BID's ANH Hero Build Thread - RT-Mod

[BIDS[TK]]

Thanks very much Ron, I really appreciate the feedback.

 

I'll endevor to keep the updates coming and hopefully the build will continue to go well.

 

Great to hear you've chosen Rob's RT-Mod armor, not only is he a true gentleman to deal with, he also makes beautiful armor. Good luck with your build, make sure you start a WIP when you get it so we can all follow your progress.

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Belt / Drop Boxes / Holster

 

OK, so I've been a bit slack of late, but finally pulled my finger out to do a bit more. Unfortunately this is the first part I've had a stumble with, but this is a WIP afterall and I'm going to show it wart's and all so others can learn from my mistakes and hopefully not make their own.

 

All along I've been building with the theory to have all (or as many as possible) parts replaceable, especially straps ect. for when elastic stretches, or if plastic cracks or breaks ect. I decided I wanted to have the Belt Plastic attached to the Canvas Belt with Snaps so that I could simply pop it on or off at any time to replace it ect. The RT-Mod belt ends are a little long according to a post I found on here so I shortened them up accordingly. Also the square buttons are molded on the ends, but the middle is simply a square mold with no round centre. I was lucky enough to get a set of three buttons off a guy in my Garrison so planned on glueing them on to cover the fasteners. Unfortunately when I tried to heat & mold the middle button to make it fit over the centre mold on the belt it distorted. I had to trim one of the outer ones I removed to replace it with.

 

Components ready to start

 

Inner centre spacer glued in

 

Female Snaps riveted in using panel washers on front to stop them pulling through

 

Plastic Belt snapped onto Canvas Belt

 

Elastic straps riveted onto Drop Boxes (used large head rivets to stop them pulling through the strap)

 

Drop Boxes fitted to canvas belt using snaps

 

Male snaps on Ab Panel to hold belt level & square

 

I don't have a picture showing it but at this point I had glued the square buttons over the rivets holding the female snaps onto the plastic belt. I was happy with how it looked, however when I tried it on the outer snaps kept popping off the canvas belt as I curved it around my body. I think a combination of the room taken up by the rivet not allowing a firm snap, and the tension placed on the belt by the curve were the main issues. Another problem was the head of the female snap holding the drop boxes on putting pressure on the edge of the molded plastic belt. To combat this I moved the strap 10mm inboard to clear the edge of the plastic.

To combat this I drilled out the snaps on the plastic belt, taking care not to drill through into the square button. I then cut rectangle sections of ABS and riveted them onto the canvas belt though the holes that the original snaps were in. I used panel washers on the back of the belt and put the rivet in from the back so that it's domed head was smooth against the armor. I drilled out the rivet in the plastic belt and carved a domed indent into the back of the plastic to allow clearence for the new rivet.

Once I was happy with the placment of these ABS panels I glued them to the plastic belt in the same position the original snaps were in. This allowed the plastic belt to be held firmly to the canvas even when curved and prevents it pulling off the canvas anymore.

 

 

The ABS panel showing the rivet, the domed indent in the plastic to clear it, and the relocated drop box snap.

 

The backside of the canvas belt showing the domed rivet head & the panel washer to stop it pulling through the canvas.

 

Belt showing all 3 ABS panels riveted into place.

 

Shows the Plastic Belt glued onto the ABS Strips riveted to the Canvas belt (glued into the same spots the snaps were originally.

 

Front view of finished belt with drop boxes installed.

 

Back view of finished belt.

 

Holster fitted to canvas belt as per dimensions off of this sight (showing distance of strap from plastic, gap between belt & top of holster, width of straps ect.

 

 

Showing completed belt fitted over Ab Panel

 

Showing completed belt from holster side.

Edited December 20, 2012 by BIDS

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Coming along nicely, looks like you may have left a bit too much material on your outer cover buttons on the belt, they look bigger than the centre one. Keep up the good work

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Sniper Plate

 

The Plate fits really well especially compared to some I've seen, so just a quick clean up with sand paper, a trial fit and then glued away :-

 

Pictures showing the amount of Clamps required to get the plate to sit flush.

 

Pictures showing the Plate glued into position.

 

 

Close-up pictures showing the nice flush fit on the sides of the plate.

 

 

UPDATE - Thigh Battery Pack

 

The Battery Pack does not go as far around the thigh as some I've seen (the reference pic I was using shows the ends of the pack level with the back corners of the thigh).

