Jorran's T/MC ANH Stunt Build [*T/MC]

[Sonnenschein]

Keep up the good work! Thanks for the praise!

[zsavk[TK]]

Coming along great! I had the same issues trying to close the armor up. I used Zap a Gap CA+ glue on every joint. And in addition I added Plastic weld to all inside and hidden joints. (It melts the plastic so can distort places you dont want to distort) I found e6000 had to cure for at least 24 hours before daring to touch or move anything. And the CA+ glue really seemed strongest, quickest and never broke even with all the pressure needed to close up the pieces. The only down side was that you literally have 10 seconds before it sets and you better hope everything is lined up lol.

[Jorran]

I started on my shins. I used the same procedure as the biceps and the forearms.

 

1.) I measure a little more than 10mm from the edge and dot out a cut line. Because the raised edge isn't very sharp, it's hard to tell exactly where to measure from, which is why I give myself a little extra room for the cover strip.

 

 

2.) Clamp my ruler on and get ready to cut with my box cutter:

 

 

Once I got that side cut and ready for the cover strip, I clamped the sides together to take a look at the back. I've looked at the FISD tutorials and read many build threads, and I think I'm still a little confused as to how the calves work in the back.

 

 

This is the left calf. I'm using the cover strip method for the rest of the suit. I know the calves remain open and most people use velcro to close the gap once they're on. Do I still put a cover strip on that left side, and then put the velcro on the inside of the cover strip? Will velcro hold together when there's this much of a gap to close? I've been scared of heating any of this kit and have been able to avoid it so far.

 

Thanks for the help!

Edited April 5, 2011 by Jorran

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Glue the cover strip on the outside back of the shin. You're going to need a heatgun to reshape the shins to make them close at the back. At least thats how I do it.

[TrooperTim]

Do you still put a cover strip on that left side? I would, assuming this is the left shin.

Put the velcro on the inside of the cover strip? I did.

Will velcro hold together when there's this much of a gap to close? Not likely.

 

Terry's suggestion is probably easiest. A more tricky method is to bend the front shin edge to the inside slightly. The back gap would be reduced from the new angle of the front edges. You could do this either by molding iron, heat gun, or boiling water. I used boiling water on certain areas of my armor but you have to be very careful.

[zsavk[TK]]

If you can avoid using a heatgun do it. Trust me lol. But if you have to make sure you take your time and be aware of where the hot air is bouncing to. Or what is behind what your heating. I was so busy trying to soften a particular spot on my greave that I didnt notice the heat was hitting another spot and melting the plastic until it was too late.

 

maybe put something inside the greave to absorb heat from your work and protect the rest of the armor. A damp towel or even a plumbers flame proof soulder mat.

[Jorran]

Thanks for all the feedback on the heat gun, troopers. Robert, I saw your thread in particular and what can happen when heat guns go bad, and that's the exact thread that has me spooked! My wife has let me know that this is my only kit I will be getting, so I'd like to not irreparably harm any pieces.

 

My right forearm is curing, but here's the completed left one.

 

I just need to add the strapping between the bicep and forearm and I'll be done from the shoulders to the hands. Slowly but steadily I'm gaining ground.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Jorran

[zsavk[TK]]

looks fantastic Michael. Ill post up pics of my arm strapping tonight when I get home.

[darthyagi]

My wife has let me know that this is my only kit I will be getting, so I'd like to not irreparably harm any pieces.

 

My wife was the same way . . .

 

Your progress is looking good! On the shins: I've seen quite a few people do what you mentioned. They glue a strip to the inside so they can get the velcro in, then put the loop on the covering layer. You may have heard this before, but try to make sure that any seams you have (i.e. velcro seams) are towards the center of your body. So on the left shin, the "outboard" half of the shin is coming over and velcroing closed. That way, civilians won't notice any seams at all.

[Jorran]

Progress report: got the last snap plates glued on and all the straps through the arm pieces tonight for the first time.

