Mal86

I didn’t get a chance to look at it closely, but in this video Tom is explaining the electronics in his helmet and shows the inside of it. Maybe it will help: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Pq3Z6ostgM7tXoBj/?

Wife helped me tape the pieces together. It actually looks like the chest and back armor will fit decently without any cutting as long as the neck isn't too far back for fitment purposes. I think I'm going to need to cut about 1.5 inches off the top of the thighs so I can bring them higher. The rest on top of my knee caps, not above. Shins are not held together by anything other than tape that wasn't very strong. I think they'll be fine once I glue and use the elastic clamshells. Given the amount of taping the crotch piece took, I left off the posterior. The helmet is just resting on my head with nothing to support it up any higher, so I assume it'll be a little higher with something in it to make it more comfortable. Does the abdomen piece need to be higher up to leave more space for the belt? Any other fitment issues anyone sees?

@Chaos Looked closer at this. This looks perfect. Would you mind sharing the file? Thanks.

@DoggyDoc and @Chaos - Thank you both. I was comparing the back of the neck positioning to this post: I was worried the back of the neck in position 1 above would be too far back based on that. @Chaos I'll take a closer look at the collar items. I'm not 100% clear, but I also didn't have much time to look. Thanks again.

Anyone tried this stuff for joining shins and forearms? I thought the gap filling aspect might be good. J-B Weld 50139 Plastic Bonder Body Panel Adhesive and Gap Filler Syringe - Black - 25 ml https://a.co/d/715f3t2

Here is the positioning without any trimming. Position 1 - Front pulled up higher: I'm concerned that with this positioning has the back of the neck as being too far back. Position 2 - Back of the neck moved further forward: Realize this first picture is not as helpful, as I wasn't thinking about my hands being in the way. ( Obviously, the back is popping out. I'm not sure how well I can get it to hold down on the sides if I do it this way, but I could try. Based on the above, let me know if you think I should cut and join as indicated the prior post. Thanks!

I can rest it lower, without the overlap, but I think the space for where it sits below my neckline may be too low from looking at another post where I saw Chris give someone feedback that they needed to move their chest piece up. I'll take some photos later with both pieces positioned without needing to trim and see what you guys think.

Also, I don't have full range of motion when I have the forearms on. It's either digging in to my wrist or by bicep when I bend my arm (yellow arrows). I'm thinking about trying to cut or grind down that curve closest to my bicep (red dashed line) to make it fit better. Any thoughts or feedback on that? I'll also need to cut out the little portion that comes under the other side (thick red) and continued example of where to grind/trim from the other side:

SI think I have the front and the back top sections positioned correctly around my chest and back. Please give me any feedback on this. Also, I believe I need to cut the the back section so that the front will sit flush. If I do that though, I'm worried the tusks are going to stick out oddly. I'm thinking I need to cut this section: Any feedback on the positioning, cut line, and tusks would be appreciated.

@DoggyDocI think you and Chris were right about the curing. As I've been doing the bucket, I've had to put the light very close to any tacky spots because the light is inside the helmet and they have stopped being tacky. I think the small light I got isn't strong enough to fully cure at the distance I had it in the small light box I made. Every spot inside the bucket that I put the light right next to and left it for a while has gone from tacky to not tacky. Thank you again for helping me figure this stuff out. I wanted to report back to let you know the solution and to document it in case anyone else reading this thread runs in to the same issue in the future.

I scrubbed some of the tacky parts with water and a sponge and its almost all gone. There was one spot that was still a little tacky that I scrubbed again and am letting dry. Hopefully this will solve this issue. Thanks again for all your feedback and help. This leads me to my next question: The forearms are shaped more like a zero than a circle. The tighter edges rub against my wrists. Is there a trick or a way to reform them to be more round around my wrist? For example, if I wore them twisted, they'd fit great, but then the ladder would perpendicular to the back of my hand instead of parallel. EDIT: Looking at some of the reference photos it looks like some of them have the ladders more perpendicular than parallel. Is this acceptable? EDIT 2: I have full range of motion in my arms, which I didn't before, with the ladders perpendicular. Now I'm assuming this is the way they were meant to be worn. Please let me know if anyone is aware of anything that indicates otherwise. I'm going to have to unglue my forarms and the rigging, but it'll be worth it if this is what needs to be done. Edit 3: I've started looking at other people's submission photos and it looks like this is the way to do it. Lessons were learned, but I'm glad I used E6000 for everything.

Thanks! I appreciate the follow up. That is basically how I did it the first time around, but I still had the tackiness in some areas and not in others. This time I went much thicker and most of it cured with no tackiness in the sun. There are a few spots that are still very slightly tacky, even after after focused light from the UV lamp, and being run through water. My wife says she wonders if its just like the little bit of tackiness that you sometimes get from some things with moisture from your skin. I'm not thrilled about the idea of uncured resin on the inside of the armor. The only other thing I can think to do is to scrub those parts again in water and see how it goes. After that, I'm not sure what else to do. Moving the light around in the thighs and the bucket seems to be working decently well.

