I will just cut from the top as I don't want to mess up those outer dimples. M

Thanks Glen. Will cut and post pics before final gluing. M

Thanks Joseph will do. On the forearms, can I trim these areas where the markings are? Thank you, M

Biceps are glued an drying. While those are drying I have my forearms sized so my hand just grazes the edges of the wrist area as I put them on. There is a part on both back sides that I have marked that I think can be trimmed down. Can I trim that? ( see pic below) There is no return edge on the top inside forearm but I have left a little bit on the outside to make the armor look more full. All return edge has been removed from both wrist ends. Also which arm has the cover strip cut at an angle? Is it the left? drying biceps Left Forearm can I trim that? Right Forearm Thanks, M

Sounds like I need to replace as I am aiming for L3 and don't want to have to take these all off again. Thank you, M

Thank you Glen. Do you think I need new cover strips then? Or is this ok and just make sure they aren't as large in the future? M

All cover strips are cut and ready to be glued. I have taken down that edge on the right bicep as well. The outside edges sit a little higher than the inside, but that is how it looks on the RS piece I was referencing which is why I have left that. Right Bicep Left Bicep Any input before I glue would be appreciated so I hopefully don't need to take them apart again Thanks, M

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.