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

[pandatrooper[TK]]

I think picture 2 is closer to screen used (dont tilt it so much). Its Ok to have a little gap. Just a heads up that if you want to go for Centurion in the future, you may want to glue the knee plate on for a seamless look. Just an option for you to consider.

[TrooperTim]

My sniper plate is slightly tiled and has a gap there too. I vote glue it; don't use rivets.

[Jorran]

Thanks guys. The main site here is blocked at work (thankfully the forums aren't), so I'll take a look at Centurion requirements when I get home and make sure I follow those. I'd like to get there someday, although it will take some time since I have a Hasbro (with Doopy's latest kit) and the Mrs. isn't likely to let me embark on getting a new blaster anytime soon. Still, it will be better to have the armor up to snuff ahead of time.

 

**EDIT**

 

Ok, I see the Centurion requirement now:

 

"Ideally there are no visible rivets or brads used to secure the sniper plate to the left greave."

 

I'm going to start working with the heat gun now to get the knee plate closer to being flush with the greave so I can just glue it together.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Jorran

[Jorran]

While I wait for the cover trip to finish curing on the right greave, I decided to do my first test fit of the torso armor pieces. I have a slim build and I know I'm going to have to heat and bend several of the parts, but I wasn't sure to what extent until tonight.

 

Front Side

 

 

The chest plate's width seems to be about right. The ab plate needs to come in on the sides a bit. My main question: is the chest plate too low here? I looked through a lot of EI builds and on several it seemed like the chest was a little higher - closer towards the neck line.

 

Back Side, Part One

 

 

Here's where most of the work is going to have to happen. I think the back plate is fine. It's a little crooked, but that's because my shoulders don't sit level - the left shoulder has just always been higher than the right. The kidney plate is CRAZY wide, and I can't really tell which side is up. Finally, I'm holding the butt plate in position where it fits well - I'm assuming that gap between the butt and kidney plates will be covered by the belt.

 

Back Side, Part Deux

 

 

This is just showing the same view, but with the kidney plate flipped.

 

Let me know what you all see that I need to fix. Thanks in advance for the help as always!

[TrooperTim]

My back plate is slightly off center as well from my shoulders, but you can alleviate this by adjusting your suspenders... that is, if you have suspenders connected to the ab/kidney like I do. Your chest is correctly placed, but that's all relative to how the ab fits on your body. Get the ab and kidney correctly positioned, where the cod should comfortably sit, and the chest and back will fall into place. The kidney looks correct side up on the last photo. The butt/kidney gap is not covered by the belt. You should see the split. The belt rests on the kidney plate.

[Jorran]

My back plate is slightly off center as well from my shoulders, but you can alleviate this by adjusting your suspenders... that is, if you have suspenders connected to the ab/kidney like I do. Your chest is correctly placed, but that's all relative to how the ab fits on your body. Get the ab and kidney correctly positioned, where the cod should comfortably sit, and the chest and back will fall into place. The kidney looks correct side up on the last photo. The butt/kidney gap is not covered by the belt. You should see the split. The belt rests on the kidney plate.

Thanks, Tim. The ab plate seems to fit perfectly, although I might heat it and bring it in on the sides just a little. That's helpful to know because that means my chest and back are basically positioned correctly, and I just need to focus on the kidney and butt plates.

 

Do you know anyone that sells a nice suspender setup? The instructions that came with my kit just have a lot of strapping between the individual pieces, and that was the direction I was headed. But if I can find a good suspender setup I would definitely look into it.

[TrooperTim]

Get suspenders from the store, some snaps, and elastic. I used this tutorial for my straps: http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/snaps.html It's an outstanding setup. The only one I know of who sells a strap kit is Kevin at imperialsurplus.com. His strap kit is designed for clones but it'll work for TKs the same way. Here's what it looks like: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=3397

[Jorran]

Excellent, Tim. Thanks! I have that tutorial bookmarked and will be using that method when I get to strapping my torso.

 

Thankfully, I finally have a completed progress picture to post. It seems like forever since I've made significant progress.

 

 

According to the new Centurion requirements, "there are no visible rivets or brads used to secure the sniper plate to the left greave," so that's the way I've attached mine. Might as well start down that road now rather than later.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Jorran

[Jorran]

I moved on to the thighs and when I looked at the back I noticed a couple of issues. Picture first, questions second:

 

 

This is the back of the right thigh (the same issues exist on the left one as well). I lined it up so that the knee ridges at the bottom matched up. Everything was cut to the trim lines. Here are my questions/concerns/lamentations:

 

• 
   
  
• There is a raised edge on the outside half for a cover strip to sit on, but not on the inside. I guess this really doesn't matter much since the cover strip will...well...cover it, but it still seems strange.
  
• There's a return edge on the bottom of the inside, but not the outside. Plus there's an extra 1/2" of plastic. My plan is to trim the inside to match the outside, losing that return edge on the inside bottom.
  
• That leaves the extra 3/4" on the top of the outside thigh. I guess I'll be trimming the whole top of the outside thigh so it lines up with the inside.
  

Does that all sound OK? I haven't found too many problems with the body pieces of this kit (just inexperience on my part), but these thighs just don't line up well at all.

[zsavk[TK]]

Same with mine. Cover strip will hide it and so will the ammo band on the right

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

Great and detailed build thread, and I also love the "shopping-list".

Keep it up!

[1mpulseS0D]

Does the Lexan Scissors work good for cutting the plastic? Great work so far!

[Jorran]

Does the Lexan Scissors work good for cutting the plastic? Great work so far!

