FN1313

That’s a great idea. So simple and yet can’t believe I didn’t think about that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In that case I’d recommend adding some more surface area to the plastic for the snap. So there’s more that can touch and glue. That does make me realize a bit why some use nylon webbing rather than the plastic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like you used the female end of the snap which has the rounded backs to it for that. I’d have recommended using the male ends that have the flat end of the back. Being as they are more flat on the back it’s a little easier to have them sit more flush with the armor if that’s the way you choose to go. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hello and welcome. Dave does make fantastic kits. I’m currently building mine right now for sure start to build thread so we can help you up. Give you some pointers and answer questions as you go through it there’s a lot of us building these kids right now too so there’s a lot of us who can be able to jump in and share and help out. As well allies a lot of us have built threads you can follow too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is true. If I was looking as a gml I wouldn’t see the slight ridge where a seam was as a problem personally. So long as it looked filled and smooth. But yeah that would be to each GML to decide. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So happy to see you working on adjusting the forearms. I’ve always worried about the DN kit because of some of the incorrect design elements. It’s good to see troopers working to take note of those and adjust in the build. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve been using 3m scotchbrite to rough up the areas and hope it keeps doing as well as it has. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I will update the forearm thread with process, but I’ve finished the forearm cover strips and they are ready to go for strapping. And yeah, now you can see the fun I get to deal with when getting the shin’s sized up. my calves are just not the easiest to make armor around. Though these have enough space to work with thankfully.

Yeah I’m measuring where things line up as top of kidney meets top of abdomen, from there that will tell me where butt plate should sit. But yeah, that’s also where that square cut you see in images comes into play. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From what I’ve heard some of the areas where there’s more bend it’s best to let it cure 72 hours before working with stretching and bending. I’m working on my shins but I will likely do the back cover strips 72 hours after the front ones and then the sniper knee after that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That link only takes me to a costume group page. So it’s hard to know which post to be aware of.

I’ve used them for every kit but my scout which I made from scratch. But yeah hopefully they have a size Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Having some gap is fine. In fact it’s actually pretty beneficial. The airflow that comes from it helps prevent fogging up lenses and makes the helmet less stuffy. So long as the appearance doesn’t allow others to see through to your face, you should be fine. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Have you tried KeepTrooping formerly imperial boots? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

From my understanding with shins, the front should be 10mm from return edge on each side, so you’d essentially be measuring how it fits from the back side remnants as is for the best look. I trimmed and glued the fronts at that 10mm per side 20mm cover strip and haven’t sized them up on my calves yet either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What things do you think you did backwards? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nonsense I see a few places you could squeeze them in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think overall you will be fine once they are back together considering you didn’t really trim much at all. It’s also possible you may need to trim them more like I did depending on how long or in my case not long your thighs are. And yeah that’s why I’ve been using e6000 too, because if you used CA glue it would be a nightmare. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s a blessing and a curse. I can’t watch the movies or shows without scrutinizing costumes anymore, but it does help with reviewing costume submissions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I’ll definitely defer to a member more familiar with the armor as I’m still building it myself, but the way you have your thighs glued together it looks like you’ve glued both the insides together and both the outsides together. References: Yours: Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Update on my thighs now that the glue has cured in the inner front strip i resized and cut the back seam for the rear cover strips. I was able to bring the area close to the knee in a little more and the upper portion out to the edge to make a little more triangle shape. Admittedly this is as triangular as I’ll get because my thighs are obnoxiously barrel shape. But I think it fits and looks much better. You can especially see the difference near the knees, it’s pretty uniform with my leg shape and less kingdom hearts shorts. I will document my process more in the thigh section. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Though comparing to the other photos this might work. Seems there’s no set distance just so long as it curves back enough. I will see how things are again and if need be trim another .5 cm off. I just needed to get this amount done so I could better see how things fit with my thighs after the inner cover strips have dried up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I trimmed to the 4.5cm mark and felt it and it was still not the best so I may trim it back just a little bit more and that should solidify it's position.

