AnjelRedemption

Jason, Thanks for the comment, the tab to keep the kidney in place slipped out on the right side. when it is in place it helps keep the kidney tucked in a little more and eliminates the gap. I also noticed I forgot to paint the knee ammo rivites white! lol.....oh well....I guess it's true that you are never really DONE w/ the armor.

Hello Everyone! Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation and had a hard time finding someone to take the pics. I just sent my submission photos into my GML and I wanted to share them with my FISD buddies! and here they are! on this next one, my tab to keep the kidney from sliping out.......sliped out. lol but at least the ab and kidney are aligned! Action Shot.....I know.....how original! Since these photos, I have fixed my hand gaurds so they don't come up as much and adjusted the thighs to come up and the arms for more mobility. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it (if I had hair to pull out) I'll post again when I get the confirmation. As always, comments are welcome! Also....thanks to everyone who posted comments and provided help along the way!

Hey Drew! Sorry for the delayed response...darn vacations! lol I use some regular black copper wire you can find at almost any electrical store or off of an old apliance that you don't need or is broken. I used the satin black paint, i didn't want gloss or flat, so this is a good inbetween. I did not prime it before hand but it wouldn't hurt, also make sure to sand down the t track before painting (because now i have to repaint mine) Hope this helps!

Thanks Greg! I did test them out by walking around my apartment for about 10 mins. No armor bites. I used webbing because i wanted to make sure they stated up all the way.They are a little stiff but the good thing is i have just enough pudge around my belly to give it enough slack! I just had so much webbing left over and no elastic left and didn't want to waste it. but i used E6000, so i can always change it if need be! I'm so excited to be near the end of this journey, but i know my real journey w/ the Legion is just begining!

Thanks Jason!! Always glad to hear i can help someone else. I'll be looking forward to seeing your armor completed!

Nice Job Kyle!!! Congrats!!

Hello Everyone! So I got the thighs all finished and sanded down.. And then I installed the straps I decided to just glue the straps in and i went w/ the buckle method because i felt it would be easy to replace and adjuster if i needed too. well.....that was the last thing I needed to complete on the armor.... I'M DONE!!! now it's time to clean up any glue excess and polish up the armor and take some submission photos! I will try and take the photos sometime this week or weekend. Thanks to all for the help and comments! Can't wait to join the ranks here really soon!

Hey Jason! Looking good on the build. To answer your question about the thighs...i'm short as well. (5'8) and i had to trim the thighs to make walking a little easier. I would say get the shins done first to see if they will rub together/hinder each other. But if you do need to trim, just mark the shap of the thigh all the way around the top w/ some thin strips of tape and cut. I didn't worry about a return edge on mine, just for comfort sake. You can check out my thread to see what i mean. keep up the good work!

Great Job Kyle!!! You shouldn't have any problem getting approved, and from the looks of it, you can definatley get EIB as well! I should be submitting my pics to the GML here soon....I love seeing all the new TK's finishing up around the same time! Good luck (even though you don't need it )

Don't do it! lol You can get a much nice kit and build it yourself from one of the vendors here! ATA makes a nice bucket and not too expensive. see this thread http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/26045-efx-helmet/ hope this helps!

Looks interesting. I'm worried about teh 50% deposit. Also, I would like to see the finished product from someone who has bought one. 195 for a DTL is not bad. Very interesting indeed....

Hey folks! More work on the armor. I got the cover strips glued on the shins and then I glued the sniper plate on and once it was dry after that I had to trim up the butt plate, i found that when i walked w/ the thighs on, it would pich me in a very uncomfortable place! I trimmed quite a bit off, but the snaps won't be that visible when i'm wearing it. I also had to trim up the thighs because of my "to short for a storm trooper" syndrome! And after the trimming, (i still need to sand them smooth but i kept the shape of the thighs. I also will not be adding a return edge just for mobility sake. Well thats it for now. Things left for me to do... 1. finish trimming thighs and sanding them down. 2. install straps for thighs to connect to garder belt 3. take exess glue off of cover strips 4. test fit for mobility and do additional trimming if needed Stay tuned!

Hey Everyone, More work on the armor. Once the shins dried, i installed the velcro The velcro i got at my local Elliots hardware, that stuff is for industrial use, it's pretty tough. Not too much of a gap, but as most of y'all know, there will always be a gap I still need to attach the front cover strips and then install the sniper plate, but i wanted to work on the thighs as well. I got the front cover strips glued on the thighs. Then it was time to mess with the ammo belt on the thigh..... The Thigh came out a little wonky, so i had to have the ammo belt extended on one side to make it fit. I ended up using chicago screws for the ammo pack, and they were a little to long, so i cut some small peices of ABS to use as washers! and from the back... Then i trimmed them up for some mobility because i'm a little short for a trooper! lol and then installed the back cover strips So w/ all my clamps and magnets occupied, i started work on the garder belt to hold up my thighs. I found some quick release buckles on amazon for cheap. Since i had a lot of 1" webbing left it was perfect. with this set up i didn't have to use any tools or anything. and i can adjust the belt if need be. I'm still deciding if i want to use snaps or just glue the straps on the thighs..... Well, that's it for now. As always, i look forward to your comments. Stay tuned!

you can look at my thread! lol But you just drill the holes and snap them together! make sure you get them as even as possible.

