Darkblitz

It's most likely an angle issue resulting on me having to use a webcam for the pictures. Each end is about 16.5mm in width when i measured it. My concern about the coverstrips remains the amount of overhang. I have cut it so you can't see the return edges, but I can't get it to quite match what I see in some pictures of completed kits. For the camera reason, I will not try to mess around to get a picture of it on my arm. However, there is enough of a gap for my finger to squeeze in and I believet that is the test for the sizing being correct.

Cut the biceps to size, and had an attempt at cutiing the coverstrips. The pictures show one of the biceps taped up and a coverstrip clamped in place (corners not cut yet, checking the length iis correct first), and I want to check if it looks ok to proceed. It does appear that I will need to sand some of the edges down once glued together. Apologies for not the clearest images, thanks to my phone giving up the ghost.

Been continuing to have an odd issue in cutting the coverstips. Have tried the score and snap method with 3 different blades, pulling towards like I've seen in videos, however the blade seems to veer heavily off the straight line. Does nyone hve an idea what I'm likely doing wrong.

Got back to this after a long time thanks to some encouragement to give this build another shot. Cut down, sanded and taped up the right bicep for sizing. It's hard to take a pic of the bicep piece without it sliding down, due to the lack of internal strapping, but there's about enough slack to fit in a finger. I believe that's about right.

RWA is one of the main respected kit providers in the UKG, also being one of the accepted armourers on their website. As for the origins of his TK moulds, I don't believe he has mentioned it publically so no-one can say for certain without asking him directly. However, I do know that he has used self-made moulds in his various projects.

I must start off by saying that this is the first Star Wars film I've had the time to watch in the cinema, instead of the usual waiting for the DVD to come out, so it was a bit of an experience. To get to the point, the film was fantastic. Star Wars films have to be careful in balancing action and story, but I felt that this got it bang on. Action scenes are breathtaking and the story is a little bit different than what you'd expect from a star wars film, so I'd expect it to be a bit divisive, but I enjoyed it anyway. The CGI in some of the scenes was pretty awful, but for most of the film it was fine. There wasn't much of Vader, but the scenes he was in will be classics.

Finally gotten back to this, after a long period of work stuff. I was wondering about this because I have seen people do their coverstips, with the 45 degree cut and some light rounding of the corners to smooth them. Then, I have seen some people do heavy rounding the make the entire diagonal cut rounded. I believe the former is correct, but just wanted to check before I waste a big sheet of ABS doing it wrong.

Finally back to working on this, after dealing with a busy period dealing with job interviews and the likes. Planning on cutting down the arm parts to the correct sizes next. I believe the biceps need enough room to fit your finger around and the forearms just need to be wide enough for you to fit your arms through. (Would appreciate corrections, if I'm wrong). Also have a quick open question about the coverstrips. I have seen some guidance videos that ask you to cut off the corners straight, but then again I've seen pictures where people appear to have rounded the edges, so should they be rounded? Also, I'm aware of internal coverstrips, but don't often see people use them. Any benefits to having them?

Well it finished setting today, but I'll leave it for the moment. Even after that time, freezing it for a few hours will allow for it to pop right off.

Peel off after freezing? Ross said that they seemed OK, but will not mark these as done yet. Will see if there are any other opinions on it, because it just doesn't look right to me (but I'm a bit of a perfectionist). Will also see how they fit with the biceps once they are done. That should tell me if these are any major problems with it.

Smoothed off the shoulder bell edges and had a go at gluing the shoulder straps. The length of the glued edges on each side aren't the same, but the main concern is that the strap is attached too tightly atm, pulling each of the sides too close to each other. I suspect that I need some smaller clamps to hold it whilst trying to remove my fingers, as that made the strap slide a bit, probably messing up the strapping here. May have to shove these in the freezer to remove them, and remove the glue with white spirit, before buying a new length of strapping and trying again.

Got some time today, so will get to work smoothing the shoulder edges and gluing in the bottom strap for the bicep piece. Just a quick question I have. What do you use to clean the inside of the kit? Just so I can remove the dust ect before I try to glue the elastic straps. I have white spirit alcohol to remove excess glue, but not sure that it wise to use to clean an entire surface of ABS.

