EJGreen

While I was debating he TD, I managed to get the thigh armor together. After looking at several build threads I decided to go with the tapered look as the untrimmed pieces were just too big around the knees. As I walked around the house during mg initial fitting, they were wobbling back and forth against my knees. I've got reinforcement strips inside with 20mm cover strips on the front and 25mm cover strips on the back. I need to trim the bottok corners of the ammo pack but I can't find the concensus as to what are the accurate rivets to use to attach it. I've read split rivets, pop rivets, and cap rivets but the majority are leaning towards cap rivets. I have no experience with rivets, whatsoever, so I need to check out some tutorials. Pics to follow...

Thanks to Tim, I was able to easily fix my TD clip issue. I trimmed a little more off the ends, drilled a second hole into he metal and finally screwed them into the PVC pipe. The plate is glued into place and curing.

I'm posting a few more pics of my TD. I still don't think it's right. The faceplate appears to be pointing upwards rather than outward. I was going to hook it to my belt but now I'm in panic mode because I've misplaced my canvas belt!! I've been tearing up the whole house looking for it but here's a few pics of where my TD stands at the moment. Again, nothing is glued down and the PVC tube is 2" in diameter and 7 3/8" in length.

I can move the clip a little further apart from the cap. Centurion CRL says to keep them butted close. My concern is that when the TD fitz onto my belt that the plate is going to face upward rather than outwards.

I'm feeling a bit concerned with this TD. Nothing is glued but I did screw in one of the metal clips and I'm not sure if this looks right at all. Is the clip supposed to wrap all the way around the tube like this? I seriously need some feedback before I continue with this piece. As I mentioned, nothing is glued in place and if I need to, I have spare PVC pipe left over to make another one in case this is really screwed up and can't be salvaged.

So, I've applied a base coat of black and then a couple coats of the gray and let it dry overnight. I also trimmed the belt clips down, like Germain suggested so the edge is much closer to the last holes. I'm trying to determine what's the best way to assemble this thing. From what I've seen, the clips butt up against the end caps and the TD plate rests against the top edges of the clips. I've got pan-head screws and bolts for attaching the clips but if I put the end caps on first, I won't be able to put the bolts on the end of the screws. Perhaps I'll take some careful measurements to see where the clips need to sit. During my research, I ran across this image which gives an idea in terms of measurements for the TD. I find it interesting, however, this is the first TD where I've seen black paint applied to the ridges of the TD plate...

I appreciate the feedback, Germain! I can honestly say, at this point, that I'm not worried about the gaps in the shins anymore. Before I attempted the eye hooks, I held some strips of Velcro to see what it would look like and to be honest, I saw the same gaps. I also wanted to say thanks for the heads up on the TD clips. I can see where there's a considerable amount of material between the first screw and the edge. I'll be sure to take care of that before I attempt to assemble everything.

For my next trick, I've decided to move onto something a little easier as I'm not quite ready for the thigh armor just yet. I'll be working with the thermal detonator next... Interestingly enough, Rob didn't include a pipe with my kit. I probably could've emailed him and asked for him to send one from Canada OR I could do a little research and grab what I need from Home Depot. What's included is a plate that looks like it might be used for attaching the clamps on the back. I don't think any of us use that... So here' everything that I've collected for the TD. I've got a piece of 2-in pvc pipe (cut to 7 3/8" in length). I also have the metal clips which I received from EvilBoy. The clips don't come with screws so I picked up a few #6 pan head screws and bolts. I've also got my cans of black and gray spray paint... Using a metal file, I sanded down the ends of the tube where the end caps will fit. I sanded both the outside and inside edges and then drilled a hole into the center of the pipe because that's apparently what all the cool kids are doing these days. I took the pipe to the kitchen sink and washed it off to get rid of any grit or PVC shavings and let it dry. Next thing I'll do it fit everything together to see how this works before I do any painting on the tube.

The sniper plate is still curing rather nicely. I'm going to let it sit for another day or two as I'm hesitant to remove any of the clamps that are holding everything together. That being said, the right shin is done; complete with the eye hook closure system...

I really do appreciate the feedback on the shins. With two AWESOME Centurions backing me up, I feel much better and a lot more proud of myself for sticking with accuracy. I can move forward with the right shin and since it doesn't require the sniper plate, it should be a breeze. In regards to the sniper plate, I think it's going to turn out okay. There's not a lot of contact points between the plate and the shin so I plan to lay down my e6000 thick and clamp/tape the hell out of it.

I'm going to think past the eye hooks and start thinking about proper placement for the knee plate or what I would like to call "The Widow Maker" For right now, I just have a couple of clamps holding things together; trying to determine where the contact points are going to be for bonding the knee plate to the calf armor. If I'm not mistaken, a common method for attaching this piece is with a rivet but the accurate (screen) method is with glue, correct?

