TK Armor Fitting Wisdom

[Timberwoof[TK]]

I was thinking about all the stuff I learned about TK armor and had to coach my friend whose eye for detail I enlisted when I needed some photos taken. When I suggested a collection of TK Armor Fitting Wisdom, Harbinger said it would be a great thread. I figured I volunteered to start it, so. 

 

Introduction

• This document presents Tips for Troopers, Handlers, and Photographers when doing the final fitting and photography for the approval submission photos or for preparing for a Troop. There’s a section for each role. No matter your role, you should read every section; it’s helpful to know what everyone needs to do.
• Some parts of the fitting may involve personal space and limits. We can act like adults about this. Trust your teammate; honor your limits. Troopers, Technicians, and Photographers are a Team: we all work for the Legion. 
• This is a living document: If you have an idea to improve this, please suggest it. 

 

Advice for the Trooper
This is not build advice. I waded into the depths of build advice, and with only an idea of what questions to ask, just the advice on trimming return edges is voluminous, confusing, and often contradictory. Here I talk about How to be a Good Trooper for your first photo session. Your Technician and Photographer are there to make you look your best. Do what they ask and thank them for it. Above all, have fun, or else. 

 

Undersuit

• Wear your undersuit pants tightly. Droop in the crotch will make it harder to make the codpiece fit right. (The Anovos “M” tights are loose on a small-to-medium waist. If you can find Underarmour or the like on Amazon that has no stripes or logos, get that.) 

 

Thighs, Shins, Boots

• Fiddle with the velcro strapping system until you figure out the best position and length for the thigh suspension straps. 
• Step on a chair to raise your foot so you can fit the shins. 

 

Chest and Back

• Help your technician tighten the chest and back: Press against the top middle of your chest so your tech can press on your back and set the shoulder straps. 
• You can reach your crotch strap; let your Tech do the side. They can see whether it meets up nicely. 

 

Belt

• You can’t snap the belt by pushing on the ammo box. You have to poke a finger behind and press directly on the snap. 
• The drop-boxes can get lost behind the points of the thighs. Your tech will help you. 
• Shoulder Bells, Biceps, Arms
• Gloves first, then the big parts, then the wrist guards. 
• Check for ease of movement. Can you do curls like a weightlifter? 

 

Helmet

• Check that your helmet is centered left and right. Your eyes will be in the inner corners of the eye openings. Can you look straight ahead? Close one eye at a time; can you still see the thing you’re looking at? Look at the inside of the helmet. Can you see the same features left and right?

 

Advice for the Handler
Chest and Back

• Tighten the shoulder straps as much as you can. You want the chest and back to ride as high up as they will go so the codpiece doesn’t sag. Assuming velcro, let the trooper press on their chest; you push the back and do the shoulders. 
• Check that left and right shoulder ends meet up symmetrically. 
• Let the Trooper do up the crotch snaps, then you do the right side closure. 
• Do the front and back meet up nicely? (Ideal is no gap, no overlap.)
• Check how the neck seal lies. It will get scrunched when fitting the chest and back. Try to avoid folds and sticky-outy things. 
• Are the back-kidney and kidney-butt joints straight and not too wide? (Ideal is no gap, no overlap.)

 

Belt

• You can’t snap the belt by pushing on the ammo box. You have to poke a finger behind and press directly on the snap. You may get better leverage by standing behind your Trooper to give a reach-around. It’s a cooperation thing. 
• Make sure the belt is reasonably tight and rides reasonably straight all the way around. Check that the Dermal Thetonator is centered. 
• Pay attention to the drop-boxes; they can get lost behind the tops of the thighs. 

 

Thighs, Boots, Shins

• In that order. 
• How far you can mess with the trooper’s thigh straps is a matter of trust and comfort. 
• Shins fit easier if the Trooper puts one foot on a chair. You can also check movement that way. 
• Shins sometimes ride up, so check this for the photo. 
• Cover strips on thighs and shins line up facing directly forward and back. 

