Mr. No Stripes
Sr Member
Nice costume :thumbsup
AP Trooper Kit Assembly
- Thread starter KevVader
- Start date
KevVader
Sr Member
How's this for a blast from the past thread?. 
I'm back in the saddle again, baby.....gonna finish my AP kit if it kills me.
Actually, had a bit of a health scare last year which put this project on the backburner for awhile...all is A-OK now and I've recently received a flexi-mannequin from Dark Shadow (thanks Scott.) which has prompted me to finish my AP. Now there are probably those that were following this thread that have probably long since finished their armor, but this is now a personal quest for me to complete it and get it displayed in the corner of my home office that I had cleared for it last year.
But there may be those that are still building their kit or who have yet to start....this thread is dedicated to you. And again, please feel free to post any pointers that you have learned in your own build.
So without further adieu...
I've pulled all of the parts out of storage and laid them out to assess where I had left off. Basically most of the parts were rough trimmed and some were finished ort close to it. The helmet is mostly assembled....you can see it on the corner of my bench. I wanted to get the accurate trim for SealsDirect in the UK but since have discovered (thanks Clutch.) that they've changed it.....cancel that order.
So I will finish the helmet with the trim provided by AP and then switch it out later....no biggie.
Once I had my XL Timmy's double/double in hand (Canucks will get that one. ), I started to grind away the remaining excess flashing on the few pieces that were rough trimmed. I forgot how much mess the Dremel makes with this stuff. I've found that the drum sander attachement works best for finish sanding. After which I will file...then use a fine file to get rid of the coarse file marks.
NICE BUTT....piece. One thing that I want to try is taking a propane torch on low heat to sear the edges....just melting the ABS enough to get rid of the file marks. Then polish off the edges with Novus....I'll give it a shot and then post the results....hopefully I won't burn a hole through it.......stay tuned. Assembly of the armor is coming up.
I'm back in the saddle again, baby.....gonna finish my AP kit if it kills me.Actually, had a bit of a health scare last year which put this project on the backburner for awhile...all is A-OK now and I've recently received a flexi-mannequin from Dark Shadow (thanks Scott.) which has prompted me to finish my AP. Now there are probably those that were following this thread that have probably long since finished their armor, but this is now a personal quest for me to complete it and get it displayed in the corner of my home office that I had cleared for it last year.
But there may be those that are still building their kit or who have yet to start....this thread is dedicated to you.
And again, please feel free to post any pointers that you have learned in your own build.So without further adieu...
I've pulled all of the parts out of storage and laid them out to assess where I had left off. Basically most of the parts were rough trimmed and some were finished ort close to it. The helmet is mostly assembled....you can see it on the corner of my bench. I wanted to get the accurate trim for SealsDirect in the UK but since have discovered (thanks Clutch.) that they've changed it.....cancel that order.
So I will finish the helmet with the trim provided by AP and then switch it out later....no biggie.
Once I had my XL Timmy's double/double in hand (Canucks will get that one.
), I started to grind away the remaining excess flashing on the few pieces that were rough trimmed. I forgot how much mess the Dremel makes with this stuff. I've found that the drum sander attachement works best for finish sanding. After which I will file...then use a fine file to get rid of the coarse file marks.NICE BUTT....piece.
One thing that I want to try is taking a propane torch on low heat to sear the edges....just melting the ABS enough to get rid of the file marks. Then polish off the edges with Novus....I'll give it a shot and then post the results....hopefully I won't burn a hole through it.......stay tuned. Assembly of the armor is coming up.GeneralMayhem
Sr Member
Hey Kev, try one of these for your edge sanding, it's my new best friend (just kidding, Scott ).
Black & Decker Mouse
WAL-MART has a bonus set with extra tip extensions for doing little inner and outer curves for a few extra bucks. This thing saved my sanity on a recent project.
My dremel feels so neglected...
~ GM
).
Black & Decker Mouse
WAL-MART has a bonus set with extra tip extensions for doing little inner and outer curves for a few extra bucks. This thing saved my sanity on a recent project.
My dremel feels so neglected...
~ GM
Boba Frett
Sr Member
Damn Kev, you take longer than me to finish a project
KevVader
Sr Member
Thanks lads...
Kenny/Clutch....I'm shooting for the lonegst Trooper armor build ever...I'm almost there.
Did some more edge sanding/finishing today...got a new propane tank for my torch, gonna try smoothing out the rough edges on a piece of scrap ABS with some heat and see what happens....
Kenny/Clutch....I'm shooting for the lonegst Trooper armor build ever...I'm almost there.
