Rapstertee's AP Build - July 08[*AP]

[rapstertee]

Okay, I received my AP kit at 07:45 this morning after much waiting!

 

I researched my options and consulted Tony Barnett from the UKG, then went for AP as I'm 5'8" and about 165 lbs.

 

Ordered on 25th June.

 

The box is packed with ABS - where to start? I immediately woke up Lizzeh (TK 1757) and got the webcam up n running to show off the stuff! (ooer) Ah, who needs sleep? <_<

 

Anyway, this thread will hopefully document my AP build. I will post pics from time to time, but the majority of them will be in my Photobucket Site, which I will make public for all to see.

 

I've a fair bit of experience in model / prop making, but it's been a while since I did a big project like this...feels like Christmas Day!

 

Please feel free to chip in with any advice and tips that I might benefit from!

 

....And So It Begins!!!!

[MandalorianWarrior87]

Congrats Terry

[Guest TK-2416]

Congrats!!!

 

I love these armor-build-threads!! Seems that a lot of good armor projects are going on right now - soo cool!!

 

Take your time and have fun...

 

I am working on my TE2 armor.. Got it wednesday afternoon - today friday noon CET - finishing the webbing.. Been a speedy process - but I like speed It also depends on how much time you have.. I took the days off and have nothing else planned and nobody to disturb me..

 

Troop on!

[Lizzeh]

Waking me up at bloomin' 7.50am to show off bits of plastic, I don't know! <_<

 

 

Aah I'm just jealous Keep us updated!

[rapstertee]

Ok, started trimming. I use a pointed scalpel, as I've got more accuracy with that than I would a Dremel, although I still might use a Dremel to do some sanding, especially on the larger parts.

 

I've had over 15 years experience making sets & props, but on the second day, I now have 2 small cuts on my fingers, so although a scalpel is my preferred method of cutting and trimming, its worth remembering that this will lead to injury if you're not careful! So GO SLOW - score lightly then goover it two or three times before putting the pressure on!

 

Anyway, I've separated all the parts off the flat sheet - the shoulder straps, hand plates, thermal detonator etc. This I found very hard due to the thickness of the sheet - it's 2mm, possibly a little more.

SHOULDER STRAPS

The shoulder straps were a dilemma: I wanted to keep a flat border around the raised ridges, but there really isn't enough room on both sides to do this. Also, the piece is SO thick, it won't bend. I dare not force it, or it'd snap. So it'll be a heat gun to curve these straps at a later date.

HELMET

The lid is going well: I cut the rubber brow trim to the right length and fitted it. TIP: at each end i cut a tiny notch in the underside to allow the plastic edge of the back piece in. See attached pic.

 

Eyes were another case of GOING SLOWLY! with the scalpel, and i had to constantly go ove the edges until they looked right. I don't really like the small eye hole look of some helmets, I prefer bigger eyes, so I'm opening them as large as I can. The right eye 'bump' is really quite big - I don't want to lose it of course, but I've trimmed it down so it's not too obvious. the upper edge of the eyes is worth paying particular attention to, in order to remove the 'lip' that remains. I've used my set of needle files to clean up and smooth off the eye holes and they look pretty sweet now, if I do say so myself!

 

Comparing the AP lid with my MR, i can really appreciate both helmets for different reasons - the AP is much smaller and i'd say half the weight. The asymmetry is clearer to see - for example, the shape of the temple recesses - the right one is shorter than the left. The recesses for the Hovi's are completely different too, while the faceplate of the AP is flatter than the MR. I still love the symmetry and finish of the MR - it's clean, shiny and weighty, and I'm only reluctantly selling it.

 

The eye lens plastic with the AP is much too light and thin, and the hovi's are not bad, but I'm putting a pair of Stomper's Hovis in. At a later date, I'll definitely be reinforcing the rather thin recesses on the faceplate, as they're worryingly thin and bendable.

 

The lid comes with a sheet of decals for the traps, teeth, temples etc, but I don't think I'll be using them. I'll paint in the details by hand, and maybe take a tip from one genius on FISD and use black pinstriping to do the outlining. The tube stripes supplied seem perfectly fine though.

 

Day three: (Sunday 20th July)

I'll be trimming the teeth holes, hand plates (which are MASSIVE - see pic) and finishing the trimming of the smaller pieces (thermal detonator etc) - unless it becomes so annoyingly laborious that I'll grab the chest plate and chop that sucker out! Catch you later. And watch the fingers!

