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Cricket's RS Props Hero Build (more Vertically Challenged assembly!)- FINISHED


Cricket

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This is coming along very nicely, well done Christine, looking forward to the finished product.

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17 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Looking good Christine :jc_doublethumbup:, awesome job on those shoulder bells, nice and tight.


That's the goal!  Thanks for noticing!   :D 

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2 hours ago, Sly11 said:

This is coming along very nicely, well done Christine, looking forward to the finished product.


Thanks, Andrew!  

I think this build is taking me so long because I know exactly what you all nitpick over  (:laugh1:), and I'm trying to make sure that everything is good to go when I apply for EIB/Centurion.  That said, I know that I'm going to miss a few things, no matter how much I try to cover all the details! 

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Quick little mod I'm able to share today before heading out to the Atlanta Braves troop this afternoon...

Have you seen @gmrhodes13 kidney/butt tab modification?  Basically, it's a small piece of plastic that you glue to your butt plate to prevent it from sliding out and away from the kidney.  After seeing his diagrams of how it looks, I had to give it a go.  And it's total genius!

Here is his diagram:
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And here's how I did mine.  I made two of them, one for each side of the butt plate.  (I suppose I could make a few more, but two seems sufficient for now.)  I used a scrap piece of thick ABS and marked 3cm for the outer parts of the tab, and allowed about 1cm for each of the interior bend areas.  It's just a guide as I heated and formed things up.  I stacked four paint stir sticks together to help form the interior shape.
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After some heat gun shaping, I ended up with this:
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I realized that the interior white part would be visible between the armor pieces, so I hit it with some flat black to conceal the tabs.
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Then I glued down just the half on the butt plate.  This retains the vertical movement between the butt plate and kidney, but won't allow any horizontal movement from the butt plate outside of the line of the kidney.  
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Everything is in a state of curing right now, so I can't try it on.  That said, here's what the outside looks like with the tab installed... I'm trying to push the butt plate out of line of the kidney (my hand is out of frame), and it just stays lined up.  Behold!  So much in line!
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I can't wait to try on my kit once the glue is fully cured.  No more butt plate pop!  :D  HUGE thanks to Glen for sharing this awesome little kit improvement!

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  • 1 month later...

BIG push took place over the past two days to get this kit finished.  Here's the story:  I am going to attend a high-profile troop on Sunday in TK.  Well, last weekend, I helped hubby get some epic photos in my TK.  We used colored smoke bombs.  Check it!

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So, the colored smoke actually deposited pigment into my armor several layers deep.  Deeper than anything Novus 3 could touch.  I had to resort to using 220 grit sandpaper, and even that didn't take all of the yellowed/red staining out of my kit.  Moral of the story (and epic pics):  Smoke grenades do not play well with plastic.  So unless you plan on converting your TK to a TD, avoid smoke bombs at all costs!!!  

Which lead me to the reason behind fast-tracking my Hero to completion.  My Stunt TK is in various stages of needing to be seriously polished, and it's stained in places where I can't clean.  There is no way I would take it to a high-profile event in the condition that it's in now.  This made my decision very easy:  Get the Hero finished STAT!

 

I spent the past two days fine tuning things for basic approval. I still have to trim a little from the right thigh for clearance, trim a little off the bottom of the right side back plate (both overlapping a smidge), stuff a wedge in the lower back plate for better fit/alignment, and install some fans into the lid.  

But, hey, it's done!  

First, the lid.
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And the pics for basic approval.  My son took the pics, and my daughter was instrumental to make sure everything was in place!
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Then there were the fun pics.  :) 

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This kit is actually more comfortable than my first one, which came as a surprise to me!  Today was the first day I put everything on and walked around.  Happily, I don't have any areas of armor biting or loud rattling of the plastic.  I have to figure out what's going on with the paint on the handguards, because it flaked off everywhere during the photos.  Worst case scenario, I'll swap out these gloves for the ones from my Stunt kit for the troop this weekend.  

But overall, I'm thrilled to finally have the Hero I've always wanted to build.  Now to finish hubby's Stunt TK, and move forward with converting my Stunt TK to a TD!     

 

And huge thanks to everyone for their feedback during my journey.  I wouldn't be here without all of you here at the FISD!  :jc_doublethumbup:

EDIT:
Looking at these pics, I've decided that I need to size down the forearms a bit more.  I never noticed it until I had the kit on, but they look a smidge too wide on my arms.  Easy fix, though!  :) 

Edited by Cricket
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I thought that was a beer in your TD belt. That would have been bold.

Looks great as expected. Hope you're doing well and GL on that troop.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

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22 hours ago, fragarock said:

I thought that was a beer in your TD belt. That would have been bold.
 

 

Ha!!!  That would be nice.  You are giving me ideas, though...  ;) 

 

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10 hours ago, The5thHorseman said:

How tall is your son? Or are the low-angle pictures wanted so that for once you don't look a little short for a stormtrooper?! :D


He's only 9, and a short kiddo at that.  He's actually standing on out entry stairs that set him lower than the ground I'm standing on.  I kept having to ask him to raise his arms up really high to get a straight-on shot.  His arms got really tired a few minutes in, so low-angle is what I got.  :laugh1:   I think he did a pretty good job considering the conditions!  :) 

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So that high-profile troop happened. :D  My first outing in my Hero kit, and things went along flawlessly!

