CloseTheBlastDoor

Another bit of feedback I received from EIB approval was that the belt buttons were not trimmed back enough. I pulled them off, and it looked like there was still a 0.5mm ridge on the inside. So I sanded those all back. Before: Before and After: Back on the belt: The edges still have that curved look to them, but I really don’t think I can get them sharpened up much without removing a lot more plastic, getting too close to the circle. Hoping that this is good!

Next thing was reducing the circumference of the forearms, as it was noted in my EIB application that they were not as form-fitting as they needed to be for Centurion approval. On the two seams along the length of either forearm, there is a ridge on either side of the top seam, and a ridge only on one side of the bottom seam. So the task was to remove a little bit of plastic from that ridgeless side. As the forearms were some of the first pieces I worked on, I didn’t at the time have an understanding of exactly how strong the cover strips and E-6000 could be. So there was both a front and back one in place. These turned out to be really hard to get off. It took me about three hours of time to get them out. First realization was to not to try and preserve the cover strips. Better to just make new ones. Second realization was to use long nose pliers to grip the E-6000 chunks, and wrap the glue around the pliers to pull them out. Doing this allowed me to get the glue out in long strips, which helped open the joints. Once I had the strips off, I was able to compress the forearms tighter around my arm and re-measure. One of my garrison members had pointed out that my right forearm looked weird, and he was right. It was quite a bit larger in diameter than the left. So some careful marking, scoring, and cutting ensued. I made new cover strips and used the same old way to glue them in place, then trim the ends. As the forearms are now tighter, I found it necessary to trim back some of the return edge at the elbow where the new seam was created, to prevent armor bite. These now fit much more snugly than before, but still allow for my gloves to slide in at the cuffs.

I managed to get the shoulder bridges off the chest plate with minimal struggle. The chest plate got a little scratched up when I went in there, but hoping to take some Novus to it to clean it up. I will use the aforementioned method of making my bridges super strong! Because my shoulder bridges had somewhat undesirable curves to begin with, mainly because the tabs on the chest plate don’t very well line up with the ones on the back plate, I decided instead to form the support the “right” way, then glue the bridges to it instead of the other way around. I still had the ⅛” thick ABS sheet from the TK kit that I used for cover strips. I figured I could use it as a strong base for each shoulder bridge. The trick was to get the ABS cut and then shaped into curves so the bridges could be glued to them without trying to first glue and then bend, which won’t work. Overall, this would mean that the bridge assembly is on the thicker side, but I don’t see anything in the CRL about it needing to be any particular thickness. I had an old 6” curve mold from a previous project, which I again used to shape the ABS. 6” happens to be just about right, give or take. I first tried the water bath method, allowing some water in a glass bread baking dish to get to full boil in the microwave, then immersing the strip in it for several minutes, and quickly pushing it into the mold. This really didn’t work. The strip sprang back quite a bit to maybe a 12” diameter curvature. The glass transition point (Tg) of ABS is 221 degrees Fahrenheit, so that’s just above what boiling water can provide. So, I lined the cookie sheet of my toaster oven with foil, set it to about 225 degrees F, and watched and timed it all very closely. What was good about this is that I started with the partially bent strip from the water bath, which allowed me to figure out the time that it flattened back out, which was around four minutes. As toaster oven thermostats are not known to be accurate, your mileage may vary. I advise you to watch this very carefully. When it flattened out, I waited another 30 seconds or so, then quickly and carefully pulled the strip out and stuck it into the mold. Results were good! I needed to add two feet to the bottom, though I then tested the curvature on my armor to ensure that it was good. Next came the glue. I did find the Plastruct Plastic Weld at a local art store. Upon inspection, there were still several wide gaps, so I glued those down with CA glue first. I then applied the Plastic Weld, and sanded down the edges. The seam was still apparent, so I painted over them with some gloss white Testors.

Wow, that's quite some work! But yeah, I have little faith in my chest plate holding up like that. I did find one Etsy seller who makes flexible shoulder bridges, but they are in Spain! https://www.etsy.com/listing/839569448/strong-flexible-suspenders-straps?ref=user_profile From the reviews, they sound like they're made of some kind of latex rubber. I'm tempted to make my own mold!

