Sha Sha's TB WIP

[shashachu]

Hi all,

I've been a member of the Golden Gate Garrison since 2017, but have until now only had a single approved costume (ANH Stunt TK. I was also on staff at the FISD for a few years doing L2 and L3 approvals.) In late 2019 a member of the FLG put up her approved TB for sale, and I jumped on it. I was excited because I'm 5' 3" and she is around the same height. However, I sat on the kit until now, as COVID really dampened my enthusiasm for trooping. With a run of scouts being approved in my Garrison recently, I've finally felt inspired to get my TB approved. And ironically, due to the pandemic I actually learned to sew so that I could make cloth masks for my family in 2020, which has proven really useful. Note that I am not planning on going for Lancer because I already know there are a couple things that would not pass Lancer (e.g. the dog bone on my boots overlaps the toe strip, the vest doesn't have the appearance of raglan construction, and the sleeve ribbing doesn't go up high enough so I couldn't even just add a seam) and I don't have a lot of interest in replacing parts to get to Lancer, especially in areas that are not easily visible. However, whenever possible I will be building to the highest accuracy possible.

I don't know the origin of most of the armor or soft goods, only that I've been told my helmet is an Altmann. Here's everything laid out soon after I unpacked the box. Things to note: it didn't come with a vest, as the seller couldn't find hers. Also, there are 2 cummerbunds and cods. One is made of a shiny material and appears to be well-worn and trooped in. The second set is canvas and partially constructed (e.g. pouches are not attached). I know the shiny material is screen accurate, but I've moved forward with the original cummerbund and new cod, as they fit me better. But I have backups if needed.

Here's me putting everything on out of the box. I learned that day that Scout costumes are a lot more complicated than TKs! I had to refer multiple times to the CRL images to figure out where all the various parts went.

Things that I noticed:

- Chest armor is too big/low

- Pouches are floppy

- Cummerbund/belt overlapping

- Dreaded cod bunching

- The knee armor was running into the tops of the boots. I know that the original owner trooped in lifts.

- It's not obvious, but the helmet was flopping all over the place, too.

I clearly had a lot of work to do!

[shashachu]

I did do a bit of work on it on late 2019. One of the first things I did is fill the pouches with cardboard to fix their shape:

Next, I eyeballed what I thought the height of the chest should be:

And shortened the shoulder straps to bring the entire chest up. (No pics of the process)

That brought the cummerbund up higher as well:

[shashachu]

FAST FORWARD 2.75 YEARS....

As I mentioned in the introduction, I really lost steam on the build when COVID hit and just got back into it a couple weeks ago.

Sometime in the preceding two years, I did commission a new vest (I can't remember from whom.) Unfortunately it came far too large for me (length of sleeves as well as body size) and I didn't have the skills at the time to fix it. I decided that was the first thing I should tackle because I wanted to attach the cummerbund to the vest, and a lot of other armor and soft goods placement would flow out from there. 

Here was my first go: 

I was happy with the body size, but I could see that the sleeves could be shorter, and also the inner seam needs to be shorter than the other seam to follow the shape of the shoulder bell more. So I ended up taking out the sleeves again and haven't yet re-shortened them.

For the cummerbund/vest attachment, I followed @Ruthar and used sew-on snaps so that I could get the proper position every time without fussing with velcro. I also took in the cummerbund significantly. This involved shortening both sides and repositioning the velcro.

 

 

 

. 

The connection point is sliiiightly off center but I think it's ok.

 

[shashachu]

I wanted to tackle the cod next. I posted the following image on a Facebook group and got some great feedback:

I learned that 1) the cod should not end between the legs (I had no idea) and 2) my cod was much too wide.

Just to get a rough idea, I added some pins and clamps to try to both shorten and narrow the cod. I think it looks a lot better.

[shashachu]

One thing I could use input on: Some time over the past 2+ years, the paint on the faceplate of my helmet has developed cracks:

Fortunately it only appears to be on the faceplate visor and not on the body of the helmet, so I think I can get away with just repainting the visor. Does anyone have recommendations for a paint I could use to most closely match the color of the Altmann helmets?

[Chopper]

I've seen those paint cracks on a few Altman helmets before, usually in those exact spots around the visor. I think it's a stress/flex point, which eventually leads to the paint cracking.

Finding an exact paint match is tough. You might need to do some tests by painting plastic spoons or something similar, but you can try Rusto Painters Touch 2x semi gloss white or Rusto appliance white to start.

With paint cracks like that you may need to do a bit of sanding first, or else it'll just crack the paint again.

 

[shashachu]

20 hours ago, Chopper said:

I've seen those paint cracks on a few Altman helmets before, usually in those exact spots around the visor. I think it's a stress/flex point, which eventually leads to the paint cracking.

Finding an exact paint match is tough. You might need to do some tests by painting plastic spoons or something similar, but you can try Rusto Painters Touch 2x semi gloss white or Rusto appliance white to start.

With paint cracks like that you may need to do a bit of sanding first, or else it'll just crack the paint again.

 

Oh interesting. Yes, it must just be a weak point. And thanks - I'll check out those paints; I'll probably also just bring my helmet into the hardware store to see. And yes, I was assuming I'd need to sand and repaint the entire visor.

[shashachu]

So I heard back from spike, the Vendor for the Altmann helmets, and he said that he uses a "PPG acrylic lacquer with a softening agent thats used in paints for plastic bumpers. Colour is an "off the shelf" mix, Hi-Opacity White". I may or may not be able to find that in the US but that points me in the right direction and I can check auto stores if I can't find anything at the hardware store.