Before rehearsal, backstage with the FISD's very own Scimitar and LTM!
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Rehearsal with the troops!
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Rebel scum spotted!!!
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After rehearsal, we were allowed to go out and mingle incognito among the Imperial Citizens until it was time to kit up.
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My "Dead Trooper Arm" was spotted!
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Final rehearsals (and I'm not the shortest trooper, just standing next to her).
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Lining up right before going on stage.  That's Scimitar rocking out in the back.
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Waiting in the wings!

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On stage with Weird Al!!!

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Can you spot me?  I'm the one with the comm link on my belt.  :)
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Post-performance elation!!!
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Then Weird Al took pics with us.  Supreme Nerd Leader!!!  Yeah!!!
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I was fangirling out in a major way. 
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Aside from finally completing this Hero kit, this will be the highlight of my year for sure!!!  :dancing-trooper:

Edited by Cricket
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  • Cricket changed the title to Cricket's RS Props Hero Build (more Vertically Challenged assembly!)- FINISHED
  • 1 month later...

Is a kit ever really completed?  :) 

 

After having recently completed this TK and Mr. Cricket's TK, I went about doing a full cleaning of my nerd room.  When I have a clean space to work in, I end up with some serious bursts of creative inspiration.  Today was the day I had a serious "A-HA!" :0Lighten: moment.

This lightbulb moment was about my voice amplifier.  Many of you put your amp in your chest plate, and that's fine for a lot of you.  I found that (like a lot of you have reported) I ended up with feedback when I would try to increase the volume of the amp.   The mic is just too close to the amp when it's placed in the chest if you want to be heard easily in a crowded troop.  Being on the thinner side, I relocated my amp to my belly- namely, it's velcroed inside the recessed ab button box of the ab plate.  Relocating the amp to the ab helped a lot, so I could turn up my amp even louder.  But I still had some issues with being heard by Imperial Citizens.  When I made my amp even louder, I'd get feedback.  I figured that the placement of the amp into the ab was about as good as I could get.

One of the Biker Scouts in my Garrison has a white cotton duck pouch that houses his amp, and WOW... he can be easily heard anywhere!  I sewed one of these for my TK- figuring that if I had an extra box on my belt, it would blend anyhow (and certainly not as conspicuous as those non-canon binders I see everywhere).  I thought that this would be the solution for my Hero!

Nope.  This solution will work on a Stunt, but not a Hero with a grappling hook box.  Sigh.  The grappling hook box is positioned where the cloth amp box needs to go. I don't want it on my back plate because that would look very odd.  And I can't swap it over to my left side because I like to holster my blaster, and the cloth amp box would get in the way of the blaster while holstered.  Ugh.  I will be able to use the cloth amp box for my Sandtrooper, but I need something for my Hero.  Back to the drawing board.

 

I was looking at my super-clean nerd room today, and began looking at my Hero kit (currently displayed on a mannequin).  I examined everywhere I could place the cloth amp box... then inspiration struck.  "Why not hide the amp inside the grappling hook box?"  Whaaaa???!!!   OMG!  Would it work?

 

I have a brand new extra Aker amp (happily discovered when cleaning up the nerd room), so I first eyeballed if the amp could even fit. Yep.  Size-wize, it's a go.

 

After this, I'm sure you can imagine what happened next.  Dremel.  Lexan scissors.  Pliers.  Glue.  Velcro. And in less than an hour, I had a secure and fully functioning grappling hook amp!  
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Okay, I know that the center hole isn't exactly canon, but it's a small enough mod that it works.  I could even make it less visible with a white grommet- maybe I'll hit it with some paint?  I kind of like the black grommet, though.  The mic cord routes behind the back of the belt, under the kidney notch, under my shirt, up through my neckseal, and to the mic taped to my cheek.  The cord won't really be visible at all.

And I can really make this thing LOUD now!  The benefit of having the amp in the box is that the box amplifies the amp itself.  I can't wait to use this at DragonCon!!!  :D 

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  • 1 month later...

Just a small update about the Grappling Hook Box amp mod...

It worked flawlessly.   I spray painted the end of the mic cord with black vinyl paint so it would blend in better.  I was able to be super loud while at the con!  It was really nice to not have to repeat myself when talking to people.  I was able to even get trooper's attention in a loud parking garage at the beginning of the DragonCon parade (I was wrangling a bunch of us TKs into canon formation). 

At some point at DragonCon, I spotted another con-goer dressed as a Jedi in an outside patio area.  I was about 40 feet away from him, and I said (in a normal voice), "Ugh, rebel scum."  I was very surprised when he looked over at me, waved his hand, and said loudly, "There are no rebels around here!"  And I replied, "Huh.  There are no rebels around here.  I'll move along," and I walked away from him.  Everyone in the area erupted in laughter.  It was awesome to be so easily heard.  Very, very happy with this hack to my Grappling Hook Box!

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  • 5 months later...

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