Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Well, the first step of a life long dream has been taken. I would like to right off the bat thank Paul for his dedication and talent to this wonderful hobby. Thanks, Paul, for getting this beautiful armor to me fast enough to give me time to hopefully finish it before Halloween. I was like a kid at Christmas opening the box. After cleaning up my drool, I decided to start doing some trimming. I carefully made my first trim, then paused to go throw up. (J/K!) Anyway, I'll post my progress with PLENTY of questions to follow. Here is the OBP......(obligatory box picture).... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongoose[TK] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Laughed my an impolite person off at the second picture. Good luck with the build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dday[501st] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Did you get the 2mm or the 1.5mm version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Ahhhhh the brown box, very jealous, enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clamps[TK] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 WHOOHOO!! Good luck with the build Tony. I love the box hug photo. Be sure to post photos of your progress. Are you planning to build for EiB and Centurion from the get go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Did you get the 2mm or the 1.5mm version? I debated for a while, but decided to go 1.5 mm because I was going to go with original strapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 WHOOHOO!! Good luck with the build Tony. I love the box hug photo. Be sure to post photos of your progress. Are you planning to build for EiB and Centurion from the get go? My ultimate goal is Centurion, but I'm shooting for EiB right now. After my build, I don't think I will have too much to get to Centurion. I thought everybody would get a kick out of the box hug picture. I think it should be a requirement for all build threads, because you KNOW that's how everyone feels when that box shows up at your front door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dday[501st] Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Good deal! I"m looking at the same deal now... Original strapping brackets ordered as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Classic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 I've been doing a lot of trimming. I really wish I had gotten my hands on some lexan scissors. That curve in the scissors sure would come in handy. I've been doing the trimming with tin snips and an exacto knife. Very tedious. I would have paid a few more pounds to have Paul trim it up for me. I'll post some trimmed up pics soon along with some trim area questions. The helmet is the scariest parts to trim for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW1 Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Tony congrats on your right choice of armour , but i would say stop the trimming mate with the tin snips and buy some curved lexan sissors mate they are a asset in a armourer tool box and they come in really handy for those awkward corners on the armour ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smally Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 I carefully made my first trim, then paused to go throw up. That actually made me lol a little. Good luck with the rest of the build dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Tony congrats on your right choice of armour , but i would say stop the trimming mate with the tin snips and buy some curved lexan sissors mate they are a asset in a armourer tool box and they come in really handy for those awkward corners on the armour ! I definitely agree with you on that part. I've been using the tin snip for all of the "straightaways" and then fine tuning everything else with the exacto knife. I can't seem to find any lexan scissors local (the local Hobby shop website doesn't list them....but I haven't physically looked there, yet). I guess my thought process has been by the time I order some and have them delivered I would probably be done trimming using my current method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 I have a question about the cut line on my helmet. Any input would be appreciated. I penciled where I think the cut should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyTrigger[TK] Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Your front and sides are where I cut mine. I'm not sure about your back line though. There should be a natural rear line to follow. I noticed that you haven't posted a pic of the front face mask. The top of the face section has no cut line but definitely needs trimming down. Post that up if your not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted October 7, 2012 Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Your pencil lines look good for trimming and it's better to drill a small hole on the bottom corner of the trap above the ear to create a radius rather than having a sharp corner. This helps reduce any stress in that area which could crack eventually if left sharp. I like to leave the lower edge of the helmet untrimmed until I have the face and ear caps fitted, so I can make the opening just large enough to get my head in. I prefer the opening to be as small as possible to help create a sealed look. The best thing about these 1.5mm helmets is you can make the opening sligtly smaller than you want and just squash the sides to make it open so you can get your head inside without having to worry about damaging anything. You can leave about 1" of plastic above the eyes on the face plate as Phil says. This aloows you to really close any gap between the forehead and brow trim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2012 Here's the face of the helmet. Paul, is that about where the cut needs to go across the front? Also, does the helmet need to be trimmed at all on the underside where the vocator is? I know that the S-trim will cover that area, just wondering if it needed any more trimming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted October 8, 2012 Report Share Posted October 8, 2012 The mark above the eyes will be fine to cut to. You will need to trim under the face plate but best wait until you have assembled the helmet first. Here are a few examples of helmets I have built in the past for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Sorry about the slow update. Life has kinda been getting in the way....crazy, huh? Anyway....I've pretty much got all of my trimming out of the way. I've been a little too anal in trying to get the edges "perfect" before realizing after looking at lots of reference pics...all edges are NOT perfect. Here is the full trimmed armor layout. I still have some minor things (like taking care of the return edge on the forearms for Centurion and trimming the ears), but nothing major. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Well, I've been interrupted today, and haven't made much progress, but I did get my thermal detonator assembled. Paul's TM TD has end caps that do not need gluing as they have a very snug fit when you slide them on. I went ahead and slid one end cap on. Afterwards I placed the clip up against the end cap and drilled the holes for it. Paul suggests a hole be drilled (in the area where the detonator plate will go) so that when you put the other end cap on you will avoid an airlock making it difficult to place the end cap. I placed the plate across the top of the first bracket and made a mark for the other bracket. I then took a piece of cardboard and stuck it into the other end cap and marked the depth. I then transferred that from the end to mark how far the end cap would be, so I could place the other bracket. I marked the top hole of the other bracket and placed a screw in it. That way I could press the bracket flat and drill the other hole so the bracket will lie flush. After making sure there was no drilling debris inside the detonator tube (thanks, Paul), I placed the other end cap and glued the plate flush with the top of the brackets and voila. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clamps[TK] Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Well, I've been interrupted today, and haven't made much progress, but I did get my thermal detonator assembled. Paul's TM TD has end caps that do not need gluing as they have a very snug fit when you slide them on. I went ahead and slid one end cap on. Afterwards I placed the clip up against the end cap and drilled the holes for it. Paul suggests a hole be drilled (in the area where the detonator plate will go) so that when you put the other end cap on you will avoid an airlock making it difficult to place the end cap. I placed the plate across the top of the first bracket and made a mark for the other bracket. I then took a piece of cardboard and stuck it into the other end cap and marked the depth. I then transferred that from the end to mark how far the end cap would be, so I could place the other bracket. I marked the top hole of the other bracket and placed a screw in it. That way I could press the bracket flat and drill the other hole so the bracket will lie flush. After making sure there was no drilling debris inside the detonator tube (thanks, Paul), I placed the other end cap and glued the plate flush with the top of the brackets and voila. whoohoo, baby steps. keep chipping away. That tip for "airlock" prevention is quite interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geaux Saints[TK] Posted October 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 whoohoo, baby steps. keep chipping away. That tip for "airlock" prevention is quite interesting. It definitely worked. The end cap went on rather effortlessly. I can imagine how big a pain it would have been without the outlet. The plate covers the hole so no worries about how big it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locitus[Admin] Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Nice work on that TD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dday[501st] Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Tony, I saw a thread some weeks ago about cutting some pressure release slits in the ends so you can actually remove the end caps. This makes it so you can store your keys, ID and so on inside the det. I will be doing this with my TM TD as well. How long is your det over all? It seems the tube I got from Paul is a little long, did you have to cut it down a little? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) The tube you got from me is the correct length. If you cut it down it will be too small. Why do you think it is too long? What are you comparing it to? Please enlighten me. Edited October 15, 2012 by troopermaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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