[Aradun]

Great mods Sha Sha. You’re really tightening up the overall look. Excellent work.

[shashachu]

One very minor thing I did a couple days ago is reshape the belt. I noticed I was flexing it a great deal in order to close it all the way, and I imagined that I'd quickly start causing stress cracks in the ABS. When I was building my TK, my #1 tool for reshaping my armor was the heat gun. I know we usually advise against the heat gun due to it being an easy way to ruin your armor beyond repair, but I find it indispensable. I've been meaning to make a short YouTube tutorial about it, but the basic idea is that as you heat the plastic (keeping in mind to constantly keep the heat gun moving), you repeatedly and lightly 'bounce' the plastic into the shape that you're aiming for. The instant the plastic loses its bounce, you stop heating it, and hold it in place as it cools.

I didn't take a closeup photo of the before shape, but you can see how flat it is in this photo:

And after:

I may end up reshaping it further if I still feel like it's getting stressed too much.

[Chopper]

Yeah, the heat gun is a little risky for those who don't have a lot of experience with it. If you've used one a lot and have a good sense of how much is "too much", then yeah, it's a great tool to use.

[Chemi]

Hi @shashachu!!! Nice to see you here!!!

As always, excellent Wip, and excellent work. 💪💪💪

[shashachu]

2 minutes ago, Chemi said:

Hi @shashachu!!! Nice to see you here!!!

As always, excellent Wip, and excellent work. 💪💪💪

Haha! Great to see you here too, my friend! Looks like we will soon have the same approved costumes.

[Harbinger]

Another familiar face. Good luck!

[shashachu]

I tackled the cod reshaping yesterday.

Here's the original:

 

And after taking it apart, I trimmed the panels back. Here's a shot comparing the old and new size:

Ready for sewing:

And done!

Sewing the curve was *extremely* nerve-wracking. It's definitely not perfect but I think I'll live with it for now.

And a quick fit test:

I'm a lot happier with the size and shape. While it would have been better to sew it in, I'm probably going to back the bottom of the cod with a little piece of ABS to help keep it from bunching.

[shashachu]

Starting to take a look at the rest of the armor parts. For the arm armor, I'm not completely sure where each piece should go. For those of us who are smaller, is it ok for the forearm armor to overlap the gloves a lot? Can the bicep armor overlap the vest sleeves?

I'm trying to keep the armor pieces relatively evenly spaced, but my arms are pretty short. Looking at the photo it seems I could bring up the bicep armor a bit, but I'd likely need to shorten the vest sleeves a little. The sleeves are also still just pinned; I haven't sewed then shorter yet.

[Chopper]

You can bring the bicep armor up a bit, where the vest sleeves overlap it slightly. It's fine to have the forearm armor overlap the gloves as well.

Generally, the angles of forearm armor should be at the 3 and 9 o-clock positions, left and right, with the forearm armor angled slightly forward, at about the 2 and 11 o-clock positions.

[shashachu]

50 minutes ago, Chopper said:

You can bring the bicep armor up a bit, where the vest sleeves overlap it slightly. It's fine to have the forearm armor overlap the gloves as well.

Generally, the angles of forearm armor should be at the 3 and 9 o-clock positions, left and right, with the forearm armor angled slightly forward, at about the 2 and 11 o-clock positions.

Is there a typo there? Maybe bicep armor at 3 and 9 and forearm armor angled slightly forward?

Thanks!

[Chopper]

Whoops! Sorry yes, still hadn't had my coffee. The bicep armor should be at 3 and 9.

[shashachu]

Just now, Chopper said:

Whoops! Sorry yes, still hadn't had my coffee. The bicep armor should be at 3 and 9.

Ha! Perfect. Thanks @Chopper

[shashachu]

Another minor fix I made this morning was to replace the shoulder zip ties so that they go through the shoulder bridge elastic. Previously the elastic didn't always completely cover the anchor so I figured this gave me a bit more confidence they'd stay together.

I started by making small cuts in the elastic with an x-acto knife, then threaded through the  zip tie.

Then I used extra 'heads' to keep it in place:

Done!

I added small drop of hot glue to prevent the shoulder bell from sneaking up over time:

Here's both zip ties replaced:

[shashachu]

Next I wanted to address the cod bunching. I cut out a small piece of scrap ABS, then used a heat gun to shape it around a coffee mug to give it a slight curve:

Then hot-glued it to the back of the cod:

Which hopefully results in an unsquishable cod:

[Harbinger]

Smart! Report back on comfort!

[shashachu]

4 hours ago, Harbinger said:

Smart! Report back on comfort!

Now that I shorted the cod so it no longer ends between my legs, I can't feel the ABS at all. 

[shashachu]

A couple more minor improvements yesterday.

First, I'd added velcro to the backs of the pouches to keep them in place, but due to the stiff cardboard I used to keep their shape, there was a gap between the backs of the pouches and my body. So I took the cardboard out, scored it, and gave it a slight concave curve to fit around my body better:

And on the bund:

Next, the chest elastic was held on with velcro, with the hook on the chest armor, and the loop on the elastic. The loop was very thick and fuzzy and put tons of stress on the chest armor whenever I pulled it in and out of the chest slot. So I replaced and reversed the velcro, putting the loop on the armor and the hook on the elastic, with a little guide to help me get it through the slot when I got dressed: