ERROR's ANH Stunt Stormtrooper Build

[ERROR]

So... this will basically be a copy of my thread from Whitearmor.net, but it seems good to me to post here as well. (you can find the main thread here http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/2 ... anh-stunt/

[ERROR]

Hello friends!

So I've been lurking, reading, researching, posting a little; but finally the day has come!


AP Untrimmed kit! (not quite) Straight from Canada!

I may have stalked the UPS truck to get this... Needless to say, the white helmet elicited a variety of responses from my coworkers, ranging from "Wow, that's really cool!" to "Why on earth would you do this?" accompanied by utter confusion. But perhaps I get ahead of myself.

Even before the coming of the brown box, I decided to get a jump on the gun by making a neck seal! Luckily the lady in my life owns and knows her way around a sewing machine. By following Pandatrooper's neck seal tutorial, she and I were able to finish it without too much difficulty. However, mine differs from the tutorial in two main ways: first, I cut the fabric a little too long, so I use an overlap joint rather than a butt joint. I hope this is not too much of an issue. Second, I opted to sacrifice a T-Shirt to the cause, rather then cut my own bib, so my bib proudly delcares "Columbia" though this should be hid by the armor.




(Apple shown for size)


After laying everything out, it all seems to be in order, though it's slightly thinner then I imagined. But thin-ness makes it light and light is good for wearing. Another thing I noticed is the armor isn't perfectly smooth. There are dimples and slight bumps (So slight, they don't show up in photos well) that one can see upon close examination. Is this a part of screen accuracy? Or just a remnant of the sculpting process? Both?





(Wii fit balance board in upper right. Thermal Detonator tube not pictured)

I can identify most of the parts, but I'm having trouble figuring my limbs left from right.

How do I tell the inner and outer shin/thigh peices? Do the arm peices have left and right? How would I tell them apart?





Can you tell which peices are left/right/front/back from the pictures above? How can you tell?

From here, gonna trim lots of the larger flash, and probably take a shot at the O2 tank details. Lexan scissors and rare earth magnets in the mail. Any tidbits and words of wisdom would require much thanks. Looking forward to trooping with you all!

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[scout.trooper]

Awesome! Getting the armor is always the best part.
Can't answer the stormie specific questions (like which limbs are which), but as for the dimples and bumps, that sounds like the result of the casting process (or could've been subjected to heat somwhere along the way?). If the dimples aren't that noticeable, I think you'll be all right so long as you don't have any giant air bubbles.

Good luck, trooper!

[ERROR]

I've been trimming away the past few days, and have gotten the basic trimming done on most of the major components. (with the exception of the biceps) I hoped this would help solve the shin problem (It did! I can match the shins and can tell right and left from the fit; as foretold by gmrhodes13. ) but it revealed another shin issue.

On the left shin, when I match up the front, there is an offset of about 1/4" (6.5 mm) in the back. Is this typical? Can this be solved with the shin's strapping? Or does this require one of those boiling water baths I've read about?


Front of shin lined up correctly.


The offset at both top and bottom is about 1/4" (6.5 mm)


Another thing I've discovered is that I'm going to need a shim. (please excuse the awkward picture.) From my quasi-rough measurement, the shim will need to be about 1 3/4" (44.5 mm) to 2" (51 mm). Where would I get this shim material from? Do I re-contact Mark from AP? Are there other methods to shimming that don't involve ABS paste?


I think this is an awkward picture. But perhaps you think differently.

Also, very soon I will need to be sanding the edges of my parts. I read here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IS7 ... edit?pli=1) that I'll need 350 and 600 grit sandpaper. (And some finer still for polishing. But that's a long ways off yet) What sorts of sandpaper have other people (That means you! The reader!) used? What works and doesn't work?


Thanks again.

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edit: added link

[Chills]

This is good info, ERROR, glad you're posting details about your build. I'd like to hear what the veterans say about the shin armor issue you're having.

I'm in the waiting phase, but I hope to have my armor next month.

[ERROR]

This is good info, ERROR, glad you're posting details about your build. I'd like to hear what the veterans say about the shin armor issue you're having.

I'm in the waiting phase, but I hope to have my armor next month.

Thanks!

The vibe I got from the FISD was that the shin issue wasn't that big of an issue, and could be fixed with strapping or a hot water bath.

[ERROR]

Progress is moving slowly. Mostly because I am uncertain of how things are supposed to fit. Living by ones self also doesn't help the issue. In the process of putting together a meeting with Master Gazmosis, and that should help with many things.

I visited some friends this weekend. They are getting married this May, and hope their best man (yours truly) can be all in white (armor) for the rehearsal. As such they were willing to tape me up and take some photos. (It is the bride to be holding on my helmet.) It was good to feel the armor as a whole, even if it didn't fit very well.








I still don't have my boots, so socks will have to do.


I realize the posterior is sagging really badly in this photo...


...So we taped it better and took another

An observation: With everything on and pulled tight via tape, I'm not so sure I'll need to shim it. I dunno. Future fittings will help.

Also these photos reveal many more things that need doing:
The bottom of the chest plate needs more trimming
The forearms are too big (and liked to slide down my arms)
Need to take off all the return edge by the wrists
The biceps might be too big?
Gonna have to trim some off the tops of the thighs? (It was hard to tell. There wasn't a real good way to keep them up)
Have to separate the kidney from the posterior.
Have to separate the ab from the cod
Overlap on the thighs and shins show that more trimming is required.
and more I'm sure I didn't notice.

Does anything blatantly stick out to you?

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