Altair's MTK ANH Stunt Build

[gazmosis[501st]]

Outstanding paint work on the helmet. I like to outline like you! Great work. I would extend the frown a bit. End at the 5th tooth indent then continue past to the pointed end

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/2246-anhstuntfrown1/

[Altair[TK]]

Thanks troops!

 

Several members in my local Garrison have said you can't hear the velcro. So all good.

 

@Gazmosis - I was debating with myself on how far I should paint the frown. I know reference pics show it slightly further but I also think the shorter frown look neater. Oh the decisions! Stopping short at least I can extend easily

[starsaber25[Admin]]

Looking great John. Hopefully you will continue to have the time to cruise right through the rest of your build. You are making another awesome MTK.

[Altair[TK]]

Cheers Steve. I'm hoping I'll have less of life's little interruptions over the next few weeks to finish this baby off

[Altair[TK]]

Since I have been doing all the sewing at my place I thought I would help out with the ironing... well at least using the iron to shape some ABS

 

Taking another page out of "Redback BIDS Book of Strapping", this time for the shoulder bells.

 

Instead of using glue to attach elastic straps to the shoulder bell, I made up some hooks out of ABS to hold my elastic straps to the shoulder bell and will attach using snap plates. This way the elastic strap can easily be removed/replaced if required.

 

First I cut up some strips of ABS 15mm wide

 

 

I decided to use 1inch elastic and as luck would have it my handy metal ruler is 1inch wide

 

 

I used an iron to heat up the plastic and then I used the ruler and shaped the plastic over the edges

 

 

I then scuffed up the inside surface of my shoulder bells with sandpaper and glued my hooks and snaps plates in

 

 

Here it is with the strap installed

 

 

 

Whilst I had the iron out melting plastic, I decided to whip up some hooks for the biceps following this guide here for measurements: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/37-howto-create-a-bicep-strap-hook/

 

 

I used the edge of the iron to heat on the marked lines and form an initial bend

 

 

Once I had an initial bend I rolled the edge on the iron to heat up again and further bend into place

 

 

Finished product

 

 

 

 

[gazmosis[501st]]

Hopefully none of that plastic transfers into your clothes.

[Altair[TK]]

All good Steve, it didn't leave much plastic residue on the iron

[Altair[TK]]

Do you know what time it is? It's Zap-A-Gap time!



Here are my forearms assembled, using cover strip method of course



Now a top view... I ended up trimming the right forearm a little more to get it shaped more like the left forearm for consistency



I posted a pic earlier showing the difference in size/shape between the biceps with the MTK kit, the left it much wider and more oval shaped. To improve on this I gave the left bicep a bath in hot water using a pvc coupling inside the bicep to form a more round shape and trimmed it down further...



Here it is now, I haven't glued the left yet...



It is still a little bigger and slightly oval shaped but much better I think



Its coming together now

Right side



Left side



What do people think so far? Any suggestions?

[Tusken RTT]

Your a brave man for keeping for the E-6000 in the drawer!  Looking good so far- nice work! 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Go the Zappa gaaap, I think it's now the staple in the Redback Garisson, I can't think of any recent builds we've had that have used E6000.

Just make sure you double and triple check everything before you put the two surfaces together. Keep up the good work John, Supa Nova is approaching .

 

 

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[Altair[TK]]

TK thermal detonator is now done, finally assembled this morning after I got some 5mm pan head slotted bolts yesterday. I initially tried making my own by putting green stuff in phillips head bolts and filing out a single slot... I was about to use these but turns out there was a fasteners supply shop across the road from work this whole time.. doh!

2inch pipe



Gave it a quick sand prior to first coat of paint



Paint time



I ended up doing a few coats, sanding lightly in between each one

And here we are all assembled, with the white control panel pad facing upwards and the round washer detail closest to the right end cap. Total length is approx 7.5 inch





5mm pan head slotted bolts, painted black

[gazmosis[501st]]

Sharp work so far brother! Can't wait yo see it done!

[Sly11[Admin]]

Another choice build from the mighty Redback Garrison. Great work so far Johnny.


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Edited February 15, 2015 by Sly11

[Altair[TK]]

Cheers guys! The feedback gives me more motivation to work done

 

Armed with super glue I attacked the shins today!



