Maxsteele's New NE Armor Build

[pandatrooper[TK]]

With everything still clamped, run a heat gun on low along the length of the forearm about an inch or so away from the seam. Do this along the other seam too.

 

This will soften the plastic slightly and you will get some better alignment. Make sure you have removed the return edge on the wrist and left just a bit at the elbow as this will prevent the forearm from reshaping.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Yes, I have the return edges removed on the wrist end and have a bit at the elbow end.  

 

Oh dear, a heat gun...  I was hoping to avoid using that.  It makes me nervous because there's a very real chance of messing up the plastic.  Guess I need to get a heat gun....  Should I see the gap close up while I'm using the gun?  I have never purchased or used a heat gun before.  What type should I get?

 

Also, when you say:  "Along the other seam" , do you mean the other side of the finishing strip that has the gap, or the other finishing strip where both sides have already been glued together?

Edited January 17, 2014 by maxsteele

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Most people that make deadly mistakes with a heat gun do two things:

 

- get impatient and run it too hot

- hold it too close

- hold it on one spot and not a larger area (even when you want to fix one thing, you need to heat a much larger area)

- aren't paying attention before it's too late

 

I use a heat gun all the time, and you really only need to use it once in a while.  First, get one that has 2 heat settings: high and low. Pretty much always use low. You could try and use a hair dryer but it's usually not hot enough. I have heard of people using hot / boiling water, but that's too much trouble for me.

 

Hold the gun on "low" setting and run it back and forth, not in a straight line but "direct" it on one path, then move it along an inch or two below the first area, then move it back, etc. What you're doing is heating an area along the path. If you do it in a single straight line, you'll feel the plastic bend along that line. You don't want that, you almost want to heat that whole side of the forearm.

When I say other side, I mean the opposite side (what's already glued). What you are doing is just softening the overall shape a bit so that you can get some better closure. 

I have build a good number sets of armor now, and almost everyone required heating especially the calves if you want them to shut nicely. You can rely on elastic hooks or velcro, but if you don't want them to spring closed - I just heat them up.  That's just the way I do it, others might do it differently. I'm sure the armor makers using thinner plastic don't have to worry about this.

[The5thHorseman[TK]]

Edit: Panda handled it

Edited January 17, 2014 by The5thHorseman

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, thanks guys.  I may defer the heat gun method to a member of my garrison that is more comfortable using one, since I've never even seen a heat gun, let alone use one.

 

I'll probably just continue with my build on other pieces, and the ones I come across where I have this issue again I'll save for getting heat-gunned.

 

Terry - it is good to hear that you have had to use a heat gun a lot for armor assembly.  It makes me feel like I'm not running into a problem that I shouldn't be.  

[pandatrooper[TK]]

I use it more than others because I have a slim build and I'm 5 foot 8.5" so I need to resize parts to fit me. Most troopers don't need to heat much of anything.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I'm also getting suggestions for using more magnets, but the current 1/2" round magnets I"m using are stacked 3 and 3 on each end, and they're n48, so they're pretty strong.

 

Are there other stronger magnets I could use in this setup to pull those gaps together?  I'd be willing to get some more if I knew what I should get.  Would maybe the square magnets work better than the circular ones?

 

And yeah, I have a slimmer build in my arms than most people.  I can fit my thumb and forefinger around my wrist.    So I definitely had to trim my forearms more than an average person.

Edited January 18, 2014 by maxsteele

[pandatrooper[TK]]

They make rare earth magnets in 3/4" and 1".I have seen square ones too.

 

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32065&cat=1,42363,42348&ap=1

[maxsteele[TK]]

I'm looking at getting two sets of these:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Strongest-CMS-Magnetics%C2%AE-Neodymium-8-Count/dp/B008CS8MI4/ref=pd_sbs_indust_7

 

They're 1/2", but they're cubes, they're n52, and they have a pull force of 29lb!

 

I'm wondering if a combination of the c-clamps on the outside, and these stronger magnets, I may be able to pull that gap in enough.  It's not that there's a ton of resistance.  I can push a gap down with my finger pretty well.

 

Before pushing down with my finger:

 

 

 

After pushing down:

 

 

 

And that's without having much force pushing back on the other side.  I think if I had some stronger magnets, it would pull that gap in and take care of my issue.

