fuumantroop

Full context! Plus more fun!

In semi full context after a night of trick or treating

Just about done

Thanks guys. And yes i am a perfectionist lol. The more i looked at pandatroopers build, the more inspired and confident I became to cut the chest. Still debating whether or not to cut the arm pit area a bit, will see how long I hold off on it. Ill start cleaning it up here in a few, and heat bend the bottom sides in just a hair probably. Ill see where im at after the return is done with.

Looking good so far! With as many builds up in North Texas, yall should really get together to try to help each other out

Google nomex flight gloves. For about $30 a pair is the price range that will fit your hand the best(cheaper ones tend to fit funny). I bought some cheap gorilla grip gloves from harbor freight for $2.99 for now, and i also have some rubber gloves i got at walmart for $5. If you do go with rubber, make sure you use a liner under them as well. I will be upgrading to nomex when finances allow it though.

Well guys it looks as if this build will somewhat continue! Perhaps tinkering is the correct term. I decided to follow some more of pandatroopers advice here by toning down the swoop on my chest plate. After trooping a couple of times, i have come to my own conclusion that the chest plate is just a bit big for me. Again, it is just a personal conclusion, and I also really wanted to test my skills at the chest mod before trying to pull te trigger on buying a replacement chest and back piece as an "easy fix." I decided to take 1" off of the sides of the chest, and 1/4" off the middle of it, from the bottom of course. By doing this, I can somewhat replicate a "screen accurate" look. Here i have marked my measurements And here is my result NOW that the easy part is over, I went ahead and marked 3/8"s across the bottom of my newly cut chest, to guide me on creating a new return edge.(per pandatroopers thread). I messed around with a "fashion iron" which is just a small clothing iron with only one low setting, used for attaching iron on patches. Purchased at hobby lobby, from my wifes personal stationary kit(i swear!). Heres the results after a couple of passes, ran out of time tonight to pretty it up, but this is how it looks before i go at it with my dremel and various grades of sandpaper. Will be finishing it up in the morning, just in time to have it ready to take it out trick or treating with my son and my nephew

I put my handguards on after i slide my hands and gloves through the forearms. I may be trimming just a bit more. Always something to tinker with!

Then i say your good to go there Move along

Now im considering selling the memorex. Just trying to find a spot for it in the helmet is becoming a pain honestly. Ill have to figure out a way to semi attach the aker mic to my balaclava as well. I removed the headset wire and just had it practically free floating under the half that covers my mouth and nose. Seemed to work out great, no feedback issues or anything. I just would rather use my balaclava as a faceless one to breath a little easier, and have the mic a little further away from my mouth. I was practically eating it lol

That was me with the popeye build lol! Tapering a bit more on the forearms should help you out. My hands barely fit through with my gloves on as well, but it can be done with some hand yoga

Thank you Mathias!

I am using a type 2 PTT i bought with my aker amp. I do not have an icomm just yet. Just memorex wireless, aker, and type 2 ptt I used it last night minus the memorex and loved it! Really just the one mic cable didnt really bother me much at all

Awesome bro! Always remember to enjoy this build, in the end, its always worth it! I keep tinkering with my armor here and there trying to find the perfect set up lol. Not nearly as time consuming as the initial build, but just nitpicking. I think im going to take a leap of faith and try to trim the bottom of the chest plate to get rid of the swoop. The thought still scares me, its mainly doing return edges that im hesitant about

When ya do your back cover strips for your shins, i advise you to make them 25mm, with the front of the shins being 20mm. That way you have more surface area for velcro, if that is how you intend to close the backs

Dont cut out the entirety of that ab plate though, you want to leave a little on the edges. Look at the reference pictures to get a better feel of it

Have a model number on the shure?

I had not seen that until now, thanks Eric! I got the wiring down, now its basically figuring out how to get everything to sit pretty and get rid of the feedback. Could also be perhaps my shoulder straps are a bit too short causing my chest to flare out more. The AM chest is still pretty flat. Ill have to take a heat gun to it to give it more of a barreled chest. May just go ahead and mod the chest as pandatrooper did, just scared of creating return edges at this point. Also, having trouble finding a good spot for my memorex in my bucket. I currently have one blower fan thats about 50 mm in it and a 9v, but thats it.

And oh yeah, i read that from Tolos thread lol. Regardless, ill have to find more time to tinker. Another thing, unless i use the lanyard idea from Darth Aloha, i can't raise the volume of my aker past half way without feedback. I feel like i am not loud enough at any point up to the feedback. When i do use the lanyard idea, i can raise my volume, BUT it makes my chest plate stick out and almost deforms my ab plate. Aerial headache is just and underestimate..

Also, you can get rid of the return edge on the tops of the biceps, and trim down the return on the bottom about half way. It will give a better fit if you do that. Also, when fitting the armor, be sure to wear your under suit when fitting, it helps more than ya think. When i was doing my build, I lost sight of the correlation of how the armor would fit in its entirety and almost lost my mind lol. Once everythings assembled, it will be easier to see how everything fits your body better. Im a skinner dude as well, had to so a LOT of trimming on my AM kit, but it was well worth it, and made me enjoy my armor even more when it was said and done. Dont hesitate to ask questions, thats what we are here for! Congrats on your first step to the 501st!

I tried the chin, i tried the back of the helmet, and its still a pain lol. I saw someone dremeled off the battery case, added longer wires, and i suppose they placed the battery behind the helmet on the inside, and it made the rest of the memorex a perfect fit for the chin. Just seems like a real pain in the butt to not have wires coming out of the helmet. Ill likely just go wired up tomorrow, then tinker around with it some more. On a side note, i do still have the stock aker mic connected to the wire that wraps around my head. Likely get rid of that as well after tomorrow. My head hurts from this lol

I dont have an icomm just yet. Still trying to figure out placement for the memorex transmitter in my helmet. Im at the point of giving up lol. Was going to try it out at a troop tomorrow but its been more of a hassle than anything. May just ditch the wireless for now and just use the aker

At this point, i am thinking the ridge needs to completely go. Then shim the rest of the thigh and straighten it out. What you can do after you get that done, is perhaps place some thinner ABS over your shim(make sure its the same size as your other ridge), glue that on top, and use some ABS paste to fill the gaps on the sides. That way you can basically remake your ridge from scratch. Without buying a brand new set of thighs, its going to be a process to get yours straightened out. BUT it CAN be done!

Am i just being silly by using a PTT cable to begin with?

Don't hesitate to ask if ya ever need help! You know how to get a hold of me, other than just on here lol