Red_2

Like this: ... Juuuuuuussst kidding.

I'll tape up the kidney and butt tonight, Germain, and take pics so we can see how it fits on me stock. I assume the kidney and butt are going to be big. The back plate seems to fit perfect.

Alright, back to the chest fitting. Made adjustments so that the chest is no longer putting any pressure on the ab plate and vice versa. As gaz noted above, maybe the ab plate was making the chest widen out a bit. I also mentioned/drew above that I thought the chest look a tiny bit wide when I tried it on with ab, bells, biceps and forearm. Let's see how this fitting goes. (Thanks to the wife for helping me tape up and take pics.) Here's the newly adjusted chest plate. It swings totally free of the ab plate which is taped up to be just brushing my love handles. Also note that the line separating the cod and ab plate is right at my waist or lined up with my hip bones. (Huge gap between the bottom of the cod and my crotchola.) Test fit with arms on. Tried to angle myself a bit to get some better light contrast here. (Yes, that is tissue stuffed up my nose. Allergies today. This week has been really uncomfortable for me health wise. Blah.) And for reference, here's the AP chest laid over the top of my modded NE. Not too much difference in the sides. Right side. Left side. As it stands, I think I'll stop messing with the chest for now and start getting the ab plate/cod, kidney, and butt situated. I also started smoothing out any corners on the biceps, and gluing down inner joining strips.

The ab plate is lightly pushing on the sides of the chest, but the only adjustments I made were on the lower sides. So that's catching my eye too, but I don't think it's the ab plate doing it.

I may have the bells up to high. Looks like others have the top of the bell resting on the shoulder.

Trimmed the return edge off the neckline (just over a 1/4") and trimmed 3/8" off the inside edge of the shoulders bells. I think with the elastic on the bells it should look fine. I'm wanting a more snug look. I'm wondering about the fit at the top of the shoulder though. Strapping holds the bell in place at the shoulder bridges, so I'm curious how the strapping will affect the positioning of the bell. Where does the shoulder bell hit on everyone else? In this pic it's touching the very outside tip of my shoulder. The chest seems to be okay although I can't tell if the right shoulder bell is pushing on it a little at the top. I tried to lower the biceps a little but now it looks like they're sitting a little too low.

Trimmed the shoulder bells 3/8" along the side edge. I used 3M trim tape to help with the cut line. Measured off 3/8" from the edge and marked every inch or so along the edge. Taped off along markings. Scored and snapped. Done. Shoulder bells trimmed.

Maybe it's not too wide. I dunno. It looked nice and snug against my chest but I think with the ab plate underneath, it pushes out a bit making it seem wider.

Some test fit pics. Biceps might be a little high. I think I'll trim the shoulder bells about 1/4 inch to start on the insides as stated before. There's definitely a big gap between the bottom of the cod and my actual crotch. Looking at these I'm curious about the width of the chest. It looks wider at the midpoint for some reason. See my mark below. What do you guys think?

Yes, I do have an undersuit! Thanks for reminding me about trying it on that way. Even with the shorts on I pulled it up and down to check the gap. After looking at the chest again last night, it doesn't seem too far off, so like you said I'll wait to see what it looks like as more pieces get fitted. And oh yeah, definitely not thinking about cutting the bottom of chest! I think everyone that has an NE I've seen so far is taller so they don't need to cut it. I'm thinking about an inch off the cod and a half inch to inch allowance at the neckline should do it.

Okay ... scratch that so far, so good with the ab plate. Just as a pre-caution before cutting on the chest, I resized up the ab plate taping it up this time snug and in approximate position. With the chest plate on I noticed, a) the chest plate looks a little more crooked than normal (could just need some fine tuning), and most people have about a couple inches of the center line above the ab plate box showing, and on me the chest plate comes down to the box. Also I have about a 2 inch gap below my crotch. So it seems like the ab plate/cod is lengthy on me. I was contemplating not cutting the cod, but it may now seem necessary. I'll straighten out my chest piece a bit first then start measuring out the cod

