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Nicky's ANH build [*T/MC]


Nicky

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Name: Nicky Mezzina

TK ID: TK 54321

Forum Name: Nicky

Garrison: Nordic Garrison

 

Armor: T/MC

Helmet: T/MC

Blaster: Hasbro Doopydoo mod

 

Fitting data

Body height/weight: 177cm/82kg - 5'911/16/180 lbs

Cover strips (up/low): 16 mm / 22 mm

Trimmed on kit's marked lines: chest, back, kidney, ab, shins, butt, cod, bell, bicep, forearm (width).

Special trim: diagonal south thigh joint, upper thigh rings -2cm, south forearm rings -2cm.

Side gap: >3cm, needs shimming.

Ab plate: split

Bell height: covers bicep by >4cm

 

 

Boots: TK Boots

Belt: Trooperbay

Handguards: part of kit

Electronics: Aker 1508, Olympus ME52, iComm

Neck Seal: Trooperbay

Holster: Self made light leather imitation holster, + Trooperbay's if I pack my gat.

Thermal Detonator: part of kit

Lenses: part of kit green flat + solar film

Helmet Fans: TK 4261 (Curtis)

Dropbox Backs: part of kit

Decals: part of kit

Undersuit: Mil-Tec through asmc.de

 

 

 

Hi everybody!

 

First build thread, with pics and questions!

 

Awhile back I joined this forum to read up as much as I can about building a Stormtrooper armor (ANH). I would say ANH STUNT.... yeah I'm gonna say STUNT. I don't know exactly the difference in practice :)

 

I received december 2011 the plastic parts I needed, plus tons of accessories. It was a delight but I was so broke I could'nt have access to more tools than a xacto knife and stuff that my sister (TK5027) sent me from France (myself I live in Gothenburg, Sweden).

 

So the first step was trimming everything with the score and snap technique with the xacto.

 

I only started seriosuly about 2 months ago when I bought all the tools I needed, and even more seriously 4 weeks ago. I must warn you I am an IT tech, I'm good with computers. Not so good with manual work but I took my time, and tried my best! It was stressful as I couldn't always find information and how-to's about everything, some things that were trivial to me weren't for others and the other way around too which made me come to realize that we gotta get creative sometimes :)

 

 

So I received the T/MC kit, feels solid, it's glossy alright, and sometimes a dremel was the only way to sand things without burning myself with sandpaper.

 

By july 2012, here's my list of tools:

 

-Xacto knife, mail tool. I have many spares because like the true idiot I am I use the xacto for other things like lifting glue and the blades just don't work that way

-Dremel (3000 series)

-Heatgun

-Battery powered powerdrill, and lot of drillbits

-Sandpaper, sand sponges

-Lots of clamps, different sizes and strength. About 20 I guess.

-Big clamps for holding forearms, biceps, thighs, in place while glueing overnight.

-Medium strength neodym magnets, about 40 of them

-120W Halogen worklight

-Airway masks

-Protective glasses

-Measuring tape, various rulers.

 

Now on with the pics!

 

Spread out the ABS parts from the box I received.

post-15684-0-18924300-1343562191.jpg

 

 

So yes, december 2011 I started trimming with the xacto and pliers.

post-15684-0-35931000-1343562188.jpg

 

I quickly temporarily assembled the helmet to see where I'd put the frown. Of course, it didn't matter what I decided that early on.

post-15684-0-95348700-1343562188.jpg

 

Big break because I felt insecure working further, I couldn't go further without finding something else I'd need to buy. And money was a problem.

 

Here's my workshop:

 

2012_07_21_21_09_10.jpg2012_07_21_19_07_20.jpg

 

 

 

May 2012!

 

Decided to start with what's wearable and most obvious, the chest and back. I would learn afterwards that it's best to fit from the extremities and inward to the center parts. So I did that:

 

post-15684-0-41240900-1343562294.jpg

 

And started with the helmet:

 

That would be the first hole I used a drill on, the rest of the tile I just poked like an idiot until the holes fit a triangular filer. Then I used round filers a lot too. It's all about trying little by little until you can create the shape of a square. Right. I think.

 

2012_05_30_19_00_53.jpg

 

2012_05_30_19_47_30.jpg2012_05_30_23_30_55.jpg

 

It wasn't that hard, but I could have messed up which I didn't so *clap clap*

 

 

July 2012!

