darthnayce1138

TK 11388 requesting access. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=11970

A couple of adjustments here, trimmed up my MTK chest and backplate and snapped it together. worked out great, especially with still having the FX shoulders, they dont fall back anymore with this chestplate. Feels a lot better! Woohoo!

Here is one more shot.

YES! Long Beach Comic Con?

Ok all done!!! Here Are my final pics I submitted to the SO CAL Garrison GML Nick. Woohoo!!! Next up I'll be building an MTK kit and going for Centurion!

The two lower snaps are now removed but the two on top are to connect elastic straps from chest to back to help hold it in better place while trooping/walking around.

Ok so my clips never came from Jesse TK_LEPER. So I had to construct my own out of some bankers clips for the meantime. Worked out well. Also installed my Icomm onto the chest plate with velcro. Installed my Evilboy fan kit in my bucket. Adjusted drop boxes and cut my 45 degree angles at the corners of my belt. I'm done! Gonna post my final pics of me suited up later today.

UPDATE! Gloves from Karin arrived! also adjusted my belt, got rid of the FX one and switched to the one that came with my MTK kit and attached my holster. However I am going to move the drop boxes one more time. Also another test fit. About to install my fan kit into my bucket and icomm onto the chest plate. Tested out the sound with the wired mic and it sounds great! Still waiting on clips for my TD. I'm just eager to get 501st approved here so I think I'm gonna construct my own TD clips out of bankers / money clips. Just so I can take my final photos and submit them already. Thanks to Lady in White / Ingrid for the in person help / meeting this past Saturday. It was very informative and inspiring! Thank you Ingrid, I appreciate all your help! See photos below!!! Note: They are taken in the mirror so they are reversed)

Ok so here it is! Constructed my thigh belt. two male snaps in the front near the buckle and holds them up great with just two elastic straps with snaps attaching. Just dont know what to do with the belt yet, which is keeping me from attaching the holster as well. Thinking I should make a new one with the extra one I have that came with my MTK kit that is sitting here. Yup. Just ordered a new white canvas belt from Trooperbay. Seems like the easier things are holding me back right now. Still waiting on TD clips as well. Aker/Icomm installation seems a bit confusing right now. On the bright side, My new test fit is looking good! See photos below!!! Note: They are taken in the mirror so they are reversed)

OK! Moving along here! I added the elastic cross straps to the inside of the shoulder bells to keep them in place, and it works great. Then I readjusted the shoulder strapping from chest to back, minimized the gap by making a new strap and now my backpiece sits higher up, which I was trying to accomplish. I also minimized the gap of the shoulder bells to the shoulder strap so they are now in the right position. Did another test fit and now it feels comfortable and I'm able to move around now without anything moving around and out of place. Best test fit yet!!! (See photos below) Note: They are taken in the mirror so they are reversed) Next steps will be making a belt to hold up thighs, and attaching my holster to the belt. Still waiting on my TD clips to finish that. I need to figure out where to get cover buttons to cover the snaps on my belt, or maybe just paint them? Then install my Aker/Icomm into the chest. Also waiting on fans to install in my bucket!!! Looks like I'm almost there!!!

Thanks for the help Ingrid! Back to the drawing board for me. Gonna adjust a few things and give it another fit. Send me a PM of the exact date and time for next week so I can make a reminder. Thanks again! Happy traveling!

UPDATE HERE!!! Added strapping from biceps to forearm and fits really nice and snug. I trimmed about 3/4" off the top of the butt plate, added a couple of strips of foam to the inside of the kidney plate to add space to where it sits on my lower back and a couple more snaps to the edge of the butt plate and kidney to hold it in place better and voila! Butt plate is positioned a lot nicer and no longer rides up. (See photos below) Note: They are taken in the mirror so they are reversed) One thing I am trying to figure out is how to make my back piece sit higher up. I can readjust the shoulder strapping and minimize the gap, however I think if I do that, the back of the plastic shoulder straps will start hitting the top of the square on the back piece... Since I have to bring the chest and back closer together so the back sits higher, the back of the plastic strap would be resting lower on the back... So is it ok to trim the back of the plastic shoulder straps if this is happening? Any input? (See photo of back above in previous photos I posted) Also I noticed I really can't get these FX shoulder bells to stop moving around. I have not tried adding the inner elastic strapping that I've seen is connected to each shoulder bell and wraps around each bicep. Is this why they keep moving? I notice some troopers don't have that inner elastic strapping around their biceps. Any suggestion and input here would be nice. Once I figure it out I guess my next step is to fix this and the backpiece position. Also I can't find anywhere to buy cover buttons for my belt to cover the snaps. Is it ok just to paint them?

Thank you for the input Ingrid! Gonna make a few adjustments and then test fit again. I definitely wouldnt mind some fat in my glutes, I think i'll start eating more desserts after dinner. And YES, in person would be better! Just say the time and place and I'm there!

Update here. I compared my ab/cod piece to the MTK one I have that is still untrimmed and decided to make a similar cut / trim to this FX one for this build. So I marked it off and trimmed it. I think it looks a lot better now... Also installed the side rivets on ab and kidney plate and added strapping. Added straps on crotch and right side of ab plate as well, with a suspender system strapping. Chest and back strapping installed with white elastic band around back of shoulder straps. See all photos below, along with another test fit... One thing I noticed is the butt plate rides up. Seems to be that the crotch strap may be a little tight and causes the buttplate to do this? Not too sure gonna try to adjust that I suppose, if it doesnt work i'll change out the elastic from the butt plate to lower back plate. Or any suggestions? You can see this in a few of the photos below to see what I mean. Note: photos I took of myself for the test fit are in the mirror so images are reversed. Next I need to attach strapping from forearms to biceps, add straps under armpit area from chest to back, figure out how to attach thighs which seems a bit hard to me right now. Going to hot glue foam inside tops of shoulders and chest for non-movement, also must cut 45 degree angle on belt and cover snaps on belt, and attach TD to belt once my clips arrive. Not too long now until I'm done and can hopefully be 501st approved!!!