TK ANH Stunt by CloseTheBlastDoor

[Tilheyra[TK]]

1 hour ago, revlimiter said:

 

The chest and abs will want to create a gap on most troopers over 5'10" with Walts armor. You'll need to really strap those two pieces together well to make sure no black appears between them. Cheating the chest down away from your neck a little and letting the crotch strap be a little loose will help as well.

 

I can confirm this, even thought I am 5 feet 9 inches tall. I had to try numerous times and be very diligent to get the chest and abdominal armor to remain overlapped properly while also getting the overall positioning right. My armor was built from a Walt's Trooper Factory ANH kit.

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

35 minutes ago, Tilheyra said:

 

I can confirm this, even thought I am 5 feet 9 inches tall. I had to try numerous times and be very diligent to get the chest and abdominal armor to remain overlapped properly while also getting the overall positioning right. My armor was built from a Walt's Trooper Factory ANH kit.

Thanks, Brian! I surely wish that I had known this before.

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

Han: “Oh yeah? Watch this!”

Leia: “Watch what?”

 

Here goes. I had started this a bit before I started this thread, armed with some of what I’d seen in the forums, mainly @TK bondservnt's post here:

 

 

I am grateful to the rest of you in this post who provided further information!

 

End caps

 

I started by rough cutting the extra plastic off the end caps with a bandsaw:

 

 

Then for the more precise cut, II thought I’d try and be all fancy, so I hacked together this jig:

 

There’s a little backstop on the other side:

 

I then proceeded to hold a pencil in place while rotating the tube, to get a fairly good cut line. One builder mentioned doing successive low pressure cuts with an X-Acto blade, rather than pressing too hard and cutting all the way through at once, so I tried that. I think it was referred to as the ‘score-and-snap’ method. But I quickly found that it was very hard to see the cut line, but I did get deep enough eventually. Next time, laying down painter’s tape and marking it instead might be easier.
 

 

Now it came to try and get the extra stuff off. I used a Dremel to cut relief marks, and then wiggled the bits back and forth until they came off:

This got me close enough. I then placed some 220 grit sandpaper on a flat surface, and moved the cap back and forth on it until I got all the rough edges out. I think I’m just a tad bit over 20mm thick now.

For the second end cap, I decided that I was just overthinking everything. I ended up using the jig again, but instead I used the Dremel saw held in place while carefully rotating the tube, also taking care to not go too deep. I again followed with relief cuts and wiggling out the waste material, then sanding as before.

 

Tube and cap fit test

 

I quickly found that the PVC tube was a bit larger than would fit into the end caps (or vice versa). I attempted the boiling water trick with mild success. I had read somewhere else that it’s a good idea to sand down the ends of the PVC, so I did that:

The caps fit fairly snugly after doing this, but in terms of overall length, it went past the 7.5” total length. So I did some trimming and re-sanding:

I will still need to sand the whole tube to provide enough scuffing for good paint adhesion.

 

Aluminum clips

 

Next step were the clips. I had seen some measurements at 1-⅛” wide bars, and others at 1”. The CRL said 1”, so I went with that (and it was the only thing I could find). My local hardware store had them:

 

I drilled holes and prepped the bars as specified by @TK bondservnt:

 

I was too cheap to buy more metal bars to make a bending jig, but I had plenty of ⅛” acrylic lying around the shop, so I just used that instead:

 

Hardware

 

After a lot of Googling and not-so-great search results on Amazon, and no inkling of shipping cost at McMaster, I was happy to find that there is a shop near my house that specializes pretty much in bolts! So I was able to pick up the following:

• 6-32 pan head slotted machine screws, ½” long, stainless (will need to paint the heads)
• #6 washers
• Matching nylon lock nuts

I got 10 sets of these for $3! Everywhere else I would have to buy 1000 and spend 5-10x as much!