 

Ok I admit I took another stupid break. Time to get really serious and make something I can wear! Luckily I'm 177cm tall and 77kg heavy (or 5 feet 9^11/16 and 12.12 stones lolol) and I didn't find fitting so difficult. I could use the standard ridges on the legs and arms and not need extra plastic or to remove a lot except for the thighs.

 

This is what I did, first I refused the 40mm ridge. I went for 22mm / 16mm ridges.

 

post-15684-0-05063100-1343562521.jpg

 

post-15684-0-33910400-1343562548.jpg

 

post-15684-0-76062200-1343562189.jpg

 

Ok that was tricky, how to hold this big thigh. I should have used tape, and strap it tight on the bar stool. But I used beer instead. Fair enough.

 

So happily I got most of the issues sorted out. Except for the shins. The left shin, top right return edge, digs into my left knee in a painful way. It's going to be the sniper plate so I guess I could remove that return edge and stop being a little girl about it. But anyone has advice on how to fix that? I think it's because the mirror image of the right shin isn't quite right so the curve of the inner left shin goes into the knee pretty rough.

 

I walked away and got some other easy stuff done:

 

2012_07_15_00_35_16.jpg2012_07_15_22_11_58.jpg

 

Ok the ears was a bit of a failure I think because of the gap. I dont have much to say or ask about it, I have a good idea why there's a gap... I trimmed too much and didn't screw the right place You'll see with more recent pics later.

 

 

 

2012_07_10_22_02_05.jpg

 

2012_07_15_00_48_44.jpg

2012_07_14_12_24_41.jpg

 

Now check it out, I painted with enamel paint, humbrol. And although I did use masking tape, I didn't use T/MC's enclosed masking lines for the teeth, that was probably a mistake, or it was just a mistake to use that kind of paint and expect it not to leak around.

 

See my nice surprise after letting it dry for 3 days:

 

2012_07_16_20_48_08.jpg

 

A proper *yikes* is in order :P

 

Ok so I used a ketone-based oil-paint cleaner and scrubbed with a tower for ages. Didn't aim for the edges, I scrubbed the entire teeth area, the part that was under the tape could come off while the part that dried in direct contact with the air stayed there. That's after the wiping:

 

2012_07_16_21_36_08.jpg

 

I applauded. I saved my faceplate :) So the paint job had to be done, and I figured: I'm not a pussy, I can do it without masking tape, without pencil lines, freehanded. Huzzah!

 

2012_07_16_21_59_14.jpg2012_07_29_11_33_24.jpg

 

Now eye patches, used heatgun to make the curve. Added solar film to darken the lense:

 

2012_07_18_23_59_18.jpg2012_07_19_00_21_03.jpg

 

I decided to make that in two parts, so I have spares. Hmkay.

 

2012_07_19_00_34_04.jpg

 

Notice the impalement hazard? I didn't notice it until...

 

Well I took shorter screws, seems that M3 @10mm was fine all the way, with "lock-bolts":

 

2012_07_19_12_18_42.jpg

 

There, healthier now.

 

So the thighs were biting in my butt, used this cool ruler to remove 2cm off the entire edge. Keeping the curve parallel to the original. It cost 3 bucks and can do 45/90 degres angles.

 

2012_07_19_13_33_38.jpg

 

 

2012_07_19_13_58_19.jpg

 

2012_07_19_15_13_47.jpg2012_07_19_15_15_15.jpg

 

Now I checked if the lenses are drk enough, I hope my eyes won't glow like that because it will be a fail.

 

2012_07_25_21_56_25.jpg

 

*clap clap clap* "now make the mike tips and get your armor done already!!" Does it look like I just dip the mike tips in a tiny bowl of paint and they come out like that? :)

 

409765_10150946834508870_1046661497_n.jpg2012_07_17_21_20_35.jpg

2012_07_29_11_31_19.jpg2012_07_29_11_31_55.jpg

 

Oh yeah, so I did go for a Matt Dillon type frown.

 

Here's the inside:

 

2012_07_29_11_30_46.jpg

 

Here's the ear gap that is a bit of a bummer:

 

2012_07_29_11_32_19.jpg2012_07_29_11_32_25.jpg

 

It's just as bad on the other side:

 

2012_07_29_11_33_12.jpg

 

I think I'll just live with it.

