kwdesigns

Just an update showing some progress pics of the Fem Trooper Helmet sculpt.

The lines you made are right on for where the belt needs to go. The sides of the belt will come together at an angle. The large side amo box will hide this. Personally I would not modify the armor. Unless you do not fit within the recommended height. (Do not cut off the top edge of the butt where it meets the bottom of the kidney, ( that is what you meant)) Once all the parts are on it will look right and be functional. The belt will hold the top edge of the but in place. Kevin W.

Did anyone notice that there are """7""" air-vent slots on each side. Hhmmm episode number 7 & 7 air-slots... 7 might become the new 1138. Kevin W.

It is very important to line up the top edge of the sides of the Ab plate with the top of the Kidney plate, don't worry about the bottom edge. Yes you can add a small rounded edge at the very tip top end of the butt. The Butt should pas over the towards the ab just like you have shown. Do not cut to it to stop at the kidney. Kevin W.

Great job so far.... Kevin W.

Use wall plate screws or 6 - 32 x 1/2 screws with 6-32 hex nuts. Drill the holes with a 1/8 drill bit for a tight fit. --------- Kevin W.

I love seeing all the Fem trooper builds so far.... Hey Jason, I just wanted to point out that the belt need to move down more. It should run across the smooth area below the Ab and above the cod. Just be in-between the the raised details. That means the sides of the belt hang below the Armor and over her hips. Kevin W.

No cover strips like a regular TK. All strips get glued on the inside to help support each half for a smooth look on the outside. The outside of the forearms do overlap. They mirror each other. This is the same idea for the back of the lower legs. The outside half overlaps the inside half. This helps hid the cut seams.

I feel the regular TK helmet should NOT be used with this Fem Trooper armor at all. (Beside the scaling is way off and a basic TK helmet would look like a bobble head) There is just too many differences in this look from any Movie TKs. A helmet should also NOT be required for this Character at all. Jes Gistang is a "Face Character" and is seen many times with out a helmet. But I will be making the correct helmets because there has been enough request for this stylized helmet. This helmet if written in the CRLs should only be listed as an option. So IMO, not having a helmet at this point should not effect the approval of this character. Kevin W.

Yes cut on the red line you have shown and yes the shim will glue on the inside. Kevin W.

I did have these two snaps glued in yet when I took the pic but these are to hold the thighs up.

It is VERY IMPORTANT to sand the areas that you are going to glue for the best bond. Cut the inner front shim like shown. This will be glued to the front inside. --------

I have posted the "Kev's Fem Trooper Armor kit" for sale thread here... http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28141-kevs-fem-trooper-armor-kit/ Please continue to post your questions on the build and progress pics of your assembly on this thread. Thanks Kevin W.

Here is a link to the pictures I took during the assembly. I did not get pics of every step because we assembled all 4 of these kits in 5 days. I will take better detail pics later. But this should help clear up some of the question on how we assembled the Fem Trooper Armor. ------

The areas that these split rivets are used are not seen. The belt covers the bottom ones and the chest and back cover the top ones. Kevin W.

TK neck-seals from Bobby S. We ordered the ones with the zipper closer in the back. Kevin W.

Thank you everyone for your comments and support. These ladies did a magnificent job helping with the assembly, spending long days and long nights to get this done on time. They all look perfect IMO trooping at SDCC. From left to right: LeeAnna Vamp (501st Honorary Member) Stacey Bender (501st Member tk6683) Liz Perales (working on R/L with her Sabine costume and 501st approval) Emii M. (also plans to submit this costume for 501st approval) Kevin W. KW Designs www.imerialsurplus.com

