SCTrooper

Nice progress. Can you post some larger pictures. I am working on the same kit, patiently waiting for the paint to cure. As you are looking at the helmet the left ear sits higher than the right ear, at least on the Dave M.

Put your boots on! And see how they fit.

Pic's

I hope your not trooping by yourself. If you must, bring a friend with you that is not costumed to spot for you.

I didn't get hdpe ears with this kit, just the abs one's. Yeah, the finish is like a milk carton. I put a good coat of paint on the helmet and still waiting for the paint to solidify. Sanding hdpe is difficult, so I kept it to a minimum. The eyes and teeth were cut with an xacto knife and not sanded smooth. I am going to order some more humbrol gray paint, the new on seems lighter than usual. After using #400 to lightly scuff the helmet, I wiped the helmet down with acetone and then used a plumbers torch, very quickly and not to close. I read on a hobby site that makes hdpe rc helicopter bodies, flaming the hdpe will make the paint stick better. We'll see if it helps.

See if you can return it, and just pay the shipping.

It really depends on the type elastic. I ran a piece of nylon webbing under the elastic, so it wouldn't stretch out. Looks accurate and works great, 2 years + trooping with no problems and I only have one snap on each end.

One thing you could do is, strap all the armor together except the chest and back, then put tape on the chest and back to hold it in place and when it's just right, take a measurement for your straps. I strapped my amor this way because all my friends were in Costa Rica

You may want to double the elastic on those straps, so they won't stretch so much. I went through quite a few snaps on my suit. Get extra snaps, you will need them down the line to make adjustments.

The thighs look good. I wouldn't trim them anymore, especially the backs. The front finishing strip should be much narrower about 20-23mm

Nice job! Not only will it be comfortable, it should improve the over all look of your armor.

Actually,the top of the thighs are about where they should be , I over exaggerated the vertical lines. Take your time, mine really pinched on the bottom of the cod. If you look at some NE build threads you can see some over trimmed the top inner thigh. As you remove material from the bottom, the gap on the top will increase. I think this is because the thighs will tilt out a bit more towards the top, like they should.

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I wouldn't remove any from the tops of the thighs, just the lower inner groin area and make tops of the thighs more pointed without making them shorter. More like your first photo, but not so much off the inner top part. -----------

I made a small return, about 1/4". A thicker return would look better. I flattened out the return too much, it should be more round, if that makes sense.----------- After reshaping, i used course steel wool to smooth out the surface and bring back the shine.

You could mod the thigh tops if this pinching becomes a problem. Panda trooper has a tutorial, on AM- NE thighs. I did this to mine, but didn't remove as much. No problems so far. ----------

7.4v

Almost there, you'll be sweating it out on a troop in no time.

Look on the bay. He sells them on there, or contact him at trooperbay.com

Nice work! As far as work goes... your not alone.

Hey James, I have never heard of this armor, but the best thing to do would be something like this, or you could make the coverstrip rectangular. Since you need much more room than the normal size coverstrip, the wedge shape maybe the best option and it will slightly taper the thighs. No velcro please!

Hi Rick, at your weight RS and TM would be great choices. Your brother will have to lay off the fast food. RT-mod is for tall troopers with not too much girth. I have NE armor and a CAP west helmet. Here is a shot at a local troop. I am 6' 2" at 200lb

The helmet was digitally scanned from a screen used helmet, the Dave M helmet. As far as size goes, I can only say that it's slightly larger than AP and ATA, similar in size to the CAP west but the dome is a little different in shape. I am not sure if the hdpe makes the helmet feel larger, but its super light and strong. I would like to compare it to a RS helmet, maybe I"II run into one on a troop this year.

I was going to put the screws in before painting, but had the perfect opportunity to paint so when the paint cures I"ll install them. Leaving the middle screws for last, seems to make fitting the ears easier. Thanks for the kind comments. The faceplate is really something else, the details really show up well.

I Had a chance to paint today. The hdpe surface has these tiny dimples in it, only noticeable up close. I flamed the helmet to get the paint to stick, hope it works.