rugbyrat

I'll post pictures of different possible placements for the split rivets tomorrow. Maybe that will help the debate.

Be careful with your belt, also. It looks like it slipped down when the picture was taken. I can see a bit of your undersuit between your ab plate and belt.

What is the width of the finishing strips on your thighs and shins? I'm getting ready to cut mine and I'm curious what size you used.

Thanks for the quick responses. Two responses are contradictory. Which should be followed? I'm not sure the hierarchy of opinions in FISD. My initial thoughts prior to posting was to place the split rivets on the ab and kidney plates, and not the shims. Thanks again! Keith

Hi All! I'm building a T/MC kit for 501st approval. During the build, I'm also following EIB and Centurion requirements for future approval. The build is 99% complete and I intend to take 501st approval pictures this weekend. I have a question about where to place split rivets on the kidney plate. The pictures I've review in Centurion build threads are clear, but the placement in those pics might not look best for me. I'm short and fat - 5'6" and 220 lbs. I built shims into my kidney plates to cover the gaps. So my question is should I place the split rivets on the actual ab and kidney plates or somewhere on the shims. Here's pictures of the kidney plate with shims. The shims are 5.5" long and glued to the kidney plate (you can see the seam in the pictures) and attach to the ab plate via velcro. Right Ab: --------- Left Ab: ----------

Hi, as a cadet whose been working on his first set of armor for way too long, I'd like to recommend that you add a statement to the CRL's that says "updated as of xx/xx/xxxx" (date). This way cadets can easily confirm that any CRL's they downloaded/printed are the most up-to-date ones.

My first set of TK armor was assembled using all rivets (hadn't heard of the 501st at that time). I removed all of the rivets and filled the holes. You cannot see the holes any longer. Here's how it did it: 1. glue a small tab to the underside of the rivet hole. 2. Fill hole with Aqua Mend (used in fish tanks - can be found at amazon.com). I like Aquamend because it it very easy to work with, and it sands nicely. 3. Let dry and sand the hole with Aquamend. 4. Cover the Aquamend with a small bit of ABS paste. Sand with 1500 grit paper and shine with Novus. I can't find before/after pictures, but I'll keep looking. I turned this set of armor to a Deathtrooper, so I don't know if I can get good pictures now.

I'm working on ab shims right now. The way I did it was to layer and glue 2 pieces of ABS. The top pieces equals the length of the shim needed to cover the gap (in my case 5.5"). The lower piece of ABS is 2" longer (1" on each side of the shim). I glued the 1" excess to the kidney plate (since it is 2 layers of ABS, the second layer of ABS lies flush with the actual ab plate. I used ABS paste to fill the crack, and sanded it with 3 different grits. The remaining 1" of excess has a piece of velcro on it, which will attach to the ab plate. I'm in the process of heat bending the shims now for a more fluent fit. Here's one shim. It needs some touch-up, but you can see how it is perfectly flush with the kidney plate. Here's the other shim after being glued in, with no ABS paste applied yet.

Thanks Bondsrvent. An easy solution! I guess it was a little late and my brain turned off! Cadet Rugbyrat.

Hmmm...this seemed easy enough. I tried to make my first snap plates and because the necks of the snap backings expand (i.e., the necks are cone-shaped), the bottom of the snap does not lie flush with the bottom of the tab. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a different type of snap I should be using? I using heavy duty snaps by Dritz (5/8"). Thanks Cadet Rugbyrat Garrison Carrida Wanna-Be