 

I also think that using square magnets would sit in the space better than larger round ones.  What do you think? 

 

EDIT:

 

These are the round magnets, but they are 3/8", and they have 10lb of pull force, which is 4lb more than the 1/2" ones I currently own.

 

http://www.amazon.com/CMS-Magnetics%C2%AE-Neodymium-Magnet-10-Count/dp/B00BWUUOG2/ref=sr_1_14?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1390012314&sr=1-14&keywords=3%2F4%22+magnet

 

I'm wondering if I should go with the 3/4" round, or the 1/2" cube....

 

EDIT #2:

 

I'm going with the 1/2" cube.  I bought two sets of them.  Thanks everyone for the replies!

Edited January 18, 2014 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

Well, I got those 1/2" cube n52 magnets today.

 

First of all, I'm sending them back.  They are correct when they say they have a pull strength of 29 pounds.  I was scared working with these things.  I don't really feel safe having these around the house.  They are no joke.  

 

Second, using these insanely powerful magnets did not pull my gap in at all.  Because this is the molded ridge side I'm trying to glue together, they fit right into the inside groove and don't apply the pressure where I need them to.  My other magnets would have been fine if this inside ridge wasn't there.  When I build my right forearm, I will start with gluing the strip down on the molded side first, and then the non-molded side to get a better ABS-to-ABS seal.  Here's what it looks like using these very powerful magnets:

 

 

 

 

 

See that ridge on the left side of the upper inside of the forearm?  The same type of ridge is on the right side where the magnets are sitting, and that's why that gap cannot be closed.

 

At this point, if I were to use heat, I would need to heat up the side on the side of the forearm that I already glued, in order to give it more of a bend and possibly make it easier to close the gap and glue the pieces together.

 

I may have to try and get some more experienced armor builders in my local garrison involved at this point.  I'm starting to feel out of my element.

Edited January 25, 2014 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

It's time for some thigh and shin return edge trimming!

 

Here's a comparison of two parts of one of my shins.  This is how small I'm going with the return edges on the tops of my shins:

 

[TK5144[TK]]

hey!  what happened to the forearm gap conclusion!

the suspense is killing me!

 

seriously - to me the gap is not enough to be concerned with.  

 

shin trimming looks good to me.  when you test fit you might find you want to take a little more off on the top of the shins

[maxsteele[TK]]

Derek - haha!  I'm having a local trooper come over this evening to try and solve the forearm gap.  

 

For the shins, the shin piece on the right is the one I trimmed to 5mm wide.  I think that'll be a good shin return edge width.  Especially compared to the 10-15mm width that it was!  The shin piece on the left was a comparison to show how big the return edge was before I started trimming.  I trimmed the left piece down to the same width as the right one.

 

I had started cutting to fit before I trimmed down the return edges.  Hopefully tonight I can finish with the measuring and get the shins and thighs cut to fit and ready to glue.

 

Speaking of thighs, here's another comparison shot of two sides of a thigh piece.  The left piece has an untrimmed top return edge, and the right piece has been trimmed to 5mm wide:

 

Edited January 30, 2014 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

Here's the bottom return edge of the thigh -  untrimmed on the left, trimmed on the right:

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Had a fellow Trooper-to-be come over yesterday and did some initial test fitting shots.  The thigh and shin pieces are shown in their final fitting arrangement.  I need to do the last cuts in the back and then glue on the cover strips.  

 

Warning - tons of photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some shots holding up the thigh piece with the other pieces to see fit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the fit of the left and right shins:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, here are shots of the thigh fitting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those thighs are definitely pulled up as high as I can pull them up.  I am 5'10", so I'm hoping that I don't have to cut any off the top.  I really don't want to go down that road....

Edited January 31, 2014 by maxsteele

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Looks good so far. Wow, I didn't know the sides of the ab piece flared out so much.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Looks good so far. Wow, I didn't know the sides of the ab piece flared out so much.

Do you mean how it flares down to a point at the bottom of the side piece for the ab? If so, then yeah, NE armor certainly does that. It's just never really noticed because the belt covers it up. The lengths of the pieces from the ab and the butt that go between the legs are really long also and I'll need to trim those up.