Yup, that's my plan. Hoping to get that done in the next few days!

Sounds good, I'll get to work on that! Thank you for the billionth time (and you deserve every one of them)!

Hey all, after only a few troops, I see that one of my shoulder bridges is starting to crack. I've seen this article on reinforcing it: But as they are already attached, any thoughts on repair? Here's what it looks like. One flick, and it will fall off.

Fantastic! Thank you!

Sent! TID 69B10090264148450

Hanson Quan 47826 EIB Letter Tk Spartan/Mario Here you go sir @CloseTheBlastDoor https://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/47826-eib.png

Glenn, you know I'll be pestering you for that! Have a great weekend!

Wow, thanks! You've made my weekend! To be honest, I was quite self conscious about some of the details you pointed out. I lost a lot of weight last year, which could partially explain things. I'll work on getting this stuff right in my build thread. Stay tuned!

Hi Mario, Here are the new photos. I didn't have my studio lighting kit handy this time, so I hope that the light is OK. Thanks again for your guidance and consideration! Hanson

Super! I'll put the blaster back together. What's the next step?

Hi Mario, I've been plugging away at this, and I think I'm nearly there. Here are three of the four areas that I've fixed: The trigger area has been difficult. There are several layers of filler and Bondo now, in this tricky area. The lines are gone, but it's a bit lumpy now. Is that acceptable (please excuse all the areas I masked off to get this done)? The area around the "S" has some terrain there . Also, I smoothed out the lines around the base of the selector switch.

Hi Mario, thanks for the feedback! This might take me a while to resolve, but I'll get to work on it.

No wait!!! ACK, I know what happened! That was an older photo, dated Nov 23rd before I upgraded the meshes. Here is the later photo, dated December 11, 2024: And here is a zoomed-in look at the front of the helmet: Does that look better?

Oh wow! I actually did get those replaced from what was provided in the WTF kit, see these posts: So they need to be even wider? Is there a measurement of the opening somewhere so I can be sure next time? Thanks for the feedback!

Terrific, thank you!

Hola Chemi, is it this one? https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=43737&costumeID=124

I got the photos together and made my submission. I didn't have a large mirror handy or too big of a space to work with, so couldn't check things as well as I would have wanted. My wife assisted, and though she didn't know what to look for, I tried to guide her, and had reference photos up for her to compare. Fingers crossed!

Armor Maker: WTF Helmet Maker: WTF Blaster Maker: Self, 3D printed, TK14082’s design Full Name: Hanson Quan TK ID: 47826 501st profile: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.php?userID=43737&costumeID=124 FISD Forum Name: CloseTheBlastDoor Garrison: Golden Gate Garrison Height/Weight: 5’11.5, 165 lbs Social media consent (photos): Yes Boot Maker: Keep Trooping Canvas Belt Supplier: Imperial Issue Hand guard supplier: Trooper Bay Holster Maker: Darman’s Props Thanks to @gmrhodes13 for his dedicated assistance! Full Body/Front: Full Body/Back: Full Body/Left Side Full Body/Right Side Full Body/Left Side Detail Full Body/Right Side Detail Full Body/Action Shot Armor Details/Abdomen button plates Armor Details/Cod and posterior plate connections showing rivet/snaps Armor Details/Interior strapping Armor Details/Wrist openings Armor Details/Included in photo checklist Helmet Details/Front Helmet Details/Left side Helmet Details/Right side Helmet Details/Rear Helmet Details/Back-lit shot showing lens color Helmet Details/Close-up of Hovi tips Accessories/Neck seal Accessories/TD (Thermal Detonator) front and rear showing screw type Accessories/Holster attachment Accessories/ABS/canvas belt (rear) Accessories/Boots (showing tops and sides) Accessories/Rubber gloves Blaster Details/Left side Blaster Details/Right side Blaster Details/Rear showing D-ring Thank you for your consideration!

yeah, I was confused about needing this, just going strictly by imperial procedure!

Requesting access to post for EIB! TK-47826 https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=43737

Hoping to get all of my photos together in the next week, if not sooner!