LoudDragon

"I've got no strings tape To hold me down To make me fret Or make me frown I had strings tape But now I'm free There are no strings tape on me" SO, these are the Issues I've noticed... 1: the shoulder bell snaps keep coming off, (I accidently matched two snaps that aren't the same for each other) and they need to be pulled in a little bit. 2: I think I need to tighten the strap length between the cod and butt plate. 3: I KNOW I have trimmed the abdomen and kidney plates to short, also because of how it was cut, and sits, it begins to widen, down toward the lower half at the seam. I also drilled 3 holes on EACH side of the kidney and abdomen plate. so yay, another mistake. 4: the shins keep rotating around my legs, I still have work to do on the shins with strapping, but I'm going to be doing that a little later. 5: the chest plate does feel like it needs to sit closer to my upper chest, as when I try to look down with my helmet... I can't. I do expect limited mobility and vision. so lastly, I have started some work on my thermal detonator, will be hand painting all my decals, (also removing the stickers I had used) and using 100% white silicone to finish up the shims. --for the Helmet-- I couldn't find Mediterranean or French blue, (maybe I could be Mr. no stripes?) and the black paint I got was semi gloss black. I had replaced the head suspension from the hard hat with foam, and fitted a strap for the inside, which I'm surprised how well it holds to my head when I look up and down. OOOOOOh it's O so close now. I'm not insanely worried about the smaller details such as the thermal detonator, shoulder covers, sniper knee, ammo packs and blaster, as if it doesn't look good without those parts, it sure won't look good with them. (this is my own critique to myself)

So gluing process is coming along a lot slower than I wanted but I have made some good progress. I had started out gluing like I have seen many other people here do, start with one side and cover strip, then glue the adjoining side. unfortunately, most times the clamps would end up slipping in some way, or wouldn't be able to hold the pieces right for them to properly bond. I had started redoing some of the pieces, just trying to reposition on one end or the other, then just taking them off and starting all over again. I had bought the wrong magnets so they didn't do anything for me. I tried to compensate for that by using scotch tape where the clamps couldn't reach but it only did so much. though I finally put together a solution thats affordable for me... This here is a custom wood jig I had cut and sanded to fit the left thigh. this here is in the midsection, an area where I had the worst problem with a gap between the main piece and strip, thus not ensuring the best bond. since the wood I had was wider that the strips width, I used some scrap strips I had made earlier to properly fit the pieces, and had tapped the two thigh pieces together so they would be set properly when applying the jig. I know this may not be practical for some people (I'm still sneezing from all the sawdust) but if you have the means this may be a better option than using magnets, and only requires about four clamps to properly set. If I did this for the rest of the pieces though, I would have to make about 11 custom jigs, while using just straight wood pieces for the back of the thighs, and the biceps.

ok, so I didn't get to start gluing yet, I decided to fit everything one last time to make sure it looks good, here is the results. (please let me know if you can see the pictures, I put them under hidden on imgur. didn't want to hear people comments there.) I had added a hard hat harness for the helmet so it sits on my head better. I didn't use foam so it doesn't get hot, though I don't know if foam would make you hot. I also have the kidney pieces.

ok, I've finally figured it out, so for now I am done with the thighs, I did my best to match them in circumference on each end and have trimmed them down so no going back now. I'm just about ready to start gluing the cover strips, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow. I have some nitrile disposable gloves to use for the glue and a respirator, I'm going to see about picking up an apron. I hope to only take about 2 days for gluing in total, not including the drying and curing time. I have started doing more work on the smaller pieces such as the thermal detonator, sniper knee and ammo packs. While trimming up the front and back kidney plates, I had taken off a little too much, so I intend to use the cut offs to fill the gap between the two. as for the strapping I do have an idea of how to assemble it... 1:The kidney I'm using a belt for the kidney section underneath. the belt I have is double notched through the entire strip making it perfect to attach the thigh straps as well. I'll add elastics with snaps on the end at the sides for the front to connect. 2:The torso I'll make my own suspenders to connect to the belt to hold the shoulder bells, and torso plates in place. 3:The limbs the thighs still sit a little large on me so I'll be adding foam padding to them. just an update for my progress, I don't have any questions... yet. I know there are lots of videos going over the gluing process, so I'll be looking through those.

Ok so I have talked with my supplier and he has pointed out that the return edges on the bottom of the thigh should be 2 1/4" so I have measured those off, but I don't know how large the upper circumference should be, without which I can't make a proper cut. does anyone have measurements for this? for reference my thigh measurement is 20" widest to the joint

so I trimmed up my left thigh by 1 inch from the top and it feels like it fits much better, I can now bend my knee to a 90 degree without pain. I'm also going to trim up my shins a little at the bottom so they fit on my boots better. looking at the thigh pieces they are really large on me. I'm going to shorten them down so they don't look so huge on me. *Edit so I have tried fitting the thighs shorter in circumference, and got the about the same size each, but the shape at the bottom doesn't look right I haven't cut anything yet but I don't know what to do here, they need to be smaller though thats for sure.

so I refitted my armor again, and I trimmed up the right thigh due to it being to large on one half. now its smaller then the left thigh. (theres only an inch difference between the two thighs at the lowest point) also wearing sweats this time which fit much better for the armor, though a little baggy. (wrong boots and blaster) so of course nothing is actually strapped together yet, but again I'm still running into the same problem earlier, I can't get the shins on/off properly without undoing the tape. the Right shin circumference at the end is 13.5". the left one is 13" and is the worst of them. Thanks Glen for the links I'll be checking those out.

