Covering the Big Guns

When you've got to armor up these 13" pythons, brother, what Are you gonna do?

Seriously, that's all I got.

Anyhow, before I talk about the "pythons," the forearms came out great!

Well, OK, so the right forearm didn't glue so well. I was probably too conservative with the E6000.

Good thing I didn't need the big clamps for the bicep pieces yet. Pulled the loose end up, applied more E6000 (probably too much, but I can clean up the excess after), and clamped the hell out of it (sorry, forgot to take a pick, but pretty much more of the same from last session). Fool me once, shame on you...

ON TO THE BICEPS!

The forearms came out pretty uniform, so I was able to make the biceps matching and pretty symmetrical to each other during the cut & fit. Before any fitting, though, I removed the elbow-end edge returns to make it easier to slide the pieces over my elbow during donning (no pics, but pretty much the same procedure I used on the forearms - rough cut with the disc, clean up with the sanding drum and hand sanding). I left the top edge returns in for now so that the armor can find purchase on my biceps for fitting; once I start fastening everything together, I may go back and grind them out if need be. Speaking of which:

A lot of people are confused by edge returns. According to the 501st Hero and Stunt build for the TK ANH (A New Hope) standards, only the wrist edge return removal is required for higher-level certification. However, looking at screen-used armor, the arms have no edge returns on any of the ends. Typically, you'll probably see this more on the Hero suits than the Stunt suits in the actual movie. Why? Because it takes more time to remove them, so the shop probably only removed them for suits that absolutely required it (especially for comfort for actors who would be doing a lot of movement and/ or be in them for hours on end) so they could build suits for extras faster, especially given deadlines and budgets.

Therefore, if you want your suit to look and feel better, feel free to pop out edge returns in the arms, as none of them are required if you're going for 501st cert (and if you aren't, pop them out anyhow, because it makes the arms much more comfortable and less pinchy). For more info in regards to 501st cert for the ANOVOS kits, you can find the Hero cert here and the Stunt cert here. Be advised that some edge returns, especially in the body pieces, are required, so don't go hog wild until you read up.

EDIT: also, read this post for clarification between "edge returns" and "inside edges." As the arms pieces include no actual "edge returns," read the above as referring to "inside edges".

I used the same technique as the forearms - measure, tape to simulated fit, cut conservatively, and repeat until they're fit bu not too tight. This time I used the score & snap method for the cutting.

After fitting my biceps, it was time to glue the strips on - again :P This time I cut the strips to length and applied a small 45 degree bevel on the corners before gluing in place.

The fit on the biceps was slightly loose on my final test fit. I may remove a fraction of material from the outside pieces before final assembly tomorrow, after a better test fit with the strip in place - especially if it helps marry up the butt joints. While the biceps are gluing, I can start on the shins and thighs, although I may need more rare earth magnets for the latter, given the size of the pieces.

My wife and I are going to a concert tomorrow night though, so I may not get any work done. All the better I suppose, as my wife is becoming an armor widow :P

Until next time...

Edit: for reference: