MintImperial’s “Mini Imperial” WTF Kids TK Armour Build

[revlimiter[Staff]]

omg this is incredible. Seriously the best thread I've seen in months.

 

@MaskedVengeance check out the tiny TD!

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

9 minutes ago, revlimiter said:

omg this is incredible. Seriously the best thread I've seen in months. 

 

@MaskedVengeance check out the tiny TD!

 

I know, right?! (about the thread)

 

I'm embarrassed to say that upon first read I initially missed the mini TD. How, idk. Probably just didn't scroll back far enough in Tapatalk. But now I must have them. Yes them. Not it/one. Walt should be expecting a PM from me soon.

[MintImperial[TK]]

Adam & Caleb, thank you. You guys are too kind.

 

Will try to get the rest of the thread up soon.

 

And that TD really is so cute!

Edited November 16, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

26th of October

 

Comfort modification

Padding

I wanted to show you some of the ways I’ve padded the costume for comfort.

It also gives more space for Mini Imperial to grow.

For now it keeps the forearms, thighs, shins, etc. from wiggling and clattering

while sitting snug and centred around her limbs.

Later, as she grows, I can reduce, then remove padding to fit her better.

 

I removed the codpiece straps as the snaps were pressing into her hips.

I plan to eventually glue some elastic straps to replace the ugly-but-effective gaffer tape.

 

Put foam covers on the shoulder elastic snaps to stop them hurting Tiny Trooper’s shoulders.

 

Shoulder bells spaced and padded

(also used a loop of elastic in place of the ABS bicep hook to eliminate any discomfort)

 

Foam padding on snaps on the shoulder-bell-to-bicep elastic

 

Biceps spaced on four sides

 

Forearms padded top and spaced on four sides

 

Thighs padded top & bottom and spaced on four sides inside

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

26th of October 2023

 

Comfort modification

Forearm padding in elbow recess

While most of my comfort fixes and convenience hacks are designed to be invisible,

this one is necessarily visible.

 

Mini Imperial repeatedly complained that the forearms were cutting into her elbows,

even after I shortened the forearms by one ‘dimple’ and cut the recess progressively deeper.

 

I realised that I would be forever removing meat from the inside curve

that would look more and more strange while not increasing comfort.

I had to pad the curve.

 

Using off-cuts from my tried-and-trusted butt EVA foam,

I created little crescents and glued them into the recesses,

creating padding that, close up, looked awful

(especially after being worn once or twice and becoming a bit wrinkled)

but, from a distance, was barely noticeable.

No more complaints! Problem solved!

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

26th of October 2023

Recap of 90%-finished armour and size comparisons to my WTF kit

 

That’s as far as I got before Halloween rolled around.

Mini Imperial’s blaster (below) is a Disney Parks repaint from Tokyo Disneyland

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

28th of October 2023: first troop with 501st Legion Hong Kong Garrison

 

Took Mini Imperial on her first troop for the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Drive

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

31st of October 2023

Mini Imperial’s birthday & my deadline!

 

Had a minor setback in that the school didn’t let kids dress up on the day. 

So we went trick or treating in our neighbourhood that evening.

Here are a few photos shared by our wonderful local community:

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

The amount of work you have put into this has paid off, James... phenomenal job!   

 

This is without a doubt the funniest BBB day photo EVER!

 

           

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

37 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

The amount of work you have put into this has paid off, James... phenomenal job!   

 

This is without a doubt the funniest BBB day photo EVER!

 

           

 

 Thank you, Joseph!

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

26th of October 2023

 

Convenience modification

Arms connected from glove to shoulder to glove

I forgot to post this.

Remember mittens on elastic running all the way up your arms when you were a kid in winter?

That inspired me twice on this build:

 

1. The shoulder bells are connected with one piece of elastic running across the back of the shoulders

to minimise painful snaps pressing into Mini Imperial from above.

This also means she can easily put the arms on first

before getting into the torso.

[will add photo when I remember to take it]

 

2. The gloves have elastic straps glued to them

and are snapped into the bottom of the forearms so that they won’t get lost,

ride up, slip down or misbehave in any other way.

And they’re free to dangle when she needs to take them off.

Edited November 19, 2023 by MintImperial

[revlimiter[Staff]]

This is the definitive kid's build. This is incredible.

 

Meanwhile, mine is waiting till she's 16 to get her TK armor... because not all dads are nearly as awesome as you are.  She has to Jawa and Sabine until then.

[MintImperial[TK]]

50 minutes ago, revlimiter said:

This is the definitive kid's build. This is incredible.

 

Meanwhile, mine is waiting till she's 16 to get her TK armor... because not all dads are nearly as awesome as you are.  She has to Jawa and Sabine until then.

Stop it. My head won’t fit into my bucket any more!

 

I dare not let Mini Imp know about Sabine.

Am not about to make any version of that costume anytime soon. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow James, phenomenal build thread, and the work you have done is amazing.

That's one lucky kid

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

"I shall call him MiniMe"

 

Great work, lets hope the youngling does not grow too fast  

[MintImperial[TK]]

6 hours ago, Sly11 said:

Wow James, phenomenal build thread, and the work you have done is amazing.

That's one lucky kid

Thank you Andrew. 

[MintImperial[TK]]

6 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

"I shall call him MiniMe"

 

Great work, lets hope the youngling does not grow too fast  

Thanks for all the help on my stunt.

Went a long way with this one.

I’d be happy to do it all again if she still wants it when she's bigger.

Plus I’ve kept the offcuts plus a lot of trimmings to make ABS.

[revlimiter[Staff]]

20 hours ago, MintImperial said:

I dare not let Mini Imp know about Sabine.

Am not about to make any version of that costume anytime soon. 

 

The paint work was extremely painful. I hated every minute. But it was worth it.

 

You still did more with this build than I did with Sabine.

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 11/21/2023 at 12:34 AM, revlimiter said:

 
The paint work was extremely painful. I hated every minute. But it was worth it.

 
You still did more with this build than I did with Sabine.

Wow that is awesome!
(Definitely not showing Mini Imp!)

Edited November 24, 2023 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

8th of November 2023

 

Convenience modification

 

Permanently attached thermal detonator

I still haven’t quite finished this as I want to redo the brackets.

The TD is very simply bolted directly through the canvas portion of the belt.

I forgot to take photos of the inside before I glued it shut but it’s no great mystery how a nut & bolt work!

I went for just 2 screws as the other two really won’t be visible.

Easy to change my mind later if I want to be more accurate.

 

TD bottom with brackets removed

 

Reverse angle showing inside of canvas belt

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

8th of November 2023
 
Convenience modification
 
Permanently attached thermal detonator
I still haven’t quite finished this as I want to redo the brackets.
The TD is very simply bolted directly through the canvas portion of the belt.
I forgot to take photos of the inside before I glued it shut but it’s no great mystery how a nut & bolt work!
I went for just 2 screws as the other two really won’t be visible.
Easy to change my mind later if I want to be more accurate.
 
TD bottom with brackets removed

 
Reverse angle showing inside of canvas belt

This is the post I was looking for. (if you know me)

If I may, what are the dimensions of that TD? And what diameter is the pipe? I’m in the process of ordering one from Walt to add to my TD collection/archive, and he hasn’t reported the actual size to me yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MintImperial[TK]]

@MaskedVengeance

 

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, MintImperial said:

 

So pretty. 

 

(don't tell my other TDs)