TakoTuesday

Recently I decided to try and make my own DLT using the build a blaster like so many others here. Thanks for all the pics and build logs it's helped immensely. I am not a professional 3D modeler but I decided to try my hand at making some parts for print. I want this to be durable enough to troop with so wall thicknesses and other measurements may be slightly off. I will maintain visual accuracy even if some parts won't be as strong as I'd like. First was the muzzle device. Once the initial model of the muzzle device was complete I decided to model more parts. Then I did some test prints and sanding... Due to the complex contours of some parts I will either need to print them with supports or divide them so they can be printed without supports. I prefer not using supports when possible for the cleanest results. I will also have to figure out if I want to drill a PVC pipe with holes or print one...

This build is coming along nice! I'm really impressed with the shape of the stock.

This is the kind of thread that makes me happy to support FISD. I'm not really interested in making a TFA heavy but I really enjoy watching the build progress. Keep up the great work!

Sent!

Just bought one of those LS2 pads yesterday. Happy to hear they work.

I trimmed my AM2.0 thighs down so I don't remember how big they can be but I believe you may still have to add some small shims to the back of them...

Thanks! Didn't get much done today... Just enough spare time to trim and attach the shoulder straps as well as add the snaps and rivet to the cod piece. Had to trim off a good 3-4mm from all the edges of the strap to get it to line up nicely without excessive overhang on the sides. There's still a little edging around the entire strap which I think gives them a good solid appearance. They will only be attached to the chest plate as per the CRL. The rear plate tip was trimmed down significantly in order to make it screen accurate. This trimming was done according to this post which shows photos of screen used suits trimmed the same way. The snaps on the rear plate had to be done twice because I had misaligned them the first time. The second time they came out perfectly. I may need to adjust the length of the elastic strap but I'll wait to do that after the entire suit is together before I make any final adjustments. Thanks for all the information, advice, suggestions and recommendations from my fellow TKs! You've all been a tremendous help during this build.

Thanks Josh, that's good to know they're ok. So far the snaps have held up to me turning and twisting but I've never trooped for hours so I will probably upgrade to Tandy snaps just to have peace of mind. I haven't done the belt yet so I will probably make those Tandy snaps.

Joseph, I'll be using ABS paste to smooth over the inner cover strips. Its been successful so far but for areas that it doesn't work on I'll make full length inner strips to cover the entire area. Since I'm going to be replacing all these snap plates that I already glued I won't post many photos of them. I also drilled the hole for the rivet in the cod piece. The strap will be made after everything has been fitted.

Thanks for the info guys. It looks like I'll have to do an immediate upgrade to Tandy Line 24 snaps once I get my approval. I'll also switch out to nylon webbing since I've already installed almost all the snap plates. Any recommendation on removing existing snap plates? Drill them out or cut the snaps down flush?

Looking good

Jason, what's a better brand of snaps to use? I don't know anything about quality snaps so any recommendations are welcome. Victor, I like your suggestion for using a soldering iron. I didn't want to damage mine but I will have to pick up a cheap one now just for things like this. Thanks.

Cutting out and drilling snap plates. (Note to self: It would have been much faster if I had used webbing like many of the others did. Lesson learned.) And installing snaps... Next time I have to remember not to use up all the snaps because I ran out and I still need snaps for the right side ab/kidney opening, ab plate for the belt and butt plate. At least I have extra snap plates for my next build.

Congrats guys!

Wow, I had just PM'd Gazmosis questions about EIB qualification a couple days ago and he responded promptly. Talk about dedication. Thanks for your contributions to this forum. I'll be using the information on the approval threads as guides for my build.

All the return edges on the bottoms of my shins were removed. (The above image with the gap shows the top of the shin) The biceps required a bit more work to fit properly because of their narrow profile. This image shows the original bicep shape (blue dashed line) and indicates the corners that were slowly heated and formed to give the bicep a rounder/square shape. I worked on the inner corners so that the outside (most visible) part of the bicep kept its original appearance. Here's a close up of the bicep constructed using the butt end method. Once I refit my biceps I went back and redid my forearms and tapered them to fit better. You can see the nasty gap that was left when I had to cut part the two halves at the seam and trim excess material. Extra ABS and ABS paste was used to fill the gap and strengthen the connection between the two halves. It isn't pretty... Fortunately the cover strips hide these ugly adjustments.

Jason, you're right about all the tiny gaps but leaving this gap was intentional. After test fitting I determined that a small portion of the return edge needed to be removed in order for the shin flex around my calf and fit better. Front cover strips were added to the shins and thighs. Close up of the cover strip fitting nicely over the trimmed front strap. Though the shadows make it appear as if the cover strips are extending beyond the front strap there is no overhanging material. Bent and shaped the end of the cover strip to match the contour of the bottom of the thigh. While this isn't necessary it helped keep a clean and uniform look to the legs.

It took a while to find the info but I started by cutting all of the necessary cover strips for this build. Even though the measurements are approximates it was a big boost to my confidence knowing the current measurements used. Thanks to all the helpful members of this forum for their information (especially pandatrooper and Dark CMF). Here are the widths I used for my cover strips: Arms: 15mm Thighs: 23mm Shins: 20mm Shins (backs): waiting to finish the shins before determining the size *Note: The next time I would not use permanent marker as it is very time consuming to remove. Instead I would use a pencil since that rubs off very easily. Next I measured 12mm on the front of each side of the thighs. Once sanded down the front straps should match up to the 23mm cover strips I had pre-cut. After test fitting I decided I had to remove 1.5" from the top of the thighs in order to accommodate my shorter legs. Here's a picture showing a section of the thigh removed next to the trimmed thigh. The AM thighs are missing the accurate notch at the top of thighs which I may try to add once the build it complete. The front straps on the shins were cut down to 10mm on each side and assembled using the same butt end method like I did with the thighs. Here's a close up of the top of one shins. The slight gap at the top will allow the shins to flex and close tighter around my calves.

Nice repair! Glad to see the abs paste worked for you

Thanks for the tip on the Teflon coated iron. I was just looking at picking one up to try and add the accurate notch on the thighs.

Cav Trooper? ABS paste and some extra ABS on the inside should fix that up. I had to do some minor repairs when I was shaping my calf/shin armor.

I have AM2.0 kit. Do not buy it for your size. It will be very big on you. The other kits (ATA, TM, AP, etc) will fit better since you are "trooper size".

Wow. That looks great. And here I'm not sure I want to start on my PVC build a blaster DLT-19...

I'm about the same size as Airborne and only had to trim 1-1/2" from my thighs...

My boots from TK Boots fit me true to size. Slightly narrower than I'd want (I have wide feet) but they're breaking in nicely.