 

Still July 2012!

 

Now with the ab plate, the forearms and other stuff:

 

I did cut the cod piece off, and see what I did:

 

2012_07_19_13_22_45.jpg2012_07_25_20_54_52.jpg

2012_07_21_19_35_40.jpg2012_07_23_21_34_36.jpg

 

2012_07_29_11_25_11.jpg2012_07_29_11_25_44.jpg

2012_07_29_11_26_06.jpg2012_07_29_11_28_07.jpg

 

Yup, magnets! It just snaps right back into place! I used Darth Voorhees' other way of cutting the cod piece and used magnets instead of tape.

 

Now painting the butt'ns:

 

2012_07_29_11_34_31.jpg

 

That's 2nd coat for grays, 3rd coat for blues. Enamel paint again.

 

2012_07_29_11_34_09.jpg

 

I'm going to velcro that too the chest, so I just add a bump for proper adhesion.

 

Forearms, first I used the heatgun to make the inner and outer parts join in a sensible way so I wouldn't need ot apply pressure during glueing, "before" then "after" the heatgun:

2012_07_18_20_46_21.jpg

2012_07_18_21_19_23.jpg

 

After they're done with buttjoints and all I used an inner elastic band around the arm that is adjustable via velcro:

 

2012_07_28_20_41_06.jpg2012_07_28_20_40_47.jpg

2012_07_28_20_39_45.jpg

 

It's just velcro with adhesive tape on it that I stick on rubber elastic bands that have one female snap on it:

 

2012_07_28_21_49_19.jpg

Front/rear sides.

 

 

So that I don't have to add weight or tension to the shoulders, the bells and biceps are attached, but independent from the forearms:

 

2012_07_29_11_35_42.jpg2012_07_27_21_03_03.jpg

 

 

 

Strapping map:

 

2012_07_29_11_28_46.jpg

 

 

Some fitting test:

 

2012_07_28_17_14_32.jpg

 

I don't know why I had the belt on, the ab plate and kidney plate were holding themselves against gravity pretty well.

 

I'm gonna stop right there because the thighs (rear) are glueing for another 24h, and I'm trying to put a snap on the belt using a bar stool, tape, and my shoe.

 

2012_07_29_11_08_16.jpg

2012_07_29_16_22_09.jpg

Edited by Nicky
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Hi Nicky!

You've done a lot of work and your armour is looking good. Glad you were able to clean up the teeth area. :)

I took many breaks on my armor build, also, :) I just had to be in the mood to create, and I was not always

feeling creative. Keep up the good work! Cheers, Jenny

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Awesome thread, bro!

 

For one I want to say that I'm extremely jealous of your ABS (even though it's tough as a rhino's nails) and how shiny it is. Mine is almost matte by comparison! :(

 

Your creative solutions have surpassed some of my methods to get things to work... The student becomes the master, looks like!

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You're doing an excellent job Nicky. It is really coming out nice. The little gap on the ear is typical for most helmets including the movie one. Your's isn't bad at all in my opinion.

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Thank you! Couldn't have done it without help ;)

 

I went a bit further and fixed the thighs and shins, I trimmed the return edge off the left shin near the rigiht side of the knee where it bit so badly. It's much better now! I still can't climb stairs so there's something to fix very soon.

 

 

Fixed the belt, thanks to predefined holes that I only noticed after going mad at all the images of ab plate snaps for the belt that were so far inside that you would need extra tools to press them. Placed the snap covers too. That leaves a day without trying out the ammo belt on me.

 

2012_07_29_19_04_11.jpg2012_07_29_23_01_56.jpg

 

Then I made the thighs' garter system with a belt and suspenders:

 

2012_07_29_19_47_57.jpg

 

I can't really say if it's the inner curb of the thigh or my junk that you see there. So I'll just move on to the next picture:

 

 

 

2012_07_29_20_29_29.jpgimage.jpg

 

Tonight has been full of joy!!! I still have a few things to do, accessories. But right now I can walk around as a stormtrooper as it is pretty much complete per se. The past weeks have been pretty intense with ups and downs because there's not much to make of the armor's appearance until we wear it completely. That I guess is the first-timer's main obstacle and I'm relieved I'm past it.

 

What I'm not past is finding my proper camera's battery charger. Until then I can only take mirror pics!

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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Ok!

