Stormageddon

Assuming I get approved for basic, I'm going to go to a few troops as a handler and see how it all works. I've tried to compromise between ease of motion and keeping the cuts to a minimum but I still can't completely suit up on my own. Just can't get that 2nd arm on without help. Plus the whole thing makes a racket when I walk about, not very stealthy. I may very well end up trimming the thighs more, but I'll wait for now.

Since photobucket has changed their terms, I'll be switching to imageshack, ever so slowly.

Well I might be finally done. I'm sure there are details I missed and improvements that can be suggested. I await comments with a glass of Scotch.

Yeah, my accumulated excess beer calories mean the belt doesn't sit well. The straps may well be overkill but they don't do any harm right now. If I continue to lose my gut at a decent rate I may just cut them off. The belt is a stiff utility belt so doesn't deform with added weight. It was really cheap on eBay but works well.

My thigh harness and TD. I had to buy the screws for the TD online as my local Lowes and Home Depot didn't have the right slotted head type. I had to take off 1/4" from the pipe, but now the whole thing is right at 7.5". Right now I'm leaving both ends unglued as I'd really like to figure out some way of making it into storage. Also, if the screws somehow come loose it'd be nice to have easier access. The harness works pretty well and once I'm done with final fitting I'll lock in the braces, right now they're still loose. I also made changes to the arm and shoulder strapping, left forearm and right shoulder bell to bicep. The left forearm strap is now a lot shorter and the elastic doesn't bunch up when I bend my arm. The right shoulder to bicep has the snaps pushed higher up. When I was raising my right arm high, to put on my bucket, the bicep was moving up and pulling off the lower snap. Having the double connection higher and nearer the shoulder bell curve has fixed this.

More extensive test fit with all the major pieces. Walking is easy, though everything makes noise. The butt piece keeps getting pushed out so will need some adjustment. I removed the sniper knee as it was giving me too much grief. I'll have to figure out what to do with that later. I'm fairly happy with everything else, the shoulders will need some attention where they attach to the white strapping between the chest and back. Right now the elastic pulls out a little, so I'll have to secure that too. I still have a lot of fairly minor things to do to get it all comfortable and any tips, especially with the legs, would be much appreciated. Other major parts still outstanding are, the TD, mounting fans and audio inside the bucket, both knees, all cover strips, shin Velcro, attach the button plates, get gloves with latex handguards. If I get approved after doing all that, I may go back and redo all the connections with double snaps. I'd feel a lot more confident once that's done, though nothing came apart in the test fit. Now that I'm close to being done I'll sign up to be a handler soon. I was putting it off til I was close to finishing. If anyone see anything off please chime in.

So my latest crisis is the sniper knee. My kneecap pushes hard up against it even with padding. Is this a normal problem? I'll probably have to remove it and try to reattach it tilting forwards a bit. As it is its unwearable and would probably pop off if I try to walk around. I must admit I wasn't expecting this to be a problem. I must be a funny shape.<br> Other than that, I've nearly go the belt attached fully, just waiting for some glue to dry. I'm not sure if it'll sit straight so when I test fit I'll be sure to post more pictures. I also readjusted the shoulders and forearm straps. Hopefully will pull everything in tighter. I still couldn't get the arms fully on on my own though.

Good idea with the arms. I had tried it with just the shoulders and couldn't get the biceps on. I might try it tonight and see how it goes. I'll be very happy if I can dress myself 100%. <br> At this rate I would've been smart to buy shares in a snap making company. I seem to have gone through a lot more than I should've. I probably wasted a lot though.

Added sniper plate to left shin. I only used E6000, so I may have issues later on. If so I'll hopefully be confident enough to use super glue. I noticed my knees pressing up against the front of the shin, must have boney knees, so I'll be adding padding near the top to see if it can push the shin forward. I suspect otherwise I'll have trouble with the sniper plate trying to get under the thigh as I move. I have yet to add Velcro to the backs, but they're a pretty good fit as far as I can tell. Once I've glued the backs of the thighs I'll do another test fit. Hopefully will happen over the weekend.

After another test fit, no pictures I'm afraid, I realized that the bicep snap came off when I put the helmet on. The bicep was pushed up enough that it went past where the snaps attached and pushed it off. I think adding a second snap there and lengthening the strap a little will fix it. For anyone wondering, I would definitely go with double snaps for everything if I had it all to do again. I might go back and add them after I'm done, but want to finish and get approved first. I also found out that the braces are visible behind the chest near the armpits, so They'll need to be connected across the chest to pull them in. I'm happy with the thighs now and will be sealing them up fully soon. The calves feel good too, but will be adding padding to both to help them sit better around my knees. I have the apps and hardware to use Troopertalk or TKvoice. I seem to be getting feedback issues with the initial tests, but I imagine once the mic is mounted in the helmet it should be ok. Not long now I hope.

I went to dragoncon in 2015 and there was a surfer TK. He was very inspiring. <br> Interesting about needing help with the arms. I wondered if I just had the shoulders attached when suiting up the body if I could put the rest of the arms on myself. I'll try that next time I suit up for a test. <br> The legs are close to being done. I've trimmed the thighs as much as I dare and have made a belt with braces to hold them up. That'll be the next thing I'll be fitting. Just wondering if I should have the thighs as high as the elastic will allow or if the should be a little looser for comfort? I may use Velcro on the loops to allow adjustment, also to save snaps as I'm nearly out again.