I've finished cutting all the excess from the main armor parts, and... almost none of the arm or legs parts fully line up with each other, the two halves for fore arms, biceps, thighs and calves for the most part don't line up. is this just everyone's experience? I attempted to fix this on the right thigh using a hot air gun, but it didn't do anything. (was really just too worried I would melt it) I would take it you put the parts in place when gluing, hence the need for clamps and magnets. this morning I had just mask taped my suit together to see how well it would work. I think the only problem I had with getting it on was the right shin, I couldn't get it on without ripping the tape. maybe wasn't the best idea to wear jeans and a jacket underneath. Right off the bat... (PLEASE keep in mind this is just me pointing out whats Obviously wrong, so I can keep an eye out for it later) // shoulders should be closer to chest plate // chest plate, abdomen and thighs should be higher // shins should sit a little lower A little stout for a stormtrooper. (this is before completely finishing trimming) two other questions I have. can you use white sealing caulk for the helmet/armor? (particularly on the mouth due to trimming too much, and the ears since they do look sloppy and I don't dare cut anymore) does anyone sell left ears? I just want a left ear.

I had just finished on the helmet today, at least everything but the paint, and I am somewhat ok with how it turned out. I do feel I trimmed the left ear down way too much, and the mouth holes on the ends are too large, but I think it should be fine. // -- My helmet -- \\ https://imgur.com/a/Eand2Z6 when I attached the ears, I was worried about the screws putting stress on them, so I placed extra bits on the screws underneath the ears, just big enough for the ears to be flush with the helmet (at least to an extent) anyone else do this? notably, I would like to get the mouth looking a little cleaner, especially from my sanding, it looks sloppy. The Hovi mic tips were actually the first thing I put on the helmet, before I even joined the front and back. I started by trying to score with my knife a guide for my drill, (so it doesn't slip) but I ended up going through the plastic. I didn't even push that hard until it sliced about a half inch. anyway just an update on my build, hope I still have strength to finish the actual armor.

I've begun trimming on my bicep parts, and I haven't been able to find a lot of reference photos for them, I haven't looked for very long, but if anyone has a detailed trimming guide please let me know. I have checked out Ukswrath's ANOVOS TK build (stunt) reference. my main problem is that the biceps include ridges, should I take these off? I would assume so since there are strips glued across the seams. I have started sanding, and I just realized, should I be worried about plastic particulates? specifically inhaling them. also, the clippers I have do a good enough job getting the larger areas, but horrible in corners. so I have been using a knife to score the plastic, fold and remove the excess. would a box cutter be better due to a shorter blade giving you more control?

A New Hope Stunt Stormtrooper build MY size: height: 5'7" weight: 135 while I'm not good at detailing everything I've done here, I still think this will be very god for anyone else looking for reference material, or other tutorials for someone my size. for the most part the only adjustments made to the actual armor so it fits properly is the thighs and abdomen pieces. tools used: Tin snips Pliers Exacto knife Drawing Compass Dremel Head Lamp Belt sander 220 and 320 sand paper beginning of thread: Just a preliminary check, I have put together almost all the tools I need, but I'm not quite sure about some. These are the cutters I have at the moment, a long time ago I used them for sheet metal. Would these possibly be too "powerful" of cutters? I have also put togeather Clamps, a filing set, safety glasses/gloves and finally E6000 glue. I also have some standard work tools such as screw drivers, hammer, pliers, rulers, sand paper, and a drill bit set I am still looking for a Respirator and rivet tools, becuase... What type of respirator am I looking for? What rivet tools do I need? I have checked out the tools and parts thread, these are the items I'm not sure about because there are different types I may be looking for. (I don't know if there's different size rivet tools, and I don't know what type respirator to get) Lastly, I want to ask what build tutorial would be best to follow. My armor is coming from AuthenticProps (thanks again Mark) and I have been watching RSprop masters build videos.

Just a few questions to end this off, how many people here have purchased from AuthenticProps for armor kits, your experience with them, or know his contact information?

Thank you for all your input! I'll definitely keep all this in mind, but for now I will be focusing on getting my armor first, and by the time I finish I should be able to get everything else in order.

So I have picked up some boots, and they look very similar to this here- I have picked up some spray paint and primer to properly color it white and black, but how important is it that there is a zipper on the side? I do hope that the calf armor will cover at least the top part of the zipper, but I know how star wars doesn't have zippers, buttons, belts or much of what we conventionally use. as for under garments, the ones I have picked up, (just from Walmart) is a little baggy for me, should I go a size smaller? try to adjust it myself? If there is also a list of armor standards I would very much like to go over it.

Hi I'm James, and this will be the first time ever trying to put together stormtrooper armor. at first I had my eyes on some eBay listings, and even items from Stormtrooper store, but after reading the beginners guide on this page, I've started to revaluate these decisions. I am looking for a Stormtrooper kit thats as close to ANH as possible, but I do want to spend the least amount of money possible considering how much this can cost. (just for Reference, my hard limit would be 1000$ total for everything.) I have reached out to Authentic Props if he is currently still selling kits, but I still need to find the under garments for the armor and E-11 Blaster. If anyone knows of a good place to find these for a good price I would be very grateful.