aintrabar[TK] Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 So i've started the cutting.. And i've realized i SUCK at drawing and cutting straight lines... GAAAAAAAHHH Pictures soon... Maybe... My cuts are soo bad right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Wow my 5/8th joining stips i cut are HORRIBLE>.. I've sent an email to Trooper bay to see if he can sell the joining strips pre cut. But the cutting of my forarms pieces actually ended up pretty well. Just got done sanding them down (my cuts were jagged) now i just need joining strips to start 6000 them together. Tomorrow i'm working our Garrisons booth at Comicon Richmond. So no more work for me for a few days on the kit.. Anyone have any good tricks on how to cut out the 58th joining strips?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor[TK] Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Anyone have any good tricks on how to cut out the 58th joining strips?? I don't think it's a trick and I am a rookie... but I used a really sharp utility knife and a metal straight edge. Just hold the straight edge and Very lightly make a couple of passes. The light passed start to make a grove and the knife won't wander as much and you can complete cutting all the way through without the straight edge. I don't know if it's too hot down here in fl but score and snap didn't work that well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kredal[TK] Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Score and snap! Remember when you're cutting with a utility knife, you're NOT trying to cut all the way through... Maybe about halfway through. 5 or 6 light passes over the same line is really all you need. Then bend it over along that line until it snaps! Sand down the edges with some 100-ish grit sandpaper, and you're good to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Clamp your metal ruler down, do one light pass to get the initial grove set with your shop knife or exacto then go over it a few more times with more pressure each time. Remove the ruler and snap it off. If done right, you won't even need to hit the edge with sandpaper. If you need more abs, at least trooperbay's 100% matches the MTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Ok still trying to master the joining strip... hehe. But getting closer (and have ordered extra material from trooper bay. Almost ready to try and join some of the forearm pieces. I'm actually on PTO this week and trying to dedicate some serious time to the armor. But this whole cutting a straight line thing is killing me. More pictures soon, Hopefully of at least a few completed parts! Thanks for all the input gang. I'm sure i'll be asking more and more questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 So hate to say it. But i'm about to give up on this project. All i seem to have done in the last two days is total frack up cuts. rat chew the shucks out of making joining strips. I think i just dont have the hand eye coordination to do it. (oh actually i think i know i dont, i had a lerning disabiltity around hand eye coordination) damn there must be something to make this easier. but starting to think i'm screwed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kredal[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Tony, you're about 2.5 hours away from me... This Sunday or Monday I can come up and help you out with a mini-armor-party, or I'm sure someone else in the Garrison closer to DC would be willing to help if you post over on the GT forum. I'd hate to see you give up and shelve your armor over this. Hit me up at tk44678@gmail.com if you're interested. I'll bring my kit and a few tools, and we'll make an afternoon out of it. (: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Kedri thanks soo much for the offer. Very cool of you. but i think i'm going to wait till we have an officail Garrison party. Or some of the closer guys help me out. But man thats cool of you to offer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Ok, So after calming myself down some. And getting a grip and realizeing theres no way i'm getting centurian on my first build (HEHE) I looked at pictures of movie armor and relized no cuts were perfect. So i did the best i could. BUT i did finally get one piece together. it's not perfect. But it's wearable and with some more tweaking good to go. (little tight i'll leave more on other arm) So heres my first piece You can see where i rat chewed some on the corner. But live and learn. Now i'll start working on the other bicep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 Got some feed back from my Garroson i needed to leave a little more return edge... Ooops.. Well i'll remember that on the next pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 I don't see what all the fuss is about? Looks good to me, just cut the / \ and \ / on the ends of the finishing strips. Any "rat chewed" ends can be fixed with a little sandpaper. Ask a mod to move your thread to the ANH build section so you can get more eyes on your build. Don't undersell yourself, there's no reason why you CAN'T achieve Centurian on your first build. Tons of people have done it. Don't know about you, but I can't afford several sets of armor so my TD is going as far as I can possibly push it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 And now that i've gotten over my perfection motive (looking at all the reference pictures from the movies it's hit me lines dont have to be scientifically straight lol!) I have some arms! Little more sanding to do to clean it up but i'm feeling pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 7, 2015 Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 Trim the finishing strip on the top of your biceps as you want them flush and to not overhang past the edge. You can either round the finishing strip ends or do a \__/ type of end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarlon[TK] Posted August 7, 2015 Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 Trim the finishing strip on the top of your biceps as you want them flush and to not overhang past the edge. You can either round the finishing strip ends or do a \__/ type of end. You'll also want to trim them to make sure they don't snag on your under suit. Pinches and bites because of over extended strips get really old when you've been in your armor 6 hours straight! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 Good advise guys! Keep it comeing! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starsaber25[Admin] Posted August 7, 2015 Report Share Posted August 7, 2015 Hey Tony. It looks like you may be getting better at the cover strips but an easy way to do it is measure close to the top of the strip whatever width you would like it to be, 5/8 or whatever. Then measure closer to the bottom of the strip again 5/8. Put a ruler down on both of those marks and mark with a pencil to join the marks. Then take your utility blade and very very slowly score down that line and then snap it when its ready. You will get the hang of it after a while. Just take some deep breaths. Also keep in mind that the cover strip widths might be different from the forearms to the legs so don't start cutting more coverstrips then you need. You have to make strips that work for you. My coverstrips on my thighs are different sizes on the front then the back. I felt that the shoulder bells were easy pieces to tackle in the beginning. After the forearms you could always move to them to get more cutting experience. I don't want to pressure you but you should aim for centurion. When you are building your armor its not really too difficult after you get going. Have some faith! You can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toybiz[TK] Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Congrats on getting started and don't give up. Most of us took a while ton complete our armor the first time. I took 4.5 months on my MTK. At least 100 hours including the helmet build. Other than the Demel, I didn't see any other tools used in your build. Do you have a pair of hobby shears? You can find them at most RC shops. People use them to trim the plastic bodies on RC cars. Will make short work of curved trimming like return edges around the tops of the thighs. Don't give up and it's normal to feel discouraged. The thought has crossed many of our minds, thrust me. I kept thinking I will never get past the trimming and sanding but when you hit the home stretch, things start to come together pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Oh i have a TON of tools. Xacto Knives, Utility knives. Sheers.. heat guns.. the list goes on and on. I really only use the Dremmle as a tool of last resort, If theres something that needs to be sanded WAY down. (then touched up with hand sanding. My arms ad bells are done. Today i will try and find time to tacle the legs. I'm feeling pretty good on the ABS cutting and joining. The next big hurtle will be webbing and riggings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Well we might see some acceleration in my build. I was informed this morning that i'm being Layed off (yay giant corporations!) good news is a nice package. And no responsibilities for a few months. (other than job hunting) so maybe i'll get more done on my TK build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Sorry to hear that, Tony. Hope everything works out for you and you can get back on your feet. At least you have something to put your frustrations into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Thanks airborne. All good right now. But yea finding a job will be challenging Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Ok i swear there will be an update soon. I did some work last night. The dreaded Joining strips again. But got two going for the front of my thigh pieces. Also my extra joining strip material from Trooper Bay is here so i feel a little less scared i'll run out from my screw ups! hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 I went with using the strip material for making inner and outter strips and I have now ordered 3 pairs of extra strips from Trooperbay. I realized the other night I didn't have enough material to make the 2 1" strips for the back of my calves. Doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintrabar[TK] Posted August 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Yea i got some extra as well. issue i'm running into now is my calve pieces not ligning up quite right. Lots of sanding. next step is to rivit the ammo pouch then close them up. But trying to find good reference material on how the pouches line up on the knee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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