Instvogels now successful completed TX Experiment!

[Instvogel[TX]]

And today I worked a bit on the bucket. It starts to look like a TX now.

 

 

But the gap is still driving me crazy.

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Here's a good tutorial on helmet builds. He goes over fitting the ears to the curves of the sides. Worth a look.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29238-my-helmet-ear-tutorial/

[Instvogel[TX]]

Thank you Chaos!

[Instvogel[TX]]

Hey guys, i need your help.

 

I got two pieces for the chest/belly area.

 

If understood correctly the bottom piece is the right one.

But what bothers me is the difference in size. Do I have to cut the bottom one down or is it ok to just to file the piece so it fits to the bellypiece???

 

Thanks guys

[Griffin-X[501st]]

You are correct, it's the bottom piece. I believe the top part would be for a Sandtrooper variant, although there are no shadow sandies at this time. Check out the image below for guidance on trimming the part. The kit you have is a little more generous with the outer edges, but that's still okay.

 

[Instvogel[TX]]

So i just file its bottom down that it will be fitting to the cod piece?

[chwillis[501st]]

So i just file its bottom down that it will be fitting to the cod piece?

 

Yes trim it to fit the ab plate as shown above

[Instvogel[TX]]

Finally a new update:

I have worked a lot on other projects but the last 2 weekends I finally made some more Progress.

 

First up:

The missing balaclava from Trooperbay and the boots from TK Boots arrived. Boots are bit too big but not much. Now I have to dye them black. But they are great looking so far.

 

We finished the cutting and glueing of the arms. They fit perfect now. Shoulder bells are bit narrow, maybe i have to heat bend them a bit very carefully. Also we made and glued the buttons for the strapping on the armor.

The belt was also finished with the buttons and the front plate.

 

The biggest thing we did was splitting the cod piece basically in half. We cut it below the button plate and then we drilled holes (5 on the upper and 6 on the lower part) and mounted there buttons too. We made the belt with matching counterpieces so that the belt will cover the full cut. Which gives me a bit more then an inch of extra length (which is so needed) and it helps a lot with toilet issues in armor!

Hopefully this won't ruin my chances for approval but if I hadn't done this I'd be probably the first bikini shadow trooper.

 

and this leaves the biggest problem to solve. The Thighs. They close over the knee very good. even a bit overlapping but at the high or biggest part my thigh it leaves a1.5 - 2 inch gap. This will be tough to close. I already ordered some spare plates. Hopefully this will workout.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

What you can do in the back is use a shim and then taper the cover strip to cover the gap. It would look like this (in white)

 

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Also, how are the helmet ear gaps? When I did my first shadow stormtrooper build, I shaved down the curve so it fit better and wasn't quite so thick and then boiled the ear pieces (only a few second dunk in boiling water) and reshaped them enough so the gap essentially went away. ABS boiling works very well. Got to be more careful when working with hips.

[Instvogel[TX]]

Well, i have focused more on the rest of the armor, due to my size and Body type problems with kits in general, I feel that this is the thing I have to adress first.

 

If I can get it fitted and wearably strapped the helmet will be the final piece of the journey, which started with the helmet.

[Instvogel[TX]]

Yesterday I made some great progress.

We had split the cod piece below the belt and mounted the belt to each piece to cover it up and gain some length.

I think we gained about 2 inches in length.

Frontview:

 

Backview:

 

Also we worked carefully and slow with a heatgun on flatening the chestpiece for another bit of length. Also we widened the shoulderbells slightly

In Total it starts to fit very nicely.

 

All the rivets for the strapping are glued in aand the calves are finished (except the velcro).

 

This leaves me with:

Finishing / extending the thighs (bigtime)

Painting the tk boots in black.

Getting some nice gloves

Finding a fully black pair of pants

 

There is hope i'll be ready some time in the nearer future. I think my deadline is around the end of january.

1 or 2 more build sessions and some minor shopping.

Thanks for your support so far

[Sparky]

Rapdom Tactical Nomex Flight Gloves, Black, Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089QIE8W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MK7DybAKFAV4Q

Gloves to consider.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Instvogel[TX]]

So it has been a long time since my last update.

Tons of stuff came up and things turned out way bigger then expected.