ABDOMEN While waiting on other parts to cure glue I figured to start some of the trimming of other components especially the cod piece area of the armor being as I can’t really fit it on comfortably with a long tab stabbing between my legs Looking at Ukswrath’s AM 1.0 tutorial and the AM 5.0 armor I have I think the extended tab is longer than it was before. His tutorial indicated removing 2.5 cm of material. From my look it seems I should be removing 4.5 cm at least. Likely even up to 5cm Personally I feel I should do another half centimeter and then round out the edges (you can see somewhat where I have smudged pencil is where I was thinking. Though looking at his images it seems 4.5 would be best. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I marked 2cm from the bottom edge of the cod piece for the rivet hole. I will install a brass split rivet here. With a male snap on the inside when I get the snaps in. I did have one snap from my first costume and decided to work on the Han snap on the upper right corner of the abdomen Marking 20mm from the return edge and kidney edge and then x marks the spot. Using a 5/32 drill bit I drilled a hole and then used a 3/8 inch drill bit to countersink BY HAND the outside so the flat end sits flush My Han snap location was a little too far in as you’ll see later in this thread. I ended up putting a back of abs over the hole with glue and then filled with abs paste. It took two coverages and sanding sessions, but wasn’t too bad to do. I also used novus 3-2-1 to polish the area afterward. I then measured the areas for the button panels so I could start getting them attached to the armor. The plastic here was thick, so I drilled holes at the edges of the cut points to help me better cut them apart. I then scored and snapped the top and bottom, After verifying again the size of the cuts I removed the sides. I followed this process for the larger button panel I then added some strips of abs behind the large panel and another small piece in the opening area to give a little extra glue area and strength I verified the extra plastic wasn’t preventing it from sitting flush with the sides. I sanded the glue areas of each piece and then place on the abdomen. I used some blue tape to help hold position and then doubled up magnets to apply pressure. I also verified the Han snap location is better and will tomorrow set it in place. Finally I earlier added the male Tandy line 20 snaps for the belt (I will detail this more in the belt section) And now that I got my Tandy line 24 snaps in I will start working on the rivet on the bottom tomorrow. I clamped the Han snap in place and also got the split rivet with functional snap installed. And here’s the front of the abdomen with the glued panels I installed the left side snaps for the rigging with a nylon strap and 2 groups of 2 male Tandy line 24 snaps. Using clamps, magnets and wax paper I’m holding them down to glue. The wax paper is to prevent glue from sticking to the clamps/magnets Here’s examples of the finished internal snaps for the abdomen to kidney More details in the strapping/rigging section With that done though I was able to proceed onto the button paint (probably could have done this before glueing the plates to the abdomen, but oh well. First thing was I needed a tool to help me be able to make the blue tape cover for the snaps for when I painted. I found a nut and bolt sizing tool at Lowe’s for $5 that I hoped worked and sure enough the M10 size was fairly spot on. From here I marked up tape on a spare piece of abs plastic and then used precision blade to cut around the outside of the circle I marked. Then i laid out each of these over the buttons to paint. I then referenced this guide to know which buttons to paint which grey or blue color I decided to paint by hand and not use airgun because cold weather and air guns don’t work, plus it’s such a small surface area. Looking online for instructions on Testors enamel paints I wanted to know how long to wait between coats (I planned 3 coats) and how long to let the paint sit before I removed the masking tape. The rules I found were 5 minutes between coats, final coat should be a heavier coat for better gloss appearance, and 2 hours delay before removing masking tape. Following that process I did the first and second coats with a lighter coating. And the third heavier coat After 2 hours I removed the masking tape carefully, being sure to slowly pull out and away from the paint and not touch it. Here’s another photo with natural lighting From here I need to let the paint cure for 48 to 72 hours as enamel paint will harden over that time, but until then it’s still likely to cause paint damage more than after. Abdomen is now complete and ready for rigging up further.