Question about reinforcing lower left leg

[Sentry02[501st]]

I'm working on my ESB rig and I hope to submit to the 501st soon. I'm currently working on the legs of the kit and I'm in the process of gluing the lower left leg piece in the front. Understanding that accurate = leaving the back open, or so I've been informed, I'm not sure that's something I want to do as the open back isn't comfortable to me. My intent is to glue the front and then use industrial velcro on the back to close it up. This will still allow me to clamshell to put it on, but keep it closed. Some of the great folks in GT have suggested reinforcing the inside of the front since it will take a lot of stress. Since I don't have ABS strips, I'm going to butcher a $2 For Sale sign from Lowe's and use that on the inside of the armor join.

 

The question is this: I had been thinking about how to secure the join in the front even more without it being visible. I have been thinking about putting a rivet up top on the join, underneath where the sniper plate will be. You won't be able to see it and it will help secure the join up front. As someone who is a complete newb at the entire build process, I'm asking you guys as the experts for your thoughts here.

 

What would the problems be?

 

Would it really add any benefit?

 

I have already thought about the rivet head poking through, but I can hot glue that to dull it down.

 

Thoughts?

 

Brad

[SolderMaster]

I don't see a problem at all using a rivet under the sniper plate.

 

I really don't see a benefit either, tho.

 

I also used scrap strips on the back of the butt joint(TK5270's AP). Tho I did use finishing strips over the top as in ANH. Not sure if there are nice shiney for sale signs out there for this, but maybe there are..?

 

As for glueing your sniper plate...be sure to use E6000 for most of the securing of the plate. You could tack the sniper plate down with CA glue to hold in place, then use E6000 generously to provide the best holding power. E6000 has some give to it allowing the plate to be bumped or even "leaned on" lightly for a short period of time without having the plate pop or snap off.

 

I would email some of the armor makers asking for a quote on the finishing strips. If you're gonna do it, do it right. The look will improve greatly if you use the proper strips. IMHO

 

Enjoy the build.....and......Where's all your pictures????

[Sentry02[501st]]

Thank you for the response Brian, although I must admit that I'm rather new to this whole thing. I'm not sure what you mean by "finishing strip". I think the confusion may be my fault as this is an AM kit that overlaps rather than joining with a cap strip like TKRestonVA did with his. I had not planned on doing anything additional on the outside of the lower leg, only on the inside. That's why I figured a For Sale sign might work for reinforcing that part since I currently don't have any ABS strips. I will reach out to the vendors and see if anyone has any that I can purchase from them.

 

As for my images...I'm sadly a bit shy due to not really knowing what the heck I'm doing. I haven't posted anything in the way of images yet mostly due to not wanting to show how bad my stuff may be. Basically where I am at is that I purchased a kit and had someone build it for me. Right or wrong, it's what I did before I had done enough research to know better. I have found that while most of it will work for me, I am still having to tweak it to better fit me and to get it set the way I want it to look. The gentleman who put it together for me did a great job IMO, but I'm working on some things to make it "me". Is it the most accurate kit? No, but it's a good starting point for me. As a visual learner, it's been tremendously helpful to see a kit already together as it's showed me a lot of the "how" very quickly. At the end of the day, this will be an ESB TK and I have a list of things I'll be doing to make sure it's as accurate as I can personally make it right now.

 

So far, this is what I have done:

 

1. Removed an ABS belt, drilled out a rivet on the ammo belt and removed it from the ab piece in prep for the canvas belt I have coming to me. I'll then rivet it back up, bolt/snap the canvas belt in, attach the drop box backs via earth magnets for storage, and attach them to the canvas belt. I also removed the all black ab buttons and installed Vader Dave's set instead. I love them. The ab buttons were bolted where possible, but the far left had to be hot glued due to height.

 

 

Once installed, I didn't like the gap on the box where the buttons are so I sealed it with white silicon.

 

 

I removed a whole ton of industrial velcro on the right thigh and then reset it with E6000. The thighs are 100% glued and were measured prior to doing so.

