Tuesday, April 26, 2016

FemTK - Legacy Era Female Stormtrooper Build #5 - Lower Arm Pieces

Master List of Linked Build Pages:
#1 Getting Started -sorting armor and getting supplies
#2 The Corset and Butt Plate
#3 Torso and Shoulder Pieces
#4 Upper Arm Pieces and Shoulder Bells
#5 Lower Arm Pieces and Hands
#6 Leg Pieces
#7 Belt and Ammo Boxesand detonator
#8 Helmet

After working on my upper arms, its now time to do the lower arm pieces and the gloves.

Materials for these steps:
Glue e6000
Lexan Scissors
Self-healing craft cutting mat
Utility knife (uses razor blades) or box cutter
Spare sheet of ABS included in kit
Two Spare cloth scraps or old t-shirts for wiping extra glue and ABS dust from sanding
Protective Breathing Mask
Cutting gloves from hardware store
Metal ruler that bends
Small clamps - you pick the kind
Strong magnets or rare-earth magnets
Blue Painters tape
Dremel with sanding burr or sand paper, both medium and fine grit
Craft foam for inside of arms
Marker
Pencil

Note: I assume you have already read over my Upper Arm Tutorial - if not, please do so!

Lower Arms

The lower arm piece has one overlapping seam on outside (which is raised and its about one inch wide) and the inside seam is a butt joint.

The trick is to trim your seams in a straight line so they match up nicely.  My arms came labeled as A and B. Those labeled A go over B ones in the overlapping edge. But if nicely trimmed, there will be no need for the dreaded ABS Paste of Doom - that method requires hours of sanding to make it smooth. (ABS Paste is used to fill in cracks to make the two pieces look seamless, but we do want a seam, just a nice one)

1. Trim and Sanding Edges:
I begin trimming extra plastic off of edges, just for initial fitting. Sand after you are sure they are going to fit.


This is the raised edge that will overlap the other side. The side marked A will be on top or outside, and the piece marked B will be on bottom or inside.


Note how crooked it is untrimmed. Easy to fix, take your metal ruler and mark the few area that need sanding with a pencil and sand off. The metal ruler is ideal because it bends. One trick is to use clamps to hold the metal ruler against the curves in the plastic. This piece needs no trimming for initial test fit though, this can be done later :)

Trimming the other side of Pieces A and B: the other side had a much smaller raised edge but they aren't meant to overlap.



The wonky ridge here gets trimmed off. As you can see in image below from trimming upper arms, use your ruler and a sharpened pencil to mark a straight line. Then trim. Sand or smooth out the edge with your dremel. Be careful, you can sand too much and create a gap.


As you can see below, the edges go straight together. And I did a pretty good job on making the lines straight. The way to glue this is to make a butt joint. Sand edges to be glued just a bit to smooth them out. Wipe off all small particles. Other edges can be sanded now or later. It is easier to sand before you glue them. Label them A1 and B1, and A2 and B2 on inside so you don't mix them up after you sand them to fit together!


2. Tape and test fit pieces: 
Just like the legs, you really DO have to tape them together with blue painters tape and make sure they fit. Otherwise, you won't be able to get your hand through the opening. And test it wearing your black undershirt and gloves!


Now, I didn't take a pic of the taped-up test fit. I took one while trimming. But I almost thought the arm was too long. That means trimming off the wrist, and using a heat gun to reform the returned edge. If I didn't do that I would lose mobility or bendability of my arm. I was given some good advice to trim the elbow area on the inside by 0.75 inches to allow it to bend more.


So I did, and it will allow me to bend my elbow almost to my chest. Very important if you want to be able to put your own helmet on. It looks deeper in the picture but its only three-quarters of an inch. I promise!

3. Glue together with a strip of ABS
I created a short video on how to score and snap ABS sheets to create your strips or snap plates. View the video here.

I cut my strip about 3/4 of an inch and glued it on with e6000. I ran my sanding burr from my dremel over the edge of my ABS strip just to give it a softer edge. Wipe off the pieces first to remove any ABS dust from sanding. The e6000 did ooze out a bit and I wiped it off with my old t-shirt rags as I went. You only need a thin line.

Then clamp the pieces together so they cure properly. Let cure for 24 hours or so. Be careful none of the clamps are touching oozed out glue, or they will be glued as well. It is very helpful to have an extra set of hands here so one person can hold one end while you work on the other.



And the next day its all set and ready for the other side.


Remember that any glue that dries can be easily scratched off with your fingernail, so globs can be removed once its dry. Any glue globs left in the crease will also keep you from getting a tight line, so remove as much as you can prior to glueing on the second piece.

