wook1138

The shins were not bad. Pretty straight forward actually. Just remember to assemble the back cover strips (25mm, the fronts are still 20mm) so that the opening is facing towards the inside of your leg. I used Velcro at the back and that seems to hold them together pretty good. As for the sniper knee - it is more a case of letting the OCD go. Raising the outside of the left shin will help with fitting the sniper knee plate in the right spot. I would recommend test fitting the sniper knee as you go along - hot bath to get it as close as possible - then glue the middle part first (position it the best you can - the left and right sides will be a little off unless you did an amazing job with the hot baths - and it may be a little off centre). Wait two days for the E6000 to really harden up. Then glue the sides down with the use of many clamps - and probably keeping a clamp on the front for good measure. If it isn't to your liking, you can always take it off and try again. It fits much better the second time around - especially if you hit it with a heat gun or hot bath it before you take it off. Here are links to what I did: putting front cover strips on shins - you can see the offset of my left shin (scroll post ammo pack stuff) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43437-wooks-first-build-anh-stunt-tk-ap/?do=findComment&comment=592264 Trimming my shins https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43437-wooks-first-build-anh-stunt-tk-ap/?do=findComment&comment=592958 Shin closures https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43437-wooks-first-build-anh-stunt-tk-ap/?do=findComment&comment=594522 First go at sniper knee https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43437-wooks-first-build-anh-stunt-tk-ap/?do=findComment&comment=592961 My second go at the sniper knee plate https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43437-wooks-first-build-anh-stunt-tk-ap/?do=findComment&comment=594874 I don't know if this helps, but... there you go.

Hi Gil. So far things are looking good! Have you decided which direction you want to take the build? I am just gearing up for a TD build myself. If you do go TD, you don't need the backpack for basic approval - but you will have to get dirty. The decals on the helmet would be a no go, but I believe there is some flexibility with the pouches. I am planning my build so I can emulate a few different characters (same armor used in different scenes). They all have slightly different pouches/blasters/pack. If not going for a specific character... as long as you have one proper shoulder pouch and one hip pouch (and of course your pauldron) I think you should be good for basic approval. Either way, I don't think it would be very hard to convert TK or HWT armor to TD (clean) and vise versa. Aside from the helmet paint, the main differences are the ab button plates, sniper knee, and shoulder bridges. All can be changed out easily enough later if you use E6000. Have you asked the troopers over at MEPD for input?

Don't let the thighs discourage you. The right thigh was probably the most difficult part for me - I think I had to redo it about 3 times (at least). Yeah, I complained the most about the sniper knee, but I spent a lot more time on the thighs to get them right. I love the shot of all the magnets, by the way I think you made the smart choice on those snap bases. The method you described is what I'm going to do next time. Looks good, keep it up!

Is it just me or does it appear that the slightly larger tab is more consistent with the Hero suits and much less so with the Stunt?

Thanks everyone! I can't even begin to describe how stoked I am about this. Now I need to get out there and show it off.

Gregory Bell 34575 Centurion Letter Andrew Thank you!! http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/34575-centurion.png

Thank you so much Andrew!!

Looking good Frank! Congrats!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

some screen caps. I can't speak for the length, but the larger back tab seems to missing more often than not.

AP adds the extra large bump incase it is needed (for larger troopers). Mark recommends trimming the big bump and one small one for screen accuracy. I don't believe there is a requirement to remove it at any level (but not positive). However, the less material you have at the back, the easier it will be to keep the bridges snug to the armor. Also, less of a chance of them snagging on something and breaking, IMO.

I love the display! Very nice. helmet looks good too.

Mine are just (possibly) slightly higher in the front but not much. I hot bathed the front so that it conforms to the shape of the chest but plenty of E6000 and good clamp will also work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha ha. Aren’t you a little tall for an elf?

Thanks everyone! After reading the above comments I have decided not to do the party. Just kidding. I will secure a handler for sure. @justjoseph63 the 15 minutes of fame followed by perpetual abuse was what I was worried about. The swag bags are an awesome idea. I will definitely ask the parents about that. And I'll be using a "Darth Vader wants his stormtrooper back at the Death Star" type of line. Love it. Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.