Had to leave work early again, as my strength has not been fully regained but after some fluids and a three and a half hour nap, alas, some energy. So the chest plate. I had gotten a spare from AP just in case the AM was too big and because I was aiming for Centurion anyway. Now that I have the NE, the chest plate is similar in size to the AP except it had a bit more flashing and was wider at the bottom. So I thought of just using the AP, but first I figured lets try and adjust the NE. Why not? (Note: Holy crap! I didn't think taping pieces up to test fit would be such a pain.) Holding the out-of-the-box NE chest up to my own ... chest. Can't see it here but the neckline is just glancing my throat. After several careful heat gun passes. I actually went a little far on my left hand side so I readjusted that. Got some wavy line action along the return edge along the bottom but easily remedied/looks screen accurate anyway. Also you can't see it unless you're underneath looking at the bottom. I tried the ab plate underneath and so far, so good. Also you get a good idea how thin I am. The pec lines are crooked but I figured that's normal. Here's where I'll trim at the shoulder, I think. As it stands the back plate and this area touch each other when I size 'em up. So I'm starting with an inch trim, then go from there. Cut lines for the flashing along the sides. Aaaawwwwww, snap! Now to make some small cuts, and size up with the shoulder bells! Stay tuned ...

Family in town this past weekend and have been sick the past few days with a nasty stomach bug. But I refuse to not make progress! Was able to finish enlarging the traps and tears on the helmet. Before: After: Hey, green lenses! Whoa, that was a big difference. Almost embarrassing. Thanks again, Ron, for pointing that out. Here's an almost all on the floor display. Tiny room in a tiny house. Hopefully feeling better in a day or two to get back on it. (Everybody's gotta play with dad's stuff, huh?)

Thanks Steve! Will do. Looks like I'm gonna wait on final gluing until I know the forearms, biceps and shoulders are sized up correctly. Per a previous suggestion, I'm gonna start fitting my chest to help with trimming the shoulder bells just a tad on the sides.

Just got done trimming down the forearms a little bit more. Definitely a bit more snug and now my hands need to be carefully squeezed out/in to get them on. Feels better. I can see now why tons of magnets and clamps are necessary when gluing cover strips down on these babies. That'll be interesting.

Boom! Flare goes on the left. Thanks, Germain.

Hey Steve! That line you drew is what I meant by length. I guess I should have said length-wise. Either way, I agree. In that pic the bottom edge hits the middle of my bicep, so from top to bottom should be fine. Thanks! And roger that on the interchangeable-ness of the shoulders.

Right bicep sized and cut, feels good. Tried a quick mock-up ... LOL! I used a thermal shirt to try and support the biceps and arms, but it barely worked. The shoulder bells are HUGE. Not sure if I need to trim them at the bottom, or if I need to trim them length wise since they can move in a bit to the chest (note: that's an AP chest). I'm holding up the forearms with the tops of my hand. I think I may go a little tighter on them. They look good, but they are seriously loose around my arms. I'll try some foam support first then check aesthetics before I decide to trim them down more. Here's one of the bells snug against my shoulder. I think trimming it length wise might be necessary. Positioned like this the bottom edge hits the middle of my bicep. Ron, which shoulder bell is left and which is right? The only marked difference in the two is the bottom of the center ridge on one is flared out, and the other is straight.

Ten four! Thanks Andrew! More pics up tonight ...

Thanks Steve! And yes, I made sure to flex, still comfy! I thought I was in the build section, guess not. Do mods move threads over or can I do it?

Ah, thank you, Germain! I do have the thumbprint only on one bicep in this set. I checked another NE build and they were wearing it on their right arm. I always thought there were thumbprints on both sides. No biggie cause my right arm is probably a tiny bit larger than my left so if anything I'll probably just leave it alone and switch sides.

First cuts complete on right bicep. Feels good, again the return edges make it feel almost snug, but I have plenty of movement and they feel as if once the strap support is there they'd be just right. How snug does everyone else run them? I'm trying not to get a fitted feel because I'm skinny and I don't want to be "toothpick limb trooper". So I'm being a tiny bit generous so I don't go too tight in fit.

Sizing up the forearms ... I made them just snug enough to where the return edges are holding it up on my arm. I'll start there as far as the cuts, then recheck. What's the consensus on return edges on the biceps? I guess I'll see when I try it on again with the suit sleeve and move around a bit more with the forearm.

Yeah, may have to make them bigger. The tears especially. They actually don't look to small in person but the pics bring out the difference.