EastCoastStoneCutter

Found the thread!...from 2012, although it was more for the nylon straps rather than elastic, but the concept should be applicable. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/27-howto-make-stronger-elastic-strapping-for-your-armor/ If you try it, let me know how it went.

Hey Kevin, all my snaps are non sew and they worked out fine (although my 1st full trooping, more than 1 hour, is next week). I have gone through the same issue as you with the snap pulling through the white elastic for the shoulders when you try to snap it. I remember seeing a thread where they put a rubber washer in-between the white elastic and the snaps to prevent this exact event from occurring. Unfortunately, I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to whenever I can push myself to work it. If I can find the thread i'll send it your way. If you need a quick fix, I used my soldering iron to melt some of the remaining elastic around the snaps to the rest of the elastic and it has held up for now. Not recommended for the long term. Have not tried using E6000.

TK-99616 requesting detachment access. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=22891

Armor was officially complete 10/29/2016 with submission photos. Official 501st member 11/02/2016: TK-99616 of Garrison Tyranus! Won prizes and gifts from 3 different Halloween events and convinced somebody to start their own costume. Next up: post lessons learned on my 1st post on this thread and help other troopers on FISD. Then: EIB and Centurion. Unfortunately, can't make Rogue One premier, but i'll troop with Tyranus as soon as I can!

Hey I just did my first test fit too and also received my AP TK ANH Stunt armor at the end of June; how parallel! Since i'm also doing my fit test too, here's some suggestions: Yes, probably move your chest down; I can see some black on the left (your right side) between the chest and ab plates and I don't think there's supposed to be a space/black showing there. I think the drop boxes should be resting on top of your thighs, like the CRL, so suggest moving thighs up. Also suggest moving your shoulder bells closer to your shoulder straps - overall theme: minimize the black. Other than that it looks pretty good. BTW: how did you glue your latex hand guards to your rubber gloves? I tried E6000 with no sanding, then super glue after sanding the latex and i'm still having trouble.

Test Fit #1. 1-Redo hand guards...sanding them made them stick a little better, but still can be pulled off easily... 2-Touch up paint helmet, some black and grey chipping off ear bars 3-Need to get the shoulder bells to move in closer. 4-Possibly move bicep hooks up more. 5-Insert foam in thighs and shins to keep them from rotating so much. 6-Figure out how to fit shins into shoes; the lower portion of my shins squish into the top portion of shoes. 7-Redo a strap from chest to ab, enough torsion and it pops off. 8-Bend plastic belt on left more, can pop off a snap from the canvas belt. 9-Figure out easier way to snap ab to kidney, very difficult with just myself. Home stretch!...

So I used Home Depot super glue and it didn't seem to work either. Since I have a Halloween party to go to next Saturday I think i'll have to make some hand strapped plastic/ABS hand guards for now. On another note, I tried to heat melt some adhesive to my wiremesh frown and accidentally warped my green lens. It doesn't look too bad, but I ordered some dark green polycarbonate weld lenses as a replacement so we'll see how that goes. So close to finishing this armor and these last minute hiccups are really keeping me down...

Awesome, thanks for the quick reply! Will try super glue this weekend. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Hate to pose a question so close to Halloween, but how do people glue the latex hand guards to the rubber gloves? I just tried using E6000, but the E6000 rolls off the latex and has ZERO adhesion; the E6000 does have adhesion with the rubber gloves though. Worst case, maybe just have plain black gloves for Halloween?...

I can finally see the finish line soon! Mainly listing taskers so I can remember what's left to do... -Helmet needs some glue for the rubber brow and under trim. Also install headset for voice changer and incoming fans. -Straps for: shoulders, shoulder bells to shoulder straps, shoulder bells to biceps, biceps to forearm, back to kidney, ab to posterior, belt to thigh, possible thigh to shin -Belt is almost done, just need some thin magnets for the belt drop boxes. -Redo thigh ammo pack-don't think rivet is far enough on the left side... -Velcro for both shins -Bicep hooks made, just need to glue -Glue/create band for flexible hand guards to rubber gloves -Shout clean boot as I accidentally scuffed the white elastic -Ordered and waiting for E-11 to come in from Quest Design Canada -Ordered and waiting for Hasbro Doopy Doo conversion kit to come in -Need to place order for Hasbro E-11 Disney blaster (blaster/stun with lights and sounds!) to use with conversion kit I think that's all... Oh and I bought an extra wired headset/mic cause I didn't know the amp came with one. Anybody need a wired headset/mic out there? Halloween here I come!

Thanks for the input Kaar121! I checked out the photos of your belt and it looks like I'm on the right track. The line 24 snaps are slightly a hair big but still fit well. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

About half way building my first armor, so take this for what it's worth: I kept seeing 2 inch wide nylon with 2 snaps for the high stress areas like the shoulder straps, but will try TK-Tom's folded elastic to see if it works too. I would agree with TK-Tom, been using my soldering iron to put holes through elastic, nylon, and the ABS plastic; it definitely seals the holes well and is super easy way to make holes.

