TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit! [SHINY!]

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Fellas,

I'm finally getting around to finishing up my set of GF armor. I've been looking at most of the threads on the RPF that have HD screen grabs of ANH, but I can't seem to figure out how to put the thighs together... I mean, I know how they go together, but here's the question: For the stripe that goes down the middle of the front of the thigh, should it be the outer thigh that goes on top? or the inner thigh? Which one of these "lips" goes on top of the other? Does it matter? I can't seem to make out a difference either way from lookin' at the high-res screen grabs and from watchin' the ANH dvd. Lend me your knowledge, gents!

Cheers! And thanks in advance. :thumbsup
-Roger

 

[troopermaster]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

The GF suit is a modified ROTJ stormtrooper suit so the thighs are designed to overlap (outside overlap inside parts). On the ANH suits, they did not overlap. They were butted together and then had a joining strip to hold them together.

What you need to do is trim down the joining strips on your GF so they measure roughly 11mm on each side, then join together with a 20mm cover strip. If the thighs are too tight then make the strips wider. Test fit everything before you cut though, or you might regret it!

-Paul.

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

TrooperMaster do you know, did the thighs, shins forearms etc. orginally have the "bumps" where the strips go, or were the bumps the actual strips of ABS?

kindof a random question... haven't really looked into it

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Thanks Paul!

So the thighs (to be ANH accurate) need the cover strip... is this the case with the shins, too? And what do most people do with GF armor? Do they actually just overlap (as, apparently, they were designed to do?) or do they lay down the strip. My only concern is that the GF armor (at least my set) has a slightly blue hue to the ABS, and I'd hate to glue on a strip of ABS that's a pure white. Plus, where should I go to get ABS strips?

Questions, questions... Thanks for the info, though, Paul. I never would've guessed from looking at other peoples' armor. Help is much appreciated.

Cheers!
-Roger

 

[troopermaster]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Happy to help Roger

The forearms, biceps, shins and thighs were all done the same, with the joining strip. It is not essential to do it this way but that is how the ANH/ESB suits were done so it is up to you if you decide to go for the accuracy.

I guess you could take a piece of armour with you to a plastic supplier to check if the ABS they sell has the same blue hue. They may even sell you a small sheet at cost if you ask for a sample with the intention of buying more later (has worked for me in the past)

There are plenty of assembly tutorials on the .net for AP (GF) so take a look around mate for ideas.


Jiminy,

The shins, thighs and forearms had the raised as part of the armour on the fronts only. The backs were smooth with no joining strip moulded in and the biceps didn't have any. Only the ROTJ suits had these as they were made by forming over ANH parts that already had these on and moulds were taken from these, resulting in the strips being part of the moulds front and back and then once formed, overlapped.

-Paul:thumbsup

 

[dirtydave]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Hey Paul, you brought up a point in your last post I thought about before.I always thought they would have molded the inside of the armor for the ROTJ suits and wondered how the button plate on the abs was formed.Of course if they took a mold of the inside the button plate would not show.I guess like you said they molded the outside or the strips would not show either.Why do you think they did the outside instead of the inside.

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

that's what I thought... wanted to make sure. Thanks

Happy to help Roger

The forearms, biceps, shins and thighs were all done the same, with the joining strip. It is not essential to do it this way but that is how the ANH/ESB suits were done so it is up to you if you decide to go for the accuracy.

I guess you could take a piece of armour with you to a plastic supplier to check if the ABS they sell has the same blue hue. They may even sell you a small sheet at cost if you ask for a sample with the intention of buying more later (has worked for me in the past)

There are plenty of assembly tutorials on the .net for AP (GF) so take a look around mate for ideas.


Jiminy,

The shins, thighs and forearms had the raised as part of the armour on the fronts only. The backs were smooth with no joining strip moulded in and the biceps didn't have any. Only the ROTJ suits had these as they were made by forming over ANH parts that already had these on and moulds were taken from these, resulting in the strips being part of the moulds front and back and then once formed, overlapped.

-Paul:thumbsup

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Hey Paul, do you have an accurate blueprint/template/whatever for a neck seal. I never understood how they were made. You said they were made from rubber right?

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Oysh... thanks again for the info, Paul. I'd love the suit to be perfecty accurate (or at least as accurate as I can make it), but it might not be worth the trouble for me, I think. I'm a little low on both money and time (read: poor grad student trying to finish his pre-thesis), and my helmet's finished and already not as accurate as it could be... so "eh." I might just end up overlapping them and making sure that the thickness of what would be the joining strip (in this case the lip on the outer half of the thigh and shin pieces) is 20mm. Is this a really common thing to do, by the way? Or do most people actually glue the separate joining strip on top? I'm thinking too hard about an otherwise silly decision...

-Roger

 

[hansicle]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

You could always just glue the joining strip on the top lip, trim it so it's flush with it, then glue that to the other half. This way, from the outside, it would look like the the joining strip is the actually bonding the 2 halves, and on the inside, it will look double the thickness, but still not look like it was "overlapped."

