Krisko720

I was able to glue my thighs together this morning. And since I have a gigantic roll of Velcro strips, I decided to give it all a test fit. As I stated earlier, I’m still waiting on a new TD plate, a set of shins, and my chest/back pieces. So for now, this is what I have. Not sure when KB is shipping those out, so I’m focusing on getting all of what I have to a finishing point. My gaskets are next to be modified. They’re a bit big and bulge out of the arm and leg joints. The knee plates and shoulder bells are currently just held on with Velcro for the picture. I’ll be working on the proper knee plate supports once the gaskets are sewn up. I do want to put some foam pads in the shin/calf armor. Not being gifted with large legs, I find these are really the only parts that giggle around when I walk. For the most part, everything else is nice and snug and allows for a good range of motion. So here we are. Very motivating to see a near completed version of myself! Sent from my iPhone using The Force

And after a very long Day 6 of quarantine.. I finally got the thighs finished. Can’t say I enjoyed working on these pieces, but I’m happy how they turned out. Just finished giving them a bath. Ready to shape my joint strips and glue them on. I’ll be doing a butt joint on the outer seam and will be using a joint strip on the inner seam to allow for the use of Velcro. I don’t need the Velcro, but it’ll create a better overlapped look. Also got my belt put together. It’s a Belts of the First Order and I’m very happy with the finished product. It looks much better on but I didn’t take any pictures with it yet. I’ll post some once I do my next test fit for the thighs. I basically followed the belt instructions and kept trying it on as I went along. My soldering iron came in handy poking all the holes as I was able to do so with the belt on. Done for now. I’ll be gluing the thighs next and will have another test fit either this evening or tomorrow afternoon. Until then! Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Those are sweet. Digging those helmet designs. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Those are temporary. I made the straps with three caps so I could adjust it. I’m going to shorten it, the outer left caps aren’t being used. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So I saw one of the KB guys post this on IG just now.. not sure where he got this but it’s the close up of the guard I was looking for. Such an interesting character. Too bad they didn’t get more screen time like Snoke’s guards did. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Been working on my thighs. I’ll say it again, this has been the most difficult part of the build thus far. Shaping these things has been a pain in the rear. Especially since the mold KB uses is in now way whatsoever the correct shape. I’m pretty sure I’ve shaved of 50% of the ABS. But, I think I’ve got my right thigh almost done. Still have some minor trimming to do, but it wears well at the moment. Put on some of the suit and walked around in it. The gaskets are next on the list. Need to take them all up a bit to lay inside the armor correctly. And yes, I don’t have my chest/back piece on. Waiting on a new set from KB. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Greetings all! Finally made it back into the States on Sunday from our vacation. Luckily we were able to end our trip on schedule before things got too crazy. We left last Saturday and made it back on Sunday. Spent a couple of days in Iceland, a few in Paris, and a few in London. We didn’t see much in terms of chaos at the airport as that happened on Friday and Saturday, we landed Sunday evening. My company decided to place me under a 14 day paid quarantine that began Monday. So guess what I’m working on? Before we jump in, here’s a nice little shot of a familiar face we saw while walking the streets of Paris, this was at the Disney Store. I really wanted to take him home with me! To start this week’s progress, I decided to tackle the shield from 850 Armor Works. There aren’t any build threads or pictures for this particular shield, so I’m kinda jumping into this blindly. The shield itself is great. It was a nice pull and the ABS is nice and thick. The edges were a little tricky to get uniform but with some patience I got it where I wanted it. The printed pieces that go on the shield were less than perfect. The striations were heavy and the walls were only one layer thick. Being I had to work with what I got, I did some reading and found this stuff to be the preferred product for working with these types of prints. It’s a 2:1 mixture and goes on pretty thin. I applied one layer and discovered that I may need to apply one coat at a time in a level surface as this stuff is kinda runny and won’t really stay in place to self level. Once dry it will provide a level hard shiny surface which you can sand. Here are the pieces before I began. I will post the after pictures in a follow up post once the second layer has dried. The triangle piece they sent is very thick. Wanting to trim it down some, I found I could cut 2/3 of the part to use for the front window trim ring and use the remaining 1/3 for the rear. Once cut I found the honeycomb support structure inside. I will be adding multiple pours of the XTC-3D to solidify each trim piece to give it strength and some workability. I’m still unsure of how to connect these two pieces and the tinted plexiglass to the shield. The shield itself is a bit flexible and I’m afraid of any glue may break its hold. The sling and handle that needs to be added should keep the flex down to a minimum, but I’m still working on ideas for the glass and trim connections. Will look at it more once the filler has dried. Here is the triangle cut in half. Still want to trim the pieces to allow a nice tight fit and allow enough workable surface area in case glue or epoxy is my only option. Also started working on forming the indented area on the TD. It was left off of the cast from KB so I looked at some reference shots and gave it a go. Just need to clean up the lines a bit and add some epoxy filler to the low spots. That’s all for now. I’ll be working on shaping my thighs next. Also sewing up my gaskets a little smaller for a test fit of my arm and leg pieces. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Those thighs are looking good. Definitely the hardest part of this kit. Absolutely no guide lines for trimming whatsoever. I swear I trimmed and sanded for hours on end just trying to get them shaped decently. Keep up the good work. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Just got an update that my blasters are being shipped next week. Pretty excited to get these. Plus I’ll be getting the latest BlastFX kit. Also, as a side note. I have ordered Teresa’s shiny shorts. I was wearing my stormtrooper undersuit and the latex (or whatever it is) is already peeling off. I like the suit just fine. But I obviously need the shiny material for approval. Would I buy the suit over again? Probably not considering you can’t really see it and the shiny part comes off. But it is comfy and the shirt and pants stay together since it’s a suit. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Started shaping the thighs. Got it pretty close to where I want it for the moment. These upper leg pieces have been the most tedious. The fronts have somewhat of an acceptable shape. The rear pieces, however, are an odd sculpt. They also have no suggested points of alignment like all of the other pieces. You really do have to cut away a lot of material in order to get the correct shape. I’m going to leave them for now and circle back around to them once I get suited up for a full test fit. Just have to shape the overlapped parts on the sides now. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Always there with the closeups! Those are great. I’m not too sure which way I like. I suppose screen shot gets the win right now. I will leave some length on the strap for the upper clip in case I have to move the assembly under my thighs too. My legs don’t necessarily fill up the thigh and calf armor pieces. Gonna have to add something in both to keep it all from flopping around. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Before I get too far ahead, is there a clear position the front and side thigh straps need to be in? Is it directly in the front and directly on the side? Also, where should I position the buckle for each? Is it exposed midway between the thigh and torso? Sent from my iPhone using The Force