 

 

I was thinking of running the strap from one shoulder all the way behind the neck to the other shoulder, but after looking at several builds I think I'm going to go the route of a short bit of webbing from the top of the shoulder bell to a snap on the straps that run from the chest to the back plate.

 

Anyway, here's a shot of the arms on. Let me know if you experts see something I need to fix - otherwise I think these are done.

 

 

Robert, the shots of the strapping in your build thread are great - thanks for posting those. Jeff, that's a great explanation of the shin setup, thanks! I'm going to glue the inner shims on them first thing in the morning.

 

One question: those straps that run from the top of the chest to the top of the back plate...are they white or black elastic? I've seen build threads that show both colors and I'm not sure what's accurate.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

White is accurate. Looking good!

[Tray[TK]]

Kit is looking great Michael. It is exciting seeing your progress. Brings back memories.

 

You should be getting some new plastic for your helmet shortly. We finally got the pulls down and get little to no cooling lines and stretch marks.

[Jorran]

That's great news, Tray! I'm glad to hear you guys were able to improve your process and crank out better helmets. I love the kit overall, so this will just be the icing on the cake.

 

Plus, as I've said before, your communication and willingness to help has been top-notch.

[Jorran]

 

I need to revisit this picture and ask a follow up question. If you take a look at the back, let's assume that the gap closes and holds. In this picture, the front is clamped together so that the top and bottom is flush. Then you look at the back and see that if I close them as-is, they're going to be low on the inside (right side of the picture) by 3/4" at the top and bottom. Um...help?

[pandatrooper[TK]]

You need to heat up the shins by running a heat gun slowly along either side of the front seam (have gun on low holding it about 5-6" away from the plastic anx keep it constantly moving) while holding the shins and pressing the rear sides together to minimize the gap. You may need to pull one side up or down to get the rear top edges to align.

 

Only after you have closed the sides should you trim the lower inside ankle edge so that the length is the same.

[Jorran]

Ok, thanks Terry. I found someone at work that has a heat gun, so I should be able to give this a go later this week. Should I just keep that front seam clamped during the heating, or glue it shut first?

[pandatrooper[TK]]

It wont work clamped. Glue it shut first, let it cure. Make sure to heat beside the frobt seam, not the seam itself.

[Jorran]

Sorry for all of these questions, but this is my first go-around with a heat gun and I really don't want to mess things up beyond recognition.

 

Tonight I grabbed a few scrap ABS pieces from my hours of trimming, set the heat gun on low, and ran the gun back and forth across the surface for 60 seconds. The plastic was malleable and I was able to shape it to whatever position I wanted. So I grabbed the left shin (which is now glued together and cured) and worked the heat gun over the right side for 1 minute. My thinking was to just heat the right half since it was the side hanging low and try to reposition it. After one minute the plastic was warm, but after holding it in position for a while it just returned to its low shape.

 

So I tried an addition 1:30 = same result.

 

Additional 2 minutes = same result.

 

Additional 2 minutes = same result.

 

So after 6:30 the plastic still would not hold the shape I was shooting for. With frustration mounting and patience thinning, I decided to put everything down and come back to the forums for help. Some guesses as to what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it:

 

1.) I'm not heating it long enough.

2.) I'm not heating it hot enough (set the gun to high instead of low - this option scares me because I don't want to end up with marshmallow).

3.) I need to heat both sides of the shin.

4.) Should I heat up both sides and then clamp them in position?

 

You're looking at a fish WAY out of water - please help!

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Squeeze the sides of the shins beyond the position you want, turn on the heat gun and hold it about 5" above the shin on one side of the outer ridge. Run it back abd forth. I usually find on low that my heat gun can soften the plastic in less than 60 seconds. If its not working, try high heat and hold the gun further away.

 

If that doesnt work hold the gun closer.

