maxsteele

I eyeballed how others have cut the cod and butt plate. I also posted here with my cut marks to get opinions. After people said what they thought was good, I cut on the lines I drew. Here's my cutting. Here's how much I cut on the cod piece: Here's how much I cut off the butt plate: And here's how I cut the top and bottom sides of the ab: The bottom doesn't really line up between the ab and the cod. That doesn't matter too much. Make the top line up. That's where it counts.

Can you pull the thighs up any more? I know that our NE thighs have to be worn lower because of their shape, but since you've taken off the return edge from the top, it's no big deal to cut them to make sure they don't catch on the cod.

Velcro is fine for the shin enclosures. Use the Industrial strength velcro. Put the hook part on the cover strip side, and put the fuzzy part on the shin piece. And make sure the closure side faces inward.

I sanded down the front with 400 grit, then 600, and I noticed that the black lines of the cracks was still showing. When I ran my fingernail across them, it didn't catch, so they must be under the ABS paste that I laid down. I mixed up a little more ABS paste and made it a little runnier, put that down, let it dry for a few hours and then hit it again with 400 grit, 600 grit, 800 grit, and finally 1500 grit. Here's a close-up of the hole with the cracks: The big crack that extended to the end of the piece is barely visible any longer, and the smaller cracks can be seen, but the surface feels smooth with no edge catching. Then I took a pic of the ab piece with the rivets in place and at a reasonable distance but still much closer than anyone would be looking or taking a picture of me from: You can barely make out the black line of the crack that goes from the top right of the middle rivet up toward the edge. The real test will be when I try to set the rivet again and see if those cracks open back up or if they'll stay exactly like this. If they do open up, I'll keep the rivet there, spread some more ABS paste into the cracks, and sand it back to smooth. I'm pretty busy with work the next few days, so I won't have much time to work on the rivets. I may go over to Raintrooper's place on Sunday to get some work done. Otherwise, I'm off Wed - Fri of next week and I hope to get more done then.

From the builds I have studied, the ones that use the elastic that ships with the NE armor looks sloppy. First, it's velcro. Second, the elastic is real stretchy. Third, it's not cut to fit you, it's generic lengths. I suggest getting the one inch ribbed elastic from JoAnns: http://www.joann.com/non-roll-elastic-25-yds-/zprd_10107480a.html#prefn1=isProject&prefn2=refinementColor&prefv2=Blacks&prefv1=false&start=8 For the shoulders, I got 2 inch white elastic. Couldn't find a link to it, but it is not ribbed. I am going to double it over when I make the straps for the shoulders. As for the location to glue in the snap plates, The location isn't as important as getting the proper strap lengths between snaps. I glued the shoulder snap plates in right up to the edge of each shoulder lip. Basically, I followed Redforce's strapping setup: I put the left and right snaps on the butt plate further out to the ends. I'm also not going to use snaps on the left side of the ab / kidney connection. I'm going to do elastic attached to the split rivets. As for snap placement on the back and chest plates which attach to the ab and kidney, that's going to depend on how the chest and back hang with the shoulder straps. They way I look at it, we know how the ab is going to fit on us, because that cod piece can only go in one place. So once you get the proper position of the ab, you know where the kidney is going to go, because the top of the kidney lines up with the top of the ab. So you tape together the ab and the kidney on your body, and you then know where the bottom of the chest should reach on the ab, and where the bottom of the back should reach on the kidney. At that point, you now know how much of a gap to have up at the shoulder connections. Measure the distance between the snap plates on the front and back of the shoulder joins, and that's how long you make those straps. Once that's in place, you can put in the snap plates and make the straps for the chest-to-ab and back-to-kidney connections.

Now I started thinking smart. At first, I was going to just glue in a piece on the 10mm edge between the hole and the end of the ab section where the big crack was. But I also know there were smaller cracks around the rest of the hole. So how do I solve that? I'm currently super gluing that plate in place (this pic was before I applied glue and clamped it. I took the rivet out as well). Once that's dried and sealed, I'll sand the other side up and continue with installing the split rivets and straps. No button plates necessary. If I crack the armor again on a hole, I'll just patch in another piece like this. I'm back in business.