Obviously the more clamps you have, the faster this will go. I purchased ten clamps so gluing two pieces at a time is what I did. And it takes about an hour to sand and glue. So an hour each day to work on pieces worked with my schedule.

After the strip dried, the next day I glued on the other half. I used magnets to hold the middle in. They left smudges!

So, I bought Novus Polish to remove smudges, and later learned a trip. Cover the magnets in painters tape.

So, don't be like me. Cover your magnets with painters tape first.


Clamp and let dry.


I found that keeping my magnets in pairs was useful. Then you just pull apart and put in. Aligning them can cause pinching. 


Let dry. Clean off smudges if you didn't tape your magnets :)


Note mine had a gap. No worries!

Fill it with caulk and it will look great.


I would tape and fit test this again - just to be sure.



I found that with my gloves on I couldn't get my hand through the wrist opening. So I had to open that area a bit more. Than means my edge didn't go straight down the arm. But wonky it is, and wonky is ok!

I marked with a pencil where the edge should be.



Put a line of e6000 glue, line up with pencil marks, and clamp down to dry. Again, I used magnets for the middle (tape them up, remember)



Let dry for 24 hours.

4. Cleaning up edges

When done, note that some edge are crappy. You will need to trim and sand them down. I used my scissors to cut them straight and then sanded them.



One edge actually bent up, not in. I used a heat gun to bend in (boiling water would work too) but found it caused a slight separation along the seam.

So I cut them and sanded them too. At least it didn't bend out. And in doing so I removed quite a bit of the return edge near the seam. It happens.


The overlapping joint needs trimming too, other wise it will cut into your skin.


When done, fill cracks with caulk. The one on the left is caulked and the other is not. It makes a big difference!

Now, I have heard of people using bondo. But then you have to paint. And I know I said seamless somewhere before, but actually there is supposed to be a slight seam. Just not a raised seam.



5. Glue in foam
Just so you know, a strip of foam on the inside is what will hold it in place.

I had some green foam in my house, and tried using that. Worked great for holding it in place. But a tall person could see the green. If they looked down the arm piece. (it flares out so its possible)

So I went and got white. I used a 1 inch wide strip about 4 inches long. Glue it in on inside however you feel it helps. And viola! These pieces are done!


Gloves

1. Buy recommended gloves
I got the Nomex gloves from amazon. I love them!

2. Trim and sand your hand plates
Mine were already pretty trimmed. I just sanded them down and make the lines look a little better.

3. Attach Velcro to pieces and gloves
This is super easy but I managed to mess it up anyway. So read on, and learn from my mistakes.

First, lay out your gloves and pieces together. This prevents you from putting the wrong pieces on wrong hands.


Next, cut your velcro pieces to fit inside hand plates, and cut matching pieces for gloves.

First mistake, I cut the velcro pieces too big. They fit just inside the plates, but actually show on the gloves. So, cut them smaller and it will not show as much.


Peel off the backing and stick the velcro side to your hand plates.

Second mistake: I put the soft velcro on the hand plates. That meant the scratchy velcro was on the glove. When you put on your lower arm piece, it tears up the foam inside. So, switch them. Put the softer piece on the glove, and scratchy piece on the hand plate.


Now, here is the trick. Put the matching velcro face down on the hand plate. Peel off the backing and then stick the whole piece on your glove the way it is supposed to be.


Press it down, and carefully separate. Or leave for 24 hours so the glue cures.


And your done!


My hand pieces are a little too large, so I will be looking at latex options in the future. If you trim them and remove the return edge, the velcro will show. Just FYI.


And your lower arms are done!

When getting dressed, your hand plates remove so you can put your gloves on first, then your lower arm pieces, then your hand plates.





Master List of Linked Build Pages:
#1 Getting Started -sorting armor and getting supplies
#2 The Corset and Butt Plate
#3 Torso and Shoulder Pieces
#4 Upper Arm Pieces and Shoulder Bells
#5 Lower Arm Pieces and Hands
#6 Leg Pieces
#7 Belt and Ammo Boxesand detonator
#8 Helmet

FemTK - Legacy Era Female Stormtrooper Build #4 - Upper Arm Pieces

Master List of Linked Build Pages:
#1 Getting Started -sorting armor and getting supplies
#2 The Corset and Butt Plate
#3 Torso and Shoulder Pieces
#4 Upper Arm Pieces and Shoulder Bells
#5 Lower Arm Pieces and Hands
#6 Leg Pieces
#7 Belt and Ammo Boxesand detonator
#8 Helmet

If you haven't already - view the YouTube video by Stephanie that show how to put your corset together. It is very helpful and she covers arms at the end.

