ARMOR MODIFICATIONS by Judge Hellfast!!! (repost)

[Administrator]

Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 04-01-2005

We all know those pesky shoulder straps take a lot of beating and most of the time will break under the stress we put on them. They are the key pieces that hold all of our top armor together. Here is a mod that looks very nice and is very durable.

First off, use specialty screws rather than rivets. Rivets have a tendency to become loose, tear at our undersuits, and scrape away at our armor. Specialty screws can be purchased at your local hardware store for about $.50 a piece. They look nice and have a better hold on your armor. No more wear and tear on our armor, undersuit or replacing those rivets that go bad! YEAH!!

I started my project by creating two shoulder straps out of Sintra plastic and shaped them like the original shoulder straps. You may use Sintra or ABS plastic, which ever you prefer.

I then placed these pieces on the underneath side of the chest and back armor and used the specialty screws to secure the front, back and new shoulder pieces altogether. Next, I added my shoulder bells to the new shoulder straps via nylon webbing utilizing, again, the handy specialty screws. I added a dab of glue to each specialty screw so they would not unscrew. Overall, I could have stopped here and the armor would have looked very nice and clean.

However, I added industrial strength velcro over the top of the new strap and velcroed the original strap on top. This concealed all the specialty screws on the new straps and armor and made the armor look as if it were all one piece. Now the stress of our daily trooping is on the new strap and not the original strap.

Overall, nice modification. I'm excited to hear about your mods as well. Let me know about yours!

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 04-06-2005

HELMET MODIFICATIONS:

Here is another little modification worth checking out. Some of you may already own one of these little bad boys. I would love to hear some feedback on this item. Here is the web address:

http://www.skullworx.com/index.html

This piece has the aerator speakers, helmet fans, amplifier with microphone, battery "holders" and switches all pre-wired, neatly bundled and ready to install inside your bucket.

I spoke with the person from this site and they stated that orders would need to be placed very soon in order to be ready for CIII. He also stated that if you wanted the aerator speakers installed in a standard set of trooper aerators, he could do this for an additional fee. Hope this helps!
judge_hellfast

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 04-22-2005

I recently purchased one of the skullworx.com helmet units and I have to say.....AWESOME!!!!! This guy did a fantasic job assembling this thing. It was so easy to install. He also sent a nice CD with easy to follow instructions to assemble the speakers into the aerators and how to install the unit in the helmet. The speakers also didn't have a lot of feedback either. I had the thing cranked and it still sounded great! This guy shipped this thing in no time at all. If you do not have your bucket filled with all the little goodies and you want an easy way to fill it with all those great gadgets, then look this guy up. I would highly recommend him.

www.skullworx.com

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Author: TK DHeth
e-mail: dheth@dheth.com
Posted: 04-25-2005

It looks like a well made unit I might get this just because I haven't been able to find any speakers to fit into the aerators! Maybe he will sell me just the speakers.

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 04-25-2005

He was a great guy to work with. He sold me a set of aerators already wired up for an extra $20.00 with the whole unit. He might be able to cut ya a deal on just the speakers or even the speakers already prewired in the aerators. Let him know I sent ya.
Chris TK4293

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Author: 1154
e-mail: tb_1154@yahoo.com
Posted: 05-04-2005

Nice mod! I saw Tk-507 put his bell straps to his suspenders, and leave the chest and back piece as one unit. So when you sit or take off the chest/back piece, your armor on your arms stay put. No more riding up when you sit down. So when I help others build there armor I include this. It works out great. I secure everything with a button system. Less wear and tear on the armor and the undersuit.

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 05-16-2005

A snap system is a great way to attach all those parts and pieces together. If anyone needs a good snap tutorial, make a quick stop by TK409's site. He has a wealth of information for your Fett, TK, and TD as well as some other little goodies. Here is the address: www.TK409.com.
Look in the Boba Fett section for the snap system tutorial and it will be close to the bottom of the page. TK409 is also experimenting with a new method for his Boba Fett gear, for any of you that are interested in Fett. Instead of using snaps, he is utilizing magnets to attach pieces together. This should be fun and exciting and hopefully we will hear the results of how well this new method works soon!

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Author: trooper xero
e-mail: j1dean@sbcglobal.net
Posted: 06-02-2005

for another great trooper helmet squalk package visuit www.romfx.com

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 06-02-2005

Does your butt piece slip? Does your abdomen armor slide up and down? Then get rid of that problem by placing a strap.