Semi-final pics before touching up and taking serious photos later this week:

 

http://nickymezzina.com/upload/files/images/120802_1555_NICKY_ANH_BUILD_2012.html

 

Can everyone who feels like it point me out everything that is wrong with my armor?

 

Like this:

1. Ammo pouches not right location on belt.

2. Holster, where is it??

 

... hit me! :D

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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That is a nice looging build!

But I think, your backplate is floating to much, so you have a big cap at your shoulders and back.

I would try to fix that in some way, bring it closer to the Body, then it will look much better.

Like DudeSidious said before, the Belt is a little bit to low.

Still a great work. :duim:

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Thank youuuuouu!

 

Belt: Do you think that the ab plate is too low? (I thought so because the cod piece is always hitting the legs, doesn't bother me as I can't feel it or hear it from inside the helmet :P)

or do you think it's because I somehow pulled my canvas belt up in the rear too high and the front falls due to the rotation around side-snaps? I could try both! I don't have any tall mirror, darn! hehe

 

Biceps: Should I lower them, and the shoulder bells together? Reference pics show the biceps almost touch the forearms.

 

Backplate: Shorter elastic bands to the kidney plate, think that would do it? I thought of snapping the back plate to my suspenders in the rear too! I also noticed the gap. Also I strongly suspect the shoulder straps are too short and the back plate doesn't fall on the back but is in some sort pull from the shoulders and chest plate...

 

Hmm, thinking thinking!

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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I have shy biceps :P hehe but will do! I did leave extra length to the strap, I'll look at the reference pictures some more, add two snaps and it's gonna look better I think! Thank you :)

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Ok!

 

I played with the strapping to alter bicep height, backplate gap (that wasn't easy to get any significant change). And the belt was just sliding on top of my butt all the time so I lifted it with a velcro square in the middle. Also made a holster with black animal-free leather imitation that I reinforced by double-siding it with fabric glue, one snap, seven 4 mm rivets, velcro behind the belt to avoid the leather imitation to get too much weight tension and fail on the rivets.

 

Have a look:

 

MG_0734.jpg

 

MG_0809.jpg

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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I think I fixed the belt issue, what do you guys think?

I raised it by a brutal 3,5cm, kept the two snaps on the ab plate the way they are, and the angle is to my surprise a lot more straight now. What makes me sad is that I have this new room for extra cookies so the ab plate leaves a larger gap.

 

2012_08_10_14_19_17.jpg

 

And also I need to brag a little because:

 

2012_08_10_15_21_27.jpg

 

IGOTAMICROPHONEINTHERE!!! :smiley-sw013:

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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You are doing a great job Nicky. Excellent work.

 

I notice one other thing is your belt drop boxes. typically they are aligned with the outside box on the belt.

 

You can see here that the inside edge aligns wit the inside edge of the outside box.

Belt-assembly.jpg

 

Other than that I would say you should be close to approval. I don't see anything wrong with what you have done including all your recent upgrades.

 

:jc_doublethumbup:

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I think I fixed the belt issue, what do you guys think?

I raised it by a brutal 3,5cm, kept the two snaps on the ab plate the way they are, and the angle is to my surprise a lot more straight now. What makes me sad is that I have this new room for extra cookies so the ab plate leaves a larger gap.

 

2012_08_10_14_19_17.jpg

 

 

 

That gap that happens is easy to fix. You will see a lot of people putting a strap that attaches to the kidney and ab plate to hold that together at the top where the belt will hold the bottom. for Centurion you would need to have the snap visible for that strap.

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Here are things I recently fixed:

 

2012_08_10_14_05_07.jpg

Shortened detonator, to have the clips right next to the edge caps. Before I had 2cm of grey visible distance between the edge caps and the clips.