I used 20mm cover strips on the front



I'm going to cut up some more strips and put a strip inside the shins for extra strength



Whilst I had the glue out, I decided to zap-a-gap my rubber hand guards to my black chemical gloves



These will be put aside for when I apply for Centurion status



I've got another pair of gloves (nomex) which will be my regular trooping gloves... What do most people do for attaching the plastic hand guards? Velcro to the glove? Or Elastic strapping around the hand & wrist?
 

[The5thHorseman[TK]]

I've got another pair of gloves (nomex) which will be my regular trooping gloves... What do most people do for attaching the plastic hand guards? Velcro to the glove? Or Elastic strapping around the hand & wrist?

 

Most folks use their Centurion gloves !

 

Personally i would feel more secure with the elastic loops around wrist and palm rather than velcro. Handplates are easy to get knocked off, grabbed...

Edited February 15, 2015 by The5thHorseman

[Altair[TK]]

You'd have to be hardcore to wear the chem gloves summer time in Australia!

 

Thanks Germain, good to know.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

You'd have to be hardcore to wear the chem gloves summer time in Australia!

 

Thanks Germain, good to know.

That's all I've got, and we get some pretty serious mid 30 degree days here in Canberra.

[Sly11[Admin]]

Yeah, but the Queensland humidity is pretty harsh, and this summer has been shocking. No one in Brissy or further north troops in chem gloves.

 

 

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[Altair[TK]]

As Andrew said, the humidity is a killer and wearing chem gloves would be uncomfortable.

 

So...... I did a little bit of work today on my ABS set of hand guards. I thought I would be different and instead of attaching them directly to my nomex gloves with velcro, I made up some wrist straps for them to be attached to

50mm webbing and the loop velcro, hot-glued and stitched together, then super glued into the hand plate.  



For the wrist strap I used 50mm elastic, attached the hook velcro, and added a wrist and palm strap using 25mm elastic



Here it is fitted



Then the hand guard just sticks on top



Give me 5!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Its another one of those "in the real world....." Those gloves do look good and would probably be the choice of 'real' stormtroopers.

[Bulldog44[TK]]

The wrist strap came out really nice. I might try that idea. Thanks for posting it! Awesome work on your build!

[Altair[TK]]

It's been a month since my last update ... so had to get back into it this weekend. Big thanks to fellow Redback Garrison members (Cyclops and Sly) for helping size up my shins + thighs and also check over the work I've done thus far

And now some more progress pics!

For the front of the thighs I used 20mm cover strips



Here are both thigh pieces, not enclosed in the back... yet



For the rear cover strips, I was planning to use 25mm cover strips, but turned out I needed a little extra room so had to make these 35mm





I also glued some cover strips on the inside for extra strength



To accommodate the ridges, these were heated up and bent them into shape



Inside strips have also been added to the shins!



Continued with 35mm cover strips on the back of the shins for consistency.



Then added some velcro to close the back of the shins. I made sure that the velcro'd side of the cover strip is on the side of the leg!



A quick test fit :eyebrows:


 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Looks awesome John, had fun helping out yesterday, getting closer and closer to completion

 

 

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[Altair[TK]]

Getting there, slowly but surely

Tonight I glued on the sniper knee plate to the left shin, aligned with the ridges on the shin. It went on fairly straight.





Do you think the return edge on the plate needs to be a little thinner?
 

[Altair[TK]]

I've started assembling the belt now.

Holes drilled and corners of the plastic ammo belt trimmed at a 45 degree angle (1/2 inch).



To attach the ammo pack to the canvas belt I decided to use chicago screws (3.5mm). This way I can remove it and wash the canvas belt if it gets dirty.



To attach my drop boxes, I sewed up some straps to loop around the belt using 1inch wide high density elastic.



To ensure that the drop boxes are vertically aligned with the end of the ammo belt, I had to cut a notch into the side of the straps to work around the screws on the belt. I sealed this edge with a flame to prevent fraying.



Belt starting to come together now Drop boxes have minimal gap between belt and box.  (looks a bit yellow in the pic due to bad lighting)



I've only attached the drop boxes to the straps with 1 x fastener but might add another (or maybe some velcro?) to keep it straight on the strap... What have others done here? I believe there was only one rivet on the originals?