My ANH TK build has officially started!

[TrooperJay]

Greetings everyone!

 

Brown Box Day has finally arrived. A day early. Whew, let me take a deep breath....

 

Okay, so my sister called while I was at work ( yes she is also supportive of this endeavor of mine ) and I immediately told everyone I had to leave and went straight home ! Couldn't contain the excitement !

 

The day is finally here.

 

 

And there it is. I thought there was no way the whole kit could be in there!

But sure enough....

 

 

...all of it's beautiful-shiny-freshly-packaged glory !

 

I thought I would also include a few pics of some of the parts, and my gosh, he really did an amazing job at packaging this up for me.

 

 

And YES, a replacement for the FX lid is already on its way, should be receiving that by Friday.

 

I can only sit and look at the armor, I don't want to touch it ! I want to start this build, but by no means rush anything. I think I have the famous "TK First Timer" syndrome some of you have explained to me. I don't know where to start ! AHH!

 

Well, I will keep all of you guys posted with my progress, questions and updates. Very soon! I want to keep this rolling along smoothly.

 

Thank you guys for all the support!

 

Best Regards,

Julian

Edited September 11, 2012 by jmartinot451

[dubVADER[501st]]

such a glorious day! have fun brotha.

[TrooperJay]

such a glorious day! have fun brotha.

 

Thank you Reece, and I will try to as soon as I'm not feeling so overwhelmed! Truly one unreal feeling that's for sure.

[Dr.Senf]

Hahaha i knew it!

After the first little success it gets its own dynamic and then you ll see building armor is no rocket science,just be patient measure fifty times cut once!

enjoy the fun!!!

Edited September 11, 2012 by Dr.Senf

[TrooperJay]

Thank you Sven! haha, I'm on my second bicep right now, you start to calm down a bit and not freak out as much. Sheesh i was really nervous with every little cut I made.

[Dday[501st]]

Julian,

 

You have the same suit as my first suit.

 

You will find your belt is farked, they cut it to short on the edges so the side buttons aren't actually there. I ended up buying an ATA belt to replace it. Also replaced the helmet with an ATA and built that myself and painted it up.

 

You will also need some Ab buttons for the suit.

 

Because the cod piece is cut, and cut short, you will need to nearly butt the piece against the Ab and strap it in there, otherwise you will see the seam below the belt and may have trouble with approval if the connection seam is visible for the cod.

 

One thing to keep in mind is don't cut anything shorter or trim edges! This suit is already cut pretty tightly to the lines. I had to add shims to the Ab/kidney for connection because with a 34 inch waist (pretty average waist) it was still cut to short on the sides to make them come close together. When making the rounded pieces, arms, thighs, calfs and so on you can trim to fit, but the flat pieces don't trim them down until you have the suit on and can test their true fit with the other pieces around it. The armor fits differently when it's strapped together vs just a single piece sitting on your body.

 

Oh, one last thing, the calves are identical, left and right, while this is nice, so the armor looks symmetrical, the clamshell connection for the right calve in the back will need to be reversed so that the seam faces inwards and not outwards. You will see what I mean when you pick them up and start putting them together. All of the seams, thighs and calves should face to the inside, so that on the outside, all they see are smooth edges.

 

If you run into any questions, hit me up, I feel a connection since we have the same armor set, and I'm here to help if you need.

Edited September 12, 2012 by Dday

[Mogwai[TK]]

Have Fun putting the Suit together!

[TrooperJay]

Julian,

 

You have the same suit as my first suit.

 

You will find your belt is farked, they cut it to short on the edges so the side buttons aren't actually there. I ended up buying an ATA belt to replace it. Also replaced the helmet with an ATA and built that myself and painted it up.

 

You will also need some Ab buttons for the suit.

 

Because the cod piece is cut, and cut short, you will need to nearly butt the piece against the Ab and strap it in there, otherwise you will see the seam below the belt and may have trouble with approval if the connection seam is visible for the cod.

 

One thing to keep in mind is don't cut anything shorter or trim edges! This suit is already cut pretty tightly to the lines. I had to add shims to the Ab/kidney for connection because with a 34 inch waist (pretty average waist) it was still cut to short on the sides to make them come close together. When making the rounded pieces, arms, thighs, calfs and so on you can trim to fit, but the flat pieces don't trim them down until you have the suit on and can test their true fit with the other pieces around it. The armor fits differently when it's strapped together vs just a single piece sitting on your body.

 

Oh, one last thing, the calves are identical, left and right, while this is nice, so the armor looks symmetrical, the clamshell connection for the right calve in the back will need to be reversed so that the seam faces inwards and not outwards. You will see what I mean when you pick them up and start putting them together. All of the seams, thighs and calves should face to the inside, so that on the outside, all they see are smooth edges.

 

If you run into any questions, hit me up, I feel a connection since we have the same armor set, and I'm here to help if you need.

 

Derrek you were right on the money!

 

I'm definitely going to be needing a new belt. I almost butchered a bicep, but I think I can salvage it. I'm near the point of getting the entire torso assembly put together. I will be contacting you soon, and yes I will still be needing a holster from you, my TK kit seller included a nice ab button set though. New bucket on the way! (MRCE) I know it's not up to par, but couldnt refuse the smokin deal on it, I figured I'd rather sacrifice more time and crafting experience to rebuild it.

 

Thanks!

[TrooperJay]

Okay so here's an update. This being my first build I wanted to do things in the least permanent/time consuming way; just in case (which I'm sure there will be plenty along the way) I make a few mistakes.

 

I figured I would start off with the biceps. Took me hours to figure out what the heck to do with myself, I ended up with starting on these. Here is the left bicep pieces before fitting or anything.

 

 

Man, people really underestimate the TK builder community. It's no cut&snip you're done kind of thing. It takes time and patience.

Kind of getting a feel for it, flexing and movement. I'm really concerned with bite between the bicep and forearm. I figure better looser than tighter. Going to need to do some trimming on my inner arm. Low movement there.

 

 

I'm using these bad boys to cut most of the ABS, cuts right throuh with little to no snag, leaves a pretty nice clean edge. Picked 'em up for $20 at my local hardware store, definitely will make itself worth the investment throughout the build. Husky brand.

 

 

Finally first bicep fitted and ready for my first round of E6000 ( still waiting on my set of clamps, ordered a ton of 'em!)

 

 

And now I can start to calm down and cool the nerves.

 

 

And then the forearms! I've made alot more progress, (chest and back with snaps, shins with velco closure, started shoulder bells, still need to trim up chest plate and do new return edge) still haven't had a chance to get the documentation on here, it's been hectic! College tests, work and devoting as much time to this build! My mind hasn't had a chance to rest. Will update again soon.

 

Also, are there any alternatives to a hobby iron when it comes to a return edge?

 

Thanks guys!

Edited September 13, 2012 by jmartinot451

[TrooperJay]

Also, how tight should the biceps be? Here's my dilemma, Despite trimming, still a bit left to go, I'm gettinng a little bit of constricted movement between the upper and lower arm. I'm trying to keep the bicep and forearm as close as possible, to retain movie accuracy, but the closer the armo pieces get, the less movement I have. Is his normal? Common fix?

 

Thanks, It's making me nervous.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, keep up the good work

[TrooperJay]

Alright, so here is where I am currently standing.

 

Havent ran into any major problems yet.

 

Beginning the ab and kidney snaps. Tinkering with measurements and CRL pictures for about an hour.

 

I can almost guarantee TK building would be near to impossible without a good dremel.

 

 

I'm going to experiment with some white elastic as a shim between the ab and kidney plates, I like the flexibility and it does fall under the requirements.

(I still have to hem the top and buttom of the elastic so excuse the roughness!)

 

 

I've got to do something about these monstrous shoulder bells, definitely cutting them a bit down, going to give them a return edge all the way around and possibly tinker some more.

 

 

Now as for the beefy FX chest plate, I still need to trim the bottom and give a return, but I trimmed up the sides a bit, definitely gave it a much better look, here's before and after:

 

 

 

 

Still a bit of finishing trimming and sanding to do, but you get the idea. Much improved look.

 

And here's where I currently stand! Still need to strap the forearms for bicep connection and bicep for shoulders.

(the proportion of the chest plate and ab below is ideally where I want it ending up, possibly chest cut slightly higher)

 

 

 

I have two major questions right now:

 

First, is there a good thread covering knee plate attachment? This thing is pesky as heck to get on right.

And secondly,

YIKES! Last night my E6000 leaked ALL OVER my left forearm pieces, is there a way to get this stuff off without ruining the ABS finish shine? Or am I stuck with sanding?

Edited September 14, 2012 by jmartinot451

[Dday[501st]]

E6000 will come off clean if it was leaked, just use your fingernails and peel it off.

[darthnayce1138]

Can you post the measurements where you marked off to add the ab and kidney snaps?

[TrooperJay]

Can you post the measurements where you marked off to add the ab and kidney snaps?

 

Yes Nate, I checked CRL's and EIB requirements and so forth, if using properly sized rivets (not the big beefy ones. ) you should get a clean line all the way down starting 10mm down from the top edge and about 5-10mm in from the outer edge measured from the edge of the ab/kidney plate to the edge of the rivet itself. My rivets are 8mm in diameter.

[TrooperJay]

So I am working on my new return edges on my chest and back plate ( cut and trim back to a proportional size so I dont look like a total goof) and I purchased 120 all the way down to 1500 grit sandpaper, wax and buff to get a clean shiny fresh ABS look. only problem is I can't seem to get it right. Any suggestions at ths point? I did not include pictures of the back plate but the inner return is pretty rough. I feel like this project isnt finished without fixing this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the blur on that last one. and as you can tell, I am a TOTAL noob with return edges, but I am giving it my best effort to compare to some of you pros out there! ( *cough* pandatrooper )

Edited September 18, 2012 by jmartinot451