TK4205

I've stopped taking orders on these for now. I have a bunch to do.

I agree, and couldn't have said it better. None of my straps show. If I wanted to be movie cannon, I'd just let my pieces flop around and let my seams pop open. My boy and I watch the movies now just to find all the discrepancy in the armor.

Also berringless fans. They float on a bi-polar magnetic field. A lot quieter than regular CPU fans.

Paypal [email protected] in the amount of $55.

I made myself a little tool that comes in handy. It's made out of wood. I sanded it smothe so the plastic wont pic up any grain. I just heat my strip and stamp it out.

When I built my first set of armor (FX) I wasn't aware that there was a club. I had heard of the 501st but didn't have or know a computer at the time. So I bought a kit and put it together without any tutorial or suport. I salute those who have done the same. To all the others, a little something that would have came in handy when I did my first TK. I use a small bottle of propane and torch attatchment, both of which can be obtained at walmart. When heating plastitic, crank the torch all the way up. keep plastic about 7 inches from your flame. Be patient. It will take 3 to 4 minutes before your plastic starts to soften. Once you achieve the consitency you want, you need to work verry fast before it cools.

BTW, I can suit up in under 3.

here's some pics of the system that I use. The butt plate is attatched using a velcro pad that I made with non adhesive velcro and foamie. The foamie keeps it rigid, but alows for it to move when it needs to. I drove to a party last night in full armor minus the bucket. I had to stop for gas and couldn't get out quick enough, due to a inopertune photo op. Damned camera phones. I was a good sport though. My cod Velcros to a 2" elastic strap, which attaches to the but plate. Cod drops down, and butt plate folds up for easy access.

The cod piece will actialy ride just under the lip of the ab plate, so when you bend the cod will move up and under your cod. I'll go take a pic and post it.

I just came up with this last night. I was tired of messing with my neck seal, keeping it straight and tucked in. This underarmor top is custom made with a neck seal. It has an "invisible zipper" in the back. The neck seal is foam filled, which will conform to your neck after just a few troops. no bunching turning or falling down.

Did I say 2? Yes, 3 inch elastic.

2 inch elastic.

pretty simple with a sewing machine.

I've not once had a blowout in the last four troops, 3 of which were parades. I'd say I've put about 15 hours of trooping into this set up. My thighs are never a concearn now. My wife calls it my Thigh Master.

sweet idea. When I get deployed I'll give that a try.

I use the hard hat liner. Though this is somethin that not everyone agrees on, it's the best for me. Looks good too. If you want foam and want to cover it, try using headliner material. You can get it at Wally World in the fabric section. It's the stuff they line the ceilings in cars with. Also get a can of spray adhesive. Looks awesome.

I've done it too.

They make a brushless fan as well. I think Radio Shack has brushless fans. they're about 12 bucks each. Standard CPU fans can be quite noisy. You might want to attatch your fans wist velcro tabs. If the fan housing actualy touches the plastic, even by glue, you can get vibration from the fan that reverbates thruoghout your bucket. I have mine sitting on four little pads of velcro.

At first I fastened my thigh pieces to my ab, but they moved up and down too much and turned one way or the other. I found a good remedy for this. They just velcro to the inside of the thigh pieces, and they stay exactly where they should.

I came into possession of TE calf parts that had been hastily glued with Cyanoacrylate. My goal is to clean and repair. Cyanoacrylate is the generic name for CA glue, also known as Super Glue. It's definitely not good for polystyrene. Acetone and Nitromethane are good cleaners, but they will also melt hips. I'll have to sand it off. When sanding CA you might want glasses and a dust mask. It burns the eyes and nose worse than when it's wet. As you can see, the Cyanoacrylate damaged the styrene. It made it brittle and weak. For the most part the edges were trimmed, but I wanted a smoother edge, so I will use a round file instead of the dremmel. The best glue that I've found for polystyrene, ABS, acetate, plexi-glass and lots of other plastics, is Testors plastic cement. It's not recommended for polypropylene, vinyl, polyethylene or other "rubbers". It contains a solvent that melts just the surface of the plastic, allowing the two parts to fuse together. As the solvent evaporates the strength returns to the polystyrene, the components having been fused together. It doesn't keep melting through like ABS glue does. I'll post pics with my progress

I've been out, but I'm back. do we have a logo yet?

Will the URL remain the same?

I agree. All of the ubove merrits a tutorial. would be nice to have a section for each one. I think the (real)history of TK armor would be an interesting subject. I know there are many kits out there.

Well, let's see it. Or are we going to just vote on tentative ideas?

The bottom of my logo says "first ones in last ones out" for those of you who don't read Arebush.