I’m close to your size at 5’ 10” and 185lbs. I ordered a complete suit from stormtrooper undersuit.com in a Large and it fits great. A little snug on me but should fit you just fine. The total shipped to Colorado was $88.19 The shiny shorts are built into the suit. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Stopped by Home Depot for some more supplies while I was out. Picked up some snap kits and some other items. Wanted to go ahead and get my thigh straps rigged up now that I have my harness from Teresa. Decided to add snaps to attach a removable strap from the thighs to the stationary lower harness clips. The upper clip that is attached to the harness is adjustable. Used 1” black nylon strapping and used the soldering iron to burn holes through the material. Hammered in the snaps and now just have to attach the cap/strap pieces to the thighs. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

We don’t have a location in Colorado. But I found that they do custom cut-to-size in the tinted pieces. It was $10 for three pieces. For the price I went ahead and ordered extra in case I screw the first one up or need replacements in the future. Thanks for the tip! That website is a great resource to have. Nice selection of stuff. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

I got my other thigh roughly trimmed out. I took the cut from the other leg and just transferred the outline. Couldn’t resist throwing one of the legs together now that I have most everything close to being completed. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Here’s a better reference. I flipped the picture and pulled it up on my iPad for scale. The picture is kinda fuzzy but I think I’m close. Maybe deepen the dip a little bit. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

So, the epoxy putty is working out really well. It’s a surprisingly strong material and super easy to shape. My problem is how to shape this area. I’ve shaped is with the shallow sweep I see on screen. Trying to find a clean up close shot of the TLJ forearm. I want to play with the shape more, but I’d like to wait until I can get the right reference picture. Here is the screen grab JAFO posted earlier in the thread. And here is what I have so far. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Yes it is. These are above and beyond what the abs ones looks like. I also have the resin belt boxes, clip greeblies, and the holster. I really like them all. So much better than the abs ones that came with the kit. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