First off, if you are a trooper who uses suspenders to hang your abdomen and butt pieces to your body, it seems that the butt piece is most likely to slide down or fall too low in the back, or it may begin to slide downward after a day of trooping. No worries, lets get rid of that problem. Take a piece of nylon webbing and connect one end to the upper inside right corner of the abdomen piece utilizing the button snap system and then run the other end of the nylon webbing down in a diagnal slant toward the bottom right inside corner of the butt piece, also securing this end with the button snap system. You will need to do this on the left side as well. Depending upon where the armor pieces lay on your body will allow you to know how long these webbing pieces should be. A good way to see this is by putting the armor on and making a measurement.

I understand this mod may be a little difficult to understand and I am hoping to have pics up soon to demonstrate these techniques. This mod is great for keeping the abdomen and butt armor from sliding up and down on your body.

Hope this helps and happy building.
judge_hellfast

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 07-05-2005

The other day I was asked, "how do you get your thigh armor to look so rounded out by the knee?" One of the common problems with TK armor is the thigh pieces. They're either too big, too small, too long, or (rarely) too short. There are a lot of TKs with a bulge slanting towards the knee/leg. That's because this is where the clam shells meet together and the modifications we put them under cause them to bulge inwards and the sides to bulge outwards and make them less round. They almost have a heart shape to them rather than that nice round shape. In any case, lets get rid of that mishapened mess near the knee. Place the knee end of your thigh armor (both clam shells together) in a boiling pot of water. Let them sit in the boiling water until they become a LITTLE soft. Then begin to round out that messy indention. One possible idea is to place your heated thigh/knee piece around a large tin can or some other alternative device that's round. After you have a nice round shape, let it cool. Viola...you now have a nice rounded out knee. Hope this helps or gives you some ideas.
judge_hellfast

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Author: mandalorian hunter
e-mail: tkmandalorianhunter@yahoo.com

Posted: 08-12-2005

i was wondering where to get this sintra plastic. to maybe use to make custom gauntlets. let me know. i've thought it might work but haven't been able to find any.

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 08-13-2005

Hey Mandalorian Hunter,
There are a few places to find Sintra Plastic. Check to see if your town might have a plastic company first. Another alternative is to look at a hardware store for "for sale," "for rent," etc signs. They are made out of PVC or Sintra as well. DGASSER states -"Another good source is sign shops. They use sintra for making signs for businesses. There is a plastic shop here in Topeka called "Cope Plastics. They have Sintra there as well. They are also very friendly to work with and have Sintra at a very reasonable price as well. Here is another alternative- usaplastics.com You can order Sintra online and it can be shipped to you. Basically what you want to look for is 4' x 8' sheets of Sintra at 1/8 inches thick.

I hope this helps you out.
judge_hellfast2003

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Author: mandalorian hunter
e-mail: tkmandalorianhunter@yahoo.com
Posted: 08-13-2005

thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 08-31-2005

UPDATE to snap system/magnet system tutorial:
This update is more for all you Fett costumers. Earlier in this thread there was a tutorial about the snap system and magnet system to attach armor. The magnet system was a new system that was utilized for all you Fett goers to attach your chest armor. However, after field testing the magnet system, there was a huge problem. Basically, in a nut shell, the magnet system does not work that great. A few of our field testers explained that they had troubles keeping the plates where they needed to be, in other words...armor fell of the body. The second huge complaint is that the magnets play massive havoc on your chest display which can result in destroying it. Lets stick to what seems to work best...snap system and industrial strength velcro. To view a tutorial about the snap system, visit www.tk409.com under his Boba Fett section. Keep those questions and tutorials coming in and lets have some fun building.
judge_hellfast

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Author: Judge_Hellfast
e-mail: judge_hellfast2003@yahoo.com
Posted: 09-27-2005

TRIMMING ARMOR
I've been recieving quite a few emails about how to go about trimming out armor and what tools to use. This little tutorial will give you a good start point for your trimming needs. There are several different tools that can be used to trim armor. I will list three types.
1. Tin Snips - The tin snips do not make nice cuts but are rather used to cut bigger pieces of material.
2. Dremel -I would highly recommend utilizing the dremel as it cuts through most everything like a hot knife through butter and it can be used to smooth edges. Basically, the dremel will be your best friend.
3. Exacto Knife -There are circumstances when the exacto knife should be used. When using the exacto knife, make several slices and be careful not to cut your fingers. A person does not need to make only one cut with the exacto...several cuts should be made over and over until you have cut through the piece of material you are working on. The exacto knife may be utilized for intriquate trimming such as the vents in an EP11 Clone Helmet, for example.

GOLDEN RULE OF THUMB: Always measure several times and cut once. Hope this helps. Good luck and lets have fun building.
judge_hellfast