Doelago Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Hi everyone, Ever since having seen Episode III back in ‘05 I have been absolutely captivated by Star Wars and especially the faceless grunts that are the Clones and Stormtroopers. So when RS Prop Masters had a sale during Celebration I could not resist snagging up one of the suits. Bear with me now, first build so expect to see plenty of ruined armour components and dumb questions! (Note: Helmet is the Hasbro Black Series one, thought I‘d make do with it but then RS jut put up a new deal for helmets so one of those is inbound in the mail!) I started by setting up camp in the basement, and due to a lack of space I am making do with a DYI table made out of a computer box stacked on top a few plastic boxes. Also no electrical outlets in the room which is super convenient. Hastily eyeing through a few build threads, YouTube videos and plenty of images I have started gleefully cutting away with a box cutter at the edges. At this point some of you are probably groaning about how uneven the lines are and the return edges are probably entirely screwed at this point. Overall I am happy with the cuts so far, they felt like they fit above the undersuit and none of them look too gnarly to my untrained eye. Should I take more away somewhere, or have I ruined them beyond recovery? Done some sandpapering, but that got bothersome so I bought a Dremel today and will take another pass at them tomorrow. After that I intend to start strapping up the chest pieces... Which brings us to: What in the world are these and where do I attach them? Okay, I have a rough idea of how they are supposed to go from YouTube videos, but I am a bit of a loss at exactly which ones belong where. Only one of the bags had a tag on it so I am a bit lost. Are they good to as they are or do I need to cut some of them up? Any help on identifying which go where? I assume the logical thing would be to sew them in, but I am an awful person so I just intend to glue them all together. Then we have the gloves. Are they good to go as is or does the plastic part go on top of the... Whatever material that block is which was stuck onto the gloves? Thanks for reading, any feedback and ideas are welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tydirium1[TK] Posted June 3, 2017 Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Best bet whenever starting a project, especially one of this magnitude is to slow things down. Don't be to rushed to get it done. That will always end up cost more time money. Watch many videos and look at some of the tutorials in the forum. <br> Be careful with the dremel when sanding, it does cut down on alot of time and work. But always be sure to plan carefully what you are about to sand. Measure twice cut once. Pay once also. There is alot more planning and measuring than actually doing the work.<br> Good luck, keep posting the pics. Some of the really experienced builders will give more advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eynonz Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Take your time . Don't do what I just did to my RS, cut too much off my shins and now they won't close. Doh! <br><br> Enjoy the build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper857[TK] Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Like everyone is suggesting time/patience is the key believe me it pays off in the long run, check out the centurion submissions there are quite a few for RS including mine, that will give a good overview for strap and bracket placement and help you find other build threads to review. If you haven't already considered it shoot for centurion yourself. When I can get on my laptop will try and number the straps for you. The plastic bits for your gloves you are holding are now not required as centurion level gloves came with the strapping pack from RS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragarock[TK] Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Shiny new armor is very exciting. I'll be following along. Read a few build threads all the way thru. This will get you going in the right direction. Ask questions as you go. There are people from all over the planet on this forum and you can get answers to most questions in about a day or less. Good luck. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted June 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 Thanks for all the words of encouragement! Having done some extremely scientific testing I feel the body pieces are at the correct size now and after having taken a pass at them with the dremel I smoothed over the last edges with some sand paper for a good finish. Moving on to the strapping now and hit a road block. Did a few test drillings on some scrap pieces to see that I had the holes at roughly the right size and made a few attempts at attaching a few of the hooks, but now I wonder, which end of the screws is supposed to be on the inside along with the hook and which end is supposed to be on the outside of the armour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadan[TK] Posted June 5, 2017 Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 I believe the head of the screw is visible on the outside with the bracket, washer and nut on the inside. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted June 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 OK, so the opposite of what I did on the test piece. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadan[TK] Posted June 5, 2017 Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 OK, so the opposite of what I did on the test piece. Thanks! I didn't want to say it like that Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msouza[TK] Posted June 5, 2017 Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 Also take a look at UKSWRATH thread on support pads for the bracket system your using. here http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/36372-how-to-support-pads-for-mr-nostripes-bracket-system/?hl=%2Bbracket+%2Bpads And like others have said take your time and enjoy, the only deadline you have is the one you put on yourself. Any questions post pictures & ask!