[darthyagi]

Squeeze the sides of the shins beyond the position you want, turn on the heat gun and hold it about 5" above the shin on one side of the outer ridge. Run it back abd forth. I usually find on low that my heat gun can soften the plastic in less than 60 seconds. If its not working, try high heat and hold the gun further away.

 

If that doesnt work hold the gun closer.

^this.

 

Since plastic is . . . plastic, it is going to bend back to its original form at least a little bit. When I was bending my shoulder straps a little straighter, I was bending it almost completely flat, and it took about 6 minutes of bending it gently until it got to be the shape I wanted. I was using a hairdryer, so it took longer, but you will want to bend them a little further than you want them while heating it.

 

You're building a TK! Be this =>

Not this =>

[Jorran]

Thanks for the feedback as always! I went several more rounds with the heat gun today, this time on high, and I'm in the same spot as when the weekend started. Forgive my poor filming skills in advance, but I took a quick video to show what my process has been. Just a note on the video: the shims are glued and cured in the front - the clamps and magnets are just an extra (and probably unnecessary) level of support.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh7RLpwTDrk

 

My guess at this point is I'm just not heating up the armor enough. But when I tested the heat gun on high on a scrap piece of ABS that came with the kit, it buckled after 45 seconds, so I'm hesitant to warm it up longer than that.

 

Thanks in advance for any extra help!

[Jorran]

Thankfully we got this figured out. My assumption is that the heat gun I borrowed is not as high powered as the ones you guys are using. We heated the pieces a lot longer (something I was very afraid to do initially), and now the gap in back is much narrower, and the vertical separation is only about 1/8", so it will easily stay closed with the industrial strength Velcro. Getting ready to glue cover strips now - pictures to follow!

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Watching the video, I realized what is wrong. You're heating the wrong spots and not holding the shin correctly.

 

You don't really need the clamps if you already have the front cover strip glued on. Secondly, you should be pressing the calf to the shape you want and even a little beyond that. You can close the back and tape it shut.

 

Lastly, youre heating the wrong spots! I think I already mentioned this but you shouldn't be heating the calf area. You should be running the gun along either side of the front cover strip. This is the fulcrum point of where you want to bend it. This will increase the angle greatly and allow the shins to close. You also need to heat the upper return lip slightly, as it creates an I beam effect preventing the bend.

 

Hope you get my drift.

[Jorran]

Yep, we ended up doing all of those things you just mentioned after I posted the video:

 

1.) Adjusted where I was holding the shins. This allowed me to hold the calf closed exactly where I wanted and then farther, so that when the piece cooled and retracted it was where I wanted it.

 

2.) Heated more towards the front - up towards the front cover strip ridge, including the upper return lip.

 

Now that we've conquered that part of the left shin, the right one will be a breeze. Thanks as always for the help.

[Jorran]

Alright, after a couple of rounds with the heat gun, I've now overcome my fear and finished the left shin (sans the sniper plate, which I'll get to in a minute). I feel pretty confident using the gun now, which is a far cry from what I would classify as "near complete terror" a week ago. Special thanks to Terry and Jeff for your help!

 

 

While I wait for the glue on the right shin to cure, I got the sniper plate out and positioned it on the left shin where I think it should go. As you'll see in the picture below (special thanks to The Boss/Lovely Assistant/Hand Model), if I square up the knee plate to the shin it covers the ridge on one side (not visible) but leaves part of the upper shin ridge on the left (below the thumb in the image). If I were to lower the plate to cover both ridges, you would then see the upper part of the shin peaking up over the right side of the plate. The other option is to tilt the plate so that it covers both sides of the shin ridge, but then the plate would look crooked from the front and I like that option the least. What would you suggest? Is this a big deal?

 

 

Finally, does it matter that there's this much space between the plate and the shin? I could try heating it up to form better, but that seems to be a lot of space to cover. I've read the academy tutorial on this area and it seems like just the two rivets will be enough.

 

 

Thanks again for the advice everyone. Now I'm off to practice with rivets - yet another part of this process I've never done before!