 

Control panel

 

I’m now at the point where I need to cut the control panel, so I know how much I need to mask off the tube before painting it. I see quite a variance in its dimensions, so I’m thinking that it should be cut to 122mm long. For the ‘wraparound’ part, I’m a little confused. Somewhere I saw 95mm, but I need to be sure. I’m going to look at @MaskedVengeance's tutorials next.

 

In parallel, I need to find the grey paint/primer, hopefully at my hobby shop.

 

Please let me know if you see anything here that I'm doing wrong! Thank you in advance!
 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

22 minutes ago, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

Somewhere I saw 95mm, but I need to be sure. I’m going to look at @MaskedVengeance's tutorials next.

 

Excellent work Hanson, the 120mm is ok, 95 mm refers to the aprox. height of the control panel 

 

reference image.

 

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

The arc length of the control panel isn't as important or visible as other dimensions of the TD. In my experience, I've almost always trimmed the control panels to tax size in respect to the measurement shown as 95mm in the photo that Mario posted. Different makers have slight variances in the designs of the molds. WTF is one of the "brands" of TDs that I haven't yet acquired, so I don't know what the raw measurement would be.

 

One thing to note about the width of the control panel is that I trim mine to ensure that the two black clip screws are perfectly in alignment with the edges of the control panel. So here's my order of operations:

1. Trim end caps to 20mm wide
2. Fit end caps onto the tube then trim tube so the total width is 7.25-7.5" wide
3. Place metal clips against end caps then measure distance between the screws to determine panel width.

 

 

By the way, all these TD details are because I'm OBSESSED with TDs. The average trooper won't spend the time it takes to read all these responses on their TD. So don't worry about spending too much time on the tiny details. I'm the outlier with my technique. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 hour ago, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

I had seen some measurements at 1-⅛” wide bars, and others at 1”. The CRL said 1”, so I went with that (and it was the only thing I could find).

You will find a lot of "approximate" used in the CRL's a lot of time to cater for what is available now as well as differences between imperial and metric.

 

If you are ever in doubt and you can't wait for a response as you are in a building groove you can always refer to the gallery areas

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

3 hours ago, MaskedVengeance said:

The arc length of the control panel isn't as important or visible as other dimensions of the TD. In my experience, I've almost always trimmed the control panels to tax size in respect to the measurement shown as 95mm in the photo that Mario posted. Different makers have slight variances in the designs of the molds. WTF is one of the "brands" of TDs that I haven't yet acquired, so I don't know what the raw measurement would be.

 

One thing to note about the width of the control panel is that I trim mine to ensure that the two black clip screws are perfectly in alignment with the edges of the control panel. So here's my order of operations:

1. Trim end caps to 20mm wide
2. Fit end caps onto the tube then trim tube so the total width is 7.25-7.5" wide
3. Place metal clips against end caps then measure distance between the screws to determine panel width.

 

 

By the way, all these TD details are because I'm OBSESSED with TDs. The average trooper won't spend the time it takes to read all these responses on their TD. So don't worry about spending too much time on the tiny details. I'm the outlier with my technique. 

I just blew a bunch of time looking for the paint (unsuccessfully), but that prevented me from cutting the panel, and I'm glad I did! Thank you for this tip.

 

I've seen how much time you've spent on this, and I'm grateful! I can use what you've done as the gold standard to aspire to. The closer I can get to perfect, the better!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

1 hour ago, gmrhodes13 said:

If you are ever in doubt and you can't wait for a response as you are in a building groove you can always refer to the gallery areas

Thanks for that tip, those pics are pretty useful!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

2 minutes ago, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

One thing to note about the width of the control panel is that I trim mine...

Oh sorry, one other thing. Is there a specification for these lengths?