It only goes as far as the 2nd corner but still looks neat. It also has some round molds in the top corners so I drilled through these to fit the rivets (used the rivets supplied by SeanTrooper here on FISD).

After drilling the holes in the battery pack panel I lined it up on the thigh and marked through the hole one side at a time. Once I had one side riveted I marked the opposite side and drilled it before riveting.

I used the Brass Anvil (female side) from my snap set to sit the domed head of the rivet in, and then punched the inside of the rivet using the punch out of the same set. This set the rivet securely and gave a nice neat finish.

 

 

 

UPDATE - Test Fit 27/12/12

 

Put the full suit on to check fit with the new components. After uploading the pictures I can see I've let the right shoulder bell creep up to high (it may have even slipped out of the strap) so I'll have to check that next time I suit up. Also the belt is sitting too high at the back, but once again something I can check next time I'm wearing it. I think the foam/velcro in the shin & top of the boot will lift them slightly which should cut down some of the black showing at the back of the knees.

 

Still have the following to do :-

 

* Crotch Strap

* Crotch Male Snaps & Split Rivet

* Ab Male Snap

* Paint Ab Buttons (bought the paint & brushes today)

* Complete Thermal Detonator (until I can find a Grappling Hook to replace it)

* Put velcro on tops of boots to stop shins rotating

* Fit foam in Shins & Thighs to improve fit

* Replace Undersuit (to get rid of visible logo on chest)

* Fit Ab/Kidney Side Split Rivets (will probably hold off on these until I've figured out how to shim

the sides for EIB/Centurion.

* Still got to paint the heads of the rivets on the thigh pack

 

Update Helmet with :-

 

* Hand Painted Vocoder

* Hand Painted Decals

* Permanently fix Bubble Lenses.

* Fit Helmet Fans

* Install Static Burst Kit

 

Edited December 27, 2012 by BIDS

[Dday[501st]]

Looking good man!

 

You did the exact thing I have been talking about for the rt belt, it looks great how you modded it.

 

In the test fit photos your belt is way to low... Not sure if it wasn't affixed or something. The top of the abs should be right at the bottom of the ab buttons, so you don't see the entire ab button plate.

 

Looks like with a few small tweaks! You're ready for approval!

[BIDS[TK]]

Thanks Derrek, I appreciate the feedback. I had put the belt dead centre over the split between the ab/cod, but I can see now it's a bit low. Just put a coat on some of the ab buttons, have left them to dry. I've used a stencil around the button and need these to dry before I do the ones in the middle. Not coming up too bad considering I've never painted stuff by hand before.

 

Cheers

Craig

[TK-42779[501st]]

Holy moly, this WIP makes me both excited and REALLY nervous to get my kit from Rob. Looks fantastic, great job so far.

[Dday[501st]]

Yeah, since RT used a split cod, you basically align the split near the bottom of the ABS belt, otherwise it looks way to low and doesn't sit right. I would suggest 100% that you bring it up as it really doesn't look right as it is now.

[Dday[501st]]

Stensils are the BOMB! Makes even hacks like us look like a professional!

[BIDS[TK]]

Holy moly, this WIP makes me both excited and REALLY nervous to get my kit from Rob. Looks fantastic, great job so far.

 

Thanks Tony, you won't be dissapointed mate, Rob's kit is awesome. Looking forward to seeing your build thread, good luck, enjoy the ride.

[BIDS[TK]]

Yeah, since RT used a split cod, you basically align the split near the bottom of the ABS belt, otherwise it looks way to low and doesn't sit right. I would suggest 100% that you bring it up as it really doesn't look right as it is now.

 

Yep will do, I hadn't realised how low it was sitting in the front compared to the back until I looked through these photo's.

 

Stensils are the BOMB! Makes even hacks like us look like a professional!

 

Had a little trouble with bleed through on the stencil, but have cleaned up and touched up freehand, probably looks more authentic now anyway, a little messy.

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Ab Buttons & Crotch Split Rivet

 

After polishing the Ab Panel to clean it up I gave the bottons a light sand & wiped them over with thinners to prepare them for painting. I used some CD/DVD labels for templates for the ab buttons. the hole in the centre of them was the right size so I could simply cut the label down to the right size so it could sit flat around the button being painted. I painted the blue buttons first, followed by the top grey buttons, then the middle (allowing drying time between each so that the next template didn't damage the paint).

