theisaac

Nice start my friend! I'm gonna follow this all the way through!

Right on! Glad you started your build! If I can pull this off, then anyone can. When I started this whole thing I was going to build a tie fighter pilot because it wasn't as hard to build. The problem was I always found myself on the FISD boards watching builds and thinking I would never fit a TK. I'm just too wide... I'm too fat... Insert any of 30 other excuses here. But I wanted it so bad! I kept reading and saw what others before me had done and what might be options. With some creative shimming I'm not only almost done but I'm still trying for not only basic approval but maybe EIB. The moral of all of this is that you CAN do this. You'll have fun and meet some cool folks. You'll meet some jerks too (it's the Internet right). But if take your time you'll notice you move from "can I cut this"? To "this is what I did" in no time. Good luck man, I'll check out your build! Isaac

Noah- so true! I've been at this "inch here.... Move this left..." stage for a few weeks. The cutlery rivets are two pieces. One with a flange and post and then the 2nd with a flange and female post that goes over the other half. Looks like a small top hat. I put them together and hammer the hat onto the post and it locks. Hope that makes sense

Thanks Mike! Working on the belt tonight and will probably finish it at the armor party next weekend. Except for the thermal det since I can't find the PVC around here and don't want to spend 100 bucks on it.

I've seen that pic before and its funny just how much I miss when looking up ref photos. I think its probably because Im still only 3 months into owning a suit but I honestly walk out into my garage and start working on it and get caught up in the "this is so COOL... I have a Stormtrooper!!!!!!" that I forget everything I had looked at.

Today I got the ab buttons painted and put on the ab plate. Still waiting for the strip to dry and I'll put the last 4 bottons that that strip and be a little closer to being done. The belt it giving me issues but should be one of the last pieces to finish. Then its just wait for boots to get restocked at tkboots unless someone has a better idea to find some size 10 boots. I also have to look a little closer at Vern's e-11's and holsters to finish up..... and a neckseal..... ya then Im done. Are you ever done?

I trimmed this last night and did the two male snaps and one on the cod. I'll post the pics as soon as I get back from the hobby shop with paint for ab buttons

I have the hammer kind and its been pretty good for me so far. The only exception is trying to put snaps through my ab piece for the belt. I didnt want to use snap plates if I could just put snaps through the plate itself. Now I need to put them through a slightly curved piece of plastic and its a nightmare.

Yup one side is closed because of the rivets and the other side snaps closed. I can also make new straps to pull it tighter if I need to or let it out if I gain weight lol. I wanted to have overlap on both sides because of the EIB rule. Since you are going Sandy its not the same rules. I basically can step into the ab/kidney part and pull it up. Then the chest and back straps snap into the front and back of the ab/kidney area and the whole thing sits where I want it. I can also clamshell it if I want to. The step into it is just faster.

Hey man, I posted pics of my kidney / ab plate shim that I did with the rivets on my build. Sorry it took so long. It was a long work week. Im just rolling through my build the best I can so remember Im not the expert but so far its working OK for my size frame. The way I have mine strapped up I can attatch everything from the chest to the butt plate and its all connected. The only part not connected is the legs. For me this keeps everything where it needs to be but every build is as differnt as the body its attatched to Ive noticed. looking good though bro! that helmet is badass! Isaac

Here are some pics of the strapping I went with as well as the kidney shim and rivets. I want to make sure Im still on track to make EIB. If I dont it will be a let down but I can still avoid the gym and just run until I can fit a TM suit.

ya man, great idea with the styrene! You'll spend a few hours getting all the snaps in place. Once you get them on the suit and the webbing gets attatched you'll really start to see your suit come to life. I'll post some pics of the inside of my suit this week to show you how I did mine. Not that its the right way but it holds it together on my wonky frame. You'll find what works best for you. For the most part the ab / kidney back all just sit flush to each other. The sizing comes into play for the chest and where it overlaps and sits in relation to the ab plate. Mine is strapped so it cant ride up and stays in the sweet spot of hitting right about an inch over the button plate on the ab.

I took a spare sheet of abs that came for the belt and used that for cod/kidney shim. What I did was butt up one side so its flush then measured the gap on the other side. Take that and divide by 2. Thats how much you have on either side to hide. I took that number and added a 1 inch to it so i had a half inch on either side to keep the joint covered. (think cover strip only its not glued on both sides) Then i used straps like im sure you've seen everywhere on just about every build in the last year to make the cod kidney open like a clamshell. If you are going EIB and there isnt a reason NOT to, then you'll get some closed rivets that will also hold the shim on the left side. I went to ACE Hardware and they called them Culinary Rivets or Cutlery Rivets.. something like that. They press together. I'll take pics of mine if you want to see it and think it will help. My AM chest needed to have the top straps cut off a huge amount to make it sit right on my body. The bottom of the chest should sit just above the button box on your ab plate. Once you get your ab/kidney sized up then you can see where your chest wants to sit and trim from there. If you look at my build you'll see what i had to do to get my chest lower. You'll see a pic of the chest and the formed shoulder straps, not the ribbed add on ones but the ones formed on the chest was making the chest float up on my neck. That was after cutting about 1 1/2 inches off already. So I lobbed a total of about 3 or 4 inches total to get it lower. You will want to experiment for yourself though. I was in the same place that you are in and I drew a blueprint on paper to help me visualize it and went from there. You will need a spotter for sure though to make sure its fitting right. Have you reached out to your local Garrison yet? I went to an armor party that mine had and it was a HUGE help. You'll find lots of ideas and people who know how this stuff fits. How did the biceps come out? Did you heat them and stretch them out a bit yet? Isaac

Nice man! Keep up the updates!

