saltyr1

I have marked out the split rivet location while I wait for the white paint to dry on them. For some reason putting holes in the armor is a little unnerving. The split rivets were pretty detailed in their location. But the Han's snap is a little more vague. Here is where I have chosen, let me know if any concerns.

After looking at tons of pictures I think I should trim the sides by removing material from the kidney plate. Since I think I need to lose like 1/2 inch from both sides, this would actually bring the posterior plate flush with the kidney (and would not pursue cutting out the notch). Here are the pics before and after overlapping the sides. Before: After: Does anyone think this is a bad idea before I make this move? Or other suggestions?

Thank you both. I still think I need to trim the side about a 1/2 inch to get the better fit as in the re-taped above. If so, am I better off taking it from the ab plate to allow the notch? Or am I better off taking from the back and forgetting the notch? Or even a little of both?

Thanks and it's good to be back! I also need to go back and 'ground' myself on next steps. As far as the alignment on the ATA kidney and posterior, the posterior is about 1/2 in shorter on the sides than the kidney.

Hello everyone! Unfortunately I needed to step away from the project for a bit due to some other commitments. But I am ready to get this awesome build completed! So I was able to overlap the sides and I think it a big difference. Please let me know your thoughts. Question - Would you trim the front ab panel or the back piece? I would assume the front as not to mess up the butt to kidney alignment. As always, your input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the feedback! I was trying to overlap the sides as you mentioned and I have room to do that. I will need to wait until someone else is home to try to tape it up again. In the meantime I've noticed two things with the ab piece. First - On the sides I followed the ATA lines. I noticed they kick out the lower cod piece quite a bit. I think this maybe contributing to it. Any thoughts on if I should trim these to even it out more? Secondly - I noticed that the amount of material on the sides is different. The right side has about 1/2 inch more material than the left, which I feel makes it slightly off center. Is it supposed to be like that (I know its all wonky)? Or should I trim down the right to match?

So finally got to putting it together (with tape), and so far I'm not finding any major concerns. Any thoughts or concerns? Thanks as always.

And finally the rear. I'm working on the shoulder bells and bridges now. I will get some pics taken of it taped up on me to see how things sit. So more to come.

Kidney plate. Top view. Bottom view.

Back piece. Again, left more on the bottom, sides are minimal.

Chest plate trimmed. I did leave a fair amount on the bottom, as with the top of the ab part.

Here is the ab part trimmed. Let me know if anything needs modified.

Hello everyone! I took a few weeks off from the build and worked on some other spring projects. But I have been working on the torso and I think I've made good progress. So here is what I have completed over the last month or so. The ab buttons cut and painted. I tried the TrooperBay stencils, but they just didn't work with these buttons. I ended up using the stencils to trace out the circle and just hand painted them. Here they are glued on.

Hello everyone! I have been working on trimming the torso pieces. As I think others have mentioned with the ATA kit, I'm kind of stuck with the return edges (or less) that are pre-defined. Not a big deal, but... Here is an example of the back part: And the cod piece: The butt and kidney plate are interesting as I have to trim with very little return edge or they 'bubble' out and don't sit flush: Butt piece: Kidney plate: So I'm assuming I will be cutting where the red line is. Now the top of the kidney plate is not bubbled out. Should I cut it the same as the bottom? Or is there benefit in leaving more there?

Or why wait? I spent a good part of the day trimming the ears again. I think they both look a lot better. For the left side (looking at) I really trimmed it done. For the right side, I moved it up as far as I could and trimmed it down. I'm really glad I didn't have to break out the second set of ears.

Thanks for the feedback. The ears have been bothering me as I felt they could be skinnier. So I will work on that along with the rest of the build.

Thanks for the suggestions. For the neck, should I be cutting on the red line? Which would leave a slight return edge?

Chest plate! I have marked off where I plan to cut back to. I'm pretty sure this is good, but I would like the experts opinion before I start trimming and sanding. Any thoughts before I proceed?

I bought the screen accurate gloves and flexible hand guards from TrooperBay. I glued the hand guards onto the gloves. I also have a pair of nomex gloves that will go with the ATA hand guards. That obviously still to be done. I also sorted and labelled all the legs and arm parts. Thanks MV for the great references! Your post really helped me sort out the left vs the rights! (wife may not be happy that I've taken over the dining room table again)

I think I may have finished the helmet! (unless someone sees something I need to correct). Here are some pics below. I tried some padding off of Amazon, but none of it worked well. So I ended up making my own which did work. And of course on my head. Next step I think will be to start on the torso. One of the parts I still need to order is the belt. So getting that squared away would allow me to get an accurate measurement for that order. Again, thanks for everyone's input! It is always appreciated!

Thanks for the feedback! That was actually another thing I completed since my last post. I realized I didn't counter sink that side until I test fit the screws (also took the pic).

More progress! I finished up the TD and I'm happy with the results. Then back to the helmet. I originally had no intention of painting the inside of the helmet black. But it really grew on me seeing pics of others done this way. So I decided to do it. And again, happy with the results. I used the garbage bag method and lots of tape around the eyes and teeth. I used a white primer first, followed by black truck bed coating. Then let it set for 4 days. I used Gorilla double sided tape for the frown mesh I bought from TrooperBay. Before putting it back together, I took the opportunity to add the tube stipe decals. I feel like the helmet is almost there! So next step is to paint the ears...

I did get the other ear trimmed and fitted. Any thoughts or suggestions?

As you can see I have the TD mocked up below. The overall measurement came out pretty good with the total width being 191mm, with the end caps each 20mm and the panel is 122mm wide. I did cut down the front of the bracket a bit, which helped. But the round button is pretty much facing straight up. I do wish I could get tilted back a little more. I could cut the bracket just under the screw hole and drill a new one. But any thoughts? Do you think its acceptable as it is? Also, I have a can of Krylon Classic Grey gloss I was hoping to use for the TD. Here it is compared to Hubrol #5 and Testors 1138. Would this be acceptable? Thanks! Chris

I uploaded my remixed Blaster stand arms to Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4760956/files). This allows the stand to be printed at a normal size, but these arms will fit the Sterling SMG kit. The part that goes in the base is the same size. However, since the arms are wider, you need to trim some of the top cover to allow the 'fins' on the arms to sit properly. Hope this helps other troopers.