I did have a little trouble with paint bleed through on some of the templates so a tidy up with thinner soaked ear buds, and a hand paint here and there fixed that.

 

The Adhesive CD/DVD Label

 

Templates ready for Blue Paint

 

Blue Buttons Painted & first Grey as well

 

Buttons Completed

 

 

UPDATE - Crotch Split Rivet

 

Brass Split Rivet installed in the Crotch Panel

 

 

 

UPDATE - Helmet Upgrade

 

 

I removed the RT-Mod decal from the vocoder and hand painted it. I also removed the neat decals & replaced them with Trooper Bay's "Hand Painted Emulation" Decal Kit. While doing this I also removed the black ear rank decals fitted by RT-Mod & painted them by hand as well. Once the vocoder paint was dry I replaced the standard neck seal with an "S-Trim" style instead.

 

Hand Painted Vocoder

 

"Hand Painted Emulation" Tears & Tube Stripes

 

Hand Painted Ear Rank Bars

 

"Hand Painted Emulation" rear Trap's.

 

S-Trim Neck Seal

 

 

 

 

Still have the following to do :-

 

* Crotch Strap

* Butt Plate Male Snaps & Split Rivet

* Ab Male Snap

* Paint Ab Buttons (bought the paint & brushes today)

* Complete Thermal Detonator (until I can find a Grappling Hook to replace it)

* Put velcro on tops of boots to stop shins rotating

* Fit foam in Shins & Thighs to improve fit

* Replace Undersuit (to get rid of visible logo on chest)

* Fit Ab/Kidney Side Split Rivets (will probably hold off on these until I've figured out how to shim

the sides for EIB/Centurion.

* Still got to paint the heads of the rivets on the thigh pack

 

Update Helmet with :-

 

* Hand Painted Vocoder

* Hand Painted Decals

* Permanently fix Bubble Lenses.

* Fit Helmet Fans

* Install Static Burst Kit

Edited December 29, 2012 by BIDS

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Going well there trooper, have you checked with using the ATA helmet if the last two teeth gaps have to be filled, I wasn't sure and I will be making a hero converion for my ATA build later so I can troop as either stunt or hero

[BIDS[TK]]

Going well there trooper, have you checked with using the ATA helmet if the last two teeth gaps have to be filled, I wasn't sure and I will be making a hero converion for my ATA build later so I can troop as either stunt or hero

 

Mine is RT-Mod, but the same issue with the extra molds for the Hero teeth. I've spoken to Mathais regarding this and his reply was "it's strongly recommended to fill the holes", so I'll be doing this shortly.

 

My plan is to mix up some ABS sludge using Acetone & shaved ABS scrap, but I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm going to try a test run on some scrap ABS that I'll drill a hole in so see how I go with a colour match. I've got wet & dry down to as fine as 2000grit so once it's dry I plan to sand it, and then use the 3 stage Novus polish and see how I go.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Mine is RT-Mod, but the same issue with the extra molds for the Hero teeth. I've spoken to Mathais regarding this and his reply was "it's strongly recommended to fill the holes", so I'll be doing this shortly.

 

My plan is to mix up some ABS sludge using Acetone & shaved ABS scrap, but I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm going to try a test run on some scrap ABS that I'll drill a hole in so see how I go with a colour match. I've got wet & dry down to as fine as 2000grit so once it's dry I plan to sand it, and then use the 3 stage Novus polish and see how I go.

I meant to type RT but put ATA. I was also thinking of using the abs sludge method but I will be doing a trial first. If all else fails and the fill is noticeable I had thought of painting all the teeth white first then the grey over the top, as there is a ridge outside the teeth I don't think the white would really show up much. Will keep and eye on your build and see how you go, good luck

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Butt Plate Snaps Installed & Crotch Strap Finished

 

I installed the Male Snaps in the Butt Plate, drilling the holes just big enough for the snap stem to fig snugly. As there is the thinkness of ABS to allow for, instead of sewing velcro to nylon to make a glue on snap plate, I simply glued the velcro directly to the ABS so that the snap stem had enough meat to rivet cleanly.

 

I made the snap plate for the crotch plate the same as normal with the nylon base and glued it in.

 

The crotch strap is the same H/D non-roll elastic as I used for the shoulder bell straps.