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Here's my painted detonator, grey primer and clear coat, I couldn't find a grey I liked locally

 

 

No actual dimensions only screen references. You may find with some makes that if you trim just before mold lines you should be close. There is that "approximately" word again  

From the CRL

Thermal Detonator (A.K.A. O2 canister) attaches to the center back of the belt. Detonator consists of an all grey cylinder, without silver stickers or silver paint. The cylinder is between 2” (50mm) and 2.68"(68mm) in diameter with white end caps on each end. The white control panel raised ribbed pad faces the rear, with the controls/round washer style detail closest to the right end cap. The total length is approximately 7.50" (190.5mm). End caps are approximately .78" (20mm)in width. The thermal detonator is attached via metal or metallic-appearing clips, approximately 1" (25mm) wide.

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): Clips shall be attached with slotted type, flat or dome top style screws, and be black (two per clip). V head screws are not permitted. Thermal detonator belt clips are positioned with little to no gap between the clips and the end caps. The verticle (straight)section of the clips do not extend past the bottom of the canvas belt

 

 

Even the CRL image is not 100% correct to references  (Gap between control panel and endcaps)

 

 

 

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

43 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

There is that "approximately" word again 

Oh, I will certainly take advantage of this wording! . You are right about the CRL image not having the 12mm spacing. Thank you.

[wingnut65[Staff]]

Welcome to FISD, CTBD!  Great name!

20 hours ago, MaskedVengeance said:

E-6000 all the way for as much of your armor build as you can! It's slow setup time allows you to make fine adjustments, and it can also be removed after-the-fact for corrections. So yes, I used E-6000 under the control panels, and as you can see, sanded the tubes to maximize adhesion. When you tape off the area though, just be sure the footprint is smaller than the actual panel so you don't accidentally leave and unpainted tube exposed.

As Caleb mentioned, E-6000 is the way to go with building TK's! There are some builders who build for others that uses CA/super glue, but the new owner can't change anything in the future without breaking plastic.  E-6000 is removable and allows for adjustments and improvements after trooping in it for a while.

 

My TK kit did not include a pipe for the TD. I found 2" gray plastic electrical tubing is the size I needed for my ATA TK kit pieces. After I sanded off the printed name info and shop rash, I sanded it to a gloss finish.

 

Have Fun with your build and ask all the questions you want!

[jsilvius[Staff]]

I can't add much that hasn't been covered so far, but I wanted to say welcome and good luck!

I'm in the middle of my 4 TK build, and it is just as intimidating as the first. You're in the right place and in good hands. We are excited to see your progress and can't wait for the finished result!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

8 hours ago, wingnut65 said:

Have Fun with your build and ask all the questions you want!

Thank you, Jeff, it's good to meet you!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

7 hours ago, jsilvius said:

I can't add much that hasn't been covered so far, but I wanted to say welcome and good luck!

I'm in the middle of my 4 TK build, and it is just as intimidating as the first. You're in the right place and in good hands. We are excited to see your progress and can't wait for the finished result!

Thank you for the warm welcome, James!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

OK, I found the Testors 1237T primer at Michael’s, and I also have some leftover Testors clear dullcote from another project, so I started some fitting/taping/masking.

I fitted on the caps snugly, then taped the rest of the tube up to the edges of the caps:

I then removed the caps and put tape abutting the first set of tape, then removed the first set of tape so that this second set of tape resembled placement of the caps (yeah, I wasted some tape not thinking through it all):
 

I then added blue tape so I could size the masking for the control panel, and measured 12mm in from each cap’s tape. But I’m finding that this brings the control panel to >127mm long (instead of 122mm). I am thinking that I should cut 5mm off the tube, resand and retape. I must have mismeasured and gone over the 7-½” overall length requirement. Or should I leave it? Opinions?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

13 minutes ago, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

I am thinking that I should cut 5mm off the tube, resand and retape. I must have mismeasured and gone over the 7-½” overall length requirement. Or should I leave it? Opinions?

 

IMO 5mm is not a big deal and not noticeable.  Unless you're a perfectionist and won't sleep knowing that there are 5mm extra there (lol). 

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

6 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

 

IMO 5mm is not a big deal and not noticeable.  Unless you're a perfectionist and won't sleep knowing that there are 5mm extra there (lol). 

