Armor Trimming Question - The Arms

askywalker98 · Feb 8, 2009

Hey everyone, this new Clone Trooper area sure is sweet!

Alright, so I got a question on the lower arms for an Ep3 clone trooper. I have a Glover kit, not sure if that's the right abbreviation, but moving on, I'm trimming up some arms and wondering how much space there should be between the arms and the armor. Here's a picture to show you all what I'm talking about...

I'm going seamless, so I would like to get it all right before I start the bondo and sanding. Thanks everyone!

HeadlessHunter · Feb 8, 2009

The great thing about Clone and Stormtrooper armour is you can tailor it to your specs, there is no right or wrong way to fit it, as long as its comfortable on YOU, when i built my TE armour I lined up the pieces so that once on I had round half an inch of 'room' inside if that makes sense, then once fitted I used thin sheets of foam inside the armour to make it a snugger fit, I hope that helps

askywalker98 · Feb 8, 2009

Thanks for the quick reply! I just don't want it to look like I have wings, lol. I was planning on using some foam to snug it up like I have with my Jango Gauntlets. I may trim it up a bit smaller on the elbow side of the arms, but not by much. Then onto the bondo!

askywalker98 · Feb 8, 2009

Alright, double post time. I think I got it looking much better. I trimmed a bit here and there. The bondo should cover up the little gap here and there when I get to that part.

Heatshock · Feb 8, 2009

yeah wot Headless said

also remember that cos ur goign seamless - it needs to be tight, but not too tight that u cant slip ur hand into it.

Joe - did u get my pm?

Nate

Art Andrews · Feb 8, 2009

I am not sure how anatomically correct the human form created for the clones was, but here is an image of one of the movie clones for reference. To me, the forearm armor appears to be fairly form fitting. My only concern would be getting your hand through the wrist hole if you are going seamless and make it that tight. My suggestion would be to make it as tight as you can as long as your hand can still get through the wrist hole of the forearm armor.

askywalker98 · Feb 8, 2009

Thanks for the picture Art, that's exactly what I was looking for today. I guess I'll trim it down a bit more. My hand barely fits through, which seems good to me. When I start the bondo, I'm going to smooth out the opening so it doesn't scratch my wrist, ouch!

EDIT: Ok I got it taped up for hopefully the last trim. Does this seem close enough? I'm not pushing it up at all, this is just how it sits when my arm is in that position.

FlukeStarbucker · Feb 8, 2009

If you wanna do those arms justice, you need to shim the pieces instead of overlapping. It minimizes the amount of bondo you need to use. Use about a 1 inch wide piece of abs and glue it underneath the joint where the upper and lower halves meet when they are butted together. You can also use a for sale sign instead of ABS if you have no scrap ABS. I used the same method for my clone armor.....arms and legs both. Now the cod piece and butt plate...that's a whole different animal entirely.

stormtrooperguy · Feb 8, 2009

for the most part, i go by the notion that you want it as tight as possible while still letting you get your hand out. the clone suits lack some fundamental concepts of human anatomy, so you have to make do

as was said, you don't want to overlap. i did that on my first forearms and it was a nightmare to blend out the seams. butting the 2 pieces cleanly with a shim in the back makes a WORLD of difference!

askywalker98 · Feb 8, 2009

Thanks for all the tips everyone! I should have specified, that last picture shows it overlapping because I have not cut it yet. I was wondering if it was going to look right or not before cutting off too much. I am planning on doing the shim for going seamless. Oh man I can't imagine trying to cover up an overlapping bit. I have scrap ABS I have been keeping since I started trimming the parts to my size. I should have this arm part all trimmed up tomorrow and I'll maybe get to work on the shim and bondo. Predatormv told me to get the gold version of bondo instead of the regular stuff, so hopefully that will let things move along a bit easier. I've worked with bondo before, so I'm not too scared, lol.

stormtrooperguy · Feb 8, 2009

i ended up using ABS + acetone.

melt ABS scraps in the acetone until it's basically liquid. spread it in to the seam, smooth it out as best you can while it's still soft, then sand it when it's dry / solid again.

HORRIFIC fumes, but works really well. use only in a VERY well ventilated area with a good chemical respirator.

Art Andrews · Feb 8, 2009

stormtrooperguy said:
i ended up using ABS + acetone.

melt ABS scraps in the acetone until it's basically liquid. spread it in to the seam, smooth it out as best you can while it's still soft, then sand it when it's dry / solid again.

Wow. I have never heard of someone taking that kind of approach but that seems like it would be a much better and more permanent approach than simply using zap-a-gap as I have always heard used for stormtrooper armor. Interesting.

FlukeStarbucker · Feb 8, 2009

stormtrooperguy said:
i ended up using ABS + acetone.

melt ABS scraps in the acetone until it's basically liquid. spread it in to the seam, smooth it out as best you can while it's still soft, then sand it when it's dry / solid again.

HORRIFIC fumes, but works really well. use only in a VERY well ventilated area with a good chemical respirator.

I tried that when doing my clone and it worked great. Posted somthing about that on CTN or was it C-E...........anyway, it was maybe a year ago and didn't seem like anyone was interested in it. Had one or two responses and only one person that In know of that tried it. I first used MEK........DON"T USE MEK. Fumes are worse :wackothan acetone and it evaporates way too quickly. A thing about the liquid ABS using acetone, it takes a while to get to the point where you can use it. Once it gets to that point, you have maybe 30 min. Afte that it starts to set pretty quickly.

GCNgamer128 · Feb 8, 2009

People also use Plastic Weld instead of acetone. Works quite well, and there's a real bond between the two pieces.

HeadlessHunter · Feb 9, 2009

Yeah I used plastic weld for my TE Devcon E600 I think

Art Andrews · Feb 9, 2009

In the past I have had a lot of difficulty with a number of plastic welds except the kind that comes from Wal-Mart in the black syringe, called Devcon Plastic Welder. I have had two or three syringes of a different brand (clear syringes) and for some reason it seemed that they NEVER set. However, the Devcon seems to work VERY well and as Andy said, when that stuff sets, the pieces are never coming apart.

Still, I am totally intrigued by the acetone and ABS approach! I need to find something to try this with!

askywalker98 · Feb 9, 2009

I'm going to be using Plastic Welder from Wal-Mart, like Art is talking about. I've used it before and it's pretty easy to use. That ABS meltdown sounds pretty dangerous with the fumes. I've never heard of that before, but it makes sense that it would work well. Your basically making your own glue.

askywalker98 · Feb 9, 2009

Ok, so hopefully this is the last of reducing the circumfrunce before I get the seamless party started. How does it look? (In terms of the fit, I'm going to clean up everything as I bondo and sand, etc.)

Art Andrews · Feb 9, 2009

Looks good to me as far as fit.

Cruzer · Feb 13, 2009

I didn't like the huge opening I was getting when I assembled my forearms, so I borrowed a little idea from the Jango design.

The seam is very inconspicuous when the forearms are on.

Armor Trimming Question - The Arms

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