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Smaller/female armor advice?


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I'm looking to start putting together armor (or at least ordering the pieces of it?) and need some advice/direction.

 

I really, really want to go the ANH Hero direction (TK? still not really sure if I'm using the right terms, sorry...) but have been a little bit discouraged I guess because I'm small. I'm about 5'3" and 110 lbs, and also a girl. It doesn't really seem like there are that many going this route, but I'm hoping that somewhere out there there's another girl who's done this already. Just looking for advice on modifying armor to my body size/type and still having it look good. Anyone else done it? Know someone who has?

 

Side note: I tried on a few pieces, but they belong to someone who is significantly taller than me. It didn't seem like it would be impossible to trim things down to my size, but you never know.

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There are many girls who have done this before you. The thing that will come into play the most is your frame at 5'3", you might need some modifications to help your armor to fit comfortably. Or, if you don't want to mod the outside, I know another lady trooper who wears internal padding to fill out the suit from the inside.

 

Look at this build to see a suit custom fit for a smaller lady: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/25919-dianas-rs-props-build-anh-stunt/

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I knew i wasn't alone! There are some good resources out there if you know where to look, it seems like. I'm not going to get discouraged.

 

I think a combination of trimming (for height) and padding (for weight) looks like the best way to go.

 

Thank you!!

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You might be in luck... Someone is working on armor to fit 5ft-5.5ft.

 

I am 5'2'' and I went with AP as it was suggested for use short TKs. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/26674-ericias-ap-anh-tk-build/

 

My build is not nearly as detailed as Diana's [linked in previous post].

 

 

All in all... here are a list of my modifications to make AP armor fit my 5'2'' frame.

 

  • Trimmed a small amount off the bottom of the shins.
  • Removed two or three inches off the top of the thighs while following the curvature of the armor.
  • Add tapered cover strips to the back of my thighs since I have a wider bottom than most men lol
  • Trimmed an inch off the kidney
  • Trimmed two inches (one inch on both sides) length wise from the biceps and still had to overlap them significantly
  • Trimmed an inch and half from the end of the forearm and added foam inserts.
  • Trimmed the hand plates to fit my hands exactly
  • Separated the cod from the abs, removed an inch and put it back together with abs paste and epoxy
  • Add shims to the abs to meet the kidney flush.

Best of luck to ya girl!

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Awesome, thank you so much!! Good resource, and it's super helpful seeing your modifications all laid out like that. Did you have to reshape any of your pieces? That seems to be a concern with a lot of trimming as it can make things look flat.

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No. Not really.

 

Nothing really 'looses' its shape as long as you cut along the natural curvature of the armor, always trim on the end without the return edge/ridged edge.

 

I did however heat/bend out my cod, just a bit. its pretty big and was rubbing the inside of the thigh. so, I pulled it forward a bit.

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I'm not going to get discouraged.

 

 

Don't get discourage. 

 

There is always someone to help you here. Don't be shy to ask. I've had so much help with the Troopers on this board.

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Don't get discourage.

 

There is always someone to help you here. Don't be shy to ask. I've had so much help with the Troopers on this board.

 

Thanks!! Pretty much everyone I've talked to so far has been really helpful or at least encouraging. I'm excited to get started!

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I'm looking to start putting together armor (or at least ordering the pieces of it?) and need some advice/direction.

 

I really, really want to go the ANH Hero direction (TK? still not really sure if I'm using the right terms, sorry...) but have been a little bit discouraged I guess because I'm small. I'm about 5'3" and 110 lbs, and also a girl. It doesn't really seem like there are that many going this route, but I'm hoping that somewhere out there there's another girl who's done this already. Just looking for advice on modifying armor to my body size/type and still having it look good. Anyone else done it? Know someone who has?

 

Side note: I tried on a few pieces, but they belong to someone who is significantly taller than me. It didn't seem like it would be impossible to trim things down to my size, but you never know.

 

Since you are smaller, and interested in a hero suit, you might look into a luke suit. Since Mark Hamil is pretty short as well, they cut the chest plate on the bottom to fit with his shorter frame in the movie. Take a look at the film again and in the scenes where he is in trooper suit, pay attention to the chest piece he has. With some other lesser modifications you can get a suit that fits pretty well.

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