kupertrooper

Paul, I read a post where you recently corrected someone on the way the TD clips so be bent. I think it's great how you contribute to these forums and share your knowledge. That being said, I prefer the functionality of the way mine are built. Kinda like how I'm using snaps instead of the accurate strapping you provide with your kits (I know that my armor probably couldn't handle the accurate strapping due to the ABS).

I want to be at Centurion level soon, that is why I welcome these criticisms. I'm a little disappointed that members are selling inaccurate products but I guess that it's not their fault if they never claim it to be 'Centurion ready'. Here are some pics of the armor on my mannequin. Chest straps and bells adjusted: TD:

I guess I'll contact Mark and try to obtain a new belt. When you say the belt should be less than 3 inches wide are you referring to the canvas belt? The holster was purchased from Darman. Is it too long, or just too big in general?

Phil, This is exactly the review I was looking for. I appreciate you taking the time to look this over. The suit I had on there was a 'cold weather' suit that I was trying out. I have a much tighter one on my mannequin at the moment. The shoulder bell gap is something I'm working on. I have snap plates gluing as I type this. I put them more toward the front to prevent them from rotating back. I plan on installing rivets and working on that seam. I already have the rivets and have pre-painted them. That's disconcerting about the belt corners. I'll check with Mathias. TD was missing. I'll try to post a pic of it later today. The elastic ties are there and I will work on the chest straps so they look better. I noticed that my shin wasn't closed on that pic too. It was my first time to suit up lol so I'll double check that next time. I do have padding on the top of my helmet but no where else in the helmet, I'm still trying to find the sweet spot. I kept wanting to tilt my head down to see better, I think I was doing it in that pic. I'll look into this. The belt was purchased from TKittell (http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/19803-fs-white-canvas-belts/). It's supposed to be roughly 3.25 inches (82.55 mm) wide. Here's a repost of the completed belt:

That's a big complement coming from you Sven, thanks. I glued the middle down and then used my heat iron on one side and the other side went on without too much fuss.

Here it is! I don't have my lenses in yet. I'm waiting on some from Smitty. I still need to put my side rivets in and put on my TD but other than that I think it's done. I would like to remove some of the shoulder gap but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. Let me know what you think. Be gentle lol.

Is gaffe tape the same as duct tape?

Is this wrinkling of the ankle ok?

What's the best way to attach/glue hard lenses and frown mesh to the inside of your helmet? I've read that some use hot glue. Is that what everyone does? Seems like that would be messy.

Update I've decided to shim my sides. I thought that I didn't have enough tension on the elastic so I made nylon straps. It's just too tight and I think the butt and back will fit a little better if I shim it. Thigh ammo pack. I see on a lot of build/EI threads where staff members have said that the ammoo pack is wrong. I can't ever tell what's wrong with it so I'm afraid I will mess mine up and I can't redrill it since I'm using Centurion approved cap riviets and I only have two of them. What's some common mistakes people make when attaching it? What I have left: paint the black on my ears shim sides strap everything up finish glueing dang sniper plate attach thigh belt attach chest bridges (5 little ribs and 1 big rib on the chest) finish my doopy E-11 (electronics/paint)

Thanks!

Roger that. I read that and have the gaps facing inwards. Thanks.

I got my white latex handguards in and my black rubber gloves. I would like to use my Nomex gloves for comfort and in the heat. Is there a way a can change them out? Use velcro?

Is this how the velcro on the shins are suppose to look? Seems like there is a big gap and I'm wondering if that's just how it is.

Thanks for the feedback. I trimmed most of that return on my biceps off. I went with decals on this because my nerves are shot from this build and I'm startting to lose my patience lol. I think that thing is called a contour gauge. The sides of my ab/kidney are attached with elastic. I think that it was attached in that picture. Looks like the top is a lot shorter. I may try strapping instead of elastic and test that out to reduce my gap. Already have my belt made. Bought it from TKittel, looks really nice. I removed more area from the teeth:

Saw a trooper this weekend and I'm curious what he was wearing.

Here is a pic of one ear. The back doesn't look as good as the front. Should I work on it?

Here is the front of the helmet. Will this gap close enough for the ears?

Here are some picks of the torso. Please feel free to critique on anything that's fixable lol. I know the chest needs to be squared up a little. Is the back plate too low? Will I need to shim to get Centurion?

I'll be watching this thread. I'm almost to this step in my AP armor. I've read a couple posts about the horror of this piece. I've heard a couple things like 'glue the middle first and then glue the sides' and I've read something about shimming the middle.

It's a little too late to ask this now but, how tall is too tall for AP armor, I'm 5' 11". I did a very rough test of the torso last night and with no gap in the butt/kidney/back, it seemed like the back was too far down. Also, my butt plate sticks out and the sides of it flare out. I know pics would be nice but I dont have any at the moment.

Another question. Can you get Centurion with AP helmet decals or would I need some Dave M. ones?

Also, what paint should I use for rivets? I have a store locally that sells 'testors' brand.

While waiting on feedback from my questions I thought I would share some things that have helped my on my build. I'm the network admin for my company and when I destroy hard drives I keep the magnets in them. Who knew they would come in handy. I have about 30-40 of them. They are working really well. After reading all the hype about metal reacting with E6000 I went to Walmart and got some of these. This is how I plan to trim the ears on my helmet. It will copy the curve of the tube so it will be easy to make my ears fit.

Thanks for all the feedback. Very much appreciated! I'm freaking out thinking I'm going to ruin something. I will trim the elbow portion of the forearms. I agree this is the best way too because if I trim the front of the forearm it will miss with the bumps that are on the outer forearm. How does the bicep look? Question. On LadyInWhite's build thread she says to use 20-25mm width cover strips for the thighs and shins. Do most people use 20 or 25? These thighs seem super funky and also very wide down towarwds the knee. I think I may taper them down since my knees are not that big. Any opinions on that?