Wow, my last post was over a month ago! In that time I was studying for and taking a 5 hour exam, but I actually did some work, like gluing all of the armor appendages and started making some snaps and gluing some on the arms. Currently planning the belt build, but wanted to get some input: Looking at one of the snap maps for the belt (see highlighted red box), I noticed it calls out for Line 20 (blue dots) Snaps and Chicago Screws (red dots). Can't I just use Line 24 snaps for the whole belt? I bought 40 Line 24 snaps and would rather use them up before having to buy different ones + new tools. Any advice out there for the belt? In terms of the thigh ammo pack, I also fear, I may have put too much space behind the ammo pack. Considering burning 2 new holes and moving the rivets, but not sure; would I need to refill the old holes or would the ammo cover them anyways? From the front it seems to look fine to me, like some of the centurion photos i've seen, and i wanted to align that center ammo box with the thigh cover strip. ammo pack if I rotated it parallel to borders... In the mean time, making more snaps, cutting ab/kidney plate, gluing more snaps to armor. Plan to shoot for 501st basic first before Halloween. Work towards EIB and Centurion afterwards. Hope I can make the Rogue One premier in Dulles...

Good luck! I'm already in about 40-50% of my AP ANH stunt build. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

At $1800 TFA fully assembled available right now I would have been flipping a coin between that and my current TK build... Although I am thoroughly enjoying the build experience. My current build is reaching $2000 soon. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Gluing thighs and about to start shins. Tried painting helmet, but I didn't do it right...I used blue tape for frown and vocoder but some bled through. Will try square ends of match stick to fix?... Also tried freehanding ear bars but didn't think to use blue tape... wtf was I thinking...Gotta clean it up some how. And I thought the helmet was the easier part. Why doesn't anything feel right... Just received snaps and waiting anvil. Maybe making snaps will calm me down. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Attempt two for photos: Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

While still contemplating trimming thighs and shins, I'm practically the finished with TD. Will use internal elastic or something to keep caps together. http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj574/ronaldmtam/6EA78910-EF79-4CC9-9736-579EBC23BAFA_zpssywnq3in.jpg ' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'> http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj574/ronaldmtam/6EA78910-EF79-4CC9-9736-579EBC23BAFA_zpssywnq3in.jpg http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj574/ronaldmtam/66E3C88A-CCEB-4C80-8A7E-DFB16C1E4023_zpsnfimzu37.jpg Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

For the thighs, I will keep the front ridges aligned and uncut, but for the back, safe to cut to get it more fitted? Will be about 0.5" to cut.

Ha-ha yes, @pewpewpew, I was considering using the iron gym again daily. Will go the foam padding route. @gmrhodes13 I'll use the foam and elastic strapping. Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Long overdue update, although I think I jumped the gun on the biceps: I finished gluing both biceps and forearms; forearms fit nice and snug so i think i'm good there; however, the biceps have decent space near the top, almost 1 inch of space. How much space should I leave for my bicep since it's going to be covered by the should bells? Do I need to redo the biceps and get it more fitted to my biceps? I'm about to start the thigh armor, but have the same concern if I need to have it more fit to my legs. If so, i've got alot of trimming to do... Also when I do the thigh armor, do I align the bottom or top before gluing? At this point i'm reaching for just getting into 501st by Oct, but still planning to go to Centurion. Side note, the Husky 50 gal mobile chest is ginormous-takes up ~85% of my Santa Fe's trunk, but found it on sale for $54 at Home Depot!

Q, that elastic velcro looks interesting. Does that strip limit what you can put in there? That's where i'm thinking gluing one end and then making a small magnet or velcro at the other end maximizes the space in there. Then again, don't plan to put much in there anyways. Eddie, thanks! I'm really enjoying this project (for now =P) and working with my hands after sitting at my computer/cubicle all day. Just finished one bicep. I did the cover strips inside and out, which I hope will strengthen the bond as my current forearms aren't aligning well and i'm relying on the cover strips. I should have 2 forearms glued soon...at this rate i should be done by Sep/Oct =P

Sarah, Home Depot was able to cut my PVC by ~0.5", although not completely round/level (see below). With the cut and paint, it is now ~7.5-7.6" Hope that helps. I may put end caps in hot water then gently hammer in to get to 7.5 or below.

Finally started gluing and cutting! Will showcase some of the armor tomorrow when it's done drying, but hoping e6000, clamps, and painters tape keep the armor's form as it wasn't bending/forming easily with hot water like I thought it would. I may have to go the heat gun route...but trying not to. In terms of the TD, I did get Home Depot to cut down the PVC by 0.5" for free, but the guy had to use a hacksaw and had no vise grip or anything to really hold it down so it's not perfectly round. I tried sanding the side he cut to make it more level, then sanded the rest before painting. Finished product... a little over 7.5" probably closer to 7.6", but that's the best I can do with the tools I have. Plan to drill holes for the screws to attach the metal clips, then glue one end cap and leave one end cap unglued or attached by string or magnets or something to use it for storage during trooping...

I plan to go to Home Depot to have them cut mine. Apparently you can bring in your own pipe and they will cut it for free; however, I'm told their cutter isn't super accurate so if I want to have 0.5" cut, it may be 0.25-1"... i'll let you know how it goes.