Hey everyone, More work on the armor. I got the inside back strips in the thighs and the tops trimmed up. and then i worked on the shins. I decided to go w/ 25mm (7/8 - 1 inch) cover strips as to get the most room available for the velcro i'm going to use to hold them together. The one on the left is the right shin and the one on the right is the left shin, They will open up to the inside. as the shins and thighs are gluing, i went ahead and finished the belt by adding some snaps to the ab plate. First i test fit where i wanted the belt to be and found the best spot to place the snaps. Turns out it is on the raised ridges on either side of the ab buttons. I drilled the holes and then added the snaps. I realized too late that i only had the hand held snap tool and had a hard time messing w/ the snaps w/ a phillips screw driver to get them to hold. so i came up with an idea to fix it. I used a small screw that fit perfectly inside the snap and then tightned it down w/ a nut on the back end. I used the bottom part of the snap as a washer so to speak. with the snaps in place on the ab plate, i put the belt on and got it to where i liked and marked the spots for the femal snaps. and viola!! Thats it for now. up next is the sniper plate and the thigh ammo belt. (not looking forward to this) and then just a lot of trimming for mobility I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for sure! Stay tuned!

You don't have to have return edges on the biceps and forearms. the only requirement is no return edges on the wrist side of the forearms for centurion. I kept mine on, but after i started to connect all the peices together i could bairly move my arms, so i will be trimming off all the return edges on the biceps. You can also look at the screen shots of the screen armor and they didn't have any return edges on the biceps.....it's really a personal preferance. If you leave them the armor looks a little thicker is all.

You can also PM him on here His FISD name is zhongvador He usally responds within a day or two.

Hey Violentcaleb, Welcome to the FISD! I would suggest looking in the getting started section for starters. once you have done that, you can look as some build threads here http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/45-heavy-weapons-trooper/ and make sure you check out the CRL for the criteria for Heavy Weapons Trooper on the 501st website. Good luck!

Jason, I just had one of my friends tape them up when i was wearing them, and i made sure i could still slip them on and off so as not to make them too tight. I did make sure that the bottom ridges lined up because i will be trimming at the top. Since i have some skinny thighs, there is not too much of a bell shape, but i did make sure that there wasn't a huge difference in size between the bottom of the thighs and the top of the shins. It's kind of like when you are measuring the bicep and forearm, you don't want one to swallow up the other! lol with a little help i think you can do it!

Jason: i just had them resting on the shins in these pics because i havn't made the garder belt yet. This was just a test to shape the thighs and shins to my form and to see how everything looks so far all put together. I'm short for a trooper as well (5'8) but i think if i cut the back of the thighs and shins it won't be to bad...i just won't be able to sit as the thighs would dig into my hips. Thanks for the comment!

Hey everyone, I got some help over the weeked to size my shins and thighs. and while i was doing that i though i would take some shots of me wearing the armor. Please let me know what yall think BTW....i could barely move so there is a lot of trimming to do! enjoy! i'm hoping to get the shins and thighs finished by the end of the week and then i can focus on trimming and mobility. Stay tuned!

AWESOME!!! GREAT JOB I'll be looking for your EIB application!

If you are going for Centurion, there needs to be NO return edge on the forearms at the wrist. Forearms For 501st approval: Forearms are fully closed. For level two certification (if applicable): For level three certification (if applicable): No return edge on the inside of the front of the forearm is allowed. Forearms must be constructed using the butt joint and cover strip method. Overlap construction is not allowed. Hope this helps!

Greg, They are pan head slotted (iphone camera sucks lol) the clips turned out better than i expected to be honest LOL

Hello Everyone, Since I got some great feedback yesterday I jumped right in and fixed some of the issues and then finished up on others. First, i took the advise and fixed the belt. I started by trimming the bolts that hold the fabric. Then i trimmed the top and bottom of the belt and added the 45 degree cut corners and installed the drop boxes I didn't put the belt covers on the edge of the belt because of the pre drilled dimples, and the fact i already drilled the holes! but looking at a lot of EIB, which i'm going for, it hasn't stopped anyone from getting it. Then it was time to add the holster. I decided to go w/ Snaps because it would be easier to take of the holster if for some reason i needed too (like a party or work function were i can't bring a blaster) I measured 3/4 inches from the edge of the plastic belt and from the bottom and installed the male snaps. and the finished product... and a shot of the back... I then wanted to complete the belt by finishing my TD all i needed was the clips, so i decided to make my own. I started w/ a flat sheet of aluminum. I measured out 1 inch strips and used the score and snap meathod...it worked really well! The metal is really flexable, so i was able to shape it with no assistance from tools once i got the shape i liked i drilled the holes and attached the clips There was still a lot of extra metal, but it cut right off w/ some sissors! and the finished product (i still need to paint the screws black) Let me know (other than the screws needing to be black) what yall think. and I also got the inner stips gluing on the thighs.. WHEW!!!! Did a lot of work yesterday, and plan on doing a lot more this weekend. stay tuned!!