My suggestion is when you are sizing your pieces, wear your undersuit. That way you'll know exactly how it's going to look and fit when you're suited up.

You guys are all awesome. I hope I have driven that point home enough. I still like the idea of doing the straps without the snap plates. I'll get the front sanded down and as blemish-free as I can get it, and then I'll glue in the scrap ABS. I have a piece that isn't too thick that will work perfect in that spot. It'll take extra time to get that area prepared, but I will move forward with only using the rivets to hold the straps. Thanks again for the support everyone.

I'm going to get a set of this sandpaper: http://www.amazon.com/NukePak-Bundle-Sandpaper-abrasive-Sheets/dp/B009A5VSDO/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1398735801&sr=8-8&keywords=800+grit+sandpaper I'll start with the 400, and work my way up. Questions: 1) Do I need higher than 1500? 2) Should I sand that entire side ab panel with the holes at the same time? I assume I would need to in order to have it all match. 3) Should I do any kind of wet sanding to get the chunky areas down level to the rest of the surrounding ABS, or will dry sanding suffice? 4) How do I know when it's time to move from one grit to another? I've never done this before.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Ian. I'm bummed that I can't use the elastic attached to the rivets, but that's just how it's going to go. I'll install snap plates directly behind where the rivets are. I'm going to have to come up with another way of setting these rivets, because I certainly don't want to repair another set of cracks. Your post snuck in just before mine with the ABS paste. I didn't see this before I started doing the paste application. Are you saying if I glue in the scrap ABS on the backside, I could still use the rivet as a load-bearing point with a strap?

Well, I may have spoke too soon. I made up some ABS paste for the very first time. That was pretty cool watching the chemical process happen. After it was a gooey consistency, I spread it liberally on each side where the cracks were. Here's what it looks like now: Now after that dries and sets, I'll need to learn how to sand this down to match the surrounding ABS.

Aaaaand I screwed myself. I was wondering when I'd really make a mistake that I couldn't fix. Here it is. I was setting the middle rivet: Either the rivet wasn't flush in the hole while I was hammering down the prongs, or it shifted while I was hammering, but I cracked it in several places. The big crack out to the edge was from pulling the mangled split rivet back out. I don't think some ABS paste is going to fix this. I've sent an email to the two suppliers of NE armor that I'm aware of to see if I can get another ab plate. This will not be easy to come back from.

First rivet set! It took me a bit to figure out exactly how to do this. I used a flat head screwdriver and a small hammer to separate the prongs down as close to the base as I could with the elastic and washer on it. Once I had that, I hammered in the center and it flattened out the prongs. I also doubled over the elastic for a more secure attachment to it. Yeah, I've decided to just join the elastic to the other split rivet and make it a permanent connection. I decided this for two reasons: 1) It's much easier than trying to fit the split rivet inside the snap and cut off the excess 2) I don't want to have snap plates glued on the sides 3) It's screen accurate! (This last one didn't really weight into my decision, but it's convenient that it is!)

Now I have to decide if I want to do the "snap secured with split rivet" method or the straight "elastic secured with split rivet" method.

Thanks Ty! Yeah, I came close to going too low on the bottom rivet myself. Germain stepped in before I got my hands on a drill. Here's the kidney and the pieces next to each other:

Hole drilling day! I put it off long enough. I've measured, re-measured, researched, asked questions, measured again, and re-measured. Here are the results:

People who want to make a quick buck already know how limited the TK is. My local Toys R Us said that they have people who know when the trucks come in and are at the store 10-15 minutes before it opens to buy out their stock. Then they turn around and put it on eBay for $40. I refuse to pay double for an artificial supply shortage. I still keep an eye out when I'm out and about, but I'm not expecting to get one of these any time soon.

Ah yes, fitting the thighs. I used a second person for this process. Once I had the front cut and taped down (I didn't glue until everything was cut) I had someone wrap the thigh pieces around my leg. They pushed in on all parts of my thigh, getting the fit from the top to the bottom. Once they felt fitted but not too tight, they taped the thighs off. Next, I took the thighs off and used a ruler to line up the cut in the front with the back area. I then made a mark on both pieces of the rear parts at the top and bottom. Then I connected the two marks together vertically down each piece with a line. What this does is make a straight cut down, but each side will be tapered to fit. Then, I cut each piece cleanly and it made a nice join of the two pieces in the back. After that. I did another tape fit with the pieces joined, and if there was a part that wasn't fitting close enough, I got that fitted, found my overlap, marked the cut lines again, and cut. When I was happy with the fit, that's when I glued the thighs together. Now, I then ran into the issue of the thigh tops catching on the cod, and having to do the modifications I'm doing now. You may or may not have to do that.