[MandalorianWarrior87]

Coming along nicely!

[tk0000[501st]]

Nice work so far. Keep it up!

[rapstertee]

DAY FOUR: Monday 21st July

Trimmed off all the forearm pieces, finished the other shoulder strap and half of a bicep. Man - Forearms and Biceps are very thick and take a long time to cut out nicely! <_<

 

I got hold of Lou (TK-6908 i think) via messenger and asked his advice on the forearms. I needed to know how they go together, which piece overlaps the other. He quite rightly said that if i were going to be truly accureate, then i should trim the edges and use a 7/8" ABS strip - just as the thighs do. But he's overlapping, as am I. He told me about his injury while trimming - sounded really painful. BE CAREFUL, ALL YOU TRIMMERS!!

 

I'm still a little worried.... despite trimming the openings of each end of the forearm, it still feels very tight around the elbow, and I can't be sure I'll be able to fit my hand thru the other end... Anyone able to post pics of the openings of their AP arms to show me the way? It's not like I have Schwarzenegger arms!

 

I've got a UKG trooper coming round with his FX kit next week to show me the snaps n straps arrangement. Should be a great help.

 

Ordered Humbrol Enamels from the Humbrol website -

Gloss Black #21

grey #5

Midnight Blue #15.

That's for helmet and ab buttons, etc.

 

SOLD my modded MR CE lid - *sob* and now I can afford a pair of smelly Caboots!

 

Still needing:

Thermal Detonator clips, Acrylic Green lenses, CORRECT s-Trim gasket, Glues, Holster, and Nomex Gloves.

[VacTrooper]

SOLD my modded MR CE lid - *sob* and now I can afford a pair of smelly Caboots!

 

i know what you mean. they smell like COPENHAGEN!! <_< jeez, they smell bad. then it fades and starts to smell like regular leather boots....

[rapstertee]

Okay, its been a week or so, i had some time off plus visited the Outer Rim to see my pal Lizzeh.

 

Anyway, here's where I'm at -

 

Helmet:

Yes, the dreaded Ears!!!

They're very tricky, but I did pretty well. I'm not too overjoyed about the slight gap on the curve of the right ear (as you wear it). its so hard to get it any tighter, I dare not tighten it any more. It's not glaringly obvious but i wish it was a little better.

 

Painted the teeth in Humbrol #5. nice!

 

As you can see from the pics, I attached my hovis in the following way:

 

The hovi recesses were thin and weak, as many AP owners have said, so i took a tip and used the amazing 'cyanoacrylate and T-Shirt patching' method.

 

Originally, i poured fastcast resin onto the back of the recesses, but the ABS is so smooth that the resin peeled off as soon as it set. Doh.

 

So i cut a pair of small circles from an old white t shirt and spread a load of super-glue (cyanoacrylate) gel on them. WARNING! Don't get too close to it - it irritates your eyes like chopping onions!

 

Anyway it set in seconds, rock hard and easy to drill.

 

I discarded Stomper's big ole washers - Don't worry Stomp - I put them on the inner fixings for the helmet pieces and they work great there!

 

Then I made 'spongy' washers out of white EVA.

EVA is that white foam rubber stuff that you get with a spindle of CD's. its like draught excluder material.

I cut it into little rough circles and fitted them on the hovi thread - one inside and outside - this gives them a little 'suspension' and I think they fit nicely into the recesses without bending the thin plastic. woot!

 

Cut out my chest, abs and back pieces. Easy peasy. Haven't separated my kidnmey plate butt section yet.

Stuck the ab button plates on with cyanoacrylate. sorted. Will paint them soon.

 

pics below:

 

[rapstertee]

VOCODER:

 

painted - looks nice.

 

update:

 

Sliced open my right index finger. deep one!!! bled all over shin piece.

 

Let that be a lesson! NO TRIMMING LATE AT NIGHT WHILE TIRED!!!

 

talk about suffering for one's art and putting blood sweat n tears into it!!

 

 

 

It might LOOK like raspberry sauce but believe me its real . ouch.

[Lizzeh]

Vocoder looks good

 

And ouch indeed! >_< be careful

[ManInWhite]

 

 

I think you missed a bit of paint on the last two teeth.

[troopermaster]

 

Blood, sweat and tears.....all part of the assembly process

[rapstertee]

I think you missed a bit of paint on the last two teeth.

