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GilFran007

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Posts posted by GilFran007

  1.  
    When you say “fail”, do you mean come loose/off of the armor? If so, how would misaligned snaps cause that if they are still flat with the strap thereby allowing the E6000 to adhere the strap to the equally flat surface of the armor?
     
    If the snaps still lock as well, would the female base not be hidden from view, so that one could no longer tell whether the two female pieces are aligned or not (i.e. since only one piece of the female snap is able to be seen by looking at the surface of the strap because the other, or the base, is glued to the armor on the underside of the strap)?
     
    I think I might be misunderstanding something. If it would help, the following image is an example of one of my straps that feature a misaligned female snap assembly: 
     
    447GYIs.jpg
    Those don't look bad at all and if the male counterpart holds firmly in there, you should be okay.

    You are correct, if it's out of sight, it's out of mind and the functionality is still there. The guy at Tandy leather told me misaligned snaps will still hold for the purposes that we are using them for.

    If you want to avoid misalignments, use a softer mallet and take more time pounding the posts down.

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

  2. Hey Gil, 
     
    Correct me if I am misunderstanding something here, but why does it matter if the female snaps are misaligned if the base of said snaps and nylon are getting glued to the armor? Wouldn't the misalignment then be hidden from view? Or is there an underlying structural issue with this? I read that you mentioned it was still "functional", but I am concerned that, on a very limited budget, I might end up needing to buy more snaps if the misalignment (which I did not think was that serious) turns out to be a bigger problem than I initially thought. Thank you in advance for your help. 
     
    ~Eric 
    In my experience, misaligned snaps generally happen when the material you are using is too thin for the post to deform on to it's mating half.... It deforms to it's optimum limit, where it is straight, has no where else to go so it starts to skew with every blow.... Unless you are really careful.

    Machines help you keep the arrangement straight for sure, but you can do the same manually with allot of care and patience.

    A slight misalignment in the mating parts, either male or female, will still work. If you want it dead straight, put more material in between for it to pinch in on our use a machine. If the snaps misalign to the extent of say half it's radius, I would say that it would need to be rejected.... If you are OCD like me ;)

    If you are using e6000 glue, you can always put the snap straps in that are a little skewed.... If they fail, it's easy to replace...... As long as the troop you are on is not of the utmost importance ;)

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

  3. Hi there and grats on your first kit! Take your time and you'll see, everything will end up so great! Just ask any question you might have along the way - we are always happy to help!
    Taking your time, research, and having fun with it is part of the journey. Don't rush it..... Like I did. I worked on mine every night after work.... At a good pace. I produced something I'm proud of but am a little sad that the journey is over.... For now ;)

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

    • Like 1
  4. The bucket looks fantastic! One thing that I noticed on my RS helmet is that the right side tube on the face is somewhat collapsed when you mate it with the cape.... Hence the ear gap. Mine has a very uncomfortable ear gap, perhaps too large, but I like it and it's not too far off from the real deal. Have a close look at the screen bucket, that ear gap is quite substantial.

    And some smaller things I've noticed and echoed, which would be up for debate, is that the left ear is a tad thicker and set lower on the bucket. I just ran with those observations..... Swat designation be damned! Lol....

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

    • Like 1
  5. Removing paint with non acetone nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol is good for small areas.... If you need to remove entire traps or all the tears, I've used easy off and it worked like a charm. Spray it outdoors and don't breathe it in ;)

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

  6. Hi fellow troopers. Im a noobie looking forward to have my armour build with TM. I understand TM kits doesnt come with the blaster and such. So if i were to get TM kits, where is the best place for me to get the blasters and such to suit my TM armour? 
     
    cheers.
    There are many options for vendors and also for types of blasters. I got my bfg t-21 from tk421 propstop on Etsy... There's a whole section on the forum just for blasters. Surf around and see what you like.

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

  7. Great progress on the body Greg...I like to check back into this thread as I'm interested in your bucket build ;)  I thought about your ABS paste approach for mimicking the paint drips but am leaning towards a different route....I did a test myself and will probably use e-6000 painted over with white enamel to make it look like a sloppy rattle-can paintjob.  Once I blend the weathering in on top of that it should look like the movie helmet.  The irregularities in the RS molds will lend itself nicely to this technique me thinks.....and if it doesn't work, i'll just peal it off....LOL

  8. I played around with my bucket last night and see how the brow gap forms.  I have my helmet trimmed down so that the mask sits right up to the brow naturally.

     

    Do you have excess plastic on the sides and top of the faceplate that is not allowing you to push the face right to the front of the dome?  These RS kits come off the molds in pretty rough shape compared to some of the pristine fan molds (AP).  There's lots of doctoring to be done to get the pieces to sit nicely together.

  9. It seems you and I are pretty much at the same place with our RS helmet builds.  Do not underestimate the power of magnets and tape at this stage.  This will allow you to manipulate the spacing of all the components and see the finished product before it is tacked down.

     

    I must of shimmied and adjusted the face and cap a dozen times at this point.....and gone through lots of masking tape.  I'm almost to the point of drilling the holes......but everything has to sit perfectly first ;)

  10. Much respect to those that have trimmed and assembled an RS bucket.....definitely not an easy assembly, at least for me.

     

    The construction is slow but sure.....lots of trimming to make things fit.  Also lots of respect to the armour makers that make sure their pieces fit together (Mark at AP, you spoiled me!!!....LOL).

     

    The gaps between the mask and the cape are driving me bananas...but I think the screws will close these once I get them installed.....just gotta make sure the ears fit over them nicely and I still have the nice high brow.

     

    iXdq3Fc.jpg

     

    AE7GMIe.jpg

     

    LP84Vau.jpg

     

    I wish the the areas that mate under the ears were flat......too much to ask for a 70's design???

     

     

  11. here's my entry for your questions:

     

    1.  The ammo belt choices look like they are accommodating for larger screw heads where the covers won't be able to stay flush on the plate....hence the recesses.....could be wrong.  I used larger Chicago screws on my ammo belt and therefore had to put extensions on my covers so that they sit flush.  Those recesses would've helped a brother out.

    2.  I recall when TD shoulder straps just asked for the smooth variety.  Perhaps they thought this would have been used for a TD build?  Now they are more specific with ensuring the shoulder bridges are elastic.....trooperbay's canvas ones aren't spec (anyone want to buy canvas shoulder straps? :P)

    3.  Look at the Sandy behind the famous picture of the captain strolling with his BFG on his shoulder.....I believe he also has an orange pauldron if memory serves.  He's got the cheese grater hand plates

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