CoatHanger

Oh you are lucky you didn’t have to size the body pieces. All my height is in my legs and I have a stump of a torso, so I’ll have minimal to take off in legs, but will have to rebuild the torso! I started to figure that out about sizing the thigh last night! It’d get so tight that I couldn’t budge it north even a hair. I’m afraid my thunder thighs are gonna end up needing a shim. [emoji31] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When I was in school/training I used to get so mad when I’d ask a question and my instructor would say “why don’t you go look that up and tell me the answer tomorrow.” But, with age and wisdom, you realize you sometimes learn a lot more by working to find the answer yourself than being quickly told. I feel like that applies to armor making too. Anyway, I digress... Cod slicing time. I placed the ab button plate between my sternum and belly button, and gave myself about two fingerbreadths of wiggle room for my girly bits, and measured the difference. Measured 6 times (no joke). Marked the cut. Sliced the cod. I cleaned up the rough cuts on the overlap. My rookie mistake is I didn’t have any ABS paste made up, so reattaching will have to wait. Until then I just look like I’ve had a botched tummy tuck. Now some brief (non- technical) sizing of the chest (with proper undersuit top and troop worthy sports bra). My thought is that I need to scoop out the neck a little more, and maybe raise the bottom of the chest an inch to keep proportions? And I’m thinking about lowering the top of the ab (after chest adjustments) so it’s not so much in my armpit... All opinions on this are appreciated. Another sizing question— thigh sizing. Anybody with a bit of a booty finding they have to cut more height out of the back of the thigh than the front? I’m not making any cuts until body armor done so I can see how it looks together, but I’m getting some serious booty pinch. Last, TD!! So, I know I had some stuff mess up. When I cut my PVC to get total length to 7.5”, I must have not cut straight Bc the pre-drilled holes ended up wonky to the end caps. Plus my clips don’t touch the end caps. But, it’s done for now. And when I get down to fixing more of the nit picky things, I’ll re-do it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You win! Something to brag about today! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just took a “fresh look” at the forearms after being at work for 34 hours and I think they’ll be fine as is. If I trim them down to get rid of the ridge, I’ll have to lose ALL return edge to save myself from nasty armor bite and they’ll still be a bit snug at elbow. So, foam as needed it is! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is just what I needed! Where to start. Ab buttons between sternum and belly bottom and go from there. That sounds so incredibly simple. But I will now be reading all the short build threads like I’m studying for final exams. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And THIS is why I use E6000. Okay, so inner cover strips removed and trying these forearms again I have lined it up by the elbow end. It look likes I’m going to end up with plenty to trim due to length that it should actually work out perfectly. So, now I have two new questions (open to anyone, not forcing Cricket into being my personal guru)— See how the plastic hates being lined up? Without the inner cover strips it is near impossible for it to keep the shape. Should I be water bathing to make them happier? Or just force it into submission with the inner strips? Okay, and now that I’m re-glueing my forearms... if I decide to taper, let me quickly run through the steps— measure 5x, mark the overlap, cut off half of the measurement from each half at the back seam. Correct? And what about the “bump” for the coverstrip? The AP armor has the bump in the back, and if I taper, it will leave a 15mm wide bump that tapers into no bump. Does this make sense? I took some pics to maybe help show the “bump” issue. Oh and bonus points for anyone who can name that movie in the background. [emoji851] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Forearm. Here is one (my understanding is that for AP they are ambidextrous). The other one is very similar in “issues” but I had to re-glue an inner strip so it’s not really helpful for pics. Okay, the notorious forearm point. I know this has been asked before, and I plan on going through FISD threads if I need to (the site was down yday, it was debilitating to an armor build day.). Next, the wrist. I’ve got this spot (circled in red) that the armor isn’t matching up. Heat bath and mold it down? Sand it shorter? And the green box. I know I need to get rid of this return edge. But what tool are you using? I feel like the normal Drimmel sanding barrel is too big to get in here. And last.. I have unnaturally small wrists. So the forearm fits at the elbow (with a small return edge), but this is the wrist. To make it fit tighter I’ll have to do some crazy tapering that I worry is going to make the (visible) cover strips look wonky. So, I think I’m just gonna leave it like this and put some foam in if needed. Sound okay?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay, bicep work. Inside cover strips done. Rough trimmed. And mostly “fine sanded”. Gonna trim down those two areas circled in red to make it smooth. And there’s a few places of rogue Drimmel blemishes I’m going to sand out and polish. (Maybe just rub with a little acetone?) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have lots of updates. I’d love feedback, so I’m going to divide into several posts. “Body” armor rough fitting. I’m short for a trooper (5’5”), and know I’ll need to make some adjustments Bc most of this lack of height is in my torso. After reading through some great threads (shout out to Cricket), here are my thoughts. First, gonna separate the cod from the ab. Think I need to take some of my extra from the top of the cod. But, QUESTION, should I also move up the chest? I think it fits okay, but don’t want to look too heavy if cod is 2” smaller, with full size chest. Second, think I need to narrow the cod too. Not drastically but some. (It’s just rough trimmed now). Then, once I have the front shortened, I plan on shortening the kidney as needed to match the ab. And bring up the back plate if needed (it overlaps by about 1.5” as is). Here are the pics— Thanks for any input! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some exciting things happened tonight— Whaaat?!? E6000 on plastic?!? Whoop whoop!! So started on some inner coverstrips, because I like the idea of extra strength... plus it gave me a chance to try this whole gluing thing without it really counting. Things I learned— - it’s all fun and games reading 100 build threads, but sh** is starting to get real - if you’re only gluing half a cover strip, only put glue on half of it. - y’all weren’t joking... I need ALL the clamps/magnets. They are literally the rate limiting step. - don’t take a bath before sanding. Once I had my inner coverstrips glued (which took longer than expected because I had to sand to make sure I’d only left 10mm on the front thigh, cover my magnets in tape, sand the cover strips, etc), I moved on to some other smaller projects. Got my TD caps sanded down to 3/4” (no pic). Cut the corners on the belt. Thanks again for the diagram! (That’s my hubby in the background monopolizing the Drimmel for his R1 DeathTrooper build.) Next question— drop boxes. 15mm deep, correct? And how are y’all going about trimming these? Lexan scissors? Drimmel? Looks like too much to sand. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bc part of the fun of building a TK is the “fun stuff”, I got my microphone/Aker amp in today with the components to make my TrooperTalk app work. My whole family is essentially fighting over playing with it. So cool! Now hoping to get a bucket (close to) finished by tomorrow night. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh this diagram is exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you!! And that makes total sense to trace something round. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok. I’m having FISD searching difficulties. All the great diagrams of dimensions seem to have been lost when PhotoBucket kicked the bucket. Anyway— first question. How much do I leave on the edges of the thigh ammo pack? And do you just “eye ball” the curved edge? That makes me anxious. And the belt... how much of the ends of it? And the corners are 12mm x 12mm 45deg angles? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats! Welcome to the addiction! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is amazing!! Mom of the year for sure! My 4yo is asking for a Scout Trooper. Or to be a DeathTrooper like daddy. Every time he sees me doing anything with my armor he asks when we are going to start building his. The newest is gonna have to settle for a knitted Leia hat for a little while