At my armor party, I finally got around to working on my arms.

I realized a few tricks and so am passing them on.
*as I am still working on my arms, I will update this as I go

Materials for these steps:
Glue e6000
Lexan Scissors
Self-healing craft cutting mat
Utility knife (uses razor blades) or box cutter
Spare sheet of ABS included in kit
Two Spare cloth scraps or old t-shirts for wiping extra glue and ABS dust from sanding
Protective Breathing Mask
Protective Eye Glasses
Cutting gloves from hardware store
Metal ruler that bends
Small clamps - you pick the kind
Strong magnets or rare-earth magnets
Blue Painters tape
Dremel with sanding burr or sand paper, both medium and fine grit
Craft foam for inside of arms
Marker
Pencil
White Caulk
Black Webbing
Lighter or Matches
Black Elastic 1 inch wide (inside shoulder bells)
Velcro

Upper Arms or Biceps

1. Trim and Sanding Edges:
I begin trimming extra plastic off of edges, just for initial fitting. Sand after you are sure they are going to fit.


If you notice that there is a faint raised part along the edges of the bicep pieces, these get trimmed off. Your goal is to make a straight edge, so use your metal ruler to draw a line where you are going to cut. I used a clamp to hold one end of the ruler in place so it stayed straight. You need to cut off the weird raised ridge or it will not make that smooth seam you want. Use pencil, I wouldn't use a black pen or sharpie. Pencil washes!


After cutting off smaller sides from A and B they will fit together nicely, with a little sanding. Trim the rest and move on.


I also trimmed my edges, I chose to leave a return edge of about 3/8 inch on top part and less on the bottom, about 1/8 inch. Curved Lexan Scissors makes this step easy.


Top part edges are thicker (above) and bottom are thinner (below)



2. Tape and test fit pieces: 
Once you have trimmed edges, test fit it in your black undershirt. The biceps should fit fine and may even be quite roomy. Mine are and I have bigger upper arms. Don't hurry to trim more off unless you are really tiny, the bigger arms make you look bigger (and stronger) but also you will be putting foam padding in them. The foam will create a snug fit for you arm to fit into and it will stop the bicep part from moving around a lot. But if needed, trim some more off, maybe an equal amount from each seam, and each side! That way one side isn't bigger than the others.

As a note: if they are not big enough you can shim them. To shim, you make ABS paste (google it) from your small scraps in an empty baby food jar. You can then cut a spare piece of ABS, daub a bunch of paste on it. Let it dry, and begin sanding it down. The process is lengthy but at the end you will have an extended piece that looks natural and is your size. I might have to do this on my corset but I may also just make myself lose 5lbs.


Note: The biceps can be adjusted to sit higher under the shoulder bells. Trimming the length should not be an issue.


3. Sanding pieces to fit each other:
Now I took my trimmed bicep pieces outside to sand in my garage. I prefer a dremel, and its a fast, handy tool. Please wear your breathing mask most of the time!


I found my pieces fit together almost perfectly each time. I had to trim a little out of middle of each piece and then the ends, which were always crooked. I also noticed my ends tend to turn up. I plan to use my hubby's heat gun to bend them in when finished. I also plan to sand ends and clean them up after glueing.


Use and old t-shirt cloth to wipe off any dust when finished. Take time to label them A1 and B1, A2 and B2. It would be a pity to match them up, sand them, and then glue them wrong and have gaps because you couldn't remember which A went with which B.

I sanded all the arm openings as well, its easier to sand them now instead of when they are glued together.


4. Creating the Butt Joint:
You will be creating a butt joint. That is where you glue a strip of ABS (cut from your extra sheet) behind the seam to reinforce it.

I started with piece B for my joints. Doing the inside seam or outside seam doesn't matter. So put your A pieces aside and score and snap some strips.

I have created a short video on how to score and snap on my youtube channel. View it here if you like.


I measured and created a strip that was 3/4 or 0.75 inches wide. You then trim it with your scissors to fit the seam you are working on. I made mine just 1/8 inch shorter on each side.

I glued it on with e6000. I ran my sanding burr from my dremel over the edge of my ABS strip just to give it a softer edge. Wipe off the pieces first to remove any ABS dust from sanding. The e6000 did ooze out a bit and I wiped it off with old t-shirt rags as I went. You only need a thin line. Then clamp the pieces together so they cure properly.


