Mandoman's NE ANH Stunt build

[mandoman]

Hello!
I figured I'd go ahead and start my build thread now, hopefully it's in the right section, haha. I received my CAP helmet kit from Scootch yesterday, and just got my NE armor kit today, so an exciting couple of days! I'm currently in giddy schoolgirl mode right now, but once I recover I'll be updating this thread with my build. This is my first fully armored costume, so it will definitely be a journey!

CAP helmet kit


Obligatory big brown box pic


Unpacking some of it to try it on, so far everything is fitting nicely


Unfortunate it's time to head to work, so I'll have visions if shiny troopers dancing through my head today.

Edited August 10, 2013 by mandoman

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Awesome can't wait to see the build process, good luck

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Good choice on the Scootch bucket. Good luck on your build. Let us know if there's any help you need.

 

Aloha,

 

-Eric

[mandoman]

Okay, quick question while I'm still at work. I'll need to trim the shins and thighs height-wise to fit my short hobbit legs. Would I trim off the tops of the thighs and the bottoms of the shins?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That is what I would recommend that way you keep the ridges on both the pieces

[mandoman]

Got a little bit of work done on the helmet today.  I'm hoping to get the ears trimmed out and attached tomorrow.  Just wanted to see if I was on the right track?  The brow looks a little lopsided so I'm guessing I didn't get the sides aligned right, but it doesn't bother me too much.  What do people usually do with the uneven edges on the bottom sides?  Do I trim off the front half to match the back half or will the rubber trim cover that?  I'm thinking I should trim it down a bit so they match a little better where the meet up.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2013 by mandoman

[TK5144[TK]]

once you get your ears lined up it will be easier to see where to trim around the neck seal

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/14154-building-a-styrene-anh-helmet-with-cap-w/

[TK5144[TK]]

look at the 14th picture down on this page of this thread... (although you should read the whole thread!)

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/2066-te2-stunt-build-upte/page-3

 

that is where to cut where he put the pencil lines

[TK5144[TK]]

try this

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh309/appstro/100_5788.jpg

[mandoman]

That's perfect, thank you!

[TK5144[TK]]

? progress ?

[TK5144[TK]]

Hello?  Any progress?

[mandoman]

Sorry about the lack of progress, got a little overwhelmed and intimidated the more I thought about putting it all together. I'm getting back into it now though, already started trimming the leg parts down for the front cover strips.

 

I'm wanting to get it all put together and roughly fitted by June 7th for a local charity event. I'm not going to rush anything, so if I don't get done in time then I'll just be that much closer. I have an almost non-existent social life so I'll have a lot of time, haha.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Way to go Chris!  Just remember to take pics of what you're doing, and post here with them and any questions you have.  You're not alone on this build!

[mandoman]

I'll get some pics of some trimmed parts up tomorrow hopefully.

 

I did have one quick question about something that's worrying me, but might be a normal thing. I have one side of each of the right forearm pieces trimmed for a cover strip, but when I put them together the forearm looks really oval. It fits, but when I glue the cover strip it'll likely have some tension put on it. Is e6000 going to hold that well? It seems like it will always be under tension and I fear it would come apart at the worst time.

[TK5144[TK]]

I'll get some pics of some trimmed parts up tomorrow hopefully.

 

I did have one quick question about something that's worrying me, but might be a normal thing. I have one side of each of the right forearm pieces trimmed for a cover strip, but when I put them together the forearm looks really oval. It fits, but when I glue the cover strip it'll likely have some tension put on it. Is e6000 going to hold that well? It seems like it will always be under tension and I fear it would come apart at the worst time.

 

clamp it good with clamps or magnets while the e6000 is drying.

let it dry 24 hours before touching it .  it will hold.

 

the good thing about e6000 is if you dont like how it turns out, you can forcefully rip it up without damaging your plastic and re-do.

 

Im glad to see you are finally getting back to making your armor, Chris!

[maxsteele[TK]]

I'll get some pics of some trimmed parts up tomorrow hopefully.

 

I did have one quick question about something that's worrying me, but might be a normal thing. I have one side of each of the right forearm pieces trimmed for a cover strip, but when I put them together the forearm looks really oval. It fits, but when I glue the cover strip it'll likely have some tension put on it. Is e6000 going to hold that well? It seems like it will always be under tension and I fear it would come apart at the worst time.

 

The right forearm is 100% oval-shaped.

 

 

 

e6000 is very good glue.  Here's what I did for my cover strips, and specifically for my forearms:

 

I had similar issues with my forearms.  I didn't use an inside cover strip on them.  I did use inside strips for the shins and thighs, but still used this method for the outer strips on those pieces:

 

First, I got the cover strip in place after applying glue.  Next, I clamped each edge with either spring clamps or c-clamps, depending on how much pressure I needed to put in order to make the edges sit flush.  Next, I placed a series of tape strips perpendicular to the strip, first affixing half the tape on one side of the strip, and then cinching down the other half of the tape across the strip and down on the other side to the armor.  I did that down the entire length of the strip.  Finally, I put my 3/4 inch magnets at regular spacing down the whole length of the strip.

 

For my forearms where I just couldn't get the pressure, I did the c-clamps on the edges and then tape.  Then, I tied three pieces of elastic around the forearm at the ends and the middle, and pulled each one really tight and tied them off.  Then I put down the magnets.  This pic doesn't have the elastic that I tied around, but you get the idea of how I taped it and used the magnets.  All my magnets are wrapped with tape to prevent chips and scratches.  This pic I'm using the normal spring clamps on the edges, but this was after I had an issue with getting the cover strips to sit down properly.  The c-clamps on the edges helped a lot.

 

Edited May 10, 2014 by maxsteele

[mandoman]

Awesome, thanks guys! I thought I had trimmed too much off. I'll be making use of that awesome advice when I start gluing those one. I think I'll start with the leg cover strips, they seem to fit together better and should be easier so I can get the hang of it.

[mandoman]

Got some progress pictures!

 

Trimmed down the excess plastic on the sides of the chest plate.

 

 

 

Trimmed the sides of the back/kidney plate.

 

 

Also started marking off and trimming the fronts of the thighs and shins for the cover strips.

 

 

 

Does this look like the right amount to trim from the cod?

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

There ya go!  Now you're making some real progress!  Cuts on the chest and the front of the shins look good.  I also hit my edges with some 60 grit sandpaper to really sand them smooth.

 

For the cod piece cuts, that was difficult for me to size up properly.  I looked at several different builds and different angles to determine exactly how far down they cut their cod.  This is where I decided to cut mine at, and it's been good:

 

 

 

Here are two side shots so you can see where I came down to:

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2014 by maxsteele

[mandoman]

Awesome, looks like I'm pretty close on my cut mark for the cod.  I think I marked mine a bit bigger, but I can trim it down if I need to.

 

I'll start cutting out some cover strips tomorrow, and hopefully start gluing them to the shins/thighs.  I'll only be able to do one side for now, I have magnets on order that should come in Tuesday/Wednesday so I can glue the two halves together.  Is it the norm to glue the halves together at the front, and then trim down the backs afterwards?  I think I remember seeing that you did that in your build, but I may be competely wrong.

 

Just got a package with a couple sheets of ABS that I'll be using to reinforce the insides of the cover strip areas.  I'm a little paranoid about stuff being as sturdy as I can make it, so I may go a bit overkill on some stuff, haha.

 

In slightly related news, I have a HyperFirm E-11 on order, plus ordered a 1-piece undersuit (I'd go 2-piece, but I've got a bit of a gut, and I'm afraid a skin tight shirt might start riding up to reveal my fleshy mass, haha), and hopefully will be ordering a rivit set and neck seal soon.

Edited May 10, 2014 by mandoman

[maxsteele[TK]]

I trimmed the fronts, taped / used magnets to hold them together on the butt join, then sized in the back and trimmed.   After that, I glued the fronts together and did another fitting, found where I could tighten the pieces up more in the back, and trimmed more.

 

I found it was easier to trim the back parts when the pieces weren't glued together in the front because they're not attached to each other and you can flip them around and position them for better trimming.  If you do that method, definitely take another test fit for the back joins after gluing the fronts down to make sure the pieces still fit the way you want them.

[mandoman]

Started trimming up the left forearm. I think I'm pretty close to getting it fitting right. One thing I noticed though is the the wrist opening is kinda big (I have kinda tiny wrists) but I don't thing I can taper the pieces to have a smaller opening, can I? Then the cover strips will have to be tapered too, at least the one that goes on the molded ridges. I do still have to trim off the front at the wrist to fit my short arms, probably taking off a couple of the rectangle indent things to get it to fit length wise.

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

First, don't shorten the piece with the molded details.  From your first pic, you can bring the forearm up higher on your arm.  You can also bring down the return edge on the outer part of the forearm, and remove the return edge completely from the inner part.

 

 

I hadn't taken down that outer return edge yet in this pic, but I made it about half the width that it is here.  I had already taken off the return edge on the inside piece.

 

 

As for tapering, you can certainly do that.  Keep the front molded ridges at 7mm / 7mm.  The trimming to fit will happen on the other sides, where there isn't any molded parts.  That's where you can make it fit to your arm.  Just make sure you can still get your hand in and out of the opening at the wrist end.

 

 

 

Also, don't size the forearms until you have the return edge at the wrist ends completely removed, and completed the modifications to the return edges at the elbow sides that you want to do.

Edited May 11, 2014 by maxsteele