1st test fit of arms and body. I didn't realize until after that the snap holding the right bicep to the shoulder had come undone which is why it looks funny. I may add another snap there if its a weak point. I think I'll also be shortening the shoulder strap somewhat. I measured it several times but didn't take into account that my shoulders would be lower than the straps so there ends up being a gap. not so noticeable in the pictures, but I saw it in the mirror. One thing this test showed me was how difficult it was to get it all on by myself. I had to have help with the arms, but it may just be that it all has to attach in a different sequence.

Attached the arms together with 1.5" elastic and snaps and they feel good. I may pull up the right forearm a little and will probably shorten both at the wrist, as well as trimming of the sharp bits. I may also redo the shoulder attachment from the bell to the main armor by doubling over the 1" elastic. I'm using snaps at an incredible rate, so I'll see how many I have left. I made a really dumb mistake on the left forearm strap. I usually label the straps just in case they get mixed up. I wrote on the wrong side so there's gold pen visible between the bicep and the forearm. Obviously not a big deal, black paint willing, but just one more thing to be aware of.

I trimmed a little off the shoulders on the chest and back then fitted the elastic straps. I think as long as you center the elastic straps you could get away with trimming after they're fitted. This'll help figure out exactly what needs trimming. I left enough on that I still need to narrow the chest and back plastic a little. A lot of it is covered by the external strap, which was easier to figure out once the chest and back were together. I think I agonize too much, so am going really slowly.

Made the biceps clips and glued them in. They didn't come out as neatly as the pros, but I think they'll do the ob. I also trimmed back the shoulder bells about 1/2"-1 1/2" and they sit a lot better now. I'll finish the arms next and connect them all together. Pictures to come next week. I received a Converser iPhone splitter too. This goes with either TKVoice or Trooper Talk and an Aker speaker. It works great, but I haven't been able to listen to the output yet. I'll find something to record it and see how it sounds. If I don't like them, I'll probably end up with an Icomm.

That's good to know. I remembered a forum post I saw a while back that referred to kneeling and wondered how they managed that. I can almost bend my knee to 90 degrees so stairs are possible, just not preferable.

I went with the split rivets and it was surprisingly easy. I reckon I'll have to take an inch off the top of the butt at some point, but that'll wait for now. Other than that I'm fairly happy with the body, though at some point I may also split the cod from the ab and shorten it. I regret not shortening the kidney now. I also took an inch+ off the top of the thighs all round and I'll probably take more off the insides to shape them around the cod better. I can sort of go upstairs, but I doubt I'll be able to kneel without some serious reshaping.

I'm about to rivet the kidney and the front and was wondering if anyone uses speed rivets rather than split rivets? I have both and was going to do the split rivets for accuracy. However, since I have doubts I'll be able to to make centurion with this build it would seem domed speed rivets might be easier. The downside might be that they come loose more easily, but I don't have enough experience with them to know. Any thoughts?

After many kettle loads and much gnashing of teeth here's the outcome. They don't look that different than before, but the left wrist opening is a bit better and I can slide the right bicep over my forearm easier now. I was hoping for a lot more roundness from the openings, but I would need to tackle the problem on a different scale I think. Once I have the body together and sitting right, I'll attack the shoulders and finish the arms fully.

So I can't believe I never noticed before, but my shoulder bells look completely different. I was planning on trimming them anyway, to make them shallower, but it also looks like I'll have to trim them for length. Right now I'm putting the torso together. Measured 10mm in from the edge and 15mm down from the top and bottom with the middle just splitting the difference. I'm doing the front first, then will line up the kidney. I had a long talk with myself over whether I should cut the kidney and torso down an inch or two first. In the end I decided against it. Time will tell if that was a mistake or not. The newer chest and back are a lot smaller than the old ones, so shortening might be less necessary than with the older style pieces.

So I think I'm going to bite the bullet and try the hot water method to reshape the left forearm and also both biceps. All need to be a little rounder. I just experimented with an ESB handguard and it reshape a little. Probably need a bit of a deeper container and more water for the parts I need to do. Hope I don't eff it up.

Fit question. After a quick torso fit I found that the helmet came up against the top of the chest piece with very little play. This leads to restricted forward vision and is a bit annoying. Is this normal? I may just have a short neck. I also think the back and chest pieces are a bit high as the bottom of the suit sits on my hips and is difficult to pull down over them. I don't know how much help trimming the cod and kidney would be. It might be better to take some off the bottom of the cod where it meets my hip bone so I can pull the whole thing down a bit. Anyone have this issue? I realize I have to trim the butt piece and may add another set of straps to it to prevent it pivoting. I also haven't finished the snap strap between the cod and the butt, so that may help bring it in a little.

I'm following it too, but also the full one on the ne site. The EIB submission is where I saw the comment<br><br> <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/33314-tk-8869-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-am20/'>http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/33314-tk-8869-requesting-anh-stunt-eib-status-am20/</a><br><br> The piece also really rubs against the back of my legs so it would seem it would help if it's gone.

After a bit more research, I think I put the snaps on the wrong part of the butt. Should I trim off the part sticking out and attach the snaps to the curved part of the butt? I was following an AM 2.0 build which shows it the first way, but then found an EIB submission thread where it's commented to remove that part.

Progress so far. Have to do final fits on everything but am trying to get the big stuff done first. The only items I still need are the TD clips and a voice changer/amplifier. I have been toying with the voice changer from the Disney 1st order helmet, but I get a lot of feedback when hooking it up to an amplified speaker. The helmet itself is already done, minus communications. One question I have for AM 2.0 builders is about the shoulders. They seem huge and I assume I'll have to trim them, I'm just curious about anyone else's experience with them.