 

It does look though that I won't be trimming much from the side ab pieces. I'm going to need that extra to make the connection on the sides to the kidney plate. Maybe once I get the belt and cinch it up, there will be a noticeable overlap and I can trim it up then. But this test fit seems to tell me I'll need it there. We'll see when I start getting the strap system set up.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I've made the final trims to my thighs.  Here's how they're fitting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two ridges I need to trim down at the top of the rear cut lines, where one side is a bit higher than the other.  Once I make that taper, they'll be a bit more comfortable.  RIght now the fit feels nice and they seem to be the right length from where they come to on the tops, and where they are above the knee at the bottoms.

Edited February 4, 2014 by maxsteele

[Haribon72[TK]]

Keep up the great work!  This NE armor is really tough.   I'm working on the abs and kidney right now.  My thighs took awhile to work on as well. 

[Haribon72[TK]]

Ron, make sure the thighs are centered as well as the back.  Use the cover strip method. Its better looking that the overlap.  It will help you center the thighs better.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Ron, make sure the thighs are centered as well as the back.  Use the cover strip method. Its better looking that the overlap.  It will help you center the thighs better.

 

Yeah, I'm using the cover strip method.  I've had that in mind since the beginning of the build.  Where I have the tape is where my cut lines are.  

 

I just noticed in these pics that I have the thighs rotated too much to the outside.  I'll take a front pic with the thighs rotated properly.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I tried taking as good a pic as I could myself, while flexing my legs to keep the thighs from sliding down.  Here's the shot I got:

 

 

 

 

That's how the thighs fit on me.  Looking at this Stromtrooper line-up, it seems the height of the peak at the top of the thighs in front is both directly in-line with the legs as well as off to the side.  What I'm seeing is it's a puzzle piece, where the thigh fits into the curve of the cod area.  Some troopers have it straight up and down, and it leaves some more black showing.  Others have it rotated a bit more to the outside, which makes it fit with the curves on the other piece.

 

 

RIght now, my thighs have been trimmed to fit, and I don't think there's much more I can do to alter them on how they fit on my legs.  I've also looked at a couple of other NE builds, and it seems to be in-line with how they have their thighs as well.

[Locitus[Admin]]

The thighs shipped with NE are actually of the older AM design, which aren't shaped to fit around the cod like the original thighs were. The TK on the front row, second from the left with the incorrectly assembled shin is a good example of how the thigh tops curve around the cod.

 

In your case you will have to trim them to shape or just not wear them as high up the legs, but that in itself would also look a little wrong, although most people wear them like that.

[maxsteele[TK]]

The thighs shipped with NE are actually of the older AM design, which aren't shaped to fit around the cod like the original thighs were. The TK on the front row, second from the left with the incorrectly assembled shin is a good example of how the thigh tops curve around the cod.

 

In your case you will have to trim them to shape or just not wear them as high up the legs, but that in itself would also look a little wrong, although most people wear them like that.

 

Thanks for the background!  I've been pushing my creative abilities to the limits with this whole armor build, and trimming the tops of the thighs to shape feels a little out of reach for me at the moment.  If it won't cost me base approval, and I don't believe it will, I'll probably stick with the current shape and position of the thighs.

 

Fortunately, because nothing else attaches to the tops of the thighs (with the exception of some elastic for setting up a strap system to keep the thighs up), I can come back to alter the thighs if necessary.

[maxsteele[TK]]

After several weeks of having some hand surgery, I have started back on my build.

 

I started gluing the last connection for my right forearm.  With the resistance on the pieces, I put the e6000 glue down, used c-clamps on the edges, then I used tape to push down the finishing strip around the forearm, then magnets to push down.

 

After 24 hours, 2/3 of the finishing strip glued down nicely and connected the two pieces together.  1/3 of the strip didn't make it and there is a pretty big gap.

 

Since I have nothing else really to use for clamping down (the clamps I have won't reach into where the gap is), I have tried to put some krazy glue into the gap, then I c-clamped the corner again, re-taped it down for some downward force, and put magnets on top.

 

I'm going to leave it like that for several hours, and see what it looks like.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do if this doesn't close up that gap.  I'll take some pics after I take the tape off to show what the gap looks like.

Edited February 28, 2014 by maxsteele