Did some more edge sanding/finishing today...got a new propane tank for my torch, gonna try smoothing out the rough edges on a piece of scrap ABS with some heat and see what happens....
I don't think torching ABS plastic is such a great idea. That stuff will shrink up like cellophane when you get it too hot. I don't think you will get the results you were hoping for.
Did some more edge sanding/finishing today...got a new propane tank for my torch, gonna try smoothing out the rough edges on a piece of scrap ABS with some heat and see what happens....
[/quote]
Did some more edge sanding/finishing today...got a new propane tank for my torch, gonna try smoothing out the rough edges on a piece of scrap ABS with some heat and see what happens....
[/quote]
Red Five
Well-Known Member
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeneralMayhem @ Apr 6 2007, 05:45 PM) [snapback]1456984[/snapback]</div>
No offense taken.
Good advice for a good lookin' project. :thumbsup
Hey Kev, try one of these for your edge sanding, it's my new best friend (just kidding, Scott
Black & Decker Mouse
WAL-MART has a bonus set with extra tip extensions for doing little inner and outer curves for a few extra bucks. This thing saved my sanity on a recent project.
My dremel feels so neglected...
~ GM
[/b]
No offense taken.
Good advice for a good lookin' project. :thumbsup
Darth Domain
Well-Known Member
great to see the thread come to life again, now hurry up already :thumbsup
JTKenobi
New Member
OK, here is my problem. As some may know, on the AP calves, the inner-left and the outer-right pcs are the exact same. However, the outer-left and the inner-right are not. While the right calve pcs fit together nicely, the left don't. As you can see from the below photos of the left calve pcs, if you line up the front 'lipped-edges', then the the rear 'lipped-edges' won't match up. If you line up the rear ones, the front ones don't match up. I have seen assembled AP armor where people have gotten everything to line up nicely without trimming away all those nice molded edges. For all you AP people out there, can you share how you solved this problem?
defstartrooper
Sr Member
Not assembled one of these kits but surely the sniper plate hides the top anyway
KevVader
Sr Member
Agreed...
JT, this kneeplate will hide it...
BTW, I'm still filing and sanding away. I've actually been spending time going over the filing job that I did before to make the edges ultra-smooth....using 220 grit, you can see the difference between edges:
then I'll polish up with Novus and finish with a gloss rub of NuFinish.
I've also fixed the old pic links....everything should now show up...
JT, this kneeplate will hide it...
BTW, I'm still filing and sanding away. I've actually been spending time going over the filing job that I did before to make the edges ultra-smooth....using 220 grit, you can see the difference between edges:
then I'll polish up with Novus and finish with a gloss rub of NuFinish.
I've also fixed the old pic links....everything should now show up...
ArtisanProps
Sr Member
Kev,Looks great can't wait to see it finished..I've been thinking of doing a Stormtrooper to go alongside my Vader, and It's pretty cool that you've done this step by step thread.. Now I'll know where to start.. Thanks!!
KevVader
Sr Member
Thanks Doug
Check the Archives....Clutch has an excellent step by step as well with pix when he built his GF kit....and he actually finished!
I'm going for the longest Trooper build thread in RPF history!:$
ArtisanProps
Sr Member
Thanks Doug
Check the Archives....Clutch has an excellent step by step as well with pix when he built his GF kit....and he actually finished!
I'm going for the longest Trooper build thread in RPF history!:$
Thanks Kev!!
I'll give it a look..
..
KevVader
Sr Member
Finally finished the helmet....
More pix to come...
Not totally happy with it...a few things I'd do differently (which I will with my next helmet kit that's waiting). But it'll serve it's purpose for now.
One thing I will say is that the AP helmet is solid when it's assembled and fastened together!
...and yes, it will fit my large melon if I corkscrew it on....although i still have scars from trying to get it off!
Next is assembling the major pieces....I already have my Dark Shadow bendie mannequin (These are fantastic for Trooper displays) set up in my office, with the helmet on...looks kinda nekkid! Waiting for my TK409 neckseal to arrive....
More to come!
More pix to come...
Not totally happy with it...a few things I'd do differently (which I will with my next helmet kit that's waiting). But it'll serve it's purpose for now.
One thing I will say is that the AP helmet is solid when it's assembled and fastened together!
...and yes, it will fit my large melon if I corkscrew it on....although i still have scars from trying to get it off!
Next is assembling the major pieces....I already have my Dark Shadow bendie mannequin (These are fantastic for Trooper displays) set up in my office, with the helmet on...looks kinda nekkid! Waiting for my TK409 neckseal to arrive....
More to come!
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