wook1138

I didn't even think of connecting the back plate with clamps while gluing the front. That would have been smart - but not how I roll I was ready for the hand painting to be tough and it is. I saw your paint job - I thought it was decals at first. Nice work! Yeah, the force usage was over the top. Although... Vader did choke a guy via a hologram / phone call in EpIV. That is pretty impressive. You probably have to pay Bell for an extra data package to get that kind of service. SPOILER(?): The Kylo-Rey-Red Shirt Guys fight was pretty cool. Anyway - I'll no doubt see it again... soon.

So I snuck away from my fatherly duties and put a first coat of blue on the buttons. did a second coat of grey - I've never seen these things in person - is this okay or should I clean it up some more (the grey is done - the blue is not). I have a shaky hand and old man eyes - this was not an easy process. I also need new reading glasses - apparently. Glued the ABS shoulder straps on. And yes, I did manage to get a few more clamps on it after taking the picture. It doesn't fit snug to the chest so it is taking a lot of persuasion. I positioned it so that the 5th small bump lined up with the end of the shoulder extension of the chest plate (I have no idea what to call these parts). It makes the whole thing sit low on the chest where the contours are more pronounced. I hope they are lined up and look even when all is said and done - this was not easy to do so that they lined up with the back plate. There are so many clamps on it now, that I can't tell what it is going to look like. On another note... I'm still trying to process what I though of The Last Jedi. Hummm. I guess I will need to watch it again.

Well, more painting yesterday. Second coat of grey on the helmet. I did extend the frown a little - it doesn't look like it in the pic, but I tried to make the thickness of the last tooth the same as the other, more defined teeth - if that makes any sense. I forgot the ears during the first round of painting so I put a first coat on them (no pics). Since I had the grey paint out, I also started the button plates. I won't be getting much done today as my wife is doing Christmas baking and I'm entertaining the kiddos - which, unfortunately, does not include watching me build armor. for the buttons I traced a 7/16" circle on the button for guidance. 7/16 might be a little small, but 1/2" seemed a little large and these were the only sizes I had. to get the template to sit flat on the button, I had to sacrifice one and cut it up. For the Empire... I used a very small brush to do the outline of the buttons. Coat one of the grey paint done.

Perfect!

Well, time to get ready and go see The Last Jedi.

After the ears, the helmet didn't require much work before painting. I just sanded the teeth and eyes a bit. And then it was on to painting. I decided to hand paint everything. So today I put a coat of grey on. Mark included decals and I also ordered stencils from TrooperBay. I'll use the trooperbay stencils for the tube stripes and trap stripes. But I am doing the traps and tears by hand. Well, sort of. I created a reference template based on the decals and stencils - I wan't the painted area to look similar to the decals, and I wanted to make sure that the Stencils will fit within the painted area - I noticed the the stencils from trooperbay were a little large compared to the decals from AP. The traps on the stencils are larger than the decal traps and wouldn't fit very well into the space on the actual helmet. So I made a reference piece. the tears were the same size. I think the right is actually left on the decals - unless I made the mistake labeling my reference piece. I traced a line based on the contour of the ABS and then compared to the template - made adjustment where required. When I tried to draw in the tears by just using the contour of the ABS, my original attempt was way too small compared to the decals and stencils. The inside pencil line is my first attempt by just "eye-balling" it. Just for giggles - my AP helmet and my Black Series helmet. You can't really compare the two, but... anyway. I showed this already, but here is my first coat of grey. I hadn't worked with this paint before - and I haven't actually painted anything for a long time. I tend to use an airbrush, and I would have for this if it was warmer outside. Anyway, I put the first coat on way too thick and it is showing some runs or ripples in the paint. The paint does level pretty nicely if you let it. I will do another coat and that should be it for the grey on the helmet.

