ukswrath

2k. Biceps cont..... Install final outer cover strip. Measure the length of the forearms and cur cover strip. In my case it was approximately 158mm in length and 15mm wide. Apply glue to strips. Install. Let dry. 2l. In mt case I minimize the upper and removed the lower return edges Before...... After....... 7m. Reshape biceps. As you'll notice the biceps are oval in shape. I will attempt to give them a more cylindrical shape using the hot water technique. NOTE: Since my biceps are already assembled I will be doing the shaping by hand. I will be reshaping the lower section of the bicep only since the upper is not that out of round. NOTE: If you attempt this please use caution and wear all necessary personal protection equipment like full length clothing, heavy rubber gloves (the kind that will not only protect you from water but from heat also), and eye protection. NOTE: Practice this procedure several times before actually placing the bicep in boiling water. 1) Bring a pot of water (5" deep) to a boil. 2) Place the bicep in the water for 30 to 45 seconds. 3) While waiting turn on your faucet, cold. 4) Remove the softened bicep 5) Placing you palms over the cover strips, squeeze the bicep in to the shape you desire. 6) Hold under the cold water for 2-3 minutes. 7) Repeat if necessary until desired shape is achieved. Before..... After..... Let cool

1j. Forearms cont...... Cleaning and removing or minimizing all return edges. Remove excess dried glue if so desired. Before..... After ........ Remove return edge and finalize all corners. Leading edge (nearest elbow) Trailing edge (nearest wrist)

2j. Calves cont...... Clean up and remove upper and lower return edges. If you so desire remove excess glue for inner & outer cover strips and sniper knee. NOTE: I forgot to mention this before but a great tool for glue removal is a piece of plastic a bit softer than the ABS your working with, in my case I used a cell phone LCD removal tool. Removing return edges. Before.... After.....

2i. Calves cont.... Installing sniper knee. Place knee plate on shin, hold in place with a few earth magnets or clamps and check alignment. If satisfied, apply glue and install. NOTE: I was able to hold the sniper knee in place with earth magnets while glue dried. This may not be enough in your case. You may need clamps or similar. Apply glue to lower corners of sniper knee. Install glue at top of cover strip. About 1-1/2" worth. Attach to armor. After initial assembly is complete go back and add more glue to the corners and area you believe might become a issue. Here I put it in the corners, the ares that are most prone to problems. Let dry.

7h. Thighs cont..... Install rear cover strips. Clean off excess glue and prepare to install cover strips. Measure rear thighs. In my case the rear cover strips are 275mm in length and 20mm wide. Cur out cover strips. Taper the top edge to match the top of the thigh Apply glue Install Let dry. Once dried, remove clamps and magnets. If you so desire remove all excess glue from inner and out cover strips giving it a nice clean look. 7i. Reduce all upper and lower thigh return edge material. Before...... After....

First off... not all hard hat liners are created equal. I purchased 2 other liners before I finally found the one that worked. Home Depot $8. Installation: 1) I found easier to install the liner on your head, with the cut out helmet mounts installed, then put on your bucket. Leaving the eye lens/s out, reach through the eyes with your finger and feel the gap between the return edge of the helmet eyes and the front liner mounts. 2) Remove the liner from your head, place it back in your in the helmet (mounts installed). Center the liner with the bridge between the eyes. 3) Remembering the gap between the eye return edge and the liner mount, mark the location of the mount edges on the helmet. 4) Remove the liner and remove the front mounts and glue to the helmet. CA glue is the only glue I've had success with. Currently going on 8 months with two buckets with liners, no problems. 5) After the glue had dried, install your liner in the front two mounts. Mark the location of the rear liner mounts. NOTE: Correctly installed the liner strapping should rest just above the top of the helmet. 6) Remove the liner and glue the rear mounts. Once dry, install the liner and test.

YEAH! Joseph great job and welcome to the ranks sir

Ok so where exactly am is this area located? (zoom out)

Sorry for the delay folks, working on a TK build along side this one, coupled with CA heat in my area limits my TFA times

Such a nitpicker lol Good suggestion, I didn't notice it until I went back and looked. Though it won't effect EIB or Cent it definitely would make the area look polished.

OOPS! My bad I was referring the the kidney and back. WOW huge typo on my part. My apologies Great looking armor

This must be SDS week lol. Great job on the build. Looks like you've been out trooping, good for you. I agree with Andrew, removing the paint from the cod rivet is required. Also, though this doesn't effect EIB you'll need to align your drop boxes with the edge of you ammo belt for Centurion, judging by your build I'm assuming that's what you'll be shooting for. Good luck sir.

