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Today I trimmed down the shoulder straps to be more accurate, much better looking in my opinion. This took an hour or two as I didn't want to un-glue it and had to cut (I didn't want to use a Dremel on that with it attached and potentially mess something up, also the mess) through 2 layers at once on the parts where it connects to the chest, and AM makes quite thick armour. The other thing I managed to do today was trim down the edges on the abdomen to 5mm of width, and I made sure to bevel the inner corners of the edge to reduce chances of armour bite. Tomorrow I'm going to work on the kidney and maybe the butt if I have time, trimming edges if needed, cutting out the notches, and making a bunch of snaps.

@R2Chris thanks for the encouragement! Great idea about making a PDF, absolutely going to do that. @gmrhodes13 Thanks for the supply thread! I absolutely need to start stocking up on materials. I think that panic is already setting in! I'm going to continue to absorb as much as I can and likely ask many questions before any cutting happens. @TheRascalKing Yooo I absolutely took your advice! I had my eye out for a convention sale, then applied my newsletter discount code. The double points I earned purchasing the armor during the convention will allow me to get a discount on the helmet when it's in stock. Wizard! @Sly11 thanks so much for the comment. This is a wild endeavor I can't quite believe I've actually officially taken on. I'm shocked to see that I already received a shipment notice for the armor. I expected this to take weeks. I've got so much more to learn and gather before I'm ready to truly start, but I can't say thanks enough to everyone taking time to chime in. Once that BBB arrives I'll shift the conversation to a build thread. Thanks all!

Pssst, Denuo Novo is 10% off and free domestic shipping site wide this week for an SDCC sale, and in the past, if you've registered for their mailing list, they sent you a 10-15% coupon that would stack, so now is a great time to test that out and grab your armor! Hopefully helmets are back in stock soon. Not much to do other than familiarize yourself with Tony's guide and grab your supplies and accessories. Maybe cut some inner cover strips. Good luck and be sure to start a build thread!

Sorry, corrected link below. Request updated FISD status, please: * TK-52225 * https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=48588

You can find a nice list of tools here And when you are opening your BBB and your smile wears off and the panic sets in make sure you have all your research done and ready for that first cut. A build thread is the best way to get feedback on your build so definitely post one of those

Congratulations and welcome Expert Infantry and the EI Honor Gallery

For guides to read, the one from Tony/ukswrath that TheRascalKing linked to in his post is great. I used it when I put my Anovos kit together. Downloaded the pdf copy to my phone which made it easy to refer to and read when I had spare time. Regarding the Denuo Novo and Anovos kits, I like the clean look with no warts. Enjoy your build, it looks like you have a good start with the research you have done already.

After 10 years of trooping, the Velcro on the back of my shins has started to come unstuck. Time to replace it with new Velcro. It's worked a charm.

I believe the bra hooks are the best approach as they have some give when moving. Looking at your setup how much stretch do you have in the elastic? With mine I have very little "pull" on the hook just enough to hold it all in the right place, but from how bent that hook is I am wondering if you have a lot of tension on it? How much elastic is loose at the end as it looks like basically the whole length is glued down.

Velcro works great. Get some good industrial strength stuff too. I've had mine over a year and it holds up great

Velcro works well for me, you just have to make sure the shins close fully, may need a little heat to get them sitting flush. There has also been some who use magnets Magnetic Shin Closures by Cricket (Print PDF) Magnetic Shin Closures (supplement) by Zugor Alternate Magnetic Shin Closures by OddViking327