Kredal

Yup, AM armor. You're still going to have to shim some, but not as much as if you went with one of the more screen accurate suits. I'm 240, and reach the very very end of the non-shimming size bracket with AM2. (:

You want to cut even amounts off the front and back, so the cut and cover strips stay centered properly. If you cut both pieces on that mark, you'll keep both halves the same size, so the armor will stay symmetrical. If you just cut off the overlapping portion of one side, your cover strip would be either way too far forward or backwards.

Some kidney plates flare outwards more on one edge than the other... the side with the flare would go to your butt-end. The raised center portion might also be slightly different sized at one end, so one end may match up better with the butt. Hope that helps!

Nope, Simon asked about the split rivets (presumably for the ab-kidney connection and the cod) above: So that's the technique I told him about. I used cap rivets for my thigh ammo pack like I was supposed to!

After my first troop, I took off a little more from the wrist end... remember that you're going to have gloves stuffed up the wrist end too, so there needs to be a little room there for that... as well as the ability to bend your wrists forward and back to hold things.

So for the split rivets, I covered the rivets with blue tape (to hold them in place against the armor), put them on a towel, put the towel on a chunk of 2x4, and put that on the floor. That protected the rivets from being scratched, protected the floor, and made my wife happy. (: Then I took a phillips screwdriver, put that between the split rivet legs, and wailed on it with a hammer until the legs were split well enough that I could hit each leg individually, and got them as flat as possible. I had my wife help me hold the armor upright so I was hitting straight down... same thing with the cod rivet and snaps. She kept the rivets and things against the floor, and minimized flexing of the armor. I used a phillips screwdriver because it would ensure more even splitting, since both legs were being forced apart, rather than forcing just one down or the other, as would be more likely with a flat head screwdriver. Once it's all done, I highly suggest covering up the rivet legs with Sugru or something else like that to keep them from scratching you or snagging on your undersuit.

The more, the merrier! Steve being gone while I'm waiting to hear back on my EIB application after fixing the big thing (undersuit showing between ab and chest) is nailbiting!

So when Steve said: he wasn't kidding! I trimmed down the return edge at the top, and took off all the return edge at the bottom, and check out this overlap! The pencil line is where the halves were taped down to... So yeah, I cut that down, and reglued the cover strip. Still need to put the Velcro back on, but it should look a lot more svelte. (:

Here you can see how much ridge I have exposed on my thighs beyond the cover strip... This is probably about the most that should be there... (and some would probably say even I left too much exposed!)

Looking good! Yeah, I've learned you're never really done. I've been approved, I've put in my EIB application, and now I'm making even more changes to get it to fit and look better, and make it even more accurate looking!

Absolutely! You'll need to learn how to shim and use ABS paste, but there are plenty of posts on here about that. Start with one of the larger armor kits like AM2 or RT-Mod, and you'll be well on your way!

The amount of raised edge that's in the front of the thigh, and not covered by the cover strip, between the lines in this picture. (and presumably on the other side of the cover strip)

Teeth, day three! This is two applications of ABS paste, and then sanding down with a file and some 300 grit paper.. There are still some cavities (ha) in the teeth, so I put in a little more ABS toothpaste (ha) and I'll let it sit overnight, but I probably won't get back to it until Friday. I did manage to deform a little bit in that second picture, but given that the helmet is lopsided anyway.... maybe nobody will notice? There's no fixing that. Overall, I'm happy with how it's turning out so far. Still some work to do though, obviously. But the last two teeth are pretty much invisible at this point, which was the point of this endeavor. Have to put velcro back in the calves, and make sure they fit and don't look giant anymore... they better not! Also still need to move the shoulder strips back and out some.

Tony, you're about 2.5 hours away from me... This Sunday or Monday I can come up and help you out with a mini-armor-party, or I'm sure someone else in the Garrison closer to DC would be willing to help if you post over on the GT forum. I'd hate to see you give up and shelve your armor over this. Hit me up at tk44678@gmail.com if you're interested. I'll bring my kit and a few tools, and we'll make an afternoon out of it. (:

I had the same problem with the chest riding high, because of the screen-accurate strapping. Here's what I did to fix it: I glued in snap plates on the inside of the chest and ab plates, then put the chest as low as it would go, measured the distance, and put in a canvas strap. It's really in place now, with no risk of it coming up and exposing my midsection! Good luck on EIB an then turning around for Centurion!

Most of my cover strips are the leftover pieces from trimming. The only places that aren't are the areas that the trimmed plastic is too thin.

Ahhh! OK, on the vetted armor maker list, it says this under the T/MC: So yeah, you're supposed to use the overlap method. (: Carry on!

What kit is that? I'm pretty new around here, so haven't seen them all... but I don't think I've seen forearms with that much of a ridge on the sides between the front and back.

Yes, I angled it down to be thinner at the wrist end... And then I went back later, and made it even smaller at the wrist! (That's gluing right now) As long as you can fit your hand through the end, it's good. Oh, and if you need to, for the extra range of motion, you can cut a U-shape into the wrist end of the inner arm, not quite as deep as the elbow end, so you can move your wrist around better. Only take off as much as you need, cause it's REALLY hard to put plastic back on!

Oh, you're building a TX... that makes more sense. The CRL for them is waaaaaay more open than the TK one. (: http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TX_novatrooper_medic As long as the pieces that need to be fully closed are, it doesn't matter for you how you make them.

You can tell the inside forearms apart by looking at the elbow end. The left arm has a really deep U cut in it, the right arm is almost straight across. If you're holding a blaster in your right hand and supporting it with your left, your right arm is bent at 90 degrees, and your left is much more bent, so you need the freedom of movement.

Yes, it's a hair... I'm not sure if there's any rule of thumb about its placement, but that hair looks a little close to the edge. You might want to pull it off and reglue it closer to the middle, so it doesn't show. (: Oh, you meant the shoulder cover on the chest? I think 4 or 5 rungs on the chest plate is right. I'm going to be sliding mine up by a rung, just so there's more on the back.

That's what I was doing too! I'd wake up, take care of all the stuff, then go out to the garage and get a piece cut and clamped (or just cut, sometimes) and then first then when I got home, get another piece going. (:

You need to cut down the armor to fit you... Go down to the build thread sections (under each movie's title forum) and read through the build threads for your armor maker... and then read all the rest too. (: Unless you're making a RotJ set, you really don't want to do the overlap method, and your armor would be made with that in mind, if you did.

I got a chance to meet Layla at the zoo on my first troop. She was a really cool little girl! Tons of heart, too. Looking forward to having her join the ranks of Stormtroopers!