Thanks for your suggestion! I am not a perfectionist, but I pretend to be one 

[Nairy[Staff]]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:49 PM, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

Hi Jonatan! This is good advice, I will put that in my notes for when I get there. I might have more questions later.

 

Did you have issues with the torso, too? I guess we're a little tall for a stormtrooper 

I had to shorten my torso a bit because I have slightly longer legs than upper body! So I had a full commission, with the original strapping put in place, which meant that the chest-to-ab connection is strong and doesn't let the chest overlap the abs at all, so what I had to do was to create new strapping to allow the chest to overlap the abs!

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Is your upper body longer than your legs? Have you ever asked yourself that question before?

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

16 hours ago, Nairy said:

Is your upper body longer than your legs? Have you ever asked yourself that question before?

well now, you got me all curious! I think I am like you!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

Well, hmm, I found out that the back of the button on the control panel protrudes a bit too much, that it interferes with me being able to place the control panel flat against the tube. I could drill a hole in the tube to provide clearance for that, but getting that just right seems problematic.  I’d much rather try and flatten out that bump. Any suggestions for how to do that?
 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

22 minutes ago, CloseTheBlastDoor said:

Well, hmm, I found out that the back of the button on the control panel protrudes a bit too much, that it interferes with me being able to place the control panel flat against the tube. I could drill a hole in the tube to provide clearance for that, but getting that just right seems problematic.  I’d much rather try and flatten out that bump. Any suggestions for how to do that?

 

Personally, I would not interfere with the bump, if you try heat it may disform or sanding you may rub through.

 

Add a small amount of paint (or marker) on to the bump then place against the pipe, should leave a mark where you need to drill the hole  

 

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

16 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Add a small amount of paint (or marker) on to the bump then place against the pipe, should leave a mark where you need to drill the hole  

 

I had thought of doing exactly that, but was worried about not getting it registered accurately enough. But I guess a bigger hole is not a problem, since it's covered anyway. So yeah, sounds like a plan!

 

Thanks!

[CloseTheBlastDoor]

I was not particularly happy with the 127mm length of the control panel. So I tore off the tape at the ends and affixed the caps more tightly this time. I then remeasured and gave myself ~12.7mm spacing (half the 1” bar I have) on each side, and got a little closer to 124mm. I drew suitable cut lines with some margin so I could rough cut it with my bandsaw.
 

 

I bought some more 2” PVC and used it sacrificially to get the trimming as close to square as possible. The factory end of the pipe was pretty close to square with some light sanding.
I used @MaskedVengeance's method of marking/sanding the edges. This is the before shot:

 

As I mentioned in my last post, the button protrusion behind the control panel got in the way of getting the panel flat onto the tube. I drilled a hole on the sacrificial PVC to get this lined up, but was afraid to do this with the actual pipe. But I took @gmrhodes13's advice to go ahead and drill the hole, rather than mess with the plastic. So I had some room to make fine adjustments, I drilled the hole a bit large. It will be covered anyway (those photos later in this post).
 

(ignore the black markings)

 

This went only kinda OK. I had one stray knife cut, and now there’s the cut going into the panel, with some China marker sunk into it! No photo, too embarrassing!

 

I then tried cutting the other side using the jig, but that was impossible (at least to me). I ended up not using the jig, and free cutting the curled edge first, then adjusting and sanding. 
 

 

Frustratingly so, I did not have enough good plastic to achieve the 95mm arc. Backing off as little as I could from the plastic that was lumpy due to forming, it came to about 92mm.

 

I then refitted all the tape and cut the mask out for the control panel. Ready to paint now, but it’s too cold in my garage for the paint to dry properly. Will wait.

 

Paint mask, and hole marked for button clearance:

 

Yea Forstner bits!

 

 

[wingnut65[Staff]]

Sometimes progress forward needs a step backwards.   I think your eye will tell you when the layout feels right.

 

BTW, as a woodworker, I love all your tools and jigs! Your skills will be very helpful for this whole TK build. You will get to your comfort zone before too long.