How snug should the thighs fit?

[LaserBrain99]

I have my thigh armor trimmed and taped up for test fitting. It's sized for a 7/8 cover in front. In the back, I'm at a 1-1/4" cover strip and it's just snug around my thigh. It will stay up on its own, but falls when I walk. Is this too tight?

 

I need to cut back the return edge around the knee a bit, but this doesn't feel uncomfortable.

 

I'm 5'11" and 175-180 lbs, but an avid cyclist, so maybe my thighs are somewhat larger than normal.

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

You'd want to leave enought room so that you're comfortable bending at your knee and hips. Most of us TKs have some sort of garter belt system that holds up the thigh armor instead of relying on our own thighs to hold up those pieces.

[fuumantroop[TK]]

Use the thumb rule. I had to size mine down and im the same build as you with larger thighs as well. U can always cut out a u shape behind the thighs for mobility too

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

the front should be 1" and the back can be 1- 1.5 inches for the cover strips. 

 

you need to have room to move, as has been said before the Thumb rule means that you should be able to stick your thumb

into the armor when it's on.

 

the armor in the film was only made to the same size. you look closely and only some minor mods were done on troopers in the film.

 

1. if you have short arms then they did cut off extra at the front of the elbow.

2. biceps were also sometimes inside the shoulder bell completely on short armed troopers

3  thighs and shins are all the same size, and some troopers are bigger, and some slightly smaller.

 

I Think people look their best when they have room to move apparent in the fit of the armor.

[LaserBrain99]

Thanks, but I'm still not clear on this thumb rule. It's snug now, but I can still jam a thumb in there. That's too tight, right? Instead I should have a "thumb sized" gap that my thumb can slide into. Do I understand correctly?

[TK5492[TK]]

I think what you're looking for is a common standard but every body type is different. Make them snug so they're comfy and fit but not so loose that they look silly. Like mentioned before you'll want a garter system to hold up the thighs. They'll never stay up on their own. If you need some reference for the garter I'd be happy to send you some pictures of how I made mine.

[Nagedzi[TK]]

Same deal--cyclist legs here, too. I made sure to angle-cut the back of the thighs. I don't remember what size of strips I used, though. Some people opt to make the rear strip the same width of the entire ridge. I just made them wider than the front, but not the entire width of the ridge.

 

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Well, looks right, flies right. The main goal is to have it look cosmetically correct. If you have really skinny legs for instance, trimming them all the way down will not look good, eh?

 

If they fit right, you should be able to run easily, think playing laser tag. The garter system is good. On my first suit I actually had the thighs strapped to my ab plate. For some people, the downside of a garter is that it can slide down or be pulled down by the thighs. I saw one person actually make a harness really, picture a garter with two long straps that loop over the shoulders. This way the garter could only slide down a wee bit. Extreme? Possibly. Everyone's body is different, so what works for one won't always work for all.

 

Andy's photo above is a good case in point, where he achieved a solution that looks cosmetically correct, even if it's not following a set of default measurements.