TK-1330's AP assembly progress

[oneal[TK]]

while i've assembled or helped to assemble numerous costumes, including a Bikerscout, a TIE & X-wing Pilots, Jedi, Threepio and Vader, only one actually fit me - my former TK armor was a fiberglass suit similar to the FX armor, after 3+ years in the 501st, i finally decided to upgrade to the more accurate AP suit. i ordered it in late March and it finally arrived last friday, May 2.

i started work on trimming on Monday May 5 after coming from work and its a lot easier than cutting fiberglass with a dremel, and a whole lot neater.

 

i'll be posting my progress here, and hope to get advice from the experts

[oneal[TK]]

here are photos of the armor out of the box

 

 

 

[oneal[TK]]

tools of the trade:

tin snips

 

hot blade x-acto knife

[oneal[TK]]

other tools:

 

my girlfriend's cat Snowball helping out

[oneal[TK]]

starting to trim the armor:

i marked the guide lines with a soft pencil then i used a hot blade x-acto to lightly score the plastic. this is to ensure that the blade does not accidentally slip when i use too much pressure with a standard cold knife. i repeatedly cut the gap till it widens enough when i slowly bend the pieces apart.

 

much faster than cutting each part with a dremel disk when working on fiberglass

[Murphoid]

I really need to get one of those hot X-acto blades. Looks really nifty.

[Ketariniii]

Cute cat. So when are we getting a tutorial on how to rig up one of those super fancy imperial heat blades?

[oneal[TK]]

i bought the Hot Blade at Fry's Electronics in LA last December 2006, while my girlfriend was training with the other 501st for the Rose Parade, got it for about $15 with a lot of accessories and attachments, unfortunately for me, it runs on 110volts while standard power line voltage in the Philippines is 220v, hence the need for a step-down transformer. it is very useful for other projects like wood etching, soldering and carving into fiberglass costumes before using a dremel.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Pretty cool seeing all that plastic. The hot Xacto is an inspired idea, esp. for folks like me who have a hard time cutting a line with a dremel.

 

Thanks for showing us pix - it looks like it will be an awesome set of armor

[Smitty]

I like this guy already!

 

That hot exacto rig is awesome.

[oneal[TK]]

thanks for the words of support from the FISD veterans

 

anyway, back to work:

i finished cutting the legs in one evening and set them aside

 

then i worked on cutting the arms, while the legs had long straight, flat areas, the arms were smaller and the curve for the openings were significantly tighter compared to the legs. i had to make little cuts to follow the angle of the armor, this made it harder to make clean scoring and then snap.

[oneal[TK]]

the bicep pieces were molded together and the clearance between the parts was rather tight making it hard to fit my rather large tin snips in the gap, instead i decided to cut them with the hot blade. this took much longer than the legs.

[oneal[TK]]

the problem with using the hot blade x-acto is that your grip is a little farther from the blade than usual compared to a normal x-acto, it makes it harder to do more precise cuts, there is also the risk of accidentally grabbing the hot portion of the knife.

sometimes the plastic is thin in certain areas so the hot blade just goes right through it in one pass so please be careful where you put your hands. i was tired and sleepy while working on the armor and burned my fingertips at least twice on both hands.

[oneal[TK]]

after i score the piece with the knife, i sometimes make a couple of passes with the standard "cold" x-acto knife while slowly bending the piece, it also helps to make perpendicular cuts with shears or tin snips so that the part you are removing comes off with less resistance

 

its also very important that you do not rush working on the armor since this usually leads to mistakes or worse, damaged armor

[oneal[TK]]

test fitting the arm pieces:

 

[oneal[TK]]

if you notice, i left a bit of a "lip" at the ends of the armor pieces just like the legs and body. this makes the armor look a little more solid and robust compared to just thin plastic. i might have to trim it down a little more when the pieces are clam-shelled together if my hands don't fit through the hole.

i'll take more closeup photos tomorrow

[SuperTrooper]

Just a heads up for those of us in the US. Amazon has the X-acto hot knife set for 12.65 with free shipping if your total is over 25. So go buy a hot knife and the newest SW book and you'll be all set.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X73780-Precisi...e/dp/B000BRBZUG

[FIVE[501st]]

That is some really nice looking armor. Looks like a lot of work too... though I can picture myself doing that in a few years... once I completely wear down my FX.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Not sure I can wait that long. Seeing all this AP stuff makes me get ready to put my FX TD up for sale sooner than later.

[oneal[TK]]

after a brief hiatus, i finally got back to working on my AP armor, i started cutting the torso pieces in the same way as i did with the limbs.

using the now seemingly popular hot blade x-acto knife(available on ebay or amazon) i made quick work of the back/kidney armor.

[oneal[TK]]

here are the torso pieces before trimming

chest & back

Abdomen & kidney

[oneal[TK]]

taking the time to cut the torso parts carefully, unlike the arms & legs, the kidney armor has nice long & relatively straight lines with deeper groove guide line, its easier to cut and less risk of mistakes

[oneal[TK]]

one problem with the hot blade x-acto knife is when the blade sticks to the plastic and gets detached from the blade holder, you cant exactly pick it up with your fingers, i suggest keeping a small pair of pliers nearby to tighten the blade receptacle and to pick up stray hot blades that are stuck in the armor or fall on the floor

[oneal[TK]]

one of the hardest things to do is to make a nice even curved line with the hot blade since it tends to stick at certain points along the score line, you have to be careful if you want to make a clean cut

 

my girlfriend's other cat Botchok keeping my helmet safe

[kiyotei[TK]]

For cutting curved lines on AP I recommend cutting on the INSIDE of the armor. Its much easier to follow the curve on the inside of the armor.