I did glue my thighs side by side. I trimmed them the proper width for the 2 halves. Cut 3 small squares, and used them to bond the thighs on the inside, to make sure the 2 halves aligned first before I tried to glue on the whole front center strip on in one shot. I put one at the top, held it in place with a spring clamp, then did the bottom, and then the center (I had to get creative with the center, because I couldn't clamp it, ended up using high strenght magnets to hold the little square in place as it dried) I didn't use glue though, I used a styrene solvent, that disolved the styrene and welded it.

 

[RoCKo]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

you could first glue both halves overlapping (inaccurate) to get your suit done faster. later on you will always have the option to go for the other way of butting both halves together and add the joining strip.

the joining strip should cover all residuals, at least if you glued them with care!

E6000 is my favorite glue for these parts! :thumbsup

 

[Clutch]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Just over lap em' If you do a good job, 99% of the people won't even notice that you don't have strips. I used devcon plastic welder. Just make darn sure you don't use too much, cuz it will melt the plastic in a matter of seconds. I would use masking tape and put a strip down the inside piece along the line where the outside piece butts up against it. This way, if any glue does squirt out when you glue the halves together, it will get on the tape, and not the plastic. When it is dry, just peel the tape away for a clean join. I don't go much into building legs here because once you start, you won't have a lot of time to stop and take pictures, but you may find something of use here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=1069

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Thanks all!

Clutch, I've actually been using your thread (and the AP assembly thread) as the biggest resources for info. I woke up early this morning and I've been calling plastic suppliers here in the Austin, TX area, but no one seems to carry white ABS... just black ABS that's only smooth on one side (hair-celled on the other... not that it matters). If I can't source any glossy ABS that matches that used on the GF kit I'll end up having to overlap anyway, but I might as well give it a shot... I don't think overlapping the pieces looks particularly bad in any way. As a matter of fact I feel like it's almost negligble and could indeed look fantastic, but... "what we won't do for the sake of accuracy," huh?

Thanks again for all the info/suggestions, fellas. I'll be working on the suit for the majority of the day (my day off from TA-ing and classes!) and I'll update this thread if I have any further questions, comments.

I haveta say, though, it's times like these that I love being a member of the RPF...

Cheers!
-Roger

 

[troopermaster]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Dave,

I'm not really sure why they took the moulds from the outside. They must have back filled existing parts then formed over them and took the moulds from them. It would make assembly of the arms and legs easier just overlapping them and the body panels were messed with to make them more 'comfortable'. The ab plate must have been especially modded to be a one peice affair with no bits sticking on.

Jiminy,

I believe they used a rubber neck seal from a skin diver (frog man) suit for the stunts and the hero suits had some kind of a sash/vest that looks like satin or vinyl. From what I can see, they were tied at the sides too under the arms.

 

[Mr. No Stripes]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

do you have any reference pictures for the skin diver suit Paul? I'm curious to see what it looks like, and how it was made.

Which neck seal do you use btw? rubber or vinyl?

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Eghhh... so I spent the day visiting the plastic suppliers located in Austin, TX and none of the samples I looked at (of which there were many) seemed to match the bluish hue of the GF kit exactly. I ended up buying some high-impact styrene, anyway, thinking it was a close enough match to my sample (I brought one of the drop boxes with me). Looked pretty damned close under the lights in the warehouse, but now that I'm home, it's just not gonna work... the new plastic is way too pure white and really stands out when held up to the armor kit. Overlapping it is! So much for accuracy...

Crap,
-Roger

 

[dirtydave]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

I have read AP suits have a blue tint to them.Maybe you can contact him to sell you some scape pieces?

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Didn't I read a thread somewhere sayin' that apparently APs new suits are a beautiful, pristine, pure white now? New supplier or something? Or was that TE2? Anyhow, it's worth a shot, DirtyDave.

And Clutch! I've been reading and re-reading your original GF thread, but I don't understand exactly how you used the liquid latex to get those beautifully perfect circles painted on the ab details! You think you could elucidate a bit? I've got some round stickers (that are too big and I'm having to cut down) and the liquid latex, but I'm not exactly sure how you masked it off in such a way that when you removed the stickers the latex stayed in the perfect circular shape. The way I've been doing it (probably wrong), is carefully painting the liquid latex around my little circular sticker, waiting for it to dry, and then removing the sticker, but everytime I remove the sticker I inadvertantly remove the latex slightly (to the point where I mess up my nice circular latex mask). Does that make sense? Stupid latex keeps tearing and stretching out of shape when I remove the sticker.

Cheers!
-Roger

 

[WilliamsSkeletor]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Clutch,

Hope you don't mind, I PM'ed you with a few questions...

Cheers!
-Roger

 

[Clutch]

Re: TK Armor builders! HELP with GF kit!

Replied. BTW, latex is a pain to work with. If I had to do it over again, which I am one of these days, I would use frisket paper for masking off the circles. Frisket paper would also be good for the tube stripes now that I think about it.