Standrex

Sorry and thanks

I trimmed down the new shoulder Bridges today. Usually with my other suits from Walt's, the shoulder Bridges have always been flat and of course you would have to shape them. These guys came pre-shaped, which I kind of like... I thought something was different, but I thought between the color and the pre-shaped arch, that was it. But after I trim them down just now, I noticed that these new ones are significantly longer. Lol! So I just did research and found a link. It was nothing definitive from what I perceived, it was pretty much one of those things it could go either way where you cut the last tab off at the back. It's like for the larger guys they usually leave it on and for the shorter and smaller guys they go ahead and cut it off. I noticed that Mr Rhodes (gmrhodes13) had edited that thread. Has any of this been confirmed? (Btw, didn't realize you were Australian! Awesome!)

Well, that simplifies things for me, as well. I have a Walt's that I'm building (it's been a while since my last build). I accidentally broke one of my shoulder Bridges and had to get a replacement... I'm going to replace both shoulder Bridges but was noticing the difference in size between the new one and the old one. They are both from Walt's I thought something about them looked different when I first got them (these were already arched, instead of flat before I even trimmed them, so I thought that was part of what was making it look different). In comparing them, right about where that big tab is is where the end of my old shoulder Bridges were

Heat gun: the funny thing is is that I was looking for the heat the other day to use on getting the shins to be more... Narrow... I never did find it but it can't be far because I used it a couple of weeks ago. I'll try that as soon as I find it. Re: images... I was thinking that there was probably some sort of limit... I remember seeing a lot of imgurs. I have noticed that I I haven't really seen any this build... I thought it was white armor's format that wasn't allowing it... I haven't heard anything about any investigation, but if it's being done in the uk, that's probably why... I think that's probably why I'm not able to access a lot of the information that I found before then because there has been so much that I vaguely remember but can't find the pictures of... They must have been imgur! I'm not feeling quite as stupid now... Thank you for the update. I forgot to add yesterday that I had a piece of armor scanned at work and they mixed and exact match for painting the shoulder bridges! Now I have to see about this adhesion promoter... I looked it up at work and ended up finding a primer. I'm not sure what the difference between the two would be. I guess I'll Google it. Meanwhile, I have an 18" C3PO with a red arm. The gold is more like a Dijon mustard color... So, Im experimenting with the primer to see if I like it enough for the armor. Heck, I might actually start working on the shoulder Bridges this weekend if I like it (I do need to trim them any way).

I have been really confused about the lineup of my sniper plate! I think that following this thread has helped me out... One side of my sniper plate seems to line up perfectly, but on the other side, my bottom edge seems to be way too low by comparison... I would upload pictures here, but it seems to be that I don't want to get allows a certain total size for a day... I already posted a picture on another thread. I didn't realize that total size included for the entire day or something...

New question... I seem to be the only person that's had this problem based on my research so far... My sniper plate! I was able to get one side of the sniper plate to line up and look good... I was in the middle of gluing it when it really suddenly started sticking out to me... The bottom and the top aren't really lining up where it connects... I have the top of the sniper plate 'lining up' with the edging of the Calves... But the bottom is way too low... I'm thinking I'm going to have to cut the bottom edge of the sniper plate but I was wondering if you had this issue or is it just me? I would send a picture, but it's only allowing me 61.41 KB because I've already posted a picture, I guess... Maybe I can send another picture tomorrow or something...

This is my second personal build... I was hoping my wife out with a Sandy as well.... I had remembered something was up with the calves... But I've gotten past that point... I'm having an issue with the sniper plate...

Well, I was trying to upload more pictures but it's refusing to let me even though I keep shrinking the size of the pictures... And then I realized it said something about TOTAL image size... And I even refreshed the page but it won't let me send another picture... I was trying to include pictures that showed where the bottom edge can be seen. It looks like it's an issue with the mold... Shall I cut the bottom edge back? It's still going to look a little off center... But if I raise it up so that the bottom edge meets the armor, the top isn't going to line up... Recommendations?

From this perspective, it doesn't look straight...

I noticed something after I had already started adding glue to my sniper plate. One side I'm pretty sure is correct... But the other side of the sniper plate got confusing... It isn't symmetrical to the other side... When I look at it straight on, it does look a little uneven... But if I bring up the side that is incorrect, it's not going to line up right...

Afterthought over the weekend, I went to work this morning and talked to the guy in the paint department. I had a suspicion and it was verified that there's a machine that can scan an item and give you the most accurate color... So it looks like I'm going to be bringing in some of my armor to have it scanned and I'll be able to find the correct color white... I also did research and realized how wrong that I was about acrylic paint. I thought that because it was water soluble, that it would run if it got wet... This is not so and my stupidity is showing... In fact, the more that I read about acrylic paint, the more I kind of like the idea of using it... Over the weekend, I pulled out the helmet that I haven't put together from the kit (I still have the helmet from my other build that I was going to use). I'm thinking about going ahead and slowly putting it together so that I have another backup helmet if nothing else... I may actually like this helmet more (although I have spent quite a bit of money on my first helmet to give it that special look- I ordered padding that is supposed to look like the inside of a stormtrooper helmet.). I also found the old shoulder bridge that broke... I forgot that when I was stupid enough to try to take it off, it ended up breaking into more pieces because of the adhesion- it was really stuck on there... I think that the new shoulder bridges that I bought that need to be painted might end up working out better anyways. When it was molded, it has a natural arch to it... There was some other stuff that I fiddled around and did this weekend but I can't think of what it was... I did work on my shins some more... I researched rivets... And found the extra split rivets from my other build... At least I'm staying motivated right now... Although I do feel like I'm losing steam...