 

Well long and boring story short. I guess I am almost finished.

 

The last pieces are the thighs which have been extended A LOT.... (i will show a picture later)

 

But the rest just comes along very nicely:

 

 

As you can see, although I am friggin huge it looks quite good. This is the full upper part with the belt and separated cod piece.

 

Next there are some shots of me in the full upper armor part: Bucket, Arms, shoulderbells and this.

 

Front view!

 

Side view! Please note: the front piece and the butt pieces are strapped together by some ABS plates. So the whole thing does not look too much like I am bursting out of it.

and last but not least: Back

 

I finally found a pair of pants with now visible markings in black (only at the waist, but the top piece will cover that).

 

Also i found Black shoes on ebay which will be here soon!

I also finished a custom cheap harness to hold the thighs in place. I used some seatbelt material and some of those backpack straps.

 

Gloves I bought from ISD with a latex handguard. They are fitting quite snuggly but they fit.

 

I the back pic you see the backside of my neckseal. In full gear i will put this on quite early to have it underneath the Under armour upper part.

 

Things left to do are:

- paint an mount the thermal det.

- pad the inside of the bucket better

- buy or print a blaster.

- mount the beltboxes

- slighty thermoform/bend on the right side for a closer fit.

 

I am really excited to see what this is all going to look in the end. As I am quite too big for a trooper it.

 

Hope you guys like the update. If you like to see any close ups from certain parts let me know.

[chwillis[501st]]

So close dude.. looking good..

[Instvogel[TX]]

And yesterday I got my boots! Soooo close!

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Stay with it! Your build is looking great. I too had some fit issues around the waist and had to put put extension pieces. Slow and steady gets it done right the first time.

[Instvogel[TX]]

Ladies and Gents!

Today was an awesome day for my build. I was able to take it for a troop with our SW Fangroup on the MCM Comicon in Hannover Germany! We were neighbours of the 501st Booth. Where I got to meet TX-7683 and TX25177 amongst loads of other 501st members.

 

Since this was my first day out I had a lot of pictures taken. Including some I will show you. I am thinking of submitting these for approval so I really feedback.

 

Things I already found out are:

I have my forearms mixed up.

And the ventstrips on my bucket are still missing. They will be added this week.

 

FrontView with Bucket

 

Rearview: (yeah I have a big ass :-P )

 

Sideviews Front and Back angle:

 

And finally some close up of my ugly mug and the bucket:

 

 

Thanks all for your awesome support along the way. Looking forward to complete the TX Experiment succesfully!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Looking pretty good!

[First0rder[501st]]

Hey Chris, Looking good!

 

How did it feel to wear the armor for the first time out? I have yet to troop in mine so not sure what to prepare for

 

Andy

[Instvogel[TX]]

Hi Andy, thanks. It felt awesome. Though my dressing and some buttons need reinforcing and improvements. But that's on the to do before the next troop.

 

But it's more exhausting than you might think. So stay carefully hydrated and rested!

[chwillis[501st]]

Hi Andy, thanks. It felt awesome. Though my dressing and some buttons need reinforcing and improvements. But that's on the to do before the next troop.

 

But it's more exhausting than you might think. So stay carefully hydrated and rested!

 

Chris is correct, my first few troops were a learning experience to say the least. Modifications and changes were required after the first few troops to get the armor fitting as it should. Once i got a pack there were more adjustments with my TD.. Today the longest ive been in armor for 7 hours with 2 drink breaks. (Full gear/w pack and T21) Hydration is key, once your in armor you will not be going to the bathroom and sweating the whole time. Ive moved over to UA 20% compression heatgear to keep the temp low wile in armor and it extends my troop time significantly.

[First0rder[501st]]

Great to know. thanks.

[Instvogel[TX]]

So Gents, does no one have any further hints or advice on my Armor regarding applying for approval?

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Well from what I could see the gap between the ears on the helmet is noticeable. The last pic if you look especially the ear on the left. I am unsure if your local GML will clock you for that.

Otherwise it seems to be looking good so I think just make sure everything is straight and in the right place before sending in the approval pics and see what feedback you get.

I am hoping for the best for you

So Gents, does no one have any further hints or advice on my Armor regarding applying for approval?