menschie

You totally got this. It's funny, these last few little things are what will send the look of your armour into the stratosphere and make you that much more proud of your accomplishment!

The pinching can have a lot to do with how exactly you strap. If you place those straps just right instead of pinching they'll kind of fold together perfectly when you bend your arm. Hard to explain without showing you, but when you experiment you'll know what I mean. I started off with industrial velcro on those straps to experiment and get it right before making it permanent. Looking great man! I agree with all the comments in here. Exciting times for you!

Just a few tiny little fixes and you're there! Excited for you!

Congratulations brother!

Looking great. Aces for level 1, as others have said. One suggestion, and this is strictly for wearability while trooping. It looks to me like you should shorten your chest to ab straps...when you raise your arms your chest is almost coming above your ab plate. While trooping like that, you can almost count on your chest plate occasionally ending up underneath your ab plate, and you won't even realize it. Again, great job!

Looking good chief! You should be proud! Just out of curiosity, why did you blur your face? Plausible deniability?

Oh, and on the topic of belt...I just use a black leather dress belt. It's strong, it stays in place, and once I got the thighs straps in place the best I could, I was still able to micro adjust the position according to how tight or loose I made the belt--what notch I chose.

Hey man, that RS armour's looking good! A lot of very good suggestions here. Please don't get overwhelmed! Your amour absolutely should be rock solid for basic approval. In fact, I think RS armour is supposed to be delivered as EIB approvable, with a little bit of work for Centurion. On the topic of the brackets...I must admit I've seen those things migrating further and further out onto the armour surface with RS over the past few months. Pretty sure it's due to the fact that they do eventually break and pull through, the return edges bend, etc. over time, and it's stronger the further out they can push it. The screen worn armour did the exact same thing over time.

Hey man, between business and some family vacation I've not been home more than a few hours the last while. I'll be back home next week with some free time and I'll put something together then for you. Thanks for your patience!

That’s what I’ve done. Tandy snaps are solid. I’ve had kids tug on it and even one snap has never come off, let alone all 3. My belt is curved perfectly to me as well, so there’s no tension on the snaps.

Have you thought about attaching the abs belt to the canvas with line 24 snaps, as opposed to just hard riveting it. Then, it’s removable, won’t pull through, and has an escape mechanism if a kid hangs on it.

100% this^ I basically kept mine as identical to movie warn as I could. For bits like cod, the lower bits on the butt, etc. I removed ... I also made them very smooth like you. Basically, I’m just letting him know that going max return edges all around (sometimes more than a cm by the looks of it) isn’t always the best option. Considering each part, looking at screen reference, fitting to yourself, etc. is for sure the best approach. Well said!

Keep in mind that, when you remove a return edge, it has way more flex, fit and comfort. The crochal and buttocular region (the taint, really) is a perfect example of that.

Okay, I need to walk away, because we're associated with Disney and there's just too many things that are busting to come out right now. Doh! Yikes, even when I'm not trying I'm getting myself in trouble! Okay, I'm gone...

LOL ... you guys are cracking my shtuff up.

James, I wouldn't worry about there not being enough material in the back. As you said, you're under 6 feet. I tried as hard as I possibly could to not even have a sliver of daylight between all my gaps in the back...they're toit like a toiger...and everything fits fine.

Daniel, you're awesome and I always highly respect your comments, but I respectfully have a different view than you on this one...especially as a taller trooper. "As seen on almost every trooper" that's standing beside Vader...the short troopers. Note the 2 slightly taller ones on the right, especially the tallest one in front right...and you can find other photos of troopers not with vader, where they're taller and the neck's lower. As a taller trooper, if I had my neck line like the ones on the left, either my butt plate would be up my back or I'd have a 1 inch plus gap between my back and kidney, both of which trump a slightly lower neckline. It all has to come from somewhere, and I'm just telling him that IF the butt plate is too low (from the side shot it looks like a possibility) all isn't lost.

Thanks for taking the time to post all the steps. It's good for you, fun for us, and good for other people just starting out to follow! Excited for you man!

Congratulations! Welcome to the rank!!!

That butt plate pushing out like that may be due to (1) the torso section being too fitted (and not allowing it to hang) and (2) the whole back assembly can come down a bit (you'll often see the back neckline lower than that). Also, if I had to walk around with a return edge on my cod I'm not sure I'd ever troop again! LOL

I think you wanna be really careful here ... that extra room in there is what gives you a little bit of maneuverability. It's not much, but you need some. Just be very careful not to take off too much. You've got some mammoth return edges there. Looks like a centimetre plus. I understand why people want them...to make the armour look cool and chunky, however big return edges make your armour less flexible and look clunky--like it all doesn't quite fit together right. If you stick with the on screen return edges you'll have no regrets. That's my 2 cents.

Well, like you said, just test it. I can tell you that even vinyl strap e6000’d onto ABS has to be removed with plyers, a lot of twisting and elbow grease like crazy. But the rigidity, that's another matter.

Keep in mind, e6000 is by far at it's strongest when it's ABS on ABS (as much surface area as possible) with a super thin layer of e6000 in between. It's not a strong filler, it's a contact adhesive.

I'm just wondering how you're going to get solid contact with a cover strip on method 2?

Yup, was just thinking every little bit helps with such a large gap but, again, I defer to those who've shimmed under the same conditions before.