Thank you both. I've basically had the light in a thigh or the bucket since this afternoon, repositioning every 30 minutes. This seems to be the most effective way. Then I feel around to feel what doesn't seem fully cured and continue on. For the overnight, the thigh is on its side with the bucket at the end, so the light is going through the thigh and in to the bucket. I installed elastic band holders in my forearms tonight as well, but I set it up so the elastic was on the inner portion of the forearm. Later I found one of @Chaos' recommendations to someone to glue the inner seam and leave the outer one as the one that stretches open. Is there a reason to do it one way or the other?

I've coated the interior of all of the armor pieces with the 3d printer resin. It's curing in the sun, except the helmet, which I'm curing in a home made curing box (cardboard box, aluminum foil, and a UV light). Most pieces are no longer tacky. I've still got a couple of pieces curing that have some areas of tackiness. I've rotated those areas to be in the sun. I'm struggling a little bit with curing the interior of the thighs and the helmet. My current process is to keep rotating them (either in the sun or curing box). Any suggestions from anyone on better ways to manage?

Chris, Thanks for the feedback. For clarity, the tackiness is very minimal. It's barely there. I couldn't tell it was tacky with the gloves on. I did check the uv wavelength before buying and it is correct. It is overcast today, but I put everything outside to see if that helps. On the crack, I'll give it a try. Thanks again!

@Chaos,@DoggyDoc, or anyone else... I started brushing the inside of the armor with the water washable resin this evening and then hitting it with the UV light to cure. Then I rubbed the insides with a wet paper towel, then I let them sit for a little bit, then I dried with a dry paper towel. Once I cleaned up and took my gloves off, I realized that I've ended up with some tacky sections. Is this an error in my process or is there an additional step I need to take now to address this? Also, I put a small crack in a piece of the thigh armor. What is the best way to address that? Thanks in advance.

I saw someone using a foam brush on a youtube video, but that was for a 3D print. The foam might not be the best for the fiberglass side. I'm sure I've got a bristled brush I can use, or I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the time to give me feedback on it!

This is my resin shopping list: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YJ1SWGZ/ref=ewc_pr_img_4?smid=A1ATU7Y86J8NTM&th=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XJZK4R6/ref=ewc_pr_img_5?smid=A3SNVVMEXOSKIB&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF7RCU6/ref=ewc_pr_img_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009POHLRC/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=AO66QNXKFK6OP&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00467C7AE/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 I have some foam brushes I can use. Am I missing anything or any feedback on what I have?

@Chaos @DoggyDoc How much resin do you think I need to do the light coating on the inside of everything? Also, do I need a particular kind to be able to continue to flex/bend pieces until I get everything fitted? Lastly, given that I'm not printing and don't need quality for printing, is there a good cheap brand that will do the job? Thanks!

A few quick updates: 3 Pouches sewn: Working on printing side d-ring straps in TPU. Finish is not exactly what I want, so I'm going to try some calibration on the filament settings and see how it comes out. New to TPU printing (and really, new to printing in general): Inspired by @Chaos' belt holder, I'm working on one as well: Still need to pick up some resin, brush, UV light, and respirator to move on to coating the insides of the armor.

I have not personally used it, but I've seen a lot of positive feedback about using this app for sizing 3d printed armor: https://www.thearmoredgarage.com/

I'll open by saying that the kit I'm working on is not MCM Design's files (Previously known as Tom's files), so take my feedback for what its worth. I'm not sure on the 3 different versions. You could take a look here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/various/death-trooper-armor-star-wars-rogue-one Click folder details and see what files are currently included and see if that helps you any. Otherwise, I would compare the looks of the STLs to the CRL images and see if one seems more up to date. On holding the parts together, I doubt you'll find full instructions for that. That is generally up to the person assembling to look at and figure out. I'd search through the forums for builds using MCM Design's files (Previously known as Tom's files) and see what you find on how different people put it together and see what makes sense for your knowledge and skills, as well as what skills you want to learn. If you search the forum here for his posts and the facebook group, you may see some of the ways he originally designed it. As mentioned @TookBreaker, you will probably want to print the traps in TPU. On the wrist straps, I'd also search the forums. There are a number of suggestions of how to do it. Here is some of what I found in my previous searches: On connecting with Tom, the impression I've gotten is he has stepped away from addressing this stuff directly himself, so I don't think you'll get answers directly, but there are a lot of great people on the forums who will be happy to help how they can. I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction.

You could message MCM Designs, who now sells the files on behalf in Tom. (Info in the vendor post) What are you trying to figure out for assembly? Are there specific parts you’re not sure about?

@DoggyDoc @ChaosCan you glue parts on to the resin for strapping, etc?

I may give this a try. Any tips or tricks to be aware of?