I just want to give a brief description of how the Fem Trooper Armor assembles compared to other similar types of armor. The assembly is a mix of TK (stormtrooper), Movie Clone, Animated Clone and RMQ. Tools: Pencil, Carpenters knife, Belt Sander, Sandpaper, Dremel, Zap-A-Gap CA glue and Spray Kicker. (Wear gloves when using the CA glue) Lower Legs like RMQ (Glue in the front inner shin shim & clam-shell in the back) Thighs like my Animated Clone (with the side connection flanges on the back of half of the thighs for easy assembly) (A Connection Flange is where you can apply the glue and over lap the corresponding part to make a seamless look without having to cut each end to a but joint and use a separate strip of plastic and glue it on the inside between the two halves.) Mid section similar to a TK: Butt to Kidney - 4 black 2inch elastic straps glued the butt and kidney together. Ab to Kidney - Split Rivets with straps on the top & bottom left side & split rivet with strap top and bottom on the kidney with snaps on the right side ) No crotch strap! Chest & Back (under the arms is like a move clone held closed with velcro and top bottom slightly rounder corners) Upper shoulder straps like TK glued to the front chest and hang over the back. Black strap inside with snaps holding them together. Shoulder bells held on like TK Biceps assemble like Movie Clone (the cut ends but together and use an extra strip of plastic on the inside to glue the two halves together, to make it look seamless all the way around. Forearms- The outside wide simi-flat edge, over laps and glues together. (Over lap the inside over the out side so that the cut edge is less noticeable. Mirror this for each arm. The inner seam need to assemble like the Movie Clone with a but seam to look seamless with an extra strip of plastic glued on the inside. Main belt is vac-formed- belt box connectors are screwed to main belt and belt boxes are then glued onto the connectors. T/D is bolted to the Kidney just above the belt boxes. Large side boxes are held on with bent metal clips and hang over the cut seam on the sides of the Vac-formed main belt. Knees - 1inch white elastic is glued to the inside of the thighs, a slit is cut into the thighs, the elastic is pulled through and snaps to the inside of the knees. 4 side knee strap coves are glued over the cut slit at an angle allowing the white elastic to hang out from the larger flat area. (cut a notch there first) Kevin W. www.imperialsurplus.com

You can get a DLT-19 right here... in the fore sale thread. This is the one I got. http://www.whitearmo...ch-for-a-while/ Kevin W.

Fem Trooper Model: Stacey Bender (Tk-6683) Photo by: Mark Edwards with Kevin Weir (KW Designs) & Michael Bender (Tk SixSix EightTwo) First look..... Kevin W.

There should NOT be a strap going over the shoes from side to side. Only from toes to ankles. Kevin W.

The Helmet on the GG statue is not a regular TK helmet. it is different. I will be working on the helmet next. My thought is sense she is a face character the helmet is optional because she is seen without the helmet in different references. Weapons are not required within the 501st due to certain countries that can not freely carry a prop that looks like a real weapon. I would think an E11 or DLT-19 would be fine to use. I also feel this might be one of those characters that "if at a high profile event" only one at a time can show the face to represent Jes Gistag. like we do with Vader or Boba etc. While any other women that are also wearing the same armor at the same high profile event, would need to wear the helmet. Then to be fair they can take turns on who will be the face character so they do not need to wear the helmet the entire time as long as they look like her with the hair color etc... Kevin W.

Payment received. Thank you Kevin W.

Ok... This is what the "Kev's Fem Trooper Armor" kit looks like... All parts are Vac-formed with .060 White ABS. If you are interested in a kit please make sure to compare yourself with the attached body size chart BEFORE placing an order. I am offering a discount for the first 10 kits sold. The kits will include what you see in these pictures, (just the raw plastic kit). The kit is NOT fully trimmed. You will need to trim and assemble it. I do not have assembling info at this time. I will have that info sometime next month. The discount price for the first 10 kits is $425.00 USD Plus shipping. You must contact me by email and give me your ship to address, so I can give you a total with shipping. I will then give you my Paypal info for you to send your payment. Orders will ship out the first week of August with UPS or USPS only. My email is kwdesigns2@verizon.net Thanks!!!!

Here is some pics of the Vac-form test pull I have done on some of the parts...