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ANH ATA armor build


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Hi everybody.

 

At the end of august a brown box knocked at my door.

When opened I've found a bunch of white plastic elements inside and, surprise, they told me that I could build a star wars' stormtrooper armor with them.

Incredible, isn't it.

 

So here we are.

 

The brown box®

1b.jpg

 

opened

2.jpg

 

And it's content, after a lightsaber duel with my son to make everything stay nice and clean on the floor (he wanted to wear it "straightaway")

 

IMG_5110.jpg

 

Now I've started trimming all the excess plastic, hoping to avoid a mess.

I'm taking as a guide some other's ATA builds, but I know the road to the dark side is full of obstacles so I'll need your help for sure.

After some try with lexan scissors, I've found my dimension in the "score and snap" technique, and I'm proceeding quite fast.

 

Please stay tuned for inevitable problems & questions. Every suggestion will be appreciated a lot, even little things that you would normally give for granted.

 

Enjoy with me this build, and thanks a lot in advance for your help.

 

Cheers,

Lorenzo

Edited by elleerre
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Congrats on your new armor.  I'm in the process of assembling my ATA armor.  It's been a process so far between reading all the threads on here, reading more threads,  and then reading some more just to make sure I'm doing it right.  Not to mention reading and researching some more when I second guess myself.  I'm about 75% done with it so far.  At first I trimmed most of the pieces with a cutting wheel and drum sanding bit on my Dremmel.  Since then I've used the score and snap method, which is A LOT easier.  Take it slow.  I found it easy to get ahead of myself.  PM me if you have any questions.  Good Luck and enjoy.     

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I see the pic, but I don't see which side of the back is shown. The best way to get the return edges right is to look in the photo reference section at original suits. Especially the RS pictures helped me fantastically ;-) give it a try

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Congrats on your new armor.  I'm in the process of assembling my ATA armor.  It's been a process so far between reading all the threads on here, reading more threads,  and then reading some more just to make sure I'm doing it right.  Not to mention reading and researching some more when I second guess myself.  I'm about 75% done with it so far.  At first I trimmed most of the pieces with a cutting wheel and drum sanding bit on my Dremmel.  Since then I've used the score and snap method, which is A LOT easier.  Take it slow.  I found it easy to get ahead of myself.  PM me if you have any questions.  Good Luck and enjoy.     

Hi Robe, I'll send a line for sure if I'll found me in trouble, thanks.

 

The greatest issue I've found until now is how much to trim on each part.

I'm looking and looking and looking like you at other builds, but some infos will be inevitably lost on this matter.

By the way I'll post here if I'll have some problems.

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I see the pic, but I don't see which side of the back is shown. The best way to get the return edges right is to look in the photo reference section at original suits. Especially the RS pictures helped me fantastically ;-) give it a try

I'll give another look thanks!

 

Hi it's the right side, around the arm.

 

There are two steps, I'm in doubt if to trim on the groove between them, or to trim after the last one (the external one).

At first sight i think I have to trim on the groove... isn't it?

Edited by elleerre
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  • 4 weeks later...

Still here, just going on with the rest of the kit (blaster, mainly) and doing some shopping (canvas, leather, gloves, boots) for a while.

 

The armor is trimmed out... I fear a bit to begin the build, maybe it's normal, I don't know.

 

:)

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Everyone starts out a little nervous on their first build, but you have already started trimming, so the most daunting step is behind you.

Take your time, continue to ask questions when in doubt and refer to build threads and reference photos from the movie. Good luck, we are here to help.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  • 3 months later...

Here I am with some updates.
The trimming is almost done. Unfortunately I had not all the time I wanted to go on with this build, because [insert problem here].

By the way I've found some time to build some accessories.

Thermal detonator
It was impossible to find the correct diameter for the ATA caps, so I've bought a bigger PVC plumbing pipe (70 mm) and modified it to fit.

1.jpg
 
Trimmed away a longitudinal section

2.jpg3.jpg
 
Then adapted the pipe inside the caps with the two trimmed edges joined together with no gaps (yes I know, you see a gap, just be patient).

4.jpg
 
Used the heath gun to reshape the pipe to the new diameter. The wood stick helps the edges to join straighter.

5.jpg
 
Result

6.jpg7.jpg

8.jpg

 
The holster is complete. I've used 3 mms thick black leather, trimmed according the template found here in the FISD board.
It was a pain to make the holes to pass the stitching through.
 
A couple of pictures during the work
 
2.jpg
1.jpg

You'll find the finished pictures with the belt more under.

Gloves are made.
I've bought black chemical gloves and white latex Sonnenschein's hand guards attached togheter wit special Loctite glue (thanks Karin!)

hand1.jpg
hand2.jpg

Boots are ready too.
I'm very happy with these because I've found a great way to paint white a pair of black boots. Easy and "cheap".
Go here
 
Last saturday a couple of friends of the Italian Garrison Sub Zero Squad came to my place to try some fitting of the armor, we were so busy that no one took pictures, sorry.
After that my work in this weekend was almost entirely on the canvas belt.
 
Following Gazmosis' suggestions I've bought the necessary white cotton canvas and provided to trim and glue together (ironing) five strips. ThinktThe result, after stitching the edges and attaching velcro on ends, is great. It is a stiff but flexible belt. Could one ask for more?
 
1.jpg
 
Canvas belt and leather holster, finished. Sorry for the poor quality picture.
3.jpg
 
I'm concerned about just one thing: the belt is 85 mm (found in a thread here) when in the reference library is said 83 mm. My fault, I haven't verified before the correct dimension. Could this be a problem?
I could trim away 2 mms from the belt or make another one, if needed.

Will post more pictures as soon as possible.

Ciao!

Edited by elleerre
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