So, word is out that there is a storm trooper in the neighborhood and so I've been asked to make an appearance at a bday party. Any tips? This is a friend of a friend and the child is turning 5. I assuming that to avoid a mass confusion of kids jumping on the armor (and other kiddie shenanigans), that some ground rules are typically conveyed to the parents? Go in, do a quick hello and take some pics, and get back out again? I did a visit at my kids kindergarten class, but there was a teacher with very well disciplined kids. I assume this will be a bit more chaotic. Thanks

Yep, like Luc said - red line on the ab. If you wanted to remove more on the kidney, you probably could, but it looks good in the pics. I have seen builds where that notch is pretty short (horizontally along the top, but I think it is always ~22mm tall). But yeah, leaving a little room won't hurt either. You can always add some foam later. The issue I had with the ab and kidney being a little large was that the belt pulled the two pieces together and they started to overlap. I had to add some internal strapping to keep this from happening, but it was a pretty easy fix - and now I don't have to worry about gaining a few pounds. The belt will make a difference with how these pieces end up fitting - or at least how they fit together. Things are looking nice. Keep up the great work David!

That's impressive, Dan! Armor is looking good! I do not yet have the confidence to broadcast me struggling through my kitting-up. And, I can't seem to get my second arm on without help - well, to be honest I don't think I have even tried. I like the idea of using a strap for the amp. My electronics are attached to the armor, so I have some fiddling around with wires when I put my helmet on - which I also need a second pair of hands for.

Ha ha. You subscribed? I guess I will have to do another one eventually.