I think the butt plate looks *great*. Much better than the flare-out mine has.

Alright, final rivet mark placement. I'm looking to drill a hole straight in the middle of each circle for the split rivets. I've taken off that bent return edge at the vertical on the kidney side. It's slightly tighter than I thought it would be, and I might shave a mm or two off of the top edges of the kidney and ab to give a bit more breathing room. The return edge along the top of the kidney also digs into my back a bit, which will probably be relieved when I have elastic on the sides instead of masking tape. I'm going to try to keep that gap as closed as I can. I had a weak snap on the left corner of my butt plate which was causing it to pop when I would put any type of pull on the underside of the plate, simulating a strap from the butt to the cod. I swapped with the strap in the center of the butt plate where there is less resistance, and the new strap in the left corner holds up nicer. It is certainly a big flare-out on the ends, but I'll reserve final judgement until I'm completely suited up. Nothing I can really do at the moment about it anyway! If there is no fault found in these rivet placements, drilling holes is the next step. Then I'll get the split rivets installed with elastic. Still deciding how I'm going to close up the right side of the ab / kidney. Not sure what all of my options are just yet.

Hi William! Like most responses when it comes to questions like "How should I do this?", the answer is: "Depends!" There are all sorts of different ways to do the strapping system. Two of the main ways are brackets and snap plates. Brackets were the original strapping used on screen armor. These are a series of brackets attached to the return edge of armor and held together with elastic: There is also the snap / strap system, where snap plates are glued to the interior of the armor, and elastic straps are made to connect the two snap plates together: I have personally went with the snap / strap system with my NE armor. A friend of mine went the bracket route with his ATA armor. Once you decide which method you want to use, it's a matter of looking at reference materials and examples to determine placement, and then you'll want to modify length of straps or possibly snap placement to accommodate your body shape.

Nice job Kyle! See, I told ya you'd be able to sell it off. Looking forward to your build thread!

Thanks Anthony! I think I'm going to continue using your strap system as my template and attach the ab side with rivets and the elastic directly, then attach the kidney side with rivets and the snaps bent on the inside to hold the snap in place. I'll need to take off that slight bend in the vertical edge of the kidney and re-apply my general hole location before drilling. Any tips on how you got your butt plate to sit in a good spot and not have the edges pop up over the kidney? I made my straps to be exactly the length to keep the butt and kidney flush. Did you find having those straps a little longer than that to help with that overlap? I saw in your pics that you don't really seem to have that happen, but that could just be your body shape compared to mine preventing that from happening.

No rocks here. I wasn't aware the butt plate was another one of the RS recast pieces. If that's how the piece fits, then I'm fine with that for an initial fit and I won't look to modify it right now. It certainly doesn't hurt physically (if that's what you meant), because it's not really coming in contact with my body at any point. If you meant hurt as in I don't like how it looks, I could certainly look at heat bending it at some point, or if people really are pointing out an issue with it, but right now I'm happy with the solid placement of the butt plate with my straps. The flare-out will just be how it is, and if it slips over the kidney on the edges, then everyone here at least is aware of that. One thing I can tell I will need to do is slim down the strip on the plate that goes between the legs. It's just too wide down there and definitely causes discomfort. Once I get suited up and feel how that is, I'll probably shave that middle strip down so it sits comfortably down there when it's strapped to the cod.

I made the straps connecting my kidney to my butt plate: Just as I suspected when I did my first test fit, the butt plate flares out on the sides a lot: It also tucks underneath the kidney plate on each end. The straps I used are not loose and don't have any tension to them. They are neutral with the snaps connected, so there's no pulling. I have no idea how to solve the issues with the butt plate. Did I make the straps too short, and because the butt plate is not hanging at the same angle as the kidney, it pops over the kidney on the ends?