JTKenobi

Hey Paul, Thanks for the reply. It looks like 3 rivets you got there, yeah? Oh yeah, and can you tell me how wide your end-caps are in 'MM' as well as the length of the whole TD from end to end? THANKS!! John

Does anyone know how the originals metal pieces were attached to the TD? I am using bankers clips but would like to attach them as 'accurately' as possible. I am guessing rivets and would also like to know how many to use on each clip. Thanks, JT

How tall/high should the neck seals be? Can someone tell me if making one, how many inches/mm apart should each rib be and how many ribs should there be? Just ballpark would be helpful! Thanks, JT

GREAT photo. Just awesome resolution. Thank you very much for sharing!!

You're going to have to glue those bad boys to avoid this. Otherwise, I think that's just how it's going to look. I have my top seams glued for a nice look and then the bottom seams are velcro and look like yours and they don't close tight either.

Awesome job on the bucket so far. Great job with the paint. Looks like mine!!

Hey guys, Thanks a lot for the input. Unfortunately, I chickened out. I am a bit bummed about it since I really wanted to do the seamless method, but I was afraid I would screw it up. I don't have a basement so when my friend had be over today, we glued the forearms and the biceps with the overlap methed. I thought gluing would be more difficult, but it wasn't that bad. They still turned out really good so I can't complain. It's good to get the experience and next time I think I will be ready. For my next suit, I hope I can get hooked up with a TM kit. Hear that Paul?

Gee. Who is asking to post all those photos? They look awesome! Thanks.

Hi Jim- Thank you for sharing your idea. Wow, that sounds tough though. That's the first I have heard of anyone using curved strips. I am glad you got your thigh issues worked out. Paul - can you perhaps chime in again on the topic? ever heard of curved strips?

After another guy with an AP-kit on that forum ran into troubles trying to do the 'extra ABS strip' method on his thighs I am very nervous about doing this method although I am pretty much commited to start gluing on Saturday. Any last minute advice/photos/directions to tutorials etc. on this topic would be very appreciated. thanks, john

I used my wife's terpentine for her oil paints. Worked like a charm and didn't change the finish of the ABS or anything like that. I am painting everything except the blue stripes. Turned out pretty good.....after a bunch of tries that is. The only thing that came out right the first time was the mouth/vocoder. It takes a lot of patience but when you know you can have a do-over, it's not so bad. This is how I hand-painted mine: For the mouth, go to STARWARSHELMETS.com, trace the shape of the TK you like best in pencil and then paint accordingly. For the trapezoids, I painted the black outlines first making sure to get a nice OUT line. The inside doesn't matter because you paint over that later with gray. Then paint gray all the way to where you want it making a nice thin black line. It is hard to get a nice smooth look, but having it be a little uneven gives mine a little charm (for me at least).

I'll try to find them tonight for you.

Mine looks the same way. I could not get a tighter seam on that side. Looks good to me!!

Another question while I wait for someone to (hopefully) to post pics of their seamless/butted arms and legs When trimming the outer right and inner left calve (which are identical) did you guys trim down to the trim line at the top near the knee? It looks like you are supposed to cut to there, but if you do it looks like you will inevitably have to then cut away the molded edge which I don't want to do. Here are some photos of what I am talking about. Can you guys give me some advice please? Perhaps photos of your guys' armor would help. ---------

Still waiting for AP 'seamless' pics?? Anyone?

I am having trouble figuring out how to subscribe to a thread so I don't have to look through all the topics of a forum to find a particular post. On say the RPF, you can subscribe to a topic/post and in the control panel you can just go directly there. Is that possible here?

Alain, I think you used Devcon plastic welder, right? Someone mentioned this: 'This is very fundamental, but for the new trooper it may help. Go to the drug store and ask for an irrigation syrenge or a childs medicine syrenge. You can suck up ABS glue into this thing and control you glue bead. The plastic is surgical grade so the glue will simply peel out once dried and you can use it over and over.' Can I ask if you know about this? How did you apply your Devcon? I want my gluing to be as clean as possible especially since I will be working with very small surface area with the 'seamless' method.

Bless you, my friend. Please keep an eye out for requests on the AP 'Photo Request Thread'. I will be making lots of requests (if anyone can eventually fulfill my first request of seamless arms and legs).

Wow! Does this work for Devcon plastic welder??

That is very interesting. So the front of the AP kit's calves, thighs and forearms are essentially the same as ANH armor. At least I can look perfectly accurate from the front. So your recommendation is 15 mm strips for both front and back of forearms & biceps and 20 mm for calves and thighs, but 25 mm for the back of calves, right? An off-topic question: anyone know how do you make the AP shoulder straps curve? Put in boiling water?

whoops. double post. how'd I do that?

My kit is the same way. This kit uses the outer right calf also for the inner left. Hard to know how exactly how to trim. I will be watching this thread with great interest. Talked to the guy at AP about it and he said "Line up the front for the knee pieces to fit better, once the front is glued the rear will stay aligned with the velcro". Any other tips from experience would be greatly appreciated. As far as trimming, I started with tin snips and they are nice though I found later that score and snap with the exacto works very well with practice and gives you very clean lines. I am still learning and have a looooong way to go.

Not 100% sure what this means. The AP has 'joining strips' to be overlapped on both the front AND the back, right? Can you clarify? Do you mean that the original ANH armor had overlapping joining strips on the front (same as AP) and only the back had no 'moulded seam'? The photo above seems to show the front of Han's forearms having a moulded joining strip for overlapping, but is new to me. Paul, I was thinking of going seamless only on the front initially and leaving the back as is (overlapping with velcro). In your estimation, if I do this and I don't like it later on, would it be relatively easy to do the back seamless with the extra strip or would it be too difficult with the front parts already glued? Thanks..you truly are the 'Master' of helping newbies!

I don't think mine were like that. I would ask MH or whoever you dealt with. I found them to be very helpful with all my 'insecurities' after receiving my armor.

Well that picture is interesting. Towards the top of the forearm you see the strip and then the 'molded bump' outside of that. This is another main reason I want to see another AP kit done this way. How far should the molded bumps be outside of the glued on strip? This will determine how much I need to cut away (scary stuff). If done incorrectly, I could see this not looking very good. Someone here with an AP must have done their seams like this. Pics please