The putty has dried. And I decided to put on my undersuit, neck seal, and harness to see how it all fit. Then threw on the biceps, forearms, and gloves just for the heck of it. Need to take in the elbow gaskets, but for the most part it fits pretty well. The mod adding to the shape of the forearm is definitely limiting. But I guess I’ll have to learn how to rotate the forearms before bending my arm. Taking in the gaskets May help a little. And it just feels good to finally suit up at least a little bit for the first time! Sent from my iPhone using The Force

I’m gonna ditch gluing an outer abs piece. Decided to try the PlasticWeld and see if it stands up to the task of being used as a sturdy filler material. This stuff is supposed to be strong and take free form shapes once it fully cures. I like this stuff because it’s basically play-doh. It’s a bit sticky when you attempt to mold it. You do have some time to work with it and it’s gets a little less sticky as it has a listed set time of 25 minutes and a cure time of 3 hours. We will see what happens later this evening. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Next up on today’s progress, I decided to tackle some work on my 850 Armor Works shield. There wasn’t a defined end to the return edge, but there is a curved edge where the abs bent out towards the table during the abs pull. It wasn’t a consistent measurement around the entirety of the piece so I just cut there first and then started to work my way around the edges until there was a consistent depth. Ended up being about a 1/4” deep once it was all smoothed out. My next step was to cut out the recessed triangle area. As I did on the outside, I trimmed around the edges until the return edge end was flat. I will be adding some lexan in the cut out area. Anyone known is the glass is clear or tinted? Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Been out of town doing a little traveling and skiing the last few weekends here in Colorado, so I haven’t gotten as much done as I would’ve liked. But I had a full day to work on some things today so I decided to start knocking some things off the list. I’ve got a desk in the garage where I work on things. I bring out my iPad and speaker for entertainment. (Currently rewatching the Mandalorian, again.) I got this little table at Costco so I can expand my work area while the GF is at work. I like having my Hot Toys trooper for inspiration and reference. Really helps keep the motivation going when you can see a complete set of armor on front of you. Here are a few updates: Started on my thighs. I’ve really struggled with how to deal with the rear pieces. They come in big cylinder shapes with a VERY slight tapering curvature. The rest, I assume, is made this way to fit larger legs. I fall into the appropriate stormtrooper type figure. 5’10” and 185 with nothing close to having ‘big legs’. My approach was to start big and work down to the proper fit. So far I have the Left leg trimmed. Doing the Right one next. I used my magnets to secure the pieces into a decent shape and fit for my thighs. After that I just trimmed the rear area near the butt plate close enough to a reference photo. This allows you to slide the thighs up into the proper position. Once I get them trimmed up a bit more, I’ll attach the straps from my harness so I can have them on to allow for further adjustments and trimming. Next up, I finally got around to trimming up the contoured parts of the ab boxes. This was pretty time consuming and not easy. But was quite rewarding once you finally got the right fit. The current part I’m working on is modifying the forearms. I decided to go ahead and make them look more accurate to the TLJ/TROS armor instead of with the supplied Finn variant. I’m doing a support piece first to give the area as much strength as possible. Figured I would need it considering that exact area is the part that gets pressure applied to it when I bend my arm. As a side note, I saw this at the local Hobby Lobby (our big box hobby store). It’s a clear all-weather E6000. Might be handy for certain applications. That’s all for now. Gonna head back into the garage and get some more done. Trying to be done by May 2nd. They’re doing a big Star Wars themed pub crawl here in Denver. Would be cool to give the armor a trial run. If not, I always have my Obi-Wan Kenobi costume and my Savi’s Workshop lightsaber! Sent from my iPhone using The Force

So true! Each piece of my complete armor setup has come from a different country. It’s pretty crazy. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Haven’t gotten too much in terms of work done on the armor as of late.. besides filling the seams on the biceps, and ab/back pieces. That JB Weld PlasticWeld stuff is pretty darn sweet. You squish it together to mix the two parts and it’s basically a play-doh type material. I rolled it into thin pieces and pushed it into the seams. Cure time is 3 hours but I waited a day or two and then sanded it down. It sands just like bondo does. In the realm of parts and pieces, I did happen to receive what I believe to be the last set of uncut rubber gaskets this side of the Outer Rim. All thanks to a man that honors the fact I called dibs on them when he was thinking of letting them go! Now Centurion is definitely within reach! And last but not least, Mrs. Teresa (who has been a complete delight to work with) is sending out my harness, seal, and fabric gasket sets. Sent from my iPhone using The Force