So, I took today off from work to work on my armour. My way of celebrating TLJ - which I'll be checking out tonight. I think this is the first date my wife and I have had since the last kid was born. I'm excited - the wife continues to shake her head but she is happy to get out of the house at the very least. Anyway, I glued some nylon base plates into the torso parts and did some trimming, I'll show more of that later, but today I tackled the helmet. I wasn't going to, but a day without the 4 year old in the house is a good day to haul out the paints. The helmet came pre-trimmed and has the holes drilling into the side for assembly. Mark also included all the required hardware. The only things I had to so was to trim the brow area a bit to make it even and trim the ears - which took some time. I assembled the helmet and checked the fit of the ears. Mark includes screws for the inner attachment - so I can completely assembly the helmet and take it apart fairly easily. Which I did many times. Left ear. I forgot to take picture of the before, but her is the ear with faint pencil marks indicating where I needed to trim or sand. One round of trimming and sanding and the left ear looks ok. From the front. there is a little gap, but... . The right ear was a different story. It was sticking out quite a ways so I trimmed it a few times. Before shot of the front of the right ear. The trimming and sanding was not doing much. I trimmed the bottom to a very thin point to get it to sit right - that didn't do it either. I then realized it was a problem with the location of the bottom screw holes. They were just a bit to high. The is a hole that goes through the bottom of the ear and the back and front parts of the helmet. I needed to lower the holes on the helmet parts. I couldn't redrill because they would have been too close to the original holes. So I took out the soldering iron and expanded the size of the original hole towards the bottom of the helmet. It worked! Right ear from the back - after shot. right front - after.

Question about painting the helmet (for those of you not sitting in a theater right now). This is my first coat of grey. Am I getting enough of the teeth covered? And, how long should I wait before applying a second coat of humbrol paint? Thanks. I'll post more pics of this process later. I think I have to take the end of the frown a little further.

Are you sure? Yeah, I guess I'm letting the OCD beat out the common sense. Thanks.

Question about rivets for the thigh ammo pack: I've read that they should be 7mm single cap (with 9mm stem?). All I have are the Tandy "medium" rapid rivets which are 8mm caps with 8mm posts. Will these work and be OK for Centurion? Thanks.

Great job, Brien! Congrats! And thanks for your input during my build - and a thank you in advance for more input as I continue

Note: All return edges to be removed. Wear it like a badge of honor. Looks great, Sean! Man, do I have a lot of work ahead of me. I read a thread where someone just moved the sew-in snaps on the shoulder straps - I think they just moved them forward and that took care of the shoulder bells showing too much black on the front. I'm not sure if showing too much on the back is as big of a deal.

I'm 5'10" as well. So it looks like I'm in the same boat. To be honest, your sniper plate looks pretty decent. I think you made a good compromise - post complete pics of the armor and see what the masses have to say.

I've been avoiding the shins because of this. I was going to offset the pieces like you mentioned but I didn't even consider that they may be too short afterwards. Did you ask Mark if he has any other tricks? I was really hoping you would sort this out before I attempted it

So the elastic is just beside the cover strip seam? I was planning to use 2 inch elastic, but I've had issues getting it (somewhere in Amazon shipping purgatory). Are those just glued directly to the armor?

Strapping for the arm. I added some 3/4" elastic to the top of the shoulder bells by gluing them directly to the inside of the bell. E-6000 is drying. Added some of the snap bases to the inside of the biceps. Forgot to take a picture of the actual snap bases in the bicep. Biceps and forearms have snap bases and are waiting for E-6000 to dry. I will use 1inch elastic to attach the biceps to the forearms. It might be hard to see, but I am using the BILLHAG TK-1650 diagram as a template for this part. I've seen other builds where the elastic (3/4") is glued right along the inside of the front cover strip. I have no idea which is more screen accurate or which one works better - I went with the snaps just in case I wanted to change out the length of the strapping at some point.

