Shimming armor?

[spidermale]

Can anyone post pictures, inside and out, of shimmed FX stormtrooper armor? Im getting ready to start working on it again but I cant find reference pics out there of how to shim the armor so it looks good. Of course the instructions that came with it are too vague on the shimming part. Ive also heard that you can use no parking signs from home depot, does anyone know if you can use any white plastic sign from there or is there a specific SKU I should be looking for or a certain gloss and thickness? Thanks.

 

[GeneralMayhem]

What part of the suit are you trying to shim?

I don't reccomend using plastic signage for the shims, since it's usually not as strong as the ABS the kits are made from. The most shimming I had to do on my FX Shadow trooper was on the Ab section, which is normally a tight fit if you're at the upper size limit for a stormtrooper.

I used the ABS plastic stock that comes with most kits for making the flat sections of the belt as shim material, since I made my belt out of leather instead of the supplied blanks. I glued one belt piece flush to each side of the back Ab piece, with a one inch strip glued on the inside of the seam as a reinforcement, and trimmed off the excess. A added my snap system to the inside of the suit in such a way that the shims lap under the front Ab section so that I can adjust it easily if i gain or lose weight, and the excess shim simply slides under the front section.

I also lapped my calf sections in a similar manner. Add a strip of ABS underneath the seam, add your velcro to the extension, and viola, larger calves.


~ GM

 

[spidermale]

Could you post some pictures of that? Im not getting a picture in my head of what your talking about. I dont know if I need to shim the ab plate but I do need to shim the calves, thighs, forearms and biceps. As my limited understanding of how the assembly process works, the front of, lets say the shins for starters, is held with both sides in the front being flush and then a strip of something is glued behind it. Then, velcro is applied to the back of the outer and inner peice of the calf so it closes like a clamshell. Am I correct so far?

 

[robstyle]

I shimmed the thighs and would like to shim the biceps but the person who built my dirty armor abs glued them together. The thighs were originaly done with ugly rivits. Due to time and being in a rush. I left one side rivited and the other still has the original rivits. The side with no rivits is abs glued. Inside I just used a strip of thick gloss reinforced duct tape.

 

[Darth_Nickel]

Rob,

Is that shim on the outside of the thigh?

GM,

Please post some pics of yours too.

I had to shim my Thighs, Calves, Forearms, and Biceps..... probably needed to shim the abdomen too, but I don't see where the shims can go. It's tough being 6'3" 250-260 in white armor....


I'm currently trying to get some custom molds made for larger legs, but I'm not sure when they will be done at this point. I'm not real happy with my leg shims.

 

[robstyle]

yes, the shim is on the outside as if it were using velcro as a closure.

A new leg mold would be freaking awesome. As it is, the standard armor has one leg oval shaped and it always eats into my damn leg/knee and I have scars from it. Once it took my knee to the bone when we did the video game awards back in 2003. We were suited up for so long and then worked the after party that once I took my armor off, it was like I was still on rollerskates, lol.

I had plans to make a jig to reform the oval shaped leg but it fell through.

 

[GeneralMayhem]

Edited the explanation to hopefully be a bit clearer.

Here's what my calf section looks like:

As you can see, I left the front section as is to avoid any problems with the shape of the knee portion, and simply extended the back with a strip about 2" wide. The velcro for the back joint is then attached to the extension, and superglued in place (the glue on the sticky backed velcro never holds when it starts to warm up).

 

[Darth_Nickel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(robstyle @ Mar 24 2007, 10:14 PM) [snapback]1447431[/snapback]</div>

yes, the shim is on the outside as if it were using velcro as a closure.

A new leg mold would be freaking awesome. As it is, the standard armor has one leg oval shaped and it always eats into my damn leg/knee and I have scars from it. Once it took my knee to the bone when we did the video game awards back in 2003. We were suited up for so long and then worked the after party that once I took my armor off, it was like I was still on rollerskates, lol.

I had plans to make a jig to reform the oval shaped leg but it fell through.
[/b]

I think that is the first shim I've seen on the outside. The most I've seen are like GMs. It may be easier for me to shim on the outside vs what I currently have....

About the larger leg molds..... YEA. It would be freaking awesome. I hope to have an update soon, but I know it's a big project and takes time. I can't wait to finally have some legs that will actually fit. The measurements I provided are pretty much HUGE. I never thought I would have to trim my legs....

 

[robstyle]

I was limited to shiming it that way due to the person who put it together using rivits. The rivit holes would be visable if I did it any other way. I really need to get new legs anyways.

 

[Darth_Nickel]

Well, perhaps I can finally help you with something. Like I said, I don't know when they will be done, but I hope to have an update soon.

Sorry to kind of get this off topic.

 

[RBJ]

..I had to shim the calves of my FX armor...for the calves I used the extra ABS strips that came with the kit...glued the front of the calves and glued one side of the shim,velcro on the other..I used a cut up gloss white rubermaid garbage can to close the gaps on my ab plate..held with velcro on both sides..I wish I had thought of the trash can idea when I did my calves..it's much more flexable than the ABS..

 

[spidermale]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darth_Nickel @ Mar 24 2007, 09:36 PM) [snapback]1447454[/snapback]</div>

Sorry to kind of get this off topic.
[/b]

Hey as far as im concerned, talking about making some larger size parts is on topic. we wouldnt have to shim the suits then

I think I see now what Im supposed to do. Ive been afraid that when I shim the armor, that the gap and the shim would be really visible. I guess all I can do is take some double sided tape and test fit it. I dont know were to get more abs strips tho. I just have the two that came with it. And now I see I want to shim the ab plate to the back plate. I didnt know if I was supposed to do that or not but it did bug me that there was such a gap there. When I do that Im going to permanently rivet one side and velcro the other, someone else did that and I cant remember where I read that.
Keep the pics coming, this is a great resource for larger TKs and sandys. Just because Im not a little short for a stormtrooper doesnt mean I cant play too.