ATA left leg and kideny plate mods using a sealing iron

[bdgr]

I'm slowly building a Sandtrooper using an ATA armor kit. For those that like super accuracy (me being one of them) or are potentially going for SWAT here on th MEPD or Centurion level on the FISD, I wanted to share a few mods using a Sealing Iron that I did on my ATA armor kit kidney and left armor piece.

Here is an image of my sealing iron. With it, you can make new return edges or cover strip edges. You can purchase one at any Hobby Shop that sells Remote Control Cars or Airplanes.

Modification #1: The actual TK and TD armor kidney plate armor had square notches on them. Unfortunately, the ATA armor kits do not have them, so out came my lexan scissors and the sealing iron. I used a ruler and pencil to mark the correct dimensions of the square notch first. I then used my lexan scissors to cut the notch out a few mm (8 to 10mm) from the actual pencil line to allow for the new return edge. I then used the sealing iron to melt and fold the ABS to create a new return edge of the square notch cutout. Finally, I trimmed and sanded the edges.Here are images of my kidney plate before and after modifying:

Mod #2. The TKs and TDs top left leg armor are different then the right leg armor in that they have a deep indentation/notch on them. You can see the indentation in the following reference image that I borrowed from another post:

ATA armor kits do not have this shape, so I reshaped mine to be more screen accurate. Here are some images of my modification using the same technique as the kidney plate mods.

Before:

Marking with Pencil general new shape:

After:

[FIVE]

This is excellent!
I'll be doing this to mine too.

And nice references!
Notice you never see his ab plate well enough to need the accurate details there.

[FIVE]

You actually wouldn't have to have the notch on the kidney plate to do SWAT... SWAT isn't a one for one of the FISD's Centurion. Centurion is taking into account the "whole" of clean white TKs. SWAT is saying, "I'm THIS trooper." Since there were so few of them on ANH we can do that. Therefore if it's not seen on THAT trooper you don't have to have it.

It's why some people have to actually change their armor from 1) getting in the legion (backpack needed for a TD)... to 2) getting deployed (possibly 4 holes cut in the teeth).. to 3) getting SWAT. Every stage is a different level but also, sometimes, backtracking in a way.

[bdgr]

Yes, I totally agree. If you are going for SWAT you are emulating a specific Sandtrooper that is seen on screen. That is why a generic question of what needs to be changed on a specific set of armor kit to potentially get SWAT can't be completely answered without first knowing which Sandtrooper one is trying to emulate.

Some of the items that I have pointed out on my ATA kit, including the missing ab plate details in another post maybe not absolutely required for SWAT, but are items that I know are not accurate when compared to the actual screened used armor. Making any of the modifications is really an individual choice. They won't hurt if someone is trying to get SWAT, but should not be done solely to achieve SWAT since some of the mods maybe hidden or were never seen on a specific Sandtrooper that someone is trying to do. That was not my intention, only to point out items that I saw were not as accurate on my ATA kit and what I was going to modify to make it more like the actual screen used armor.

[Wolfman]

Nice!