hollowbodies

Good news everyone, I made some fit tests for the biceps and it fits pretty well with those 15mm return edges and cover strips - better than I initially thought. If it's moving a bit in the end, I too might add a little foam padding to the inside, but I think maybe it won't even be needed. ^^ So I cut some 15mm cover strips ang started gluing them to the biceps, one side at a time (I had already trimmed the biceps' return edges to 15mm). I also continued gluing the forearms together; one is almost finished (for the glue part) and the other one is coming pretty well, too. After that, I'll just have to sand them a little bit for the final touch up and remove excess glue. While I wait for all of this to dry for around 24 hours, I hope I'll have some time tomorrow to start looking at the TD more seriously! [emoji3]

Deleted: Double post, sorry!

I think that is exactly the issue I thought I had. Hopefully the return edges at 15mm + the covers strips of 15mm too won't be toooooo large (for my arms) and will fit well. Can't be that bad! ^^ Sent from my LG-M470 using Tapatalk

Yeah, sorry, I think it's me that was a bit confused, haha. It's not really the width of the cover strip itself that was really bugging me, but what's happening "under" the cover strip... 8-) Sent from my LG-M470 using Tapatalk

Well, for me it seems to be my arm that's too small, haha! A 15mm cover strip looked like it left a lot of space between my arm and the armor. Seems like I might end up doing something like what wook did. [emoji14] I am currently skiing right now, but I'll take more and better measurements and see how it looks with a one finger width when I get back home! Thanks for your advice, I'll post that later [emoji3] Sent from my LG-M470 using Tapatalk

Ooh alright ! I haven't looked that much to the lower body parts, so thanks - I should probably have found it later. Anyways, good to know for the upper body! ^^ Sent from my LG-M470 using Tapatalk

One simple question I have that you guys who have done an AP will be able to answer : there's really no side on an AP armor, right? I mean, most pieces can go to one side or another withour problem? At least for the arms pieces, there's no specific right and left side ? Is that the same for the legs parts ? Thanks! Sent from my LG-M470 using Tapatalk

I finally bought one with a zipper. I took my measurements and I guess it'll be okay... I might just order another one with a velcro later, just so that I have both types. About that, I was thinking about ordering the dark lenses from TrooperBay (https://trooperbay.com/costuming-accessories/lenses-eyewear/dark-green-lens-material), as I have a few things to order from there anyways. I guess that does the job well, too. The one you linked seems pretty dark; do you see well through it? Thanks for you feedback!

Gratz on your new armor my friend!!! I'm in the process of building my armor myself, so I'll make sure to follow your build as well and try to help a much as I can! Welcome aboard !

I have also started doing some fit tests for the biceps. I've tried them with some 15mm cover strips on both the front and the back, and I still have some room around my arm, but I do not know if it's too much. Here is a picture of all the space there is when I hug my arm to my body : Does it seem to be too much? Honestly, I find there is still some space, but I think it's not too too bad at all, but I would like the opinion of you all who know about it. I doubt about going under 15mm for the cover strips because I think it can become pretty thin and I'd like to get as close as screen accurate as possible. So if you guys think it's fine with 15mm and that space around my arm, I'll go with this. (My forearms are at 16mm just for my hand to fit in) Also about the biceps, just to make extremely sure, are they put together the right way (like right oriantation of pieces and all)? Still working on the forearms right now and next I think I'll tackle the TD and start thinking about the bucket while I do the biceps -- more to come soon. Thanks!

Hi all! I know it's been a while since I've updated my thread... I've been pretty busy this week, but I still managed to work a little bit on my armor. Also, I was still waiting on a lot of things and mats I had ordered for my build, and I received many things in the past few days so I'm pretty happy -- more is still on the way! One thing I ordered since the recent posts was a new Under suit, as the one I had wasn't tight enough on my skin. So I ordered the shirt and pants that Mike linked me two posts before this one and I have to say, they seem really great. Thanks a lot Mike for pointing this out to me! :D They are really skinny and all black, so it's much more like what is needed for the undersuit. Here is a pic of the arm (you can look a few post earlier on this thread if you want to see the difference) : So this week, I've mainly been working on the forearms and the biceps. I cut some cover strips and started to glue some on the forearms. So far I have front and back cover strips glued on both the right and left outer forearms pieces, and I've started glueing the inner parts, too, but I'm not finished. I'll post more pics of the results soon.

I was wondering if, to be movie accurate, all the corners of all covers strips mus be cut so that they look something like this : \_/ ? (you get the idea) Or do these cut corners should only appear on a few specific cover strips? If so, which ones must be cut like this and which one must not? Thanks !

Thanks a lot, Mike! I'll check that out! And yes, I guess I could probably survive with a one piece, too! haha

Yeah, the hardest part is finding one all black with no logo really! I'll try to get something that is more like a real compression suit... There's this that looks cool and is all black and looks like some troopers use and love: https://www.extremeracing.co.uk/star-wars-stormtrooper-costume-bodysuit-undersuit.html . The only thing I'm not sure about it is that it's a one piece, and I think I would prefer separate pants and shirt. There is also this model from the same website that is two-piece: https://www.extremeracing.co.uk/motorcycle-two-piece-base-layer-under-suit.html . But this one has logos. I guess they could be hidden by the armor, but still, they look pretty much visible... Ever heard of anyone you know who really tried and loved it? Is it/does it look slim fit enough? Who here sells those? I've looked for a big sale thread but I can't seem to find one.

