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James' MTK TK Armor Build


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Hello Everyone,

 

I am very excited to begin documenting the progress of my TK armor, but before I jump right into the armor Ill tell you a little more about me.  My name is James and I am from Orange County California (Anaheim area, you know... Disneyland, Anaheim Ducks, Angels Baseball and all that good stuff).  I am currently a full time student getting ready to graduate from California State University, Long Beach where I study Political Science and Government.

 

I have been a huge star wars fan since I was much younger and have always dreamed to become a member of the 501st, but untill recently that was no more than a dream.

 

 

Now to the armor....

 

I am excited to announce that I am the proud new owner of a MTK armor kit!!!!!  I purchased the kit about a month before christmas, but had to wait till Xmas untill I could actually open it up.  As of right now I am about a week into the build.  I seem to be making decent progress and I anticipate trying to keep this updated as possible.  As I mentioned before, since I have already begun the build, I figure that the first few posts and images will be more of a cluster and later it will seem to progress along.

 

Feel free to leave me any hints or tips, or anything for that matter as help and recommendations is always encouraged!

 

Thanks,

 

James

 

 

It appears all the files I have are to large to upload via the forum attachment capabilities.... I guess I will have to bust begin posting on a photo hosting site and simply use the link.  So untill I am able to get that up and running just think how spectacular it could be...... then divide that in half, and then that again.... and thats probably where Im at!  jk

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATED PHOTOS:  

JimTK1.jpg

 

JimTK2.jpg

Edited by Jim13csulb
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Congratulations James!

 

I too will be following in your footsteps.

 

Recently purchased a set of MTK armor as well and waiting for delivery. Been accumulating the miscellaneous items that go along with a build and of course, reading and reading and studying all the great builds here on FISD.

 

Look forward to your build photos and any suggestions you have for this particular armor. Good or bad I want to hear about it.

 

Keep up the grades even though I'm sure it's challenging with the big brown box staring at you. ;-)

 

Adam

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Hey everyone, so this uploading photos thing isnt working out to splendid for me.... However I have been taking pics all along the way. 

 

Heres is what the armor looked like when I first got it Christmas morning

 

IMG_1569.jpg

 

 

I first began by trying to assemble the arms, I went about this by following the online tutorials of Trooperbay's website!  they were a great help.  Unfortunately there is a bit of a gap in the videos between trimming the abb and torso and actually assembling that section.  If im not mistaken he states that his computer crashed and lost that section of the tutorial, but not to worry its a great help even missing a few parts.

 

I did not take a picture of the arms, I was to excited and totally forgot!  I was literally running around the day after X-mas with the forearm pieces on. I felt sooooo cool!

 

After that I went on to the shins,  I heard that they were going to be a bit tricky, but I think I managed to do pretty well on them.

 

IMG_1571.jpg

 

It looks a little off in that pic, but not really off too much in person.  I did however make my first mistake here..... I used a split rivet to hold it on there.  Im going to have to get approved, then take it apart, fill the hole and put it on with glue to get my EIB certification.  

 

IMG_1572.jpg

 

 

 

I then did the thighes, but I did not actually finish them untill the rest of the pieces were trimmed and all that.  I was unsure of how to fit them to me properly so I simply taped them in the back for the longest time.

 

I moved on to the torso....

 

IMG_1573.jpg

 

 

 

Got this puppy all trimmed out and ready to go!

 

 

This is such an exciting project, and Im so happy to finally begin my mission of joining the 501st!

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PACKAGES ARRIVE!

 

IMG_1587.jpg

 

and

 

IMG_1618.jpg

 

The fist set of boxes contained a few items I needed. Ones fram amazon with a parachute bucket, snaps, and all that good stuff.  The other is from trooperbay and has my canvas belt, abb/kidney rivet things, some elastic, and the gloves.

 

The second as you can tell is my boots!  These come from tk boots and were not A quality, however when you put them on the slight warping at the top is not visible due to the shin armor, so a great find!  However I must say that I wish I knew they were going to ship out from Anaheim, CA as I intern at Anaheim City Hall for the City Manager's Office and could of picked up the package from the supplier and not had to pay the shipping cost, but owell.

 

I now have a few more items on order..... my neck seal from trooper bay and a few other nik naks.

 

Also got the template to make my holster!  woohoo!

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Next on my list is to get the bucket completed! 

 

Pre trim

IMG_1590.jpg

 

 

Trimmed the top of the face and the sides of it!

IMG_1591.jpg

 

 

Then trimmed the top/back.  I used the little S shape that I saw to trim it out.  It was kind of faint but it was there enough

IMG_1592.jpg

 

 

Then out came the teeth and eyes.  I am very handy with my dremel so I used that for a majority of the trimming. Following some other build threads, cutting the teeth from the back was simple.  I must say that I really like the  "twinky" shaped teeth similar to the pandatrooper build, so I went with that route.