Oh yes, most definitely! Those curved scissors are one of the best tool purchases I've made for the entire build. I highly recommend them.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I had to take a small break due to illness, craziness at work, and then a vacation, but there's more updates coming. In fact, the cover strips are curing on both my thighs right now. More pictures soon!

[Jorran]

Progress!

 

First, a quick picture of my little "paint box," which I took outside to spray paint the TD and then stuck the brads in to let the white paint dry.

 

 

Second, the (FINALLY!) completed thighs, complete with brads to meet Centurion requirements:

 

 

The thighs were difficult to work with. The halves didn't come close to lining up at any point and took a lot of extra trimming and heat gun work to get into a decent shape. But that's all part of the process and I learned a lot along the way.

 

Last but not least, a shot of the legs up to this point. It's cropped at the top only because I don't have the garter and snaps installed yet, so it looked a little ghetto if I showed myself holding the thighs up.

 

 

Next up: garter, suspender, and snap tabs to get the thighs completed, and then ab/kidney/butt plate work. I already spent a good amount of time tonight with the heat gun getting those pieces in better shape.

[Jorran]

While waiting for things to dry and cure on the torso, I've finally turned my attention to the part of the build I've been dreading the most: the helmet. But after all these months and so much help from you guys, I feel much more confident about this than I did back in March. FYI, because of the cooling line problems with the original helmet and its replacement, I switched to an ATA ABS bucket.

 

[Jorran]

Ok, I think my faceplate trimming is complete. Take a look and let me know what you think. I've taken the eyes and teeth just about as far as I feel comfortable before I get too close to that threshold where you've taken off too much.

 

 

 

 

One other question: I'm having a hard time drilling through the aluminum strips for the TD. I have a DeWalt drill, but it just has the standard bits that come with the drill. Any suggestions on getting those holes punched through? (Obviously not a handyman typing this post!)

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Have you tried using an awl or a metal punch to make a dent first? If you smack the punch with a hammer you'll make a little hole for the pointy tip of your drill bit to sit in. That way it won't wander as you apply pressure on your dewalt. 

 

Any sharp bit will do. Aluminium is pretty soft stuff. 

 

Good luck. 

 

Aloha,

 

-Eric

[TrooperTim]

Exactly what Eric said. I used an awl to create the pilot holes and help the bit sink into the material being drilled.

 

I say file the teeth just a touch more at the tops and bottoms.

[zsavk[TK]]

if you dont have an awl or specific center punch tool just pick up any old rusty nail you might have laying around and give it a little tap on the aluminium to make a tiny indent to give your drill bit something to bite into.

[Jorran]

Thanks for the help on that, everyone! I made a lot of dumb, rookie mistakes on the TD, but it's all fixed and complete and I'm overall happy with how it turned out. I just need to test fit it on the belt and trim the excess aluminum. Pictures soon.

 

I turned my attention back to the helmet. A friend at work let me borrow his set of files, and that made all the difference. I was able to shape the teeth much better and am very happy with the results. I had delusions of grandeur and thought I could complete the helmet today, but of course ran into an issue that I need your help with (I can't wait to be done with the build so I can be the one helping others, as opposed to pestering you all with so many questions, but such is the life of a trooper-in-training).

 

In most build threads, the suggestion is to use two rivets to hold the face plate to the back. I have the first one in, and indicated in blue the general area where I believe the second one is supposed to go:

 

 

In this second picture (special thanks to The Boss for her expert hand modeling!), I've highlighted where one of the final screws is supposed to go...and it's in the exact same place:

 

 

I think that my ear placement is correct (I just have a rough first trim pass on the ear), so what am I missing here? How do I get the rivet and screw in that same area? Thanks in advance as always!

[zsavk[TK]]

The rivet can go really anywhere. It will get covered by the ear. Dont sweat it too much if you have to offset the rivet to accommodate the screw. The screw is the one that people will see so give it priority. As long as you get one rivet near the top and one near the bottom you should be good.

 

 

I ran into the same issue with my helmet but didnt realize until after I had already put the rivets in. Luckily it all worked out. But the only way anyone could ever tell how close it came to being a mess is by looking inside.

Edited July 10, 2011 by zsavk

[Jorran]

Awesome, Robert - thanks! Yeah, the picture you showed is pretty close to what I was going to end up with.

[Jorran]

Ok, a couple of progress pictures, then a request for advice on an unforeseen problem.

 

First, the completed detonator:

 

 

I just need to trim off the excess aluminum once I fit it on the belt.

 

Second, the first set of brads and snap plates on the ab and kidney plates. I used these brads, even though they aren't entirely screen accurate, because it's what I had on hand and The Boss would rather I use them than buy something else.

 

 

Now, the request for help. The Boss helped me work on the belt tonight. I made one mistake with a rivet but that was easily overcome in the early stages. I got the drop boxes riveted on well, the snaps through the belt that will attach to the abs, and then riveted the plastic to the canvas. Based on feedback I found on several builds, I left the white part of the rivet on the inside, and the "ugly" end of the rivet facing out since it would be covered by the rivet covers.

 

The problem is, the rivet sticks out too far. The rivet cover doesn't even come close to making contact with the belt, so I have no way to glue them down. Here's the picture:

 

 

I don't know what to do here. I suppose I could glue down some scrap abs around the rivet and glue the covers to the scrap, but then you're going to have a noticeable distance between the cover and the belt.

 

What do you experts propose?

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Drill out the rivet and reverse it. I layer mine so that the rivet is actually holding a female snap on the other side. The torso has the corresponding male rivet on the outside of the ab plate.

 

I know some would say its not screen accurate location but I don't really care. No one sees it.

[Jorran]

Thanks, Terry! Does it matter which side you drill from?

Edited July 13, 2011 by Jorran