Forearm Pieces and Bicep Gluing

Found the Trooper Bay playlist on YouTube. After only watching three videos, and finding more info on whitearmor.net, I found my answers. End returns are to be kept in specific places and removed in others. Ankle and wrist returns should be removed, but others in the arms and legs are optional for fit. I think I’ll glue the pieces together first and then use the Dremmel and sandpaper to adjust fit as needed.

Also found a good whitearmor post on modding the Disney E11 blaster. Saving this link for later. Might have to buy those Hasboro conversion parts to get my blaster up to 501st specs.

(later)

The Trooper Bay guy cuts his pieces using the score and break method. I tried this on a small piece of my armor to adjust the butt seam for gluing, and although effective, it has to be done from the outside of the armor due to the protective plastic film that protects the armor from scratching during shipment and pre-assembly. For now I’m going to stick with the Dremel method; it’s messier, but I feel I have more control and cut through the film and armor without too much fuss. I'm also afraid the knife will slip and mar or ruin a piece (or me).

Finalized the butt fit for the bicep pieces by removing hte protective film from all parts, sanding the underside of the strip and the very edge of the bicep pieces, then gluing using clamps, magnets, and the E6000 cement. Magnets were wrapped in tape per a tip from the FB group to avoid scratching the armor and make placement easier.

The Trooper Bay guy uses CA glue and a curing catalyst, but I feel safer using the E6000 in case I have to unbond pieces. He said this stuff smelled bad, but it doesn’t smell as bad as other chemicals or adhesives I’ve used. Application is tough though since it’s not a fine point application. Still, I managed to apply it with almost no excess, smoothing and wiping with a paper towel. Applied the plastic strips to the armor without cutting; the armor will need trimming afterwards, so I’ll just cut the strips then with the Dremmel and a steady hand. Definitely need to hit Home Depot tomorrow to get more clamps and magnets so I can do more than two edges at a time. Letting them set up until tomorrow morning at least.

Cut out the forearm pieces, 16 - 19. One of the pieces for the right arm had two cutting lines, so I cut to the first line until I had the ends cleaned up a bit. Upon test fitting, decided to cut to the second line as I don’t have giant forearms. Also, for Level 3 certification, the wrist return edges were removed using a combo of the cutting disk and the sanding drum. I’ve decided to leave the other return edges in for the mean time, until I’m ready for a final fitting. Return edges are easy to grind out with the Dremmel’s sanding drum if need be.

Pieces cut, cleaned, and sanded, with the biceps starting their glue run, I’m done for the night.