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Sorry im a bit late Andrew, but this is an awesome build! And congrats! Im building my armor with EIB and Centurion in mind as well. Its really pretty easy if your doing it initially. Not much extra time and effort if ya do it right from the get go. Again, congrats!

Got one cover strip being installed right now. With the way the AM kits are now, it seems almost impossible to have it sit flush on the forearms due to the curves. Is that going to affect basic approval, EIB, or Centurion? Its not a gigantic gap, light does not pass through it either

Looking forward to it Ted! Appears that a lot if the AM build threads have slowed down quite a bit. Right now, I have the side panel ab buttons being glued on, installing my bicep hooks i made, and hand guards should be ready tomorrow. I would go ahead and start installing my cover strips, but most of my clamps are being used to glue the elastic inside my handguards. Should have taken a picture of them LOL. Will be cutting out my cover strips tonight and sanding them down. Should be able to at least tackle one forearm tonight. We will see. Most likely submission pics won't happen until mid week at the latest, but no big deal. My ab button plate should be here by then, and my cover strips should be good to go as well. Updated with pics

Yes they do

Small update, but no pictures. After trimming 5/8" off the tops of my thighs, trimming an additional 1/4" off the top of my separated COD, and about 1/8" off the bottoms of my shins, the armor fits MUCH better! I can even bend my legs better! Right now, i am gluing elastic inside my hand guards. I am still working on fixing my ab button plate. I went ahead and ordered a replacement just in case. Whats next? May have to reshape the butt plate slightly(the tail end sticks out slightly), or I may go ahead and trim a bit more of the return edge there to allow it to be more flexible. Also have to install snaps for my belt to my ab armor attachment. Glue on cover strips on the back of my thighs, biceps, and forearms And paint my side panel ab buttons. Soon it shall be done!

Thanks! Will have updates tonight hopefully. Going to trim them thighs down a bit, see where im at with my ab buttons, and get that butt/cod connected

The return edge is pretty non existent on my thighs as is, i trimmed most it off initially to prevent armor bites

Not much at the moment. The sniper knee and thigh belt get caught on my shins. I may tru talking a little off the top of the thighs and a little off the bottoms of the shins. My shins could come down just a bit to fit over my boot a little better. I was thinking of taking 1/2" off the top of my thighs to start off with.

Alright more updates, and seasoned vets, I NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE It most definitely looks like I need to trim the tops of my thighs, I simply just can't get them high enough without hitting my COD or my ab/kidney armor. Now, that being said, it appears as if the back of my thighs are just fine. Is it best to simply follow the top of the thigh in its entirety when trimming, or just trim down the upper portion that clashes with the rest of my armor? Pictures Still working on repairing my ab plate, almost finished up with it, also still need to find screws to attach my TD to my clips. May also add some small portions of foam along the bottom of the kidney armor, as I have taken the return edge off to shorten it, and now my canvas belt doesn't fit as perfect as I would like it to. Please help

Thanks Scott! My goal is to have everything ready for submission pictures this weekend, barring any set backs that is.

Last bit of progress for fhe day, but it was a fun one i tell you! Heres my belt, minus drop boxes, TD, minus the angles on the edges, and not attached to the ab armor just yet. I decided, with the help of one of garisson mentors, to attach the canvas to the plastic via snaps. This will allow me to potentially clean the belt if I ever needed to, without worrying about the plastic. Belt got a little dirty in the process, may attempt to clean it up, or may leave it be to give it that slighty worn look.

Also got these installed...really helps having a phone to document progress! Much easier than taking a pic using my camera and then having to upload them im saving that for submission pictures!

Heres a before shot of my attempt to add a plastic border back around my ab button plate. Bare with me, it is only in its first stage

Progress! This will be all i do for tonight. Gotta catch up on our shows Heres my straps, what do ya think? Rivets installed on the left side!

Question time, is it more feasible to trim the crotch area of the COD to bring up the thighs, or is it best to just trim the thigh tops?

My worry about putting a return edge there on the butt plate is armor bites, of the worse kind as well lol. I may just trim that flap, and have the cheek return edge trimmed at an angle to become flush with it. The chest plate doesn't really give me much of a gluing surface at all if I were to move the straps to the outside, my chest had to be modded a tad bit more than yours, im only 5'10 180+/- lbs

Some pics as promised Split rivet installed on the bottom of the COD Holes drilled on kidney and ready to rivet, also cut out that notch My ab button plate after i cleaned up the horror [ How it sits on the ab plate as it is My thigh ammo pack sits a little crooked, and i used the last of my rivets installing them :/ help please! Should i leave that return edge on the butt plate? Butt plate flap Left shoulder strap went on nicely, but is it too close to thr neck opening? Right one needs work I find myself with a bit of frustration at this point, everything was going smoothly, and now it seems i am stumbling a bit. The shoulder strap is a no big deal fix, just got that adjusted and will sit overnight with e6k. But the thigh ammo pack is causing quite a panic attack right now, maybe it is just me, i'd like to hear your opinions though. Please help!

I'll give it a try. Gotta pick up more acetone from work tomorrow. My next dilemma is getting the split rivets down. They sure are stingy! Edit Got it handled! Using a small philips and then hammering down the rest. The rivet fit perfectly in one of the anvil divets i bought for my tandy snaps.

Well, my first mistake was made...when scoring and snapping the above button, it snapped to the raised edge....that being said, would that effect a potential centurion application. I know in the screen used suits, there was a small outer edge to the button plate, so that may have just answered my own question. One potential fix would be to create an outline of the plate with the extra abs that came with my kit, and cut out precisely the amount needed for the plate to fit in, then use some abs paste to fill in the gaps. My worry is it won't turn out as good as I would like. Why didn't I just use my scissors... Help!

Thanks Eric! That one with the metal buttons just seems real bulky to me. Was not sure how to attack the other one. I did get more progress done, just without a phone, I could not take pictures. Now that my new phone is being synced, hopefully I will have some pics later tonight. I got my straps glued on to the chest piece, THAT was an adventure by itself! Ended up having to heat up and reshape just a bit to get them flush, as the sides are angled pretty intensely. Also got my thigh ammo pack riveted on. All that was with the help of a local squad member who has the old AM kit.

Anyone trimming their ab button plate down any?

Well my phone is not cooperating with me, so pictures are limited until i get a new one on tuesday. Right after uploading this picture to photobucket my phone died and kept power cycling. Won't hold a charge off the charger, and i dont have any extension cords handy :/ So question time, which AB buttons shall i use or is recommended?

Thanks! I'll have a pic up of my updated straps later tonight hopefully. About to sit down with the family and watch Transformers Age of Extinction finally.

If I trimmed my thighs down anymore, my only worry would be that I would struggle even more getting them over my size 12 foot lol. As it is, it's already a yoga like posture to put them on, skinny guy or not On top of that, my thighs are pretty big.

How can i get this sniper knee to not get caught in my thigh? May trim a small bit off the insode of my shins at the bottom. Overall suggestions?