[501st Trooper Status Requests (Include link to your 501st profile in your request!)]

I thought I had access but I guess not.

 

https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=26402

[Which hand guard for trooping]

My armor is nearly complete.  I'm trying to build towards Centurion from the beginning.  I bought my rubber gloves but also have nomex for trooping.  I also have the ABS hand Guards and latex.  I know that Centurion status could take a while so I'm curious what anyone troops with.  I know that most don't troop with the rubber gloves so I'm wondering if people are out there with the latex or ABS hand guards.  Right now I'm leaning towards gluing the latex to the nomex gloves.  But I don't want to be the odd man out if I'm the only one doing that. Thoughts?

[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

The added webbing and abs did the trick.

[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

Forgot the pic.

 

 

 

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[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

Here's what it looks like. I'm not sure if you can tell but I but a 1" piece of black nylon webbing. I decided not to double up the elastic but I do have a piece of webbing on top and bottom. Basically it's a triple layer. I just need to test it now.

 

 

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[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

Thanks everyone.  I did make the holes just big enough to fit the post through.  The pictures are a little misleading, the holes look bigger because I took them after the elastic stretched over the snap.  My bad, I didn't heat the hole as I didn't think fraying would be an issue under the snap.  I like the webbing idea because I don't really like the way the abs looks.

[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

I've doubled the elastic for every snap.  I didn't use a soldering iron.  I wonder if that could be the problem?  The ends didn't fuse?  I thought of a square of abs too.  My thought would be female snap, abs, two layers of elastic, then the post.  Does that sound about right?

[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

I'm using the Tandy line 24 snaps

 

 

Here's a pic of the shoulder bell strap. You can see the hole and the snap next to it. The snap bend as I tried unsnapping it.

 

 

Here's the white shoulder strap

 

 

 

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[No sew snaps pulling through elastic straps - Help!]

I'm over halfway through my build and just ran into a huge stumbling block.  I chose to use the no sew snaps from Tandy.  I'm now finding out that since they're so strong, they're pulling through the elastic straps (shoulder bells/shoulder straps) when trying to unsnap them.  Did everyone else choose to use the sew on?  Or did I do something wrong.  I've even doubled up the elastic.  I'd hate to rip the whole thing apart and start over.  If I have to, I'm glad I used E6000.

[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

Great I just ran into another problem.  I chose to use all non sew snaps.  Today I added the snaps to the 3/4" black elastic strap on my shoulder bell.  I tested it by snapping it into the white shoulder strap.  Unfortunately, these Tandy snaps are so heavy duty that the snap pulled right through the elastic.  Has anyone experienced this?  I wonder if I can strengthen the snap with E6000.  Thoughts?

[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

I added more gray to the frown so hopefully it's a little better. Now I have another problem. Today I finally drilled the 3rd hole for the right ear. I must not have drilled it properly because now it's "bunched" up causing a big gap. I'm not sure what to do.

 

 

 

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[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

To me something doesn't look quite right with the frown. Anyone have any ideas? Or is it just me.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

Thanks Brad and Jorge.  I've been putting the shins off for a while.  I'll work on those next.

[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

So I started this post because I was worried about the return edge/brackets on my chest plate. Well, I took the plunge and finally drilled the holes after putting it off for so long. Happy to say it's ok (for now). Working on the elastic loops. That will be the real test.

 

 

 

 

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[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

Hey Kevin, what brand of boots are they?

TK Boots

[Thermal Detonator color]

Thanks Tony.  I wanted to keep all these questions in my build thread but no one seems to see it.

[Thermal Detonator color]

I've been searching and can't seem to find it.  Is there an approved color for the det?  Is it the same gray as the ab plate buttons and/or helmet?

[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

 

Ok. I started sizing the shins. I put on the boots and tried dry fitting the shins. The opening over the boot is way too small. I'm thinking that I may need to use a heat gun to widen it. Any suggestions?

 

 

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[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

I got a chance to work on the helmet while pieces are glueing. I shaped the ears which is a pain in the butt. I got them on but I think I need to shape a little more.

 

 

 

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[Falciform13's AP ANH Stunt Build]

Here's some progress

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cover strip widths]

I trimmed the biceps down to 20mm. I think I'm going to keep it that way in order to stay proportional to the forearm. I'm keeping the forearm at 20mm because as of now I'm squeezing to get it in. I won't be able to get my hand through if I go smaller.

 

 

 

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[Cover strip widths]

Thanks Tony.  I can probably trim my forearms a bit more.  Not sure about the biceps though.  How do you think the biceps look?  Do you think 15mm strips would be ok on the 25mm (total) butt joint?

[Cover strip widths]

 

Here's what I have so. Right now but the biceps are trimmed with the butt joints at 25mm. My right forearm is also trimmed to 25mm. The left forearm hasn't been trimmed yet. How does it look? What do you guys think about sizing?

 

 

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[Cover strip widths]

For a butt joint with a 15mm coverstrip ypu will trim each half down to 7.5mm. Does that answer your question?

 

Randy, it does, maybe I'm overthinking it but it seems like all the parts would be so small/narrow.  I just hesitant to cut too much.

[Cover strip widths]

Thanks Guys for your input and I apologize if I'm a little dense.  My body type is close to the those of the original actors used - 5'10" about 160 lbs.  Right now I have the biceps and forearms trimmed a slightly bigger.  In order words not trimmed to 15mm.  When I started cutting my cover strips and putting them against the pieces, I wasn't sure if it looked quite right.  Most pics that I'm seeing from other builds do not look like they are using the 15mm strips.  I understand that it's probably because of different body types.  So, I guess I revert back to my original question.  Is it "ok" to glue the 15mm strip onto the flattened joint that is more then 15mm?  Or should I trim it down to 15mm so the strip covers the entire area.  Also, from what I'm understanding, the front and back joints should be uniform and shouldn't differ greatly.