That was something that we (coworker and I) had talked about- automotive paint. We had another co-worker that quit and went to work for somewhere that sells automotive paint, so I do have that as a resource hopefully... So glad I decided to take my time and give it some thought and not start ripping things apart... I still haven't found those two pieces... But I really haven't had a chance to look around too much... They have to be in one of a couple of places... I really appreciate everybody's input!! My last Garrison in West Virginia assigned us an advisor to guide us and give input... I had the impression that each Garrison had advisors but apparently not... but I had also been led to believe that there were certain things to avoid that apparently we can do (such as using elastic rather than just simple nylon strapping in certain areas)... I'll continue to add to this as kind of like a build thread...

I used a small piece of abs under there to help secure it to the chest plate... It would be a good idea to add something to add to it... I think I'm going to end up doing that either way after that one smapping (unless I do go TD)... I was talking with my co-worker/friend today about painting (I work at Lowe's). I saw some appliance touch up paint and started thinking, but it's nine bucks and is the same thing as my Testers paints, so we're going to skip that for now. He was telling me about using adhesion promoter before primer... It's going to be something that I'm going to have to take my time with because bills have jumped up due to a an accident a few months ago... I think our biggest trick is going to be matching the color once I determine the type of paint (he's thinking acrylic the Testers never seems to fully dry and seems to stay slightly soft... And then we were thinking about having some kind of clear outer coat. Thoughts? Experiences?

I forgot to add that I completely snapped the shoulder bridge in half. I have considered taking a small strip of abs and gluing it on the underside and then making some ABS paste to kind of... What's the word? Meld? Seal? I'm not sure how much I would trust this if it's flopping around though... You know I pretty sure that I have at least one piece but I'm not sure about the other piece come to think of it... I'll see if I can get the two together and take some pics

Could I get away with painting just the shoulder bridges? I think somebody else on Walt's Facebook page suggested that, too. I doubt it would be noticable if done right... I guess I could play around and see what I could do... What harm is it going to be? And Retrobrite/peroxide: I have a friend that repairs older Star Wars toys in particular (and other vintage toys/comics). He doesn't think that it would work because as I was thinking, it's not really yellowing. It's the actual tint of the plastic itself... I think that I actually read somewhere else the same thing... I'm not going to make any big decisions immediately. I'm going to give it some thought and while I'm at it, I may as well experiment with that paint project. I have a couple of Testors paint kits and a few of that other brand that's recommended that I used for the buttons on my ab plate. This is one of those rare times I wish that I had an airbrush kit... I thought that I had submitted or sent this yesterday but apparently not.... Amazingly enough, I came back to the page today and it was sitting there waiting to be sent...

I was trying to make a change to my elastic shoulder connection accidentally broke my shoulder bridge. I ordered a new set of shoulder Bridges but when I finally got them the other day, they were more of a creamy white than the rest of my armor (which by comparison seems to be more of a bluish tint). To me at least, this is sticking out like a sore thumb. Short of painting the entire suit so it's uniform is there anything I can do? I'm not very pleased with the idea of painting my armor. My other option that I am considering is just making it into a TD Sandy... Does anybody have any ideas? I've thought about trying to use peroxide to bleach both, but since it's not really yellowing, I don't think that it's going to work since it's the actual color of the ABS...

I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not... When you put it out in the sun, it's supposed to be getting UV... I have reptiles and they need UVB lights... I'm not sure about the other types of UV, but plastic, acrylic and glass generally block UVB... That may be part of the reason, but I see that you've already painted your suit...

You're awesome. I'm down to putting together my calves (which is what has me here today), getting a neck seal, some decent gloves, putting on that ammo belt thing on my right knee... And then, I think it's just going to be a matter of the fine-tuning (I remember on my last suit, after I put it together, I still had to trim it in places) and then get my spacing. I make this worse than it actually is... And this is not my first build... But I have noticed that I think a few things have changed since my last build (what is/isn't acceptable - put my last Garrison also assigned us advisors to help with the build... Carolina Garrison doesn't seem to do that...) I like how you have so much organization with your build and your pics are clear in how things should look. Well I'm thinking of it, if I remember correctly, there's something funny about Walt's with the calves... Wasn't/isn't it something like there are two pieces that look identical, like, 2 inside right calves?

I am having to rebuild my suit. My other 'disappeared'. I was just looking for references (particularly, riveting the holster to the belt) and happened to see this build thread in one of the links to my search. Your TK number caught my eye... And then I saw that you also have a Walt's... Great pics! I kinda wish I'd found the thread a lot sooner...

You hit the nail on the head with that one! I didn't realize he had such a big reputation!

There's also a guy named Maker of Things. He got me on eBay... He says that he's a member of the 501st and that his items are good materials however they are extremely thin and a very poor texture. I ended up finding another post about the same guy somewhere in white armor... I was going to use the cheap armor for a statue, but it just isn't worth my time to get into...

Somewhere I'll have a formula for some homemade stuff. It involves professional hair stylist peroxide, glycerin... (Arabic?) gum. You know I think that I just followed the above link which explains everything I was saying or about to say... I need to keep a copy of that link because I have the ingredients... I just can't figure out where I had the proportions... Thanks!

Cool. I was already planning on doing something like that for the kidney and butt plate... I had considered something like what you posted for the biceps... It's good for validation in my head... I don't think that I had the elastic that high around the biceps on my last suit, but I'll make adjustments. Thank you!

Obviously I'm a little late to the party on this one... I'm currently working on my second TK build. For my first build, I remember that I had to use some sort of bra hooks... Which is what I was researching when I stumbled across this... It kind of reminds me of some other pieces that I have seen for connecting the kidney and butt plate in conjunction with strapping...