Had some assistance with the trimming you can see in these images, I've only done a bit of minimal sanding to smooth the edges a bit. Pretty sure there is an extra couple of mms on the coverstrip edges, particularly at the top and bottom of the edge which is mainly causing this gap. Will measure along it tomorrow to see, and if there is, I can sand it down to make it more even. Also good to know that I can use some foam to plug significant gaps to give the coverstrip enough area to properly glue the pieces together. The gap on the other side shouldn't be an issue, because that will be trimmed down to get the size correct, and will be sure to leave enough to even that out.

Had a small bit of free time to do a bit more prep work before properly assembling the pieces. Decided to try to size the arm pieces today by smoothing the edges (not evening them yet) and then taping them up. The images below show the right forearm pieces which require quite a lot of sanding at the bottom and the top of the edge to even them up. However, the top of the biceps may need a diagonal cut towards the elbow side given the difference - Had no issues taping up the bicep, but it appears that I will need to cut off quite a lot. (unless I decide to take up weightlifting). Tried to measure the approximate circumference of the taped up pieces and my actual arm to work out how I much I should start by cutting off. Taped up piece circ - Lower - 132mm, Upper - 160mm Actual bicep - Lower - 112mm, Upper - 127mm I get there needs to be some slack, but would cutting off up to around 1cm be the right amount to start off with here. Forearms don't have as much slack to deal with. Rough measurements of the wrist side, as that's probably the most important with this. Forearm piece - Wrist - Circumeference - 120mm, Diameter - 39mm Actual lower forearm Cicumeference - 108mm, Diaameter of widest part of hand - 34mm Given that a bit has to be removed in order to even these pieces out, an additional 3mm removed would seem to be a good start to make it fit better.

Thanks. Head pieces are always a nightmare, which is why i paid Ross to do mine. Given past projects, it would taken until attempt 40 to get something barely passable.

Hasn't advanced much further since the last update, as my mother has fallen ill. I've only been able to order the the tool for the snaps and mark their locations on the backs of the torso pieces. Will see how things go tomorrow, but I'm hoping to tape up the arm pieces to work out how much I need to chop of before I deal with the fun of the cover-strips.

I have noticed some of those little symmetry differences in the pieces, that drives me and my perfectionism a bit mad. Given that this was trimmed with the assistance of a well-respected UK armourer, I should just leave it as is and press ahead.

Yep, it was all trimmed with the help of Ross a few weeks ago. Only now gotten the time to sand the trimmed edges to smooth them. In case the same happens to you, the small cracks (still not sure, don't feel like them) on the backs of parts can be sanded down, which I will be doing tomorrow. I've seen your WIP thread, at the rate of your work you'll be finished well before me, haha. Also, thanks for the snap ref image for the torso pieces on your WIP thread. I had found a similar image a while back, but couldn't find it again. Will need to mark their location on my parts and get the stuff to add the poppers to them. Will not fit them until I have tested the glue with the shoulder bridges as they should be easier to remove if I have a dodgy tube of the glue (a few have been floating around).

Seems to be working for me again. Must have been some mistake on my end. Thanks for your help.

Started doing some sanding to smooth the edges after the trimming. However, I am wondering if there are some symmetry issues with the chest and back pieces which I just finished off -

Today I tried to update my build thread on ANH trooper build section with some images. However, after inserting images under the normal method I have used before, but I keep getting the message that I'm not allowed to post this kind of image extension on this group. Is there currently some issues with using the IMG link from photobucket?

The accommodation in London would be the biggest cost, but yeah travel costs can just be bizarre. Depends what airport/train station you are departing from really and how far in advance you've booked.

Would have loved to have been able to make it down to London for this. They have a great bunch of guests booked for it, and some very interesting displays planned, especially relating to Rogue One. However, the cost of accommodation and train journeys is bit too steep atm. Especially after I just spent a pretty penny on a trip down to Leicester to get help on my build. Ah well, there will be future big events.

Depends which RWA you're talking about (there are a couple). If you're talking about Ross in the UK, I agree with the person above. Recently bought a kit off him, great kit and service, also a great help if you have any problems. One thing I will say to anything considering him on here, Ross is mainly active on the UKG forums (ross8008) rather than these ones. So, that's where you'll see most of the work and be able to contact him.

RWA has been around for a while. Ross is one of the UK kit suppliers and is a great guy who pretty much bends over backwards to help. Looking forward to seeing how your build goes along.