wreakHavoc309

Having assembled and worn my kit, while it seems thin at first, it's actually pretty durable. Definitely reinforce or replace the belt, and I'd ad also suggest reinforcing the kidney plate too, but other than that, I wore it and trooped around a bit with it completely unmodified and I had no complaints. I wouldn't worry too much. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The Fort Drum trooper was a Rubies? Wow. I've seen the story about his arrest. Interesting. But anyway, I appreciate the advice, I'll make sure I'm good with Land Nav... And yeah, the Nikes were from PE117 Military Movement class (essentially gymnastics). I was waiting for some TK boots to come back in stock. But I'm on the back order list, so I should be getting some shortly. I'm not submitting for approval just yet, just having a little fun to boost the moral around this gray, gray, gray institution haha. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Okay, yeah that is very helpful. I'm thinking of notching the shins and thighs, so I'll probably do that. I was just afraid of all the plastic clanking going on when I walk in the kit... But I guess it's all good. I have a list of modifications I have to make while I'm on spring leave next week. In the meantime though, I pretty much finished the armor in a basic, wearable state. Still needs work of course though, but for the untrained eye, it looks legit. Legit enough that I took it through Central Area on the weekend and walked some hours with some cadets doing tours. I made ArmyWTFMomemnts on Facebook haha. I had more pictures but they were lost when my iPad dumped it's memory yesterday... And dejango, I am 5'11" and the backplate seems to fit fine with the current setup. No complaints here. Possibly space of the extra distance you need between the butt, kidney and back gaps and use the belt to cover the butt and kidney gap? That's all I got. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks guys! Definitely looking forward to trooping with y'all. Anyway, it's the weekend, and that means maximum productivity in the Imperial armory... Friday, immediately following my last hour class I got cranking on the arms. The biceps were pretty well finished so I went to work on the forearms. I made sure to trim down the outside so I could get the finishing strip to fit near perfectly. Unfortunately, I don't have any magnets that I've seen so often used on other builds to hold the two halves together, and my supply of clamps is pretty limited (I have about 9 in total, 5 of which are really small), so I had to put this together carefully using my hands as clamps for the most part. It's a time consuming process, but a little extra time now is worth it in the future. I let the forearms glue overnight and then I put the Velcro on them this morning and strapped it all together. I'm liking it so far. And of course, a mandatory fitting with the rest of the finished pieces of armor: And also, quick question for you guys out there with finished kits: What is the mobility in the armor like? From what I have so far, it seems like I have 80% mobility in the arms, which is pretty nice, but how about the legs or the abs? Can I do stairs with this? And what parts are most likely to fail on me? I'd like to know so I can reinforce them early on. Thanks! "Kenobi said that stormtroopers are precise, not accurate- I learned the difference in Physics class."

Today's update. Got the ab, kidney and butt cleaned up, sanded and rigged with the included Velcro in the kit. It's extremely helpful that ANOVOS included all of the needed materials for this kit because it's made this build go much faster than any other kit I've worked on before. Now, at first, I was skeptical about the Velcro system. I used Velcro on my Mandalorian armor and had some bad experiences, so I was considering ignoring the Velcro in place of snaps. However, the Velcro that ANOVOS has supplied isn't anything like what I'm used to. I was expecting the stuff to peal apart or slip pretty easily on me, but it doesn't. My only real concern is making sure that the adhesive backed loop part stays stuck to the armor. To better increase the adhesion, I made sure I scrubbed the armor to get rid of any dirt or oil that could prevent proper adhesion. I'd definitely recommend this if your are going to stick with the supplied adhesive Velcro. I also have been using MEK instead of the usual E6000 and it's been working better than ever. I tried assembling one bicep with E6000 and one with MEK and I like the results from the MEK build better. E6000 takes longer to set and if you're sloppy it can really mess up the finish on the plastic. MEK can mess up the finish, but it's less noticeable. Just be careful when you work with it as the stuff- don't breathe it in. So, I finished the biceps and got the button panels trimmed on placed on the abs. Also glued up the detonator- I used E6000 on the button panel for the detonator as the MEK wouldn't bond with the pipe too well. I had to heat up the end caps in the sink with hot water to get them fitted on the detonator too. Overall, I'm very pleased with current progress. "Kenobi said that stormtroopers are precise, not accurate- I learned the difference in Physics class."