Thanks for pointing that out, Daniel! Yes, that is what I initially thought I'd use for my undersuit. It's a Duofold, as per some recommendations from some people here. If I remember correctly, here is what I ordered : https://www.amazon.ca/Duofold-Weight-Wicking-Thermal-XX-Large/dp/B006SRTEHE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517319991&sr=8-2&keywords=duofold&th=1&psc=1 . Obviously, I took the smallest size (small), but I guess that is still too big. I could keep it as backup and order something else. What would you suggest that's *always* a very good bet? 8-)

So I have tried to do some more fit tests for the forearms and now, instead of using tape to butt join the pieces and have a cover strip width of almost 20mm, I tried to reduce the width as much a possible by overlapping the parts just to see how close to 15mm I could get with my hand and arm still fitting. I got to around 16mm on the front and 17-ish mm on the back for my hand to be able to make it through. I could probably make it work with 16mm on the back as well, but here is how it looked with 16mm front/17mm back... do you think it seems to look fit and slim enough on the arm overall ? Right : Left : I just thought I'd ask before starting to cut it to really bring it to those sizes! Thanks!

Thanks for the clarification! That's what is amazing in here; everyone is just so kind and helpful! I hope I'll be able to contribute to that someday!

Thanks for the info, I'll look closely at all those images! Good to know! I think that the slimmer the armor looks the better it is. It's strange that the screen accurate width for those strips is 25mm... You're right, that sounds pretty large, but in the movie, the Stormtrooper's legs seem pretty slim most of the time. Also, you're not late at all to the party: all of that is just starting for me haha! Feel free to come back later and comment on anything; a pro's opinion is always more than welcome! Thanks to you all for you help by the way! ^^

About those cover strips widths, is there a place that lists all the screen accurate cover strip widths as a reference? I've found those from a resource post, but I do not know if they are all exact and/or if some are missing : Forearms and biceps : 15mm Front of legs : 20mm Back of thighs : 20mm Back of shins : 25mm Are there some front/back info missing or some parts that are not mentioned here? Or is there a go-to place for that specific information? I thought I had seen one in the past, but it seems I can't find it back... so many things to look at and keep track of! Thanks for your help!

I've got some neck seal questions for some of you who have experienced it... I am looking to buy a Darman neck seal, but I don't know what to chose between one that closes with a velcro or with a zipper. What's the best? I think that I'd like to get the zipper one, but I would like to hear from you what you think about both? Any pros and cons for one or the other? Do you see the zipper a lot more than velcro? Are they both okay for Centurion (I guess so)? Thanks !

That sounds good! Anyways, I was planning on doing it as close to the screen accurate size as possible, as I do not have such big forearms either... it was really just for my hand. I'll keep it tight - as long as I can pass it through.

I wanted to make the strips 15mm or 16mm, but I need my hand to be able to get through, so I'll try to go as close to that as it is possible. I did measure it but I don't have the info with me right now... I'll post it later when I get home. I guess the width of the cover strips do not affect the requirements for L2 and L3 if they need to be wider for it to fit well sometimes, right? Haha yes, this is what I understood from reading your build thread (and others as well)!

So I started by doing some very rough fit tests for the forearms. At first, I found that both side pieces were the same, so I thought there was some kind of error with my parts, but Mark told me that there is no "side" on this armor; that both sides are exactly the same... So I kept going and tried to make all that fit together. Honestly, the inner and outer parts did not line up as much as I thought they would (but hey, what do I know, I've never tried this before!). It was a little bit hard to make them hold properly in place with just some tape on the outside, but I managed to put them on and see how it fits. I think that they are aleady trimmed to a good level as, even though I initially thought that I could make them a bit more slim, the hole my hand is passing through it a little bit tight... Here is how I could align them with some tape... Right forearm : And the left one: I know that it's really rough and with just some tape, but what about the overall alignement? What can be better , what should be changed before I can put some cover strips on the butt joints and make them stay together firmly? By the way, I know I have no pics of them on me right now, and that is because all the pics I took of me wearing were not good enough (some bad lighting and a bit blurry sometimes). I will take some better ones and upload some later. Until then, any thoughts and comments are appreciated!

That is true, and you're really lucky to have some video tutorials for you specific armor build! I know that the TrooperBay video tutorial is not done using an AP, but I guess that it can be pretty similar to an AP, isn't it? And that makes me think : is there an "official" - or at least a very reference one - video build for the AP armor models? (I am not aware of any, so if there is one, feel free to point it to me and thanks!) On another note, I started to tackle very roughly some "fit" tests for the forearms. I have a few questions, obviously, and I'll let you know, but I'll post some pictures with them... Some should be coming shortly! ^^

I know really... I find it so uneven, too!! I could "hardly" believe that all the pieces were correct at some point haha. I too have looked around a lot and checked many builds and "tutorials" and it's so true that, right now, I am really unsure about how asymmetrical it is and about how things don't line up. I will post some forearms pictures - along with some interrogations (already haha!) - soon to show you what I mean! And sure thing, I'll keep following your thread my friend. I have already been looking at it for a while and I find all the info you put into it really useful and helpful! Thanks, Dan! As I said above, yeah, I am following a few threads at the moment, including wook's one which is for an AP armor, too. Other than that, I am also looking at the video build present on the TrooperBay website : https://trooperbay.com/assemble-accurate-stromtrooper-armor/ . I guess that can do it too, right? 8-)