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket[TK] Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Hey Aleksi, Congrats on your RS kit! I'll also be following along as you build. We're all here to help. Hope you're shooting for Centurion!About those brackets, it's helpful to add some ABS reinforcement on the returns where you put the holes. The screw holes take a lot of stress, and reinforcing the returns from the beginning will save you time and effort repairing the cracks that will pop up. Ask me how I know. Looking forward to seeing your kit come together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted June 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) Will definitely look into reinforcing the return edges around the brackets, thank you! Quick question: How do I know which ones go together and on which side? Also, why is one of them so much bigger? Am I supposed to cut away like 5cm from it to make it fit or what? And a quick follow up since I just received my PVC helmet kit as well, is it normal for there to be these kinds of holes and irregularities as on mine? Probably, since the movie used ones were not perfect either, but just wanted to check. Also, is it okay to spray paint the interior? Was at first thinking of lining it with some sort of black fabric but started wondering how difficult it will be to clean it and if it starts smelling a lot from all the sweat and thought that hitting it with a coat of black spray might be the smarter move here. Anyone got any idea whatever the material will react negatively towards being sprayed? Edited June 19, 2017 by Doelago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper857[TK] Posted June 19, 2017 Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 sorry bit late but think i have identified everything in your strapping pack, i sure some one will chip in if i have a bit wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted June 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thank you so much for that! Very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwithian Posted June 20, 2017 Report Share Posted June 20, 2017 I too have the RS kit, it's wonky, screen accurate and in my book , wonderful , as the guys n gals have said take your time, research is key, there are loads of great build threads on here. I've had a few set backs but the thing is people on here are willing to help, advise and help when things don't go as planned. No one will laugh, I guess we have all been there, the only stupid question is a question that's not asked, so look at the tutorials , at first they made me think heck can I do that, but when you see what people do you think yeah I can give it a go and it's not as hard as you think, enjoy your build and I look forward to seeing the progress you make, we all learn from each other, I've learnt she'd loads from Christine aka cricket and Frank aha fragarock plus pandertrooper snd the guys on the UKG ...... I couldn't have got this far without them Good luck Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragarock[TK] Posted June 21, 2017 Report Share Posted June 21, 2017 sorry bit late but think i have identified everything in your strapping pack, i sure some one will chip in if i have a bit wrong Hi Aleksi, Martyn got your strapping kit labels correct. Luckily when I got mine, they RS crew labeled everything. Here's the picture for reference. Regarding the biceps, the one with the dimple is the left one. The outer pieces of the biceps have that raised ridge and there is a slight curve which points forwards. That's how you know which one is left vs. right. Here's my left arm assembly. Here you can see the curve (where my finger is pointing). For reference here are where the straps go. White ones with snaps attach the top of the back to the top of the chest. The wire brackets with nuts & bolts are used to hang the ab from the chest and the butt from the kidney from the back. The 3" wide elastic is to hang your thighs from the garter belt. The 1" wide elastic with snaps is to hang the shoulder bells from the white elastic which connects the chest/back. Another piece of 1" elastic (without snaps) is to hang the bicep from the shoulder bell. The 2" wide elastic hangs the forearms from the biceps. Here's a link to my build where I show the bicep pieces in more detail (presuming I can make this link work). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted July 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) Thank you so much for those images! Your build thread has also been an amazing source of information as I have progressed with the build. I have now fitted brackets to all the pieces, reinforcing them with an additional layer of ABS plastic as recommended earlier. The arms are somewhat done, with all the strapping added. They fit me just fine before, but now they feel a tad bit too big all of the sudden once they are hanging from the strapping and not just dangling on the arms. Will probably throw in some padding to stop them dangling around, especially the biceps felt ridiculously large now all of the sudden. I also over estimated my glue usage on the first cover strip I did by quite a lot, resulting in a bit of a mess. On later pieces I covered the surrounding surfaces with tape to prevent any overspills from sticking onto the armours and so that they are easy to remove - but anyone got good suggestions for cleaning away the glue from this one messed up bicep cover strip? And lastly, the lower legs are getting there slowly... As I understand it, a lot of people leave the rear open and fasten them shut with velcro or magnets instead of just gluing them shut, is that correct? Edited July 3, 2017 by Doelago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket[TK] Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 26 minutes ago, Doelago said: I also over estimated my glue usage on the first cover strip I did by quite a lot, resulting in a bit of a mess. On later pieces I covered the surrounding surfaces with tape to prevent any overspills from sticking onto the armours and so that they are easy to remove - but anyone got good suggestions for cleaning away the glue from this one messed up bicep cover strip? And lastly, the lower legs are getting there slowly... As I understand it, a lot of people leave the rear open and fasten them shut with velcro or magnets instead of just gluing them shut, is that correct? About the glue mess on the bicep, that's e6000, right? If so, just rub it off with your fingers. It comes off with little effort most times. The shins should always be left open in the back. Don't glue them shut or else you won't be able to get your leg in there! You can go with screen-authentic elastics/hooks, velcro, or (my personal fave) magnets. Your choice. None of the closure methods will affect the higher level approvals here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doelago Posted July 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Cricket said: About the glue mess on the bicep, that's e6000, right? If so, just rub it off with your fingers. It comes off with little effort most times. Hah, no. Some off brand plastic glue I found locally. Instruction booklet (now that I‘ve read it) says that acetone can be used to wipe off any excess, but does the ABS plastic itself react to that in anyway I wonder? The shins should always be left open in the back. Don't glue them shut or else you won't be able to get your leg in there! You can go with screen-authentic elastics/hooks, velcro, or (my personal fave) magnets. Your choice. None of the closure methods will affect the higher level approvals here. OK! Will probably just velcro it up then. Edited July 3, 2017 by Doelago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket[TK] Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 Keep the acetone away from your plastic. Unless you want a bunch of warped melty armor. Maybe some patient sanding with fine grit sandpaper, then polish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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