 

 

 

I then riveted the battery clip onto the thigh piece and painted the rivets white. The only white ones in the stores around here were oblong and I wanted round, so I bought the normal ones and used a gloss paint pen to make them white. I didn't like how the clip moved like a visor, so I placed a piece of that industrial velcro underneath of it to now keep it in place.

 

 

 

In order to get the rivet on the right side to line up on a stable and flat area, I had to mount the clip slightly off center. I wanted that middle box right on the line, but couldn't do it and have the riveting work right.

 

 

I'm currently working on the lower left leg area and have removed a ton of velcro so that I could glue it. The velcro on top will also come off, but I was using it as a reference as to which side was inside and which was outside. I'll finish the sniper plate gluing tomorrow.

 

 

As for the bucket, I have a whole mess of work to do since it's an eFX. I recently drilled the teeth and removed some cloth-like material tape behind the teeth in prep for a metal screen mesh. I have decals coming from TK4510 as well as screws and a new visor. I'll be filling in the seam (still not sure what to use to fill that seam with), but likely not raising the brow on it. I'm planning on putting together a bucket from scratch for EIB status in a few months. I also have ESB hand plates on order, so that will leave me with just the weapon. I currently have an ANH E-11 Hyperfirm and will likely be opting for an ESB Hyperfirm in the next few weeks.

 

One thing I did to the ANH was I drilled out the rubber nub at the tip of the E-11 using a carbide drill tip and used one of the washers Vader Dave uses with this ab buttons to fill the hole. I was quite happy with how well it fit. Thanks again for the buttons Dave!

 

 

As you can see, I have no real skill at this yet and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with this whole thing. This is why I have hesitated in posting photos of what little and very simple mod work I've done to this point. I still have a few things to do like rounding out a area on the left lower leg where it's hitting my knee, adjusting the gaps in the back and butt plates, adjusting my over-the-shoulder strap length, and trimming a bit from the return on the right bicep where it's getting a hold of me. I hope to be done and ready to submit for basic 501st status in the next few weeks.

 

Brad

 

EDIT: PS - I also have to round out the front part of the crotch area on the inside where it connects to the butt plate. Straight, sharp edges to the crotch make for a very sad TK.

Edited December 21, 2010 by Sentry02

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Have you already read the tutorials and links on the Imperial Reception Center page for legs? Should cover most of your questions.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/home/tutorials/armor-tutorials/thighsshins.html

[Sentry02[501st]]

The original point of the thread was to ask about the rivet under the plate for support. I did searches on the forum and came up with nothing and that is why I posted. I don't know all of the terminology yet, but I am trying to do at least some of my homework prior to posting. I promise. The How-To leg page doesn't have anything on the rivet under the sniper plate on an overlapped leg plate. I didn't mean for it to turn into an overview of everything I had done. I only posted it because I was asked for some images. I'm sorry for that. At this point, I'm pretty sure that I don't need finishing strips for my setup on the outside since my legs use an overlap. Please correct me if I'm wrong though. I am curious that the page shows rivets on the sniper plate. I thought that is supposed to be glued per guidelines? Hey, I'm all for putting a few rivets in place, so I certainly wouldn't mind doing that.

 

Brad

 

EDIT: Reworded some stuff as the original post sounded defensive and that wasn't the intent.

Edited December 21, 2010 by Sentry02

[pandatrooper[TK]]

No offense taken.

 

Its a little confusing. The knee plate is glued in the films. I will update the tutorials to reflect levels of accuracy in the new year.

 

You can do it like that or rivet it. Theres nothing in the 501st guidelines or Eib saying it "has to be" one way or the other.

 

The original films assembled the limbs with butt joins and cover strips, not overlaps. But if you glue your overlap properly abd clamp it, you shouldnt need rivets for reinforcement. Overlap with cover strips is not necessary and doesnt really add anything.

[Sentry02[501st]]

Perfect! That's what I wanted to know.

 

Brad