LoveMonkey

It's been nothing but work for me the past few days. I really hate how much it slows the build down. And I don't know about anyone else, but when I go downstairs to my basement and smell the ABS scent, man do I love it! I had a few minutes today so I applied the second inner cover strip on both biceps. Once that is done gluing, then the outer strips and some cleanup and they should be primarily done. Here's to hoping I find more time later this week to make more progress and fix the forearms.

Perfect, thanks. If I have time I am going to start these this week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This would have been good to know from the start. The forearms and biceps have already been cut and the biceps are almost completely glued. The forearms need some work, so I will see if I can apply this at all. Thanks for the informative reply.

Your build is looking really good. On a side note, how much did you shorten the thigh pieces? I think I'll need to shorten mine a little bit, so I'm curious as to how you did yours.

Your build looks amazing. How much did you end up shortening your thighs? I'm starting mine and I think they will need to be shortened just a little bit.

So no real progress today. I work the weekend shift so everything is on hold for the moment. I do have the 2nd inner cover strips for the biceps ready, so if I have time/if I'm awake enough when I get home in the morning I may try to get those in place and gluing while I'm working. Pictures to follow when that happens I've been doing some reading and still not sure the best method for sizing. If anyone has some advice for sizing the thighs, shins, or chest area, I would greatly appreciate any tips before I attempt to tackle it next week. Upcoming tasks Apply 2nd cover strip to both biceps (both inner and outer). Finish fitting forearm (I think I will be removing the outer overlap area around the elbow area and then finishing sizing along with cleaning up the wrist area that I attempted with a Dremel). Hope to get the forearms to gluing this week. Start trimming and fitting the thighs and shins. I think I will trim first and then shorten length-wise afterwards depending on the fit.

Your armor looks amazing! Very nice work and congrats on getting approved I do have one question from one of the pictures you posted. I've been working on sizing my armor to me and getting it ready to be trimmed. I'm not a very hands-on person, so sorry if this is a stupid question. I've been using the method of squeezing the two halves together to get the right fit. In your picture below, you make your pencil mark about halfway between where the armor overlaps. Can you explain why? I'm not sure I understand why the mark is there opposed to elsewhere. Thanks for any help!

It's there, you just can't see it in this picture. It's hidden by the glove and angle of the picture. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The wrist looks like this Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And one more question - I need to trim a small amount of length from the thighs. Is it best to take it from the knee area of the crotch area? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And one more question - I need to trim a small amount of length from the thighs. Is it best to take it from the knee area of the crotch area? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So a lot of questions today, but here goes another. Once I squeeze my hand through the forearm, the opening around the wrist seems rather large. My wrist is quite slim compared to my hands . Is this normal or should I be worried that the large opening at the wrist will look wrong? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you recommend taking off the return edge on both the top and bottom of the forearms as well? Trying to finish up sizing before I start applying outer cover strips. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also, if anyone has any tips for sizing/fitting, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not even sure where to start sizing for the ab/cod/kidney/butt areas. It really is the bane of my existence. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I found some more time today. With the help of my 5-year-old (he assisted in placing clamps on the outer cover strips), I was able to get both biceps glued and clamped for the 1st outer cover strip. Feels good to be making some real progress. Now the wait for the glue to dry begins. One of the cover strips seemed to not be sitting flush in the middle with just the magnets, so I threw on two of the bigger clamps. Hopefully this won't present a problem down the line, especially when I connect the two pieces and seal them together. I also finished trimming the other forearm. All of my magnets are currently in use so I will have to wait until tomorrow before I can begin gluing the 1st inner cover strip. Since all of the magnets are currently in use, I decided to attempt to fit my thighs and shins. If there is one part of this process that I hate, it is sizing and fitting. Makes me so nervous that I might make the wrong marks and then cut the wrong amount off. One of the questions I have is how to know where the thighs go. Does the cover strip face out away from my body or is it anchored on the side of my leg? And is this the same for the shins? Basically I was sitting there moving the pieces in several different directions and nothing seemed to feel right. Before I start trimming I want to make sure I put them in the right place and take the right measurements. Also, I was about to take off the bottom edge on the thighs, as shown in the picture below. I think it won't pinch as much and will make fitting easier. I also think it won't catch on my undersuit. Is this right, do I take off these edges on all the pieces or just the forearms? I already did it with the biceps but the legs are a bit different. Thanks for the continued help. You guys are making this process a lot easier to tackle!