 

Shoulder Bells, Biceps, Arms

• Once the shoulder straps between chest and back are set, adjust the shoulder bells. 
• Check that the bells are rotated front/back so the gap is even and not too big. 
• Check that shoulder bells don’t stick out too much at the bottom end.
• Biceps should go as high as they can. Have the Trooper raise arms up and down like a weightlifter. Do the biceps and forearms bind? 
• It’s okay to undo the lower bell straps so you can do the straps to the biceps. The lower bell straps go over the biceps. 
• Forearms need to be rotated so the ribbly thing lines up with the pinky. 
• Can the trooper do curls like a weightlifter?
• With the arms at the sides, side seams on shoulders, biceps, and forearms go straight out. Cover strips on biceps and forearms line up front and back. 

 

Integration

• Having the Trooper walk around will reveal problems. 

 

Advice for the Photographer

• If you're an expert, forgive me for teaching the basics. 
• Check lighting, focus, background. Lights make highlights and shadows: this is good. 
• If you can zoom in, stand a reasonable distance away; roughly 4 meters is good for portraits and will avoid weird wide-angle effects. 
• Vertical format. 
• Try shots from chest height. 
• Zoom in to fill the frame, but don’t cut off the trooper’s feet. 
• Having read the rest of this Wisdom, you’ll know some details to look for.
• Keep the list of needed shots. 
• It’s okay to ask the handler to fix something. 
• It’s okay to ask the trooper to adjust their pose. 
• For the action shots, it’s okay to suggest poses. 
• If you have the opportunity to walk around the neighborhood and want to, go ahead and shoot the Trooper in real situations. 
• Have fun! 

Edited January 22, 2018 by Timberwoof
Tweaked arm alignment advice. "Handler"

[Thumpy~[501st]]

good info.  thank you.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Thanks for taking the initiative, I was going to put something together. Now I don’t have to.  I’ll likely still have some tips to add myself.

 

I assume technician = handler? I suppose what we call them is a regional thing.

[Timberwoof[TK]]

Just now, Harbinger said:

Thanks for taking the initiative, I was going to put something together. Now I don’t have to.  I’ll likely still have some tips to add myself.

 

I assume technician = handler? I suppose what we call them is a regional thing.

I don't know what the actual words are. I made up Technician because it sounds cool and it would be a Real Thing if there was such armor, right? "501st Trooper Armor Technician" would be a cool patch to sew onto overalls, but you'd have to earn it. (Anybody who builds a suit earns it!)
I separated the concepts mostly because a Technician helps you into and out of armor while Handler walks around like a Stage Ninja to make sure kids don't stick a lollipop on your tail. A person could certainly do both jobs! 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Every troop I’ve been to its usually handlers or other troopers helping me in/out of armor, FWIW.

[Timberwoof[TK]]

22 minutes ago, Harbinger said:

Every troop I’ve been to its usually handlers or other troopers helping me in/out of armor, FWIW.

*nods*
Is there an inspection as rigid as costume approval? 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Not sure what you mean? Like an in-person inspection?

[Timberwoof[TK]]

Yeah. 
I expect that there are alway enough expert Troopers on hand to spot any obvious problems that it's not that much of an issue. The list I made here is mostly intended for people getting their submission photos done and their helpers who might not have the expertise. 

[Triple D[TK]]

Very nice!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work!  

 

If I had anything to add it would be to build your armor in such a way you're not too dependent on a handler or anyone else for that matter to help you get dressed, or insure your armor is installed correctly. Yes, it is very nice to have an attentive and educated helper however, I can't tell you how many times I've trooped with something out of sorts and no one said a thing, even after I asked someone to check. On a more positive note hopefully there will be Centurion or Specialist level troopers with you who actually care about what everyone around them looks like, because they want everyone else around them to look their best. 

 

 

[TK-42134[TK]]

Late to this party, but it is very helpful from a few different aspects. Thank you for posting.