kaptinkaos Posted September 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Cod cut, trimmed, molded. Ab molded. Butt plate molded, but not trimmed yet. Snaps in on bottom of cod and butt plate. Snaps made for cod to ab and mounted. Gonna make a few more snaps and call it a night. Edited September 1, 2011 by kaptinkaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Is there a return edge on the bottom of the kidney plate where it meets the butt plate? I'm about to do some trimming to the back/kidney/butt plates... Also, which the heck way does the kidney plate go? This way? Or this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 No return edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananoPower22[TK] Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 I don't know if it has, but it's not necessary. The belt covers that area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Yeah, realized the same time as I found a thread covering it, lol! Hopefully my belts come in the mail tomorrow... Then I can really get cracking! Thanks though! Shins are glued up on the front and curing, a few more ANH strips on forearms. Shoulder bells are done, biceps are done, crotch is done, butt plate is done, snaps for crotch to ab are done and strapped. Kidney trimmed and molded, snaps for butt to kidney done. A few more snaps tonight and some sewing and I may be able to do a trial fit of the middle bits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Finally, a bit of light duty tinkering, All my magnets are being used at the moment so cover strips and any more gluing requiring them has to wait till tomorrow. It'll be a nice break I think. I may even start on trimming the AM lid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) Well, got my ab buttons painted Edit* The holes drilled in the ab plate itself are recess holes behind the ab button plate to accommodate the screws and nuts that are the buttons. I trimmed down the button box a bit and there wouldn't have been enough clearance between it and the ab plate itself if I didn't. And will spot glue these with hot glue so they don't come undone. I had to swap out the nylock nuts that were supplied with some not nylock ones that I had kicking around the garage, I couldn't tighten the nylock ones without putting pliers on the button and that would have stripped the paint off of them, lol! I pre-painted the buttons by just stabbing them in a piece of cardboard and roughing them up with some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper. 2 coats of Humbrol and some time under a heat lamp and they were ready to go. I'll glue and mount the ab button plate tomorrow after what I have clamped and curing is done. I've got one of my spare bedrooms set up as my curing room, lol! A little spot heater keeps it around 120F so should help a LOT with glue curing times. Still not going to remove any clamps much sooner than 18hrs though. On a side note, it probably seems like I am rushing through this... I've had two years to research stuff while I waited to go back to work though, LOL! That, and Pandatroopers most EXCELLENT threads on just about everything and anything and all the really great feedback you guys give... Well, it's hard not to keep truckin'! I work out of town a lot and right now I'm on my holidays, That's why I have 8+hrs per day to put into this. I want to try and get as much done before I get sent out of town or out of country again next week as I can't work on the suit while away. Couple that with being mid 30's, single, slightly OCD and obessed with stormtroopers? Well, you get the picture, lol! I really do appreciate all the help and input and most of all the VAST source of knowledge not only here on the FISD, but also on my local garrison page the Badlands. Kudos to ALL of you troopers out there. I'm chomping at the bit for my numbers and really can hardly wait to put the suit together and just ogle myself in the mirror, I've started into this AM lid and tbqh... I may not go further with it. It's SO out of proportion and constructed SO differently from a screen derived helm... It's hard to even know where to begin on how/what to do. I'll plug away at it in my spare time waiting for my ATA lids to show up. Cheers! Edited September 2, 2011 by kaptinkaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 I thought the same as you're probably thinking... "That blue is too light of a shade..." So, French Blue #14 is not the right blue, lol! I mixed a bit of 14 and 15 together to get a shade I thought was more appropriate. Probably 1/3 #14 and 2/3 #15 dark blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Time to get some sewing done, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 Wow... I got a lot done today. Thighs trimmed and curing on the front strip, shins curing. Snaps for kidney, butt plate, and ab curing also. Strapping sewn and completed for bells to biceps, biceps to forearms, kidney to butt, and crotch to abdomen. I have a rough finish on my suspenders and some industrial velcro in place in ab and kidney. Should be able to put it on and post some pics tomorrow, Still need to make the elastic snap straps for ab side to kidney side, but until I put the suit on I won't really know how long. My bet is super short, lol!I think I'll do just velcro on the other side that will open and close often. I'm kinda following Panda's strap setup, but with a few little tweaks and changes here and there to suit my needs and size. I'll also probably have to employ the services of my neighbor in finding the exact right snap placement for back piece and chest piece to my suspenders. I also probably have a bit of heat shaping left to do to the kidney and ab plate and perhaps some more trimming off the sides. I'm a lightweight skinny guy! I got around to roughly heat shaping the belt (with much ease due to Panda's trick with the paint sticks!) and I feel like I'm nearing the homestretch for sure! Hopefully my lid kits come early Tuesday morning. Should be headed back out to work soon enough and if anything I wanna ogle it, lol! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananoPower22[TK] Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 Excellent progress! Can't wait to see more bro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 I'm gonna have some dinner here and watch an episode of Top Gear on Netflix and then I may just wander back and take some photos of the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 Picture time! Ok, so... Here's the some-what finished arms. I still have 2 cover strips to put on the forearms, but I have the bells looking the way I want them and the biceps are well, the biceps. Without seriously distorting them I couldn't mold them any tighter. They seem alright though with the straps in and hung properly snapped into the bells. My lovely pair of homemade suspenders (yes, I can sew too!) Butt plate trimmed (might need some more trimming and molding). I have a tiny butt, LMAO! Snaps are in with elastic straps to go to the kidney plate. Roughly molded belt. I'll tweak it a bit more once the ab plate dries and I can place it over top. And a whole SCHWACK of parts drying and curing. Gonna be some serious trimming and molding tomorrow night I think. Might leave them cure right till Sunday morning though. I'm gonna be putting a LOT of stress on those parts and I want the glue to be really cured. I'll also not take the tape off untill I'm ready to mount the cover strips just in case they want to peel apart for some reason (no... I swear, it didn't happen to me this morning doing the shins ) Chest plate with bridges glued on, Tomorrow when I can get the middle section of the suit mounted and strapped to me I'll try my hand at marking the suspenders for front snaps. I still don't know how I'll do the back ones, HAHA! And here's the mounting spot for my trooper chatter mp3 player complete with saga music and the Imperial March, I'll hopefully be adding the icomm to this setup also. I've also wanted something that did a VOX static burst well! That's it for now... I can't really do anything more until parts dry and cur. I guess it's more Top Gear! (And a few Coronas!!!) Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananoPower22[TK] Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 :pint1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 I felt crafty so I did my hand plate holders, Turns out Corona makes me wanna sew, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 So, I went out to get a few more snaps for my suit as my plan has kind of changed with the strapping system. I really want to make sure that the back and chest are secure, so I'll snap it to the suspender and also to a piece of black webbing that is just between the chest and back itself. I know... It should be white "fabric", but I will swap it out when I can find some white canvas or white webbing. Here's some preliminary fitting pics. A little bit of work tonight and I may have the chest and back hung and ready to go. I'll see if I can enlist a friend for some help with snap placement. Oh, stumbled upon this in a Sears today. $25... Shut the front door gimme two!!! They have a TIE with a pilot also that I may pick up. It's $40 though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Alright... A quick refit of the the bicep elastics and they should be sitting much better now. And I finally got started on trimming those HUGE thighs, lol! Left is as cut from AM, right is cut and fitted to my right thigh. I'll slap a strip on it tonight to cure and if I can get the other thigh done I'll get it curing too. That's a LOT of extra ABS... And that was a LOT of "tape up, on, off, trim, tape up, on, off, trim, tape up, on, off, trim..." etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 And just before I zonk out for the night (erm, morning now I guess...) I got the thighs molded and glued up and curing; shins trimmed, velco'd, molded and modified; snaps glued on chest and back and suspenders and other tidbits finished. Shins turned out good, but still need a cover strip. I had a really hard time molding them so thin to my calves and still keeping the main shape or close to the knee plate fit as I could. I'm not going to reverse the cover strips on the back as I had to take off so much material already that it just didn't seem like a good idea. I had to trim up the back of the shins a fair amount also as they seemed to want to lay over on their sides when I walked. All I really did was trim them more like ATA or TM or any of the screen derived stuff. They are now cut higher in the back so the front and back of the shins sit around the boot properly. I'd post a pic, but I'm done taking pics tonight... LOL! Tomorrow can be picture day and cover strip day. (Maybe a bit of prancing around in the armor too. It should be to the point where all I need is someone to draw two dots on my suspenders for the rear snaps, woot!) Nite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Phew, cover strips on shins and forearms curing. Gonna let the thighs sit till tomorrow morning and untape/unclamp them to do a test fit for thigh-to-ab strapping... Homestretch now! A tiny bit of foam in the front/top of the shins and probably a bit of foam around the bottom of the thigh and some work on the return edges of the thighs with my iron and it'll look snappy! I'll do a final dis-assembly and sand on all edges and then throw it all in the shower to wash it off. A good polish and clean can't hurt, Hopefully Tuesday morning will bring some packages, most importantly my belts, Then I can get cracking on my TD and mounting the ABS belt to it. I'll keep myself busy with the knee plate, ammo pouch for the right thigh and all that sanding, whoohoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2011 Looks like Dan is coming over today for help with the final fit. I'll be able to get snap glued to the inside of my thighs and to the ab also and then the strapping system will be done once I sew the elastics, Haven't gotten to the sanding as I'll do all that after the final fit so I don't have ABS dust everywhere, lol! This helmet is... "insert expletive". I'll do my best on it, but no guarantees that you'll ever see a pic of it. I picked up a sheet of green PVC film to use in place of the googly eyes. The paucet tips for mic tips... I'm not going to mount them. I'll see if Sskunky can get me some or I'll find some somewhere. Oddly enough, I may have a couple of Hovi mics somewhere in my pile of band gear... I'll do a search. Also, this is a total long shot, but when I was a kid my babysitter's husband was a HUGE techno nerd... He buys and sells electronic do-dads on ebay out of his home. He may, just may... have a box of Hengstlers... Yeah, SCORE if he does! I'll be crossing my fingers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irocink33[TK] Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Curious to see where your going with spliting the cod and the ab plate... I'm a bit taller, so looking at this is intriguing as I am trying to find a way to alter mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Simple really, the gap will be covered by the belt, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 I won't be using the method of making the belt supplied by AM though. I'll be using a canvas belt with the plastic front mounted to it and the drop boxes sandwiched in the rivet on either side to the belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananoPower22[TK] Posted September 6, 2011 Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 TKittel sells those, firebladejedi does too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptinkaos Posted September 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2011 Yep, they should be on my doorstep in the morning actually. I got a tan one (for this suit) and a white one for my set of ATA that I'll build over the winter. My ATA lid kits might arrive in the morning too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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