So I decided to go back and start finishing the forearms and glue cover strips while I wait for the biceps to glue. I also haven't had much time to work because my newborn has been very high-maintenance and wants to be held all the time. I guess there could be worse things. When I get more time I will get outer cover strips cut so they can be glued. Today I took out the forearm that I was working on at the armor party. Chalk it up to inexperience and this being the first piece that I attempted to trim, which is why the cuts looks so bad. Also, some members recommended using the Dremel they had to make the cut and I decided to try it. Never really felt comfortable with it, hence the really bad cuts. I can't blame anyone but my own inexperience with the Dremel for the bad cut. I switched to the ruler and score/snap method at home using an exacto knife and felt very comfortable with it almost instantly. Today, I used the ruler and score/snap method in an attempt to straighten up the pieces as best I could. Only took a small amount off. Got it as close as I could and didn't want to take much else off as the pieces taped together feel really good and snug as is. So I set it to glue and now we wait. As you will see in the picture, I circled an area that has a bit of a gap. I'm hoping that once both cover strips are installed and the glue cures that it won't be a big deal. If anyone has a recommendation about how to fix this or what to do going forward, that would be great. For now, i just plan to wait for the glue to dry and then install the outer cover strip. I just don't want it to come apart down the road. Also, the inner cover strips are huge because that it what we did at the armor party. I have since gone to the 15mm that is recommended here.

Thanks for the clarification. Once the newborn is done screaming at me, I'll go take a look at. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just because I'm curious, how is the extra material twice as thick and stronger? Isn't it all the same material? I haven't looked at it very closely so that's why I ask. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was able to find some time today. I was able to finish trimming the second bicep and get the first inner cover strip gluing. No pictures because it is exactly the same as the pictures above. I was thinking about the outer cover strips. I know the idea is to use the spare ABS sent with the kit to get a nice, glossy, quality strip on the outside. Since I am going for a Sandy and while be weathering/dirtying up the outside anyways, I was thinking about using the ABS that I'm trimming from the parts and saving the spare ABS in case I make a mistake. Any thoughts on this? This sounds like a good idea. I work graveyards on the weekends, so I will have to see. I'm a bit tired when I get home at 6 in the morning.

So, magnets finally came today. Having a newborn in the house makes it hard to find time to work on this, but I was able to find an hour or so today. I finished trimming and cleaning the bicep I was working on and got one of the inner cover strips gluing. I also began trimming the other bicep based on the measurements already taken from the previous bicep. Here's to hoping I can find more time soon to get more done!

So I borrowed another garrison member's TD armor today for an event and got to try out my boots. They felt amazing! I was worried that they would too narrow and hurt after a while but I didn't even notice them. And this was after only wearing them in around the house for an hour or so. They take a little getting use to as they are narrow and snug but I loved them. Well worth the money!

Yes, this does help. Now I just need to find time to get more work done. Thanks again for the help!

I've been reading extensively through your build thread. I can't see anywhere that I understand about the special assembly method to deal with the bad angles. I was going to just cut them into a more level position before gluing. If that isn't right, please point me in the right direction before I make any cuts. I'm not a very hands-on person, so this is all quite a new experience for me. Thanks for the help.

Thanks, I've been reading through your build thread quite a bit actually. I got quite a few ideas before working on the biceps. I don't think I've found the part about dealing with the bad angles, but I'll take a look when I have a moment. Really appreciate it!

Thanks for all the feedback. I consider the forearms my learning curve since I'm not a very handy person to begin with. They are on hold for the moment until my earth magnets come and I can begin gluing. Hopefully in the next day or two. Today I began work on the biceps. With an infant in the home, it really cuts down on the time I can spend. I was able to get one bicep trimmed and ready to glue. I had to take out the return edge closer to the elbow because it was catching quite a bit on my undersuit and making it just difficult to slide the bicep on and off during fitting. Hopefully that wasn't a bad choice. I took about 1" off both side of both pieces. Pictures below. Please let me know how this looks and what changes can be made. I've noticed that on the return edge up by the shoulder that they come out at an angle, pushing the two pieces out at weird angles. These will be straightened before gluing. I think this is what caused some of the overlap that was in the forearms pictures. You can see it in the first picture. You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the feedback!