TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 (edited) I didn't start this thread until late in the build process, so I might be light on WIP pics. Oops. Next build. Got a kit from Faraway Creations in Colorado. Got pretty much all the torso, arms & thighs done. Had a bit of a snag with the calves, more on that later. In progress with the helmet at the moment. Edited January 18, 2023 by TikiTechie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Amazing how we get in a building spree and forget to take more photos Looking good so far, looking forward to seeing more 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKSpartan[Staff] Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Welcome to FISD Jim, Looking nice build, remember to check and re-check the crl, reference images , others wips and "measure twice , cut and glue just once" . Let us know for further assistance, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Yeah, that first cut on the kit was nerve wracking. I feel much more confident now, until I got to the helmet and I was terrified again of making an irreversable blunder. It appears to have survived and the paint is drying now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggydoc[Staff] Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Welcome to FISD. Looking good so far. Lots of great people to offer help here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2022 Helmet complete. The most stressful thing I've ever built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) Excuse the roll of shop towels in the back. Not a good look. I did discover they aren't the best for a trooper build as they leave blue fuzz all over. Edited October 15, 2022 by MoonTiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) Almost there. The shins are still a problem and need to finish and add sniper plate. Edited October 17, 2022 by MoonTiki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 17, 2022 Report Share Posted October 17, 2022 Looking good, you may just want to adjust the strapping between your shoulders and shoulder straps you have a bit of a gap there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2022 On 10/17/2022 at 9:12 PM, gmrhodes13 said: Looking good, you may just want to adjust the strapping between your shoulders and shoulder straps you have a bit of a gap there Definitely. Once I get the shins correct I am going to revisit my straps. Those are first on the list. At least it's an easy fix to shorten. Thanks for the feedback! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2022 (edited) Trying to post up some progress stuff, but I'm mostly done. however, I do know that I've had confusion and questions cleared up just by seeing some pictures, so I'll post these two of my current belt. Maybe there's something to fix, hoping it's gtg. Edited October 20, 2022 by MoonTiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 20, 2022 Report Share Posted October 20, 2022 Looking good, a dab or two of E6000 on the drop box elastic loops can help the drop boxes stay in the right place 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2022 (edited) 13 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said: Looking good, a dab or two of E6000 on the drop box elastic loops can help the drop boxes stay in the right place Yep, there is some along the top edge. I might end up putting a little dab on the top edge all along. It seems like the middle gets a little slack when curved on my waist. Edited October 20, 2022 by MoonTiki 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) After submitting for pre-review it was pointed out that I had riveted the sniper plate which is ROTJ and not ANH. :/ I didn't do my research and just followed the mfg instructions blindly. Lesson learned. It's one of the few areas I didn't do my due diligence on. The shins of my kit have been a real difficult chore. It seems that the right / left item labels were reversed so I had that added confusion, which is already confusing based on what I've seen in other threads. After that, the left side was much smaller than the right and was originally unwearable. I added a much larger cover strip on the inside to hold the width, giving me a bit more room. It's still tight but I think it's wearable. We'll see when I start trooping. I had to cut away most of the return edge on the top of the left shin which was digging in to my knee. Ow. So, after the comments on my split riveting, I went ahead and took them out with pliers and started gluing them on. The knee plate is really thicker looking than some of the other ones I've seen, or at least the shape does not fit what the knee looks like, so I did some hot water bath & struggling to get it to lie a little flatter to the tops. It's still not a very good match so I just went ahead and glued them a bunch and clamped them down overnight. For now it's holding. I'll be curious to see if the E6000 will retain the hold. I have not used CA glue at all during assembly given it's my first kit and I wasn't confident. (Was a wise decision based on some changes I've had to make). This may be a time I will use it if the e6000 doesn't do the trick. Here are some photos. I did a lot of work to bend/force the side to fit. Looks like a crack formed while it was clamped. I will try to fill this in with some ABS Paste later today. The rivet hold will get the same filler. I trimmed this one back to remove the rivet hold and match some pictures I've seen on where it attached, which seemed a little shorter than the low point of the leg border. I will fill this in with some ABS Paste later today. This view from the top shows a bit of the work needed to get this to kind of fit together. I'm hoping the clamping bent it enough to remove the tendency to return to it's original shape. I'll post more when I fill the gaps. And I'll add it to my pre-request post. Edited October 25, 2022 by MoonTiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revlimiter[Staff] Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 That knee glue/repair/fix looks great! Mine also cracked when I clamped and manhandled it into position and I also had to hit it with ABS paste. It should be fine forever once repaired. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Did my first time ABS patching on the holes. Sanded & polished as much as I could. Doesn't look too bad. Edited October 25, 2022 by MoonTiki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted October 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Shortened the shoulder straps to make it a little less sloppy. Edited October 25, 2022 by MoonTiki 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 25, 2022 Report Share Posted October 25, 2022 Looking good, for higher levels you belt could come up a touch The top of the ABS belt shall sit at or just above the bottom of the central and vertical ab button panels. A slight overlap is suggested, but not required. Also remove the excess E6000 from the end of the sniper plate, easy to remove with either a sharp scrap of ABS or thumbnail 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted March 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) My noggin is either too big or my helmet hole is too small, or both. I added a ukswrath fan bracket and I'm having a hard time stuffing my melon into this thing. Should I be trimming some of this back further? I originally had cut it back a ways, you can see where I had to salvage some gasket to get it to meet at the ends. Edited March 8, 2023 by TikiTechie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 4 hours ago, TikiTechie said: My noggin is either too big or my helmet hole is too small, or both. Just making sure, are you doing the TK-twist? (Putting it on sideways and then rotating it) If not that will most likely do the trick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted March 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 6 hours ago, TheSwede said: TK-twist Yeah, that's with the twist. I can barely get it over the bridge of my rather voluminous nose. It was tight before and that was ok, now the fan bracket & switches really make it almost impossible, and I haven't added my headset mic or a battery. I was just wondering from the photos if there is an area that is not trimmed enough or if it looks right. I can probably make do if that looks alright. But I did get a new strip of neck seal just in case I widened that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 Unfortunately some helmets are a little smaller than others, the opening you have seems quite a lot for the helmet, if you take off any more material you may find your face is easier to see by younglings. Could you get the helmet on ok before the incorporated fans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted March 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said: Could you get the helmet on ok before the incorporated fans? Yeah, it was fine. I could twist it on fine. I really have almost nothing in there except a few helmet pads on the top & crown. I am fitting a couple of my own fans (not the bracketed insert) with velcro and those site nicely in the cheek/jowls incl. a battery pack. So there is room, just the bracket doesn't work for me I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 22 hours ago, TikiTechie said: Yeah, it was fine. I could twist it on fine. I really have almost nothing in there except a few helmet pads on the top & crown. I am fitting a couple of my own fans (not the bracketed insert) with velcro and those site nicely in the cheek/jowls incl. a battery pack. So there is room, just the bracket doesn't work for me I guess. I found I had to add squirrel/blower fans in the lower corners (next to mic tips) which gave me a little more room as my Hero is very small in comparison to my Stunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TikiTechie[TK] Posted March 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said: I had to add squirrel/blower fans in the lower corners Yep, I reverted back to the same as that. I liked the bracket idea, but it just didn't sit down nicely in my helmet. It's a lot lighter this way. Live & learn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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