Wow! another great SDS build. Good luck On another note can we get a close up on the thigh ammo belt?

Edit: Good luck sir.

Very nice Andres. I agree with Scott regarding the belt. Good luck sir EDIT: Can we get a close up on the thigh ammo belt and the sniper knee please.

Simply put, using a one piece lens, drill 4 holes and slide lens over your ear screws. If you want more details how to do this PM me.

I second that!

Interesting, be gentle lol I'll be watching with anticipation.

If I may suggest when working with the hot water, take a piece of leftover excess trim from the bicep and dip it into the how water to see how it reacts. It should soften up a bit without warping. If it warps the water is too hot. And another thing, wrap the bicep in painters tape before dipping, the hot water WILL soften the dried glue a bit, especially if submerged in the water too long. Also, if there's a good amount of tension on the seems the water could cause them to begin to separate. Keeping them wrapped helps prevent all this. What were you going to use to shape the bicep?

Yea trim the return edge to about 1/8" or so, you really don't need too much of it. Once you assemble your chest, back and shoulder assembly you'll know whether or not you need to trim the bells. Don't sweat the ears too much. You look like you're pretty handy with a dremel, ears shouldn't be too bad.

Hey Josh, The shoulder bells are different for everyone. I would suggest adding them to the pics you have here so we can see how they sit on you. Biceps - Though AM makes their biceps oval other manufacturers may have odd shape biceps also. If it bothers you, you can always give them a hot water bath in attempt to reshape them. There's a few builds out there that demonstrate how to do this. My ATA build for example demonstrates the process. Looking good sir.

You know Peter I just may wait until you're just about finished before continuing with mine haha. All the oops! with trimming by a good amount of builders has made me a bit nervous about cutting off something I shouldn't AHHHH! Great job to both you and Clint. Inspirational.

8c. Shoulders, round two. Remove clamps and asses the next step. YIKES! This aught to be fun Our goal is to, ever so gently press the unglued portion of the cover to the chest plate. NOTE: To assist the plastic during the bending process I would set the chest plate in the sun for a few minutes. I'm not a huge fan of the heat gun but if you feel comfortable, have at it. Don't warm it up too much or it could soften up the dry glue. Apple glue to the cover crevasse. I have to smile because that's what it looks like. Holding it on its side let the glue seep into the gap for a minute or two. Using a vise, a very strong wood clamp or something similar prepare to squeeze the two together. NOTE: I would keep a high tension clamp on the dried side for added protection. NOTE: On the underside of the chest plate place a 1/2" thick x 1" W x 1" L piece of wood. This will help prevent crushing the outer chest plate return edge. Place a t-shirt between the plastic and clamp. SLOWLY squeeze the sections together. NOTE: I would advise against trying to completely mate the two surfaces in fear of creating a crease mark in the shoulder cover. Let dry for 48 hours.

8. Chest & Shoulders NOTE: After the AM chest, shoulders and back plates were completed it was requested we shoot for Centurion approval. AM 1.0 back plate does not meet Centurion standards so had to be replaced. At this time we also decided to the replace the large AM chest plate instead of trim it. The upper AM sections (chest, back and covers) were replaced with ATA. This update can be found on page 5. Starting with the shoulder strap cover strips, Remove excess material leaving approximately 3mm from the edge of the bumps and 2cm from the end of the strip to the top of the first bump. Before... Bevel all edges. After.... 8a. Install mounting supports. As seen in some other builds adding support braces to the underside of the cover strip assists in the mounting process and helps to better secure the covers to the chest plate. First measure the size needed, approximately 38mm in length and 5mm in width. Cut supports from extra cover strip material. Glue in place and let dry for 24 hours. 8b. Installing shoulder covers. The AM chest plate has a huge contour in the armor where the cover strips are mounted. There's no way to glue the covers in one shot so it will be done in stages. First stage.. Glue the covers on the edge closest to the neck. NOTE: This location was selected because it has more surface area. I elected to glue it there first giving the covers a better chance bond with the chest plate. I'm also hopefully that by bonding the bulk of the cover first it will allow the second stage to bond correctly and effectively also. Let's get started, apply glue to one side of covers. The side that will be closest to the neck obviously Install covers on chest plate and check, and recheck cover angles ensuring they align with back plate. Let dry for 48+ hours.

7g. Install thigh rear cover strips. Cut rear inner cover strip from extra material. In my case the length measured approximately 295mm. The width was cut to 20mm, which is similar to the outer cover strip. Taper the top of the cover strip to match the angle of the inner thigh. Add painters tape to help thigh sections stay together and aligned during cover strip installation and gluing process. Apply glue to cover strips Install cover strips Let dry.