Have not got much done in the last week but I did manage to make some nylon snap bases while visiting the wife's family. I had never made snaps before, so this was certainly (another) learning experience. I'm using Tandy line 24 snaps (5/16" post) for most of my snaps needs - probably all. I'm using 1" nylon strapping and cutting to about 1.25" strips. I used an old leather punch I had, but it wouldn't completely cut out the hole. It did cut it enough to that I could easily burn it out with a soldering iron. And I cauterized all the cut edges as well. Ready for snaps. Since I was a complete noob I had to figure which parts are the "male" base and which were the female parts. Male ends are on the right. So, I set up my assembly line on the cement floor in my father and mother in-law's basement. The first few swings of the hammer on the setting tool, and I noticed the little Tandy anvil was sliding around. So I removed the anvil and just used the cement floor. I quickly noticed I was marking up their painted cement floor. So I decided to use a old 2x4 board as a backing - bad idea. It is too soft. The below pic is the result of using the wood backing. The base is totally bent outwards in a strong convex shape. So, I needed to use the anvil after all. Lacking tools, I simply hammered the anvil into the chunk of wood. It was then stable and I could continue without worrying about the anvil slipping around or messing up my mother-in-law's floor. Snap bases. there is still a bit of a convex curve to some of the bases. I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

Right back at you! Your comments and build have been of great help! I'll be referring to your thread over the next little while as I pick away at my kit. Absolutely - if your are ever in this neck of the woods be sure to let me know. Having a fellow AP builder (and Canadian no less) for this has been a tremendous boost for me. I am looking forward to your completion pics! I couldn't agree more with your comments about seeing the movie back in 77 and the stormtrooper being so cool - I don't know how many times I thought about ordering a Don Post helmet via a add in Starlog magazine - but the price was too much for my meager means at the time.

While the wife was packing and wrapping presents and getting kids ready and preparing some food, I snuck down to my office and got my thigh pieces sorted out. Inside cover strip is in both thighs now. I really like the inside strip - if I knew I had enough extra ABS, I would do this for all joins. right thigh with curved seam. Left thigh was good. I also trimmed the left thigh some more.

Have not been working on armour much. The wife is dragging me away to a early Christmas with the inlaws. I packed a little project for myself. Nylon snap plates.

Question. I've finally started to look at the helmet - I had some trouble getting it on my disproportionate melon. What and how much can I trim from the bottom?

After a few minor set backs, I decided to have a nice hot bath... with boiling water in a pot on the stove. Decided to take a break from gluing and deal with some other items. Shaped the shoulder straps (so I can finally get the torso together for a proper fitting) Shaped the second bicep hook. After breaking a few pieces of ABS, I finally gave up on the hot water and just held the piece over the open flame of the range. Worked like a charm - yeah natural gas. No need to run out and buy that heat gun. Need to trim one - but I'm going to wait to see how they fit. I may want them sitting up a little higher to let my biceps down a bit. Best of all, I was able to get a slight bend in this cover strip for the right front thigh seam. I guess I will see if it was enough. I think doing the inner strip first and then putting this piece on after - so I can align it the best I can, it my best bet at this point.

Looking good Sean! You're cruising through this!

Now that I've calmed down and assessed the full damage of my stupidity - only one strip on one bicep is the wrong way. I guess that will get turned to the back. Yeah, I started sanding the parts - then just started to forget. Reflection of my age?

Okay, so I got home today and the little one was sleeping and the wife and older kid were just heading out so I thought I could get some work done. went done to the office to take the clamps off my right thigh and noticed an issue. the cover strip is way off to the left (relative to picture). It actually overhands the return edge a bit while you can almost see the flat part of the return edge on the right side. This edge has a bit of a curve in it - and it is already trimmed down to 20mm (or less in parts) so I don't have much to work with. Anyway... off it came. I might have got away with it, but it would have bugged the hell out of me over time. It came off alarmingly easy. I think I will be using more E-6000 and be better about sanding the surfaces. Also, in this process I noticed that the cover strip pieces have a shiny white side, and a not so shiny or white side. Sh!t. Didn't know this. I have a few strips with the "bad" side out. None of the provided emojis express my feelings here. At least the E-6000 is easy to clean up. And on top of this, I managed to break a bicep hook while forming with a hot bath (I need a heat gun) and broke 3 magnets (they attract each other with such force that they will break). So - since I can't do much with the edge of the thigh and keep a nice 20mm cover strip by trimming - I will apply an inner cover strip first - then I can carefully place the outer cover strip on the thigh once the two parts are attached. So back to cleaning up E-6000. Oh wait, the youngest kid just got up - time to go clean up a totally different mess.