Ok Daniel, Since I couldn't post my school troop video, I put together a video compilation of trooper action shots. Prepare yourself for 3 minutes of heart-pounding thrills as I put my armour through it's paces. TK34575 Video Hopefully the link works - when it comes to video and youtube, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Tips for newbies building an AP kit for the first time. Please excuse this massive post, but I tried to summarize some points about my build below. I wrote this summary up awhile ago but just got around to posting it now. This was my first build, and although I did some research before starting, I discovered a lot of other things while actually building – some of these things are just because I am new to this, and some of these things are particular to the AP kit. Most of these points are explained in detail somewhere in my build, but it is getting hard to find anything. And I’m sure for every point I mentioned below, there are two that I forgot. Again, this is the AP trimmed kit. Helmet: · The brow sat a little low and a touch crooked, so I had to raise the brow. I raised (trimmed) it about 4 or 5 mm (at the center of the front, the sides are kept in the same spot) – I could have gone a few more mm. · The ears needed some trimming and sanding to fit. The right ear was especially bad. A space between the right ear and helmet is screen accurate, but I wanted to reduce it as much as possible. After some trimming and sanding, I realized that the ear just wasn’t placed right. The bottom needed to be pushed inwards a little – but the all the holes were pre-drilled. So I expanded the holes (in the helmet parts) down a little with a soldering iron. This worked well – but when I finally put the helmet together with the brow in place, the fit wasn’t as good again. I haven’t gone back to fix this again – but it should be an easy fix – even having a third hand while I tighten the screws would help. · I hand painted everything. I tried to use the stencils from Trooperbay. They worked for the most part, but I only used the stencils for the tube stripes and the stripes in the tears and traps. I found it easy to just take a pencil and trace in the areas for the traps and tears along the return edge. Just make sure the area you marked out is big enough for the Trooperbay stencils. I mixed up the tube stripes – I put the right on the left side and vice versa. It was an easy fix – I just had to remove the front 3 stripes and redo with the proper stencil – trooperbay provides 2 of every stencil for these “oops” moments. · Cleaning up the paint. I used humbrol paint and found that it scraped off pretty easy with a toothpick. I did wipe it down with some mineral spirits first – that seemed to have weakened it a bit. It can leave a very, very faint stain, but for the most part it comes off really clean. This worked great for cleaning up edges and making things look pretty. · I installed s-trim (Centurion requirement). It was a bit of a challenge. You have to start and really work to open the rubber grove as you feed it onto the edge ABS. You have to keep pressure applied and just go a few mm at a time. I went around the whole helmet and trimmed some extra off – but left about 1 inch. I just worked the s-trim until I could get the extra one inch to fit. I’m told this helps hold the s-trim in place. I didn’t use any glue. By the way, I put it on this way (not my pic – borrowed it from Sean who is now Centurion): · Hovi-mics will not sit even. Let the OCD go. Paint the edges white · When locating the tube stripes, they should be a pencil’s width from the return edge. The left side edge is straight and this works well there. The right side is not straight and makes placing your stencil or decal a little trickier. Arms: · This was actually the first thing I worked on. Good place to start. I trimmed all my coverstrips to about 16-17mm. Mark has the trimmed kit trimmed for 20mm coverstrips on the arms, so I had to take off a little off each butt edge. The actual edge of the return edge can be hard to see in some places due to a lack of definition. I found that using the back side of the piece worked better – the lines are more defined. I just kept in mind that the front would have about an extra mm or so of width. · I used 1 inch black elastic (glued) to the shoulder bell to shoulder strap, shoulder bell around bicep (hook), and I used ¾” elastic for the forearm to bicep. I had used ¾” for most things (as per a number of threads) but switched up to 1” because it is screen accurate and works better for various reasons. The 1” shoulder bell to should strap elastic is not shown in pic below. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180121/b543ab19033983ac78404c1423d0949a.jpg · I originally used snaps with 1.5” elastic for the forearm to bicep attachment (as per the billhags diagram). I found this didn’t work for me. So I switched to the ¾” elastic glued directly behind the front coverstrip. Worked really well. Keeps the bicep and forearm lined up nicely. Thighs: · The right thigh gave me a lot of grief. The butt return edge was trimmed to 10mm per side, for a 20mm coverstrip. However, that 10mm got a little tight in places (less than 10mm). So I put a inner coverstrip on first to get the spacing right. Then, the whole seam is slightly curved. The best solution was to glue the lower half of the coverstrip fist. Wait to dry, then glue the upper half. I did this for both the inner and outer coverstrips. · I haven’t actually done it yet (as of time of writing this) but I will trim a bit of return edge away from behind the knee. · I ended up tapering my thighs a lot – and it didn’t seem to create any issues with gluing. · I found hot bathing the ammo pack made it really easy to install. I used the same split rivets used for the ab to kidney connection (as provided by AP). I didn’t worry about lining up the front “bump” with the coverstrip. I just made the ends look even where it is connected to the thigh – I drilled the holes 6mm from the upper return edge – that was the only real measurement I made. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180119/c06f287020555551e41e70006d013136.jpg Shins: · The sniper knee will not fit very well. Mine ended up crooked – as do a lot of AP kits. I tried to raise the outer piece of the shin a bit to help, but it didn’t help enough. The sniper knee plate will not fit on the shin perfectly – at least not with my skill sets. This is a good as mine got: https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180203/159996fa67b1dc5bc212cac6c1ce63d9.jpg · I had to add a little bit of Velcro to the boot and inside of the shins to keep the shins from rotating on me. · I put inner and outer coverstrips on the front of the shins. I’m glad I did because these things take a lot of abuse. The rear coverstrip is 25mm – I used Velcro and it is working very well. Once I finished my shins, I taped them up to correct for the gaps (they won’t line up in the back). I exaggerated the correction (if I had a gap, I would tape it overlapping by an inch or so) and then took the heat gun to the shins – on low – and kept the heat gun moving. I heated up the shins so they were slightly uncomfortable to touch and then let cool. I did this a few times. It helped with getting the rear seam to line up better. Torso: · Aside from cleaning up some edges, there isn’t much I had to do for prepping these pieces. I did trim the return edge to about 5 mm. I wasn’t planning on using the canon brackets, so I wasn’t worried about using them (return edges) for anything and I heard that reducing them will help with comfort. The torso fit a little large on me so the comfort thing wasn’t an issue; however, by reducing the return edge I think I made it easier for the pieces to overlap each other. I don’t think I would trim them so much next time. · I had to hot bath the butt piece and tighten the strapping to reduce “butt flare”. The butt piece does tend to do this and it obvious on screen as well. · During the build, I lost some weight and the kidney / ab section ended up being somewhat oversized for me. This caused all sorts of issues when I tightened my belt. The pieces would overlap each other. I had to reinforce the left ab/kidney connection (the three split rivets) with glued in pieces of thick nylon webbing. I then created a tab and slot for the right side. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180203/671d5f8f33df3cf5589cd98eebd31285.jpg · Shoulder bridges – the ribbed abs parts that go from your chest to your back – these need to have the spaces on the bottom back filled with scrap pieces of abs and glue so they will stick better. I recommend hot bathing these so the very front part will conform to the shape of the chest and shape the back so it stays close to the back (they are free floating in the back and only held down with a little piece of ¼” white elastic. Also, the large bump at the back of the ABS shoulder bridges can be removed - I removed the large bump and one small bump as per instructions from Mark at AP. · Painting the ab buttons – I used a 7/16 circle template from an old drafting kit. I traced the circle on the button with pencil. Then hand painted – the pencil line can actually act like a dam and keep the paint in place – to a point. · Remember to trim the button plates enough. A lot of people seem to miss this from what I’ve seen in application pics. I hope mine are trimmed enough now that I think of it. Belt/holster: · Drop boxes – they are a little deep – I needed to shave off about 5mm. I aimed for a depth of 15mm. The references I found mentions anywhere from 15 to 10mm depth. · Elastics connecting drop boxes - use 1” elastic. Some threads mention ¾ inch elastic. One inch is screen accurate and will allow you to trim a little off if you need to get around a snap that might be in the way · My snaps on my ab piece ended up in the wrong spot somehow – they were shifted over to the left by a cm or two. The location of the left snap conflicted with a rivet that connects the canvas belt to the abs belt (ammo pack). I had to move the one snap on both the ab piece (male end) and the canvas belt (female end). · Removing snaps are not a big deal. If you use a drill, take your time because the snap can heat up. I drilled from the back of the male side – worked well for me. The female snap was easy, I just reached in with needle nose pliers and squished the post and the snap popped apart. · I ordered a holster from AP as well. I switched out the black straps that connect to the belt with tan coloured straps. I used ¾” 8oz leather strips. It was heavier leather than what was originally there but seemed to work just fine. AP uses Chicago screws for this so things are really easy to switch out. You do need tan holster straps for any level of approval (at least for now) – this is just a screen accuracy thing. TD: · The end caps as provided in the trimmed kit needed to be trimmed down a few mm (5mm was removed in my case). I couldn’t get these all the way on (I’m not sure if they are supposed to go all the way on). The control panel had to be trimmed down about 10mm in my case. · I had to trim the TD tube as well. I think I took off about ¾” or so. Can’t remember for sure, but I ended up with 7-3/8” total length. I believe ideal is around 7-1/4” · I also trimmed the metal just above the upper screw hole to be more screen accurate. Also had to replace the screws with slotted pan head machine screws - #6-32. The ones I found were brass, but they get painted black regardless. Strapping: · This is where you will probably have to improvise the most. · I used a single snap system with nylon base plates (and some elastic in key places for mobility). · Nylon base plates seem to work really well – they conform to the shape of the curved armor and E6000 holds them very well. · Use good quality nylon. I ordered some stuff off of Amazon – I used it until I ran out and then bought some stuff from a local fabric store. The stuff from the local place was almost twice as thick. Way better for adding rigidity to connections if needed (i.e. the spilt rivet connections on the left ab/kidney). · Setting snaps can suck. If you are not very handy and lack patience, you might want to think about getting a snap setting press. Roughly $75 on Amazon. I’ve never used one, but it has to be better than using the $15 snap setter you get at Tandy. · Choosing snaps: based on recommendations from other threads I used the nickel plated, Line 24 snaps from Tandy. Durability-wise they seem fine – but I’ve hardly used them. However, I had an issue of the armour deforming and discolouring in some locations. The worst case was where I used an ABS snap base, lots of E6000, and clamps to hold in place. This is an issue that has many builders puzzled. So, please note that the following may have contributed to the issue (none of this is proven): o E6000 may react with metal and, at the very least, create heat. o E6000 may create even more heat under greater pressure (strong clamps). o The Tandy nickel-plated snaps appear to be possibly prone to reaction with E6000. · So tips when gluing in snap bases (nylon or ABS): o Do not get E6000 on metal part of snap if possible o Do not use excessive amounts of E6000 o Apply very light pressure to hold the base in place while glue dries. You don’t need to keep the pressure applied for very long – E6000 will stiffen up pretty quick, it just takes 24 hours before it is strong enough to take any stress. o Use good quality snaps that are rated for outdoor use or professional use (marine grade – I think some people use Fasnap snaps) · Example of the reaction. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180117/679949ebef7613a86177d7a96ef3deec.jpg · When setting snaps – make sure they are set all the way (the post is driven down until the whole snap feels secure). · Locating the snap bases – there are a bunch of build threads that have very precise measurements for placing the snap bases. Don’t feel you have to follow any of this. Keep in mind that the closer the snap bases are to the edge – or one another – the shorter the strap and therefore the more stable that connection is going to be. So if you need more movement – you can move the snap bases away a little. I moved most of my snap bases after a few attempts at wearing the armour as it moved around too much. I originally used elastic in a few spots but replaced them for nylon. This is all dependent on how the armour fits you and what you like. I kept all my elastic connections so that I may use them during trooping for more comfort – time will tell. · For more support along some connections, I may upgrade to the two-snap connections. Single snaps can rotate and move around a bit. The double snap will not allow the play and keep things lined up. A two snap elastic system (2 or 3 inch elastic) I think would work really well. I think this would be very similar to the elastic and bracket systems used in the original costumes but you could remove the straps and you don’t have to worry about the brackets (they have to be screwed in and you need enough return edge to install them – and you will probably have to reinforce said return edge with strips of ABS). Soft Parts: · I got the flexible hand guards from AP. To attach them to the gloves (Gorilla Grip nitrile gloves) you are going to need Loctite Plastic bonding system. It contains a surface primer and superglue. Works great. · Undersuit – get compression shirt and pants – everything else just doesn’t seem to get tight enough. · Get thin cotton liners for your gloves – they get really sweaty and sticky. Fitting/dressing: · In case I didn’t mention it already – I really underestimated this part of the process. · I re-did a lot of my straps once I got the armour on. Take your time fitting pieces with the strapping. · Get someone to help – more than likely, you will not be able to get dressed by yourself. · If you are getting dressed for pictures – have a handler (someone who knows what the armor should look like fitted) there to help – that person will be making sure you look good for the pics – not you (for the most part). · If using nylon straps, pre-loosen the material by bending and twisting the nylon before measuring and cutting to length. It will loosen with use – my left ab to kidney connection really loosened up after a few fittings. · I did use a little foam attached with Velcro in a few places to keep pieces more stable (biceps for example). I would rather keep things a touch loose – incase I gain a little weight. · I put Velcro on the front of the boots and inside the shins to keep them from rotating. General building stuff: · Lexan scissors work like a charm for trimming most things. I got a set that included a straight pair and curved pair of scissors as well as a tool for boring out holes (I bought this on sale: Duratrax Body Scissors and Reamer Set, 3 piece). This worked very well for countersinking the edges of drilled holes for snap installation. If you don’t get the set, at least buy the curved scissors. Score and snap works best for the cover strips. · You get a generous amount of cover strip material. If you don’t make many mistakes you should have plenty to do all cover strips – inside and out. · Note that there is a good and bad side to the cover strips. One side is shiny and white, and the other side is less shiny and less white. Can be hard to see under non-ideal lighting conditions. · The cover strips are rough cut – so you will need to make sure the edge is square before trimming. Also, to make the most of each piece, you could square the piece on both sides – measure the width, and figure out what combination of strip widths you can cut. If the width is 55mm, then you might want to cut two 20mm strips (for legs) and one 15 mm strip for arms (or whatever widths you have decided on). My laziness overrode my OCD on this and I didn’t do it but it would have provided even more usable material (if I needed it – which I didn’t – so, nevermind). · Rough sand any areas that you are planning on gluing. Like back of cover strips, for example. I used a 100 grit paper and it worked well. Use E6000. · Use enough E6000 on cover strips so that the E6000 oozes out along the edges. This is a good thing. E6000 is pretty easy to clean up after it dries. · Humbrol paint is a pain in the donkey. Especially the French Blue – it needs a lot of stirring – at least mine did. Maybe it was an old tin. · I cleaned my armour with mineral spirits in the case of paint smears or drips. I also have Novus cleaner and polish that seems to work really well.

Wow, nice work Mark! These "directions" you speak of... never heard of them.

Looks like the ears are on the correct sides. The bottom just seems really far forward in the picture. Hard to tell at that angle.

Thanks man. I got mine at Canadian Tire of all places. I was just over at MEPD researching back packs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Slotted pan head screws - check. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, just to be clear, the chest piece is intended to overlap the ab. You shouldn't need to be trimming the top of the ab past the rough trim lines. As far as fitting, I try to use the "two fingers" rule. If you can fit two fingers between your body and armor, you should be fine. That said, I'm a big believer in sizing things a touch large - you can always trim later or add foam padding to help fit - this allows for some weight gain from time to time.