I found that clamping caused more glue to ooze so I put all my clamps on, then I removed them one at a time, wiped up oozing glue that was on on the outside and wiped any glue off the clamp. Then I put the clamp back into place. So far, no glued on clamps!


See that oozing glue? If you don't remove it, it will get in the way when you glue on your other piece and they won't line up right. So take the time and remove it!


Use lots of clamps and then let it sit to cure for about 24 hours.


Be careful none of the clamps are touching oozed out glue on the inside (where you didn't wipe), or they will be glued to your armor as well. It is very helpful to have an extra set of hands here so one person can hold one end while you work on the other.

Once you have glued a strip onto the inside of B, then glue a strip onto the outside of B. I found its easier this way. You can glue both strips on at the same time, if you have enough clamps and magnets.

I was glueing legs at the same time and did not have enough.



5. Glueing the Pieces together
So, once our B pieces are cured, you glue them to your A pieces.

Make sure to pick off (with finger nail or guitar pick) all the glue along the seam. It will not allow the A piece to sit properly. See glue blobs below? It happens despite your best efforts to wipe up ooze. So just pick it off.


Put a line of glue on butt joint piece. Place edge of piece A in place. Use a magnet to hold the middle in. And clamps on the edge. Let cure over night.


And put painter tape on your magnets!



Do the other sides and all the glueing is done for these pieces!

5. Sand and touch-ups

Let's be honest - some ends stick out or look funny.

You get to sand these till they match up. And look ok, and all that jazz


I had several edges that one part went straight while the other went inward. Both should have been inward but wonky it is.

I chose to heat them with a heat gun and use a pair of pliers to bend the edge in. This caused the plastic to melt away from my seam, and hence the gap. I chose to fill this gap with Caulk.

Other options would be to sand off all return edges so they line up. This is a good option where return edges won't show or don't matter.



Whatever suits your fancy. You might want to contact your GML who will be approving your costume and ask for specific return edges that he will be looking for. 

Below you can see the first edge all sanded to be even.


In the photo below - the one edge has been bended in (on top piece) but it looks ok.  I then filled my gaps with Caulk. Here the top piece if filled and the bottom isn't. The bottom seam is much more prominent. I will be caulking all my butt joints.


And the Biceps are Done! (well, they have to be attached but mostly done)

If you have scuff marks, use Novus Polishing kit to remove them.



Shoulder Bells

1. Sand and trim (if needed)
No pictures here. I found my bells pretty much trimmed. I just had to neaten the edges, one of them was off. I sanded with my Dremel and then went over the edges with fine sand paper.

The bells have to be symmetrical and interchangeable. So don't go trimming off frontal areas more than backs and such.

I would also suggest working on lower arms at same time, and fitting bells when lower arm pieces are done.

2. Suit up and test fit where to place them. It helps to have a friend mark with tape.


So, put bells on and see how they look. I had my hubby put tape on insides the night before, so I just suited up to make sure it was all good the next morning prior to glueing. The bells hang in the middle but you can raise or lower them to your liking. 

The biceps position depends on the length of your arm, and best placement for movement. Gotta be able to take your helmet off.


So, put your painters tape on, make marks, and glue on a strip of four inch black webbing to attache bicep to bottom of bells. Seal ends of webbing by going over them with a match or lighter.
I used CA glue, and of course, used tape to hold in place for drying. If you hold with your fingers, they get glued too. 


Next cut a 5 inch piece and tape it to your upper shoulder bell. Let two to three inches hang off top. You will trim it later. Seal end of webbing before taping.


Your bells will attach to the underside of the white webbing on torso with a small velcro square. 

So once again, suit up and see where to trim the webbing so your bells hangs just right. There are no photos because my hubby helped me. 

Cut webbing, seal ends.


Put velcro square on end of webbing. Smaller than webbing is preferred so the velcro doesn't stick to other things, like your undersuit.


Mark edges with pencil, remove tape and glue webbing in place. Again, I used painter tape to hold webbing down, and also magnets to hold webbing in the crease.


Put the matching velcro square on the underside of the white webbing strap and press to attach. Put shoulder bell on and make sure its all good. The velcro sticky backing takes an hour to set in fully, easier to remove and fix before it sets in.


And as you can see, I am on the larger side of the build, but it's all coming together. 






Master List of Linked Build Pages:
#1 Getting Started -sorting armor and getting supplies
#2 The Corset and Butt Plate
#3 Torso and Shoulder Pieces
#4 Upper Arm Pieces and Shoulder Bells
#5 Lower Arm Pieces and Hands
#6 Leg Pieces
#7 Belt and Ammo Boxesand detonator
#8 Helmet