 

External view of the Crotch Split Rivet & Butt Plate Male Snaps

 

Snap Plate on Crotch

 

Male Snaps & Velcro on Butt Plate

 

Crotch Strap

 

 

Still have the following to do :-

 

* Crotch Strap

* Butt Plate Male Snaps & Split Rivet

* Ab Male Snap

* Paint Ab Buttons (bought the paint & brushes today)

* Complete Thermal Detonator (until I can find a Grappling Hook to replace it)

* Put velcro on tops of boots to stop shins rotating

* Fit foam in Shins & Thighs to improve fit

* Replace Undersuit (to get rid of visible logo on chest)

* Fit Ab/Kidney Side Split Rivets (will probably hold off on these until I've figured out how to shim

the sides for EIB/Centurion.

* Still got to paint the heads of the rivets on the thigh pack

 

Update Helmet with :-

 

* Hand Painted Vocoder

* Hand Painted Decals

* Permanently fix Bubble Lenses.

* Fit Helmet Fans

* Install Static Burst Kit

Edited December 29, 2012 by BIDS

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That list is getting smaller, now about those teeth LOL

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Test Fit

 

 

 

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

How tall are you brotherman? And what's your inseam?

 

-Eric

[BIDS[TK]]

How tall are you brotherman? And what's your inseam?

 

-Eric

 

6' Tall & 29" Inseam.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, you do seem to have a bit of a twist in the knee ammo pack, not sure if its just the photo, I had to give mine a little heat then glue in postion. You have some writting showing on the left side of your chest, make sure this is not showing when you go for approval. Try a little foam behind your knee to keep your sniper plate away from your thigh. Nearly there

[BIDS[TK]]

Looking good, you do seem to have a bit of a twist in the knee ammo pack, not sure if its just the photo, I had to give mine a little heat then glue in postion. You have some writting showing on the left side of your chest, make sure this is not showing when you go for approval. Try a little foam behind your knee to keep your sniper plate away from your thigh. Nearly there

 

Thanks for the tip's mate, it's nice to have another set of eye's looking over it. I actually think the whole thigh has rotated a little in the pictures, will look at that. I plan on replace that undersuit with a model with the double zip, but with care I should be able to use it for the approvals, will just have to double check the logo before pictures. I'll be taking the approval shots at a mates house as he's got a good SLR, and I'll have some foam to fine tune the legs as I think I need some on the thighs as well.

 

Thanks again.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I found the same with mine, amazing what another set of eyes can see. Good luck with the photo's hope to see you approved soon

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Without shots of the back I can't really tell but it looks like your ab/cod maybe needs to come up a bit. It is super common with RT even with troopers like you with long torsos. Tough to tell without seeing how your back bits line up.

 

-Eric

[BIDS[TK]]

UPDATE - Thermal Detonator

 

As I still haven't managed to find the Grappling Hook that I so badly wanted to use on my Hero I have surrendered and decided it was time to assemble the Thermal Detonator.

 

White Parts Cleaned up & ready to fit

 

I used Jesse' (TK4702) great tutorial on YouTube to make the Alloy Belt Clips :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1zeqNW11hw&feature=g-list&list=PLMLLSjdqV41KdkpeXplCpCRQvEbIiasE_

 

I made the mistake of assuming he used 25mm X 3mm alloy as that's what it looked like in the video. It was going OK right up until I'd drilled the holes and attached them to the pipe to start the bend. After much grunting & groaning and some sore thumbs I watched the video again and after seeing how easily Jesse formed his, I realized that he's either the strongest man in the world, or I had alloy too thick.

I finally managed to find some thinner alloy, but had to go to 20mm X 1.6mm which worked out ok as they fit quite nicely, and I now feel like the strongest man in the world

 

Here are the Clips attached to the Pipe with Tech Screws before painting

 

I left the clips a little long so I could put a return hook on the bottom to avoid any light fingered fans

 

Once I was happy with the Clips I sanded the pipe smooth and then applied a coat of plastic primer, followed by the grey topcoat. Pretty happy with how it came up as I'm not a painter

 

I then fitted the white parts and test fitted the detonator on the belt, pretty happy considering it's my first try. It will keep me going until I get hold of a grappling hook to replace it with

 

Now I need to finish off the foam for the Calves & Thighs to get them sitting where I'm happy, and adjust a couple of straps.