Haha, yeah, no, it's true. This build is being conducted on the down low. There aren't any regulations that directly prohibit it, but as long as it doesn't interfere with my studies and the mess is cleaned up before morning inspections I should be fine. So far my company commander is a big fan of my work and has been supporting it, as has my platoon sergeant, so it looks like I'm covered should higher start cracking down on something like this. It's also funny, because I'm not the only TK at USMA. There's actually another cadet here who is an approved member of the Hudson Valley Garrison. He'll be graduating this year, so it looks like I'm going to be filling his place. Guess there can't be more than two here at a time. "Kenobi said that stormtroopers are precise, not accurate- I learned the difference in Physics class."

Alright, so, finally found a way to upload some pictures. Anyway, the first few days after I got the ANOVOS kit I went to work on trimming some of the smaller pieces, just to familiarize myself with the properties of the material, so that way I wouldn't do something catastrophically stupid on a larger piece that could result in my bending, cracking or just ruining a piece in general. So, the first pieces I cut were the hand guards, followed by the hard shoulder straps before I moved on to the chest and back. I then quickly knocked out the shoulders and started assembling the inner strap work for these pieces (mainly to update my profile picture, but that's beside the point). By the end of the night I had most of the upper body completed. For tools, I used an Exacto knife and some 100 grit sandpaper. I've had to cut and sand all the parts by hand (my roommates haven't entirely approved of all the dust and noise, but they're tolerating it- shoutout to them). Assembly has been pretty easy and quick. And fortunately, the new PT uniform is all black, so I'll be using that as a makeshift undersuit until the ANOVOS one arrives. Kenobi said that stormtroopers are precise, not accurate- I learned the difference in Physics class.

dobbiest1, the bare minimum for tools, which is what I'm working with seeing as I'm working out of the academy barracks (not recommended) is:<br> -Exacto knife with spare blades<br> -sand paper (I use 100 grit)<br> -glue (E6000 is recommend but I prefer using MEK, a plastic solvent)<br> And then you'll need some type of drill for the holes for rivets and snaps (I borrowed a Lieutenant Colonel's from the Civil and Medhanical Engineering department)<br> Also some form of snap tool and a hammer.<br> I also suggest a cutting board or something like that and a file. Lots of clamps too.<br><br> That's about all I've used and I'm nearly done, I just have to,post up the pictures, but right now the academy internet considers pages like photobucket insecure...

Hey all, So I jumped on the forums awhile back last year on recommendation from another Hudson Valley Garrison member and cadet. I had pre-ordered an ANOVOS kit way back in May and sure enough, it finally came in. I'm a cadet at West Point and so I've been having to work around building this kit in between classes and athletics, working out of what little I have in my room and having to make sure I have everything stashed for morning inspections. It's been a challenge, but a fun one at that. I have a few years experience building armor- made a Havoc Trooper about two years ago now and finished up a custom Mando merc, which got me into the MMCC over the summer- so I was really looking forward to doing my first real movie accurate armor. I'm about 8 days into the build with only the thighs and shins to be finished, but I documented the work along the way, so I'll try and upload the different phases of the projects as soon as I can. Please feel free to critique, make suggestions or comment on my work. I am always looking for assistance on my work so I can make it the best that it can be. My experience with Stormtroopers is limited, so any advice is helpful. So far, my main reference has been from ukswrath's build, which looks pretty amazing. I'm hoping to bring mine up to Centurion one day, but I'll take that one step at a time. Anyway, so here's a picture from the initial unboxing: (More will come when I can figure out how to post more pictures haha)