Bullseye[TK] Posted September 23, 2018 Report Share Posted September 23, 2018 I'm putting together my TK after almost a year since purchasing it. Unfortunately some parts warped a bit and I'm having a difficult time figuring out where to make my cuts. My armor set doesn't have clearly defined lines for the cuts, so I've got to eyeball them. Any help people can provide would be greatly appreciated. I'll start with the bicep pieces. Unfortunately the heat in the garage warped the thumbprint bicep. I've heard that boiling water works as does a heat gun (I've got a two stage heat gun that has a mild and hot setting). Not sure what to do, so I thought I'd ask y'all. Thanks in advance everyone, Bullseye Thumbprint Bicep: Other Bicep: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rat[TK] Posted September 23, 2018 Report Share Posted September 23, 2018 Hey Dave welcome and congrats on finally starting. The re-shaping might be better with the heat gun at that thickness, but the hot water bath is less risky and you can subtly shape it. So far as the trim lines go don't eyeball, measure them. A lot of the kits don't have premade trim lines. So be sure to look at the CRL and other builds of your kit that will help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted September 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 A friend provided me with some build guides for various unmarked-no line kits and that’s been invaluable. I’ll be posting cuts in the next few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 No warping there. That's how you armour was formed. It is ATA or maybe WTF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 After a long couple of days, some progress on the forearms. I initially, and foolishly, cut the left forearms to an 18mm combined width thinking I could whittle it down from there. Not a good idea. Despite being a wiry man, my forearms were way too thick at the elbow for that width and I couldn’t get my hand into the hand gap. The result was my having to plastic fuse the trimmed pieces back onto the forearm. You’ll see the obvious fuse lines. One thing that was very frustrating, and you’ll see this in my cut lines, was that having a straight edge was only marginally useful the way I apparently applied it. I think part of it was trying to use the straight edge while the original mold base curves were still attached. As I cut those off and began to remeasure, things got better, but not perfect. After the above I took a more “measured” (har har) approach to the right forearm. I whittled the right forearm slowly until it fit my hand and elbow. It needs a little extra trimming the mesh up, but it’s close enough I think I can put a scrap strip underneath for support. I know im supposed to do a 15mm cover strip on both sides. Will I get dinged for the edges not matching the cover strip? My thanks in advance for everyone’s help and thoughts. Left arm: Here’s the obvious trim fusing: Right arm to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 Right forearm: More tomorrow. Hopefully. On 9/25/2018 at 4:22 PM, troopermaster said: No warping there. That's how you armour was formed. It is ATA or maybe WTF? DA Props. I’m still figuring out how screwy these original based molds were. Being 6’3” means they were not made for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 Bourbon also helps. EH Taylor barrel proof (2018 release) was enjoyed while dremeling the forearms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted October 5, 2018 Report Share Posted October 5, 2018 Not sure that I fully get what happened here...looks like you need to shim the forearms but shimmed the side that has a ridge instead of the side that doesn't appear to have a ridge? I would put the shim on the latter. Won't be able to see the shim (depending on the size required) and the side with the ridge will then have a correct size cover strip. If I misunderstood and this would not resolve your situation, please feel free to clarify! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 On 10/5/2018 at 10:49 AM, lucnak said: Not sure that I fully get what happened here...looks like you need to shim the forearms but shimmed the side that has a ridge instead of the side that doesn't appear to have a ridge? I would put the shim on the latter. Won't be able to see the shim (depending on the size required) and the side with the ridge will then have a correct size cover strip. If I misunderstood and this would not resolve your situation, please feel free to clarify! Sadly my attempts to shim did not work out as well as I’d have liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 Welp, more “progress”. My efforts to prepare my forearms have continued and I’ve actually been semi-successful at getting them to finally match up. I’ve managed to shim the interior of the forearms and E6000 them together. The problem I’m having is there’s still a bit of a ridge where the parts meet. I’m thinking I’m going to need to boil my cover strips (make them soft) to get them to sit right. I’ve tried to get the abs to sit flat (clamps, magnets, tape, etc.) but no luck. So I’m stuck with the ridge. Anyone have any better ideas? (Also, I’m either going to put a lot of E6000 in the gap or make an ABS slurry to fill the gap before placing the cover strip). Thanks in advance everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 You really don't want to bend your cover strips, they would end up appearing bent in the centre and should be flat. I suggest trying to give the forearm pieces a heat and bend so they lay a little flatter, should have done this before adding inside strips. You can apply some pressure and they should sit a little flatter, it is easier when one side is already glued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rat[TK] Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 My suggestion would be to remove the inner strips and place the outside ones and then redo the inner ones.Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rat[TK] Posted October 10, 2018 Report Share Posted October 10, 2018 Oh and don't worry about filling the gap between, unless it's just a personal choice.Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 On 10/9/2018 at 10:15 PM, Rat said: My suggestion would be to remove the inner strips and place the outside ones and then redo the inner ones. Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk That’s what I ended up doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted October 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 My thanks to everyone for their input. I ended up separating the forearms and buying a lot more clamps and magnets. As every suggested I popped out the internal strips and reset them on one side of the forearm, glued them down and then clamped the hell out of them. Behold! I probably could’ve put another clamp in there somewhere but that might be overkill..... oh wait... After the glue set I went back to trying to connect the two halves, one edge at a time. To assist I purchased a set of flat rectangle magnets to help flatten the ridge. Then, after the rectangles we’re down I put my additional magnets on top and below to help solidify the pressure, and eliminate any potential ridge. We’ll see tonight how they turned out. I’ll try to rejoin the second edge to tonight. I’ll glue, tape, clamp, magnet the hell out of it. Wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 3 hours ago, Bullseye said: I’ll try to rejoin the second edge to tonight. I’ll glue, tape, clamp, magnet the hell out of it. Tape is really good helping to close and make a flatter surface, you can put some tension on when applying the tape, you will know when you've gone too far as the tape will break. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted October 26, 2018 Report Share Posted October 26, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretzel[TK] Posted November 23, 2018 Report Share Posted November 23, 2018 Nice Work on the armor Dave. Hope you are making some progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Seven months later...... To sum up my progress, it didn’t work. The forearms are still a mess. Discouraged, I put the kit away in the garage and thought about it sparingly. Then, wonderfully, Star Wars Celebration Chicago finally came to town. One of the best things about SWCC was the ability to talk to other builders and see how their builds turned out. That was huge for me. It took seeing the armor in the field for me to realize it ain’t going to be perfect. Just talking with other TKs reinforced that this is not an exact science and the best thing to do is get the job done so that you can enjoy it. To all the troopers I met and talked with, thank you. Since then I've gotten to work on a Rubies conversion E11, a 3D print full size E11, and worked on my chest, back, shoulder bells, biceps, and ammo belt. Photos and background to follow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted June 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 Progress on the biceps. I’ll start with the left, because I think this requires less input. Big question here is return edge and how much is required, if any. I can get the bicep on and off, but the shape is a little out of whack. I think when I trim down the sides a little more it’ll start to resolve itself. As you can see below, the current outside raised ridge is at 40mm in width. I think requirement is 20mm? Thoughts on additional trimming? Top Bottom outside ridge I’m not sure how much of the ridge/raised area I have to have for EID or how much return I need for EID or centurion. How much can I get away with trimming and what is the required width for the cover strips? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted June 2, 2019 Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 Ideally cover strips are @16mm but can vary, you don't need to keep any return edge and can safely trim those. I needed to apply a little heat to my biceps making them a little more rounded will give you more room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted June 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 Now the right bicep. I got a little too excited about trimming the right bicep before I put this project into hibernation last fall. The issue here here again is return edge. How much do I need? I can get this on my bare arm but not on with an undershirt. It he’ll to get off so I know I need more room. So I’m going to have to add a shim in between the inside butt joint to add space. The shim is spare abs I’ve sanded into a 5 to 15mm wedge to run bottom to top. Should do the trick. Photos: top Bottom Inside top outer bottom return Inside ridge outside ridge Thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted June 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said: Ideally cover strips are @16mm but can vary, you don't need to keep any return edge and can safely trim those. I needed to apply a little heat to my biceps making them a little more rounded will give you more room. When you say heat, are you suggesting a low heat setting paint heat gun or a hair dryer? (Also, thanks!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullseye[TK] Posted June 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 One thing to mention that I haven’t seen in a lot of builds, 100 grit sandpaper is the most helpful thing I’ve found in restarting this build. Because my kit didn’t come with trim lines, this is all done with measuring and guess work (educated guesses, but let’s be honest here). The result has been a lot of uneven butt joints and raw edges either from snips, blades, or Dremeling. The 100 grit (on the edge only) has helped me get the butt joints flat, and allowed me to make some honest to goodness progress. I highly recommend it if you’re building a kit without trim lines. It’ll keep you sane when your best trimming efforts come out looking like crocodile teeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted June 2, 2019 Report Share Posted June 2, 2019 7 hours ago, Bullseye said: When you say heat, are you suggesting a low heat setting paint heat gun or a hair dryer? (Also, thanks!) I use a heat gun but it does take some practice and I don't advise it for the first timer, a lot of others use a hot water bath, there are a few threads on using water baths in the how to section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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