 

Lol! no, I forgot to mention that I'm going to paint the outer teeth with a tiny brush. Well spotted, though!

[rapstertee]

Thursday 31 July

 

Received my green Acrylic lenses from Kev (TK1422) - cool! Had to get them over a gas cooker to curve em a little bit more.

 

While there I heated up my shoulder straps to get a nice curve on them . See pic.

 

 

Today i painted the extra grey teeth on the frown - See? Didn't forget!

 

 

And then because I'm not using the accompanying Decals, I painted black outlines on the various recesses, but left the ear bumps until later on. the trick is to get the outer edges of the black lines crisp as poss, then tidy the inner edges up with the grey.

 

See pics.

 

 

My cut finger is throbbing painfully. This is because i nearly severed it a few years ago, doing almost exactly the same thing with a scalpel. I've chopped deeply into the scar of the old injury, but thankfully this time I didn't partially sever the tendon - that would've been very bad form!

 

Anyway, i have to keep on with the trimming in order to progress - and i REALLY want to get cleared as soon as possible, as i've picked a very important 4-digit TK number to me that is still free. I'll be really disappointed if it gets allotted to someone else.

 

anyway, more news as it happens...!

[rapstertee]

SUNDAY, 3RD AUGUST

 

17 days since AP arrived

 

FINISHED TRIMMING LAST NIGHT! woohoo!

 

here it is in all its glory:

 

 

looks nicer now than in a big box. By the way it now all fits in a box a QUARTER of the size of the original one!

 

I bought some S shaped rubber extrusion from Troopermaster (Thanks man!) and it looks great -

 

Unfortunately, it's never going to go on and stay there without glueing. its just way too tough and thick.

Anyone suggest a good glue for this purpose?

 

 

Painting and inking the tear shapes...

 

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Nice work on the hand painted details, look great

[troopermaster]

I bought some S shaped rubber extrusion from Troopermaster (Thanks man!) and it looks great -

 

Unfortunately, it's never going to go on and stay there without glueing. its just way too tough and thick.

Anyone suggest a good glue for this purpose?

 

Have you tried putting the trim on the opposite slot in the profile?

 

I cut the length slightly longer and then force it on to the bottom of the helmet and it usually stays in place without any gluing. When I do glue them on, I just run a bead of E6000 into the groove/slot of the trim then apply it to the helmet and use small clips to hold it in place for 24 hours.

[rapstertee]

Have you tried putting the trim on the opposite slot in the profile?

 

I cut the length slightly longer and then force it on to the bottom of the helmet and it usually stays in place without any gluing. When I do glue them on, I just run a bead of E6000 into the groove/slot of the trim then apply it to the helmet and use small clips to hold it in place for 24 hours.

 

 

Yeah, trid it both ways, but the bigger slot is the one that works best. Need to get some glue now - especially for my ABS kit. Anything better than Superglue here in the UK?

[rapstertee]

Okay, Wednesday 6 Aug...

 

Last night : separated the kidney & butt sections.

 

Got my new PVC neckseal from Shadowdale Creations:

 

gorgeous! ;P

 

I have to say that Shadowdale took ages to reply to my order, rarely responded and when they did were very short and not very polite. The neckseal though is a top quality item, really nice. Which was a relief.

 

Painted my ear bumps (and went for a nearly central black mark, as on one of the Tantive IV troops.)

Also fitted my tube stripes, 11 each side - I think 13 would've been a tight squeeze and I copied froma pic of an authentic ANH stunt.

 

 

Almost finished back lines -

I'm going to tidy the ends up with grey next.

 

Heres the entire lid minus lenses...

 

My modde unpainted Hasbro with Smitty's white T-Track:

 

And a close up of my scratchbuilt front of scope - I hated the toyish crosshairs, so i stuck some bits on it.

 

And finally....

Set of 10 spring clamps of varying sizes from B&Q for £5.98 - ready to do my glueing and clamping tomorrow, IF my E6000 glue turns up!

[cr4nky]

That neckseal looks nice. Gotta check it out.

[TK-1287]

That's a great looking suit of armour! I hope you finish it in time to get that TKID. Just out of curiosity, what is the number?

[darth 456]

Great set of armor you have there congrats!

[rapstertee]

That's a great looking suit of armour! I hope you finish it in time to get that TKID. Just out of curiosity, what is the number?

 

It's the date of birth of my mother, who passed away in 2005 from smoking-related illnesses. I wanted to remember her that way while doing trooping for charity.