With the exception of the knee plate, the left shin is fully cured and as I promised, here's some pics to show what the hook closures look like with a 25mm cover strip on the back. As I stated earlier, I don't have boots yet so I'm holding it up... Shot from the back Shot from the side... I would greatly appreciate comments, critiques, suggestions, and beer...

I'll post a pic soon. I still haven't found my boots yet.

About friggin time, bro!

Can anyone who's purchased the Imperial Boots give any feedback on fit or style? I've recently contacted TKBoots but, like earlier attempts, it looks like they don't have anything in stock. Anyway, I've been looking at Imperial Boots and I'm considering these... I'm looking to go with the screen accurate look of using the black boots and redying them white.

I don't see an option to purchase the boots separate from the full suit. Plus, it looks like they offer sizes up to size 11UK.

I'm really struggling with this shin piece. The elastic/hook closure system is driving me crazy at this moment to the point where I'm about to say *^ it and go with the Velcro. At the same time, I could never forgive myself for not sticking to screen accuracy. I've got the correct 25mm cover strip in place but the gap where the elastic and hook fits creates almost a 5mm gap between the two halves of the shins... My wife (who doesn't understand my obsession with ABS plastic) actually gave me a suggestion, which, isn't screen accurate but she thinks would look a lot cleaner. She suggested gluing strips of elastic across the opening like a bridge that will stretch open to let me get my foot through (as opposed to opening the whole thing up and wrapping it around my leg). Not sure if I like that idea, either. Personally, I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't go screen accurate. I know Tim said this gap is normal but I worry that it will ruin my chances for Centurion.

You're correct, Tim. Check out this screen capture I found... If you look closely, you can see the end of the elastic poking out underneath the cover strip. As for the cover strip, itself, I've removed the 20mm and I'm now waiting for a 25mm strip to cure. Luckily, I haven't glued both legs together so I'll remember to glue the correct size cover strip to the right calf. I was playing around with the knee plate to see how it's gonna fit. Why do I get the feeling this isn't a fun part?

So here's where I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention... I drilled the holes for the eye hooks but there's a considerable gap where the elastic is fitting between the two halves of the armor. You can't see the elastic straight on but I worry that this gap is going to look downright stupid. I also realized that while I glued a 20mm cover strip on the front, I also glued a 20mm strip onto the back when it should've been 25mm. I'm thinking those few extra mm's could make it look a little more appealing. Should I remove the elastic strips and turn them upside down so that the bulk of the elastic material isn't between the two halves of the armor? This is taking some of the wind out of my sails.

Can anyone tell me what's accurate in terms of return edges on the shins?

I've trimmed the "V" notches based on my pencil markings and took off the extra material that was down at the bottom of one of the halves. Using a blade, my dremel, and some sanding paper, I've got these edges pretty smooth. I've already glued the cover strip to the back--making sure that the calve pieces open in the right direction. This happens to be the left leg... Following information that I found in Trooperbay's video regarding the eye hooks (size 2), I started with 4" long white elastic which is folded over .5" to have 3.5" strips. I don't have access to a sewing machine (nor do I know how to operate one), I hand-stitched the end over with needle and thread. I then sewed the eye hooks on the ends of each strip. I'll be using three strips for each leg... In Trooperbay's video, he basically glues both halves together before gluing in the elastic strips but I decided to do that before gluing both halves together for easy placement. I marked where I thought they should go, one towards the top, one in the middle, and the third towards the bottom. I stuck them on with magnets and made some pencil marks for where I need to apply the glue. It's important that you want to leave that last half inch (with the hook) free to move--you don't want to glue that sections of the elastic down! Once I was confident where I wanted to place them, I glued them in and let them cure with the magnets... I have since then glued both halves of the shins together and made some pencil marks where I will need to drill holes for the eye hooks to fit... I need to let these pieces cure for a while longer before I drill the holes. If everything turns out the way I planned, they should fit together quite nicely!

Thanks, Eric, for the motivating encouragement. I figured as long as I'm shooting for Centurian, I might as well aim for screen accuracy as much as possible.

Here's where I'm considering making the cuts to shape he "V" notch into the calf pieces. I measured 15mm from the outside corner and angled the line down to where the top of the cover strip would sit. I noticed with the top edges aligned there's a considerable difference in the length of the two halves at the bottom edge in the back... My knife got away from me when I was trimming the edges for the butt joints but I'm not worried because the scratch will be hidden with the cover strip.

I found this interesting video at Trooperbay regarding the eye hook system for the shin armor... https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=113&v=TZFLO8PJjcw Poking around some of the screen capture references, it looks like I'm gonna make those "V" notches into the greaves on the calves....

I found this video on Trooperbay... Is this pretty much the way the hooks are used? https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=113&v=TZFLO8PJjcw