Ok, I went out and got some white webbing for the shoulders today. I also trimmed off about an inch of the chest (the moulded straps that go back over the shoulder) not the ribbed ones you attatch but the ones on the actual chest. This let me get the top of the chest to sit flat against my chest and stopped my traps from pulling the chest up and out. I also snapped some webbing inside the chest and attatched it to the inside of the cod to stop if from wanting to ride up. This makes the chest sit better on my frame I think. The shoulders still want to pull down and will pull the white webbing out and under the ribbed flaps so Im assuming the little elastic strings will stop that. I havent picked any up yet so we'll see how that goes. Here are the pics from the 3rd test fitting with adjustments to feedback.

Thanks Noah! I followed your build thread so I appreciate the feedback and the advice

This is my overall impression of my first build so far. 1. There is a lot of anxiety about cutting when you are looking at the freshly opened box of pieces. I think its worse if its a brand new kit and it comes pre-trimmed like AM kits do. Because you dont know whats excess plastic and what needs to be on the suit. Once you start those first fittings and you understand the concept of the butt joint then it gets easier. I was a hot mess and didnt touch anything until Mike the Dune Sea TK that has commented on my thread had me come over and he showed me how to do this. Im a visual learner so I have to see pictures and video or see it in person to really get it. He measured and trimmed my forearms and biceps and that gave me a good understanding of fitting. 2. Strapping is fun but getting everything lined up on your own is an exercise in frustration. I cant move really well in the suit so trying to get things lined up and positioned right just doesnt work. Even after I got suited up and the wifey took pictures you see everything you couldnt see while in the suit. So when it comes time for that, make sure you are prepaired for it. You'll think that the whole thing sucks and your suit build is a mess. Its probably not, its just fitted wrong. Im using the pics I took last night to unsnap everything and move it around and get a better position. As far as this build goes, I dont know that the shoulder straps will cover the gap Im going to have with the back and front chest so I might be joining you in the Sandy build lol.

put in the rivets on the left side To adjust for the shoulders I think that they now pull the strap that goes from front chest to back piece that its pulling the webbing out and making the chest float up. You can see in the picture above what Im talking about. Im going to have to let the shoulder out a bit like it was in the other post I think so that it stops the tension as much. I have the back attatched to the top of the inside of the kidney so that it doesnt overlap put this is pulling it down over the kidney plate in the back. You cant really tell in this angle but the shoulder straps are only attatched to the front chest so they float in the back. meet the new bane of my build... the thighs. might have to shim a little in the back to open them up a little so I can get them a little higher up the leg. Not sure yet more thigh

you'll be surprised at how well the butt joint will hold. You'll see that if flixes most at the joints because the forsale sign is so thin but I didnt have one come open at the seams from the heat gun method. You shouldnt have an issue. If it does though, just use it as an excuse to re-shim with a 1/4 or 1/2 inch more forsale sign to give you a little more room. Your outside cover strip should still cover the gap and the outside strip is just cosmetic the stress happens on the inside one anyway. Isaac

thats the beauty of the butt joint. you can start over and put thicker shims if you need to. I would try the heat gun / hairdryer first to VERY CAREFULLY heat and squeeze to reshape the oval. I would heat then squeeze to the right shape then dip them in a bucket of cold water to help shape them up. This made them fit 100% better on me. I was able to flare the oval the other way a bit and I can move in mine now. I was in the same spot as you are now before I did this. I also cut down the sides of the "U" shape to make that bigger since its hidden under the shoulder bell anyway and this made a HUGE difference in the fit. Give it a shot and I think you'll be surprised at how much room you can make in there for your arms. I get it though, just a glance through my build so far and 75% of the build is me pissed off at my bicep pieces.

Thanks Ingrid! I dont want to do it but Im not sure what to do about the sizing. Again its the same issue I've had since the start. Genetics and sports/wrestling has made me as wide as I am tall. Not a great combo for a TK but I have a dream of pulling this off lol

can i trim down the bottom backs of the thighs so i can bend my let better and still get EIB? Think of the dip people cut out on the back of the calves so those can bend farther back. Id like to trim a small part of the back of my thighs so i can bend the leg more without trimming down the top of the thigh if that makes sense. I dont have the tools to replace the return edge so if I can just trim the back bottom of the thigh that would solve my current issue. thanks in advance. Isaac

I had to heat gun mine to get it to open up more naturally. The "oval" opens so its more comfortable the way you have it now and it will want to rotate that way. Its because most people dont have as much of an oval bicep as we do. I've noticed I've had to adapt my armor a lot to fit my body shape rather than follow the contours of the molds. AM is made for bigger / taller frames but even AM struggles to accomodate in some pieces. Until I can diet down enough to get my arms to the 15 inch mark I'll be fighting the biceps of my TK armor.

Your bicep needs to be rotated about another 90 degrees. The U shape will go up into the armpit. When you look at the bicep there is a formed ridge that matches the ridge on the shoulder bell. Those should line up. Think of it like this... the "thumbprint" circle should face your ribcage. .

ya man, you can trim a lot from the wrist part of the forearm. I would cut somewhere along the line I drew here... and then if you are butt joining them then trim the overlap down a little and use the "forsale" sign under it to glue each side to. Then you will glue the cover stip over the seam..