IMG_1593.jpg

 

 

next came rivets on the sides, I used two one on the top and one on the bottom..... later I had to drill one out as one bottom one interfered with the screw for the ear

IMG_1594.jpg

 

 

Next I started to get some paint down!
IMG_1599.jpg

 

 

Put the mic tips in... I was kind of unsure about where exactly they go, I think I got them right, but then again what do I know lol

IMG_1602.jpg

 

 

Mouth mesh, I put this in with some hot glue.  Later I cut quite a bit off as it was scratching the bottom of my nose.

IMG_1603.jpg

 

 

Then I stuck my ears on... I didnt take any pictures of this but it was a long process.  I read somewhere that an experienced builder can do an ear in about 20-30 minutes..... let me just say that it took me quite a bit longer... heck alot longer for each ear.... I am pretty happy with how they came out tho!

IMG_1604.jpg

 

 

Stuck my decals on, the lens is in and it looks pretty good.  I must say that I mess something up though because apparently one side of tube stripes has an extra one.... and I couldnt get that one to fit.... so now they both have the same amount of stripes..

IMG_1606.jpg

 

 

I then bought a set of padding used in a military style helmet and stuck it in.  I have now replaced the round pad on top with a very thin pad from a ghetto bike helmet, now I have a better field of vision and its is much more comfortable.

IMG_1607.jpg

 

 

And I completed it for now......  dont mind my brothers finger in the bottom right hand corner..... hahahah

 

IMG_1610.jpg

 

Im happy with how it has came out and I cant wait to start trooping with it.  If you have any questions, comments, or want to yell at me for messing something up.... please let me know!!!!!

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So next thing I would like to share with you all is my thermal detonator thingy.....

 

my kit came witht he PVC pipe and white bits to assemble it, however there are no clips to hold it to the belt.  I knew this coming in and I am pretty crafty, or at least I tend to think I am.... so I decided to make my own.  I first went to Joanns..... they didnt have craft metal.....  went to michaels.... didnt have craft metal...... went to home depot, and they had aluminum.  I picked up a piece that is 1 in wide, 28 in long, and 1/8th in thick.  I thiught it was a bit thick, but its all they had.

 

Later in the day I went to target with my mother and stumbled acrossed some metal rulers.  These arent the one with cork on the back but were some sort of "trendy" new recycled ruler thing.  I bought two.... they are a hair (1/32 or 1/16th) bigger than an inch, but they will do.  As well they are a bit easier to bend and had a rather cool looking metallic color to them.

 

SO heres the build

 

First was to take off the numbers with some goof off, as well as get the intial bend in the piece

IMG_1661.jpg

 

 

Then I made the second bend at the top, I decided to use the thicker piece of aluminum to bend it around.

IMG_1659.jpg

sorry about it being a little blurry, I didnt notice till after I took it

 

 

then I cut the ends and sanded them to get any burs off.  Then went ahead and screwed it on with some lock washers inside

IMG_1662.jpg

 

 

Lastly I assembled the entire thing!

IMG_1665.jpg

 

 

Unfortunately the left side looks a little larger, so im going to have to go back and fix it.... but not to shabby for some rulers....

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Started test fitting pieces together.

 

This is my lower half....

IMG_1622.jpg

 

 

Then I threw on part of the top.  Please note that nothing is connected here, Im literally just holding it on

IMG_1598.png

 

And some of the top armor

IMG_1636.jpg

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Damn, is it all strapped together? That went so fast!!  :)

 

However, it looks like you've set the inner rivet of the ammo knee belt at the wrong place. It should be located on the thigh bottom ridge just like the outer rivet.

Also, your left biceps seems wider than the right one which is a bit disturbing.

 

But you did some really good job and overall you look very good!

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Looking great! Can't wait to see it all finalized. One question. On the helmet frown there are four obvious tooth gaps but on mine the left side has a small ambiguous 5th tooth gap near the end of the frown. Did yours?

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Looking great! Can't wait to see it all finalized. One question. On the helmet frown there are four obvious tooth gaps but on mine the left side has a small ambiguous 5th tooth gap near the end of the frown. Did yours?

Hey there Adam,

 

Yep my helmet kit had the 5th little inlet that could be cut to make a hole.... but I didnt cut it out.  I dont think we are supposed to.  Im not sure if its something wrong with the mold, or its on the original or what, but I just put some paint over the top of it and acted like it wasnt there at all!

 

-James

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Your build is coming along nicely! Good job. :)

 

And yes, you do not cut out that 5th indent; only 4 teeth per side for stunt. My helmet also has that "5th tooth" on the left side. (I'm guessing it's common on many types of armour.)

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