 

2012_08_10_20_18_18.jpg 2012_08_10_20_18_33.jpg

Painted helmet screws white to remain uniform. It looked better before ;)

 

One thing I need to fix but need advice about:

The knee trim for the back of the thighs. I'm not sure how to do it without trimming too much and risk becoming an outcast. I still want to be able to climb stairs without someone else holding me so I'm going to trim. The question is how much is allowed, this is what it looks like now:

 

MG_0695.jpg

(the suspenders are mistakenly centered, but should not be visible otherwise)

 

That's how far I can bend my legs without bleeding hazard:

 

MG_0727.jpgMG_0730.jpg

 

From the sides it looks "ok" I think:

MG_0806.jpg MG_0808.jpg

 

Here's a trim idea I had in mind (please click to zoom for details):

thigh_trim_A.jpg

 

Oh no, now I've got tears in my eyes! haha,,

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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Thanks Stuart :)

 

So an update: I have a problem with my approval to Nordic Garrison, my belt is too low and there are concerns my cod piece mod would show if I raise it a few cm higher. Honestly I want to keep the belt where it is because I like it there, it keeps my buttplate disciplined with only minor overlap. Here's the link to my newest application pics: http://postimage.org...lery/8hv1tpxs/

 

By neglect my cod piece shows on its lower right edge, I was messing around with my armor during the photoshoot and forgot to strap the cod piece tight. The canvas belt is snapped on pre-marked spots on the ab plate so I thought it was high enough but it isn't.

 

Relayed by my sister who's already TK in FG and could write directly with the NG, I am asked to revert the cod mod: glue the cod piece to the ab plate and not have it separate so I can have the belt as high as the CRL photo of TK-8377 on 501st website. I did some tests and obviously my armor is not conform and cannot be saved unless I clean cut 2-3 cm off the piece and glue it shut. The cod piece mod is stable with help of two elastic straps and a magnet but since it's not accepted I'm in a bit of a pickle:

 

2012_08_14_13_06_03.jpg 2012_08_14_13_08_56.jpg 2012_08_14_13_09_42.jpg

If I do it as planned from the start the mod is visible looking from underneath, as two splits / \

 

If I by neglect forget to tighten the strap or intentionally pull on it really hard, it does this:

2012_08_14_13_10_38.jpg

 

If I raise the belt above the blue button, that's how much my cod piece mod shows:

2012_08_14_13_17_59.jpg

 

Any advice how to get this fixed for approval? otherwise I suspect the best move to go along with NG's uniformity is to get a new ab plate and not cut the cod.

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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Yeah I could, but if I understood your advices correctly, for approval I need to glue the cod piece shut and the split is recommended to hide and seal with some home appliance, but to hide/seal isn't mandatory? Seems like an easy fix to glue but I haven't seen many threads about it, so it seems like a risky downgrade to me. Just wait for a stormtrooper dancing contest and I'll show you :rolleyes:

 

If I read between the lines I understand this is a hard rule in NG to not cut the cod piece on an ANH Stunt build, and but a recommendation by several troopers on this forum who want this extra flexibility. I did ask around before cutting and the answer was "I've only met one guy who didn't cut his piece". But I didn't ask on the NG forum though. The NG had a link to my build in detail for 2 weeks where you can see everything I modded inside out and it's a bit of a surprise that I am informed of this huge detail only today, so when I rely so heavily on FISD forums and only have one person from NG to advise, I wonder if uniformity is worth going alone in tampering of my only ab/cod piece.

Edited by Nicky.the.hutt
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Why hold the cod piece and ab with elastic? Have you tried plain webbing that gives you no elasticity? This is how I hold my kidney to butt plate, and for my harness. There is no elasticity so it gives you a rigid hold but also flexibility.

 

Ultimately the best thing is to reconnect.

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Yeah I could, but if I understood your advices correctly, for approval I need to glue the cod piece shut and the split is recommended to hide and seal with some home appliance, but to hide/seal isn't mandatory? Seems like an easy fix to glue but I haven't seen many threads about it, so it seems like a risky downgrade to me. Just wait for a stormtrooper dancing contest and I'll show you :rolleyes:

 

If I read between the lines I understand this is a hard rule in NG to not cut the cod piece on an ANH Stunt build, and but a recommendation by several troopers on this forum who want this extra flexibility. I did ask around before cutting and the answer was "I've only met one guy who didn't cut his piece". But I didn't ask on the NG forum though. The NG had a link to my build in detail for 2 weeks where you can see everything I modded inside out and it's a bit of a surprise that I am informed of this huge detail only today, so when I rely so heavily on FISD forums and only have one person from NG to advise, I wonder if uniformity is worth going alone in tampering of my only ab/cod piece.

 

The problem is that cutting your cod piece is not correct. The issue is that "some" TK's do that AFTER they get approved not before. Which is also not correct by the way but these are the TK's that are not going for EIB/Cent after.

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