Thanks!! Went back and edited the post. And glad it looks okay! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m back. Turns out it’s harder to build two TKs at a time than I thought. First one is doing awesome. Meets “meatball” CRL just great. Now I’m back to my other TK. So first, trying out this Imgur stuff. If the pic shows up, how does the frown/vocoder look? Painting makes me so nervous. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Black paint question. Gloss or semi gloss for vocoder?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Making progress on my bucket!! I've only had to put it together and take it apart about 3 times, but I'm chalking that up to learning experience. I have plasti-dipped the interior, Bc I think it looks mean. I used the AP decals. The dishwasher soapy water and hair dryer method was clutch. I've got S-trim (from TrooperBay) but haven't fully put it on yet (since I still have to remove it to finish painting.) I've found my gray Testors paint for the frown, but have to wait for the 3yo to go to bed to attempt that. My Hobby Lobby was out of gloss black, but we are headed to HobbyTown today. And need some gloss white to cover those screws. Then, next "big project" is putting in lens and frown mesh. Thinking of using Velcro for both. Ok, any criticisms so far? And a pic of my son using the Force at Southern GreekFest! (Edited to get pics to post) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Mark!! That's completely my bad for not looking through the BBB again! You truly are the best! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, life has happened. Can I win a (small) lottery and send my son to boarding school for a few weeks to work on my TK? Second, this is freaking stressful. All my prep work and I'm still left with a sense of self doubt with every millimeter of ABS I cut. Okay, helmet questions I'm having trouble finding answers to.. 1--- what type of screws/rivets do you use? I see posts mentioning #4 brass flat slotted. But is that for attaching the front/back pieces And/Or the ears? And where do you buy these? No go at Lowes. 2-- Anybody know if the AP decals are okay for Centurion since they "appears handpainted"? Thanks everyone, so much!! Oh, and TK update-- 17weeks, have finally stopped throwing up all Imperial rations. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today is my birthday. (I'm a lady, so I won't reveal my age.) But apparently the mailman decided to celebrate with me--- (Obligatory BBB pic!) And all the goodies it contained! (Do these pics remind anyone else of the show Dexter? Just me?) Thankfully I did get in a trip to Harbor Freight and Home Depot today as part of the birthday festivities, so at least I have something to get started with. So, tomorrow will likely be "plan the first cuts" day, hoping taking metal to ABS soon. Oh and my hubby is officially jealous. He is now stalking the Special Ops board to see how he can get a R1 DeathTrooper BBB of his own. Happy Birthday to Me! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TK Build Update--- Week 12, 2.5inches of awesome and nausea Armor Update--- HOLY SMOKES! My kit has shipped!!! I'm so very excited!! Yet, at the same time freaking out because I haven't bought anything. All the "buy your supplies and work on accessories while you wait for your kit" advice has been blown out the window by AP's excellence. So, I am now planning a few frantic trips to Home Depot, Joanne's, and ACE Hardware before next Monday. But, since I don't have much of anything else to update, I would like to take a moment and give accolades to Mark at AP. He has had the patience of Job with me. He has gone above and beyond, sending me pictures of other short statured troopers in his armor, answering a litany of questions, and giving me plenty of reassurance that I am not indeed too chubby to be a trooper. I know my wait time was purely coincidence of ordering when he had kits in stock, but it really has been the icing on a very perfect cake. Without even seeing the armor in person, I will quickly recommend him and AP to anyone who will listen. Will be checking in soon with a BBB picture!

Thanks so much for this! That really is Troopers looking out for each other! I have actually already started looking into a respirator (trying to decide how heavy duty to go). And thankfully we have a garage to work in, and if I can fend of the mosquitos in Mississippi, weather that lends itself to open door and lots of fans. Thank you again! For the link and the rivets! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congratulations!!! You deserve it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk