Haso

Sniper Knee Plate fitting: So I've done a little mock up of how I've approached this so far. Gist being that the fit on both sides of the plate don't align with both angled ridges on the shin. This piece will be the shin: And here's the shin with the sniper plate. Note where I've got the pencil is where the two parts don't align - note the angle of each is way different: If I place the sniper plate in position so that it's centred at front, and aligning with the inner shin (which is left of the picture), you see the right side sniper plate and shin do not match, in fact it 'overshoots' the shin: What I've done, is use a hot water bath (be careful not to have any plastic touch the sides and bottom of the pot) to gently bend the mis-aligned side of the sniper plate in slightly (below). Important - I've exaggerated this bend for the purpose of illustration only, check out post #25 to see what I actually did on the armour. (below pic - looking at the sniper plate from the back) The result I got, is similar to what I've demonstrated below (remembering that the curve is an exaggeration): First, the 'good' side, or the inner side of the shin. and the 'outside' of the shin: I hope this might be helpful to someone else in a similar position. I'm not sure this tip will be useful for everyone, but it's how I hope I've reduced the amount of 'error' in the sniper plate. Before gluing, I've done a dry fitting - see my post #25. I'll glue each side in turn, once the previous one is fully cured - say 1-2 days. This will be a week long exercise! Would be interesting to hear how Mark (AP) approaches this, and what he does. Kris

Liking your work on the drop boxes. I've pulled out the rig that I had done in order to snap the two parts together, but have kept the elastic hinge on the bottom - only because of the fact that I decided to rivet the belt loops. But I may follow your idea to get them back to openable, because I'll still use them for storage.

...forgot to say, I also used a hot water bath to twist the outer side of the sniper plate inwards to help with the fitting. Not much, was just a small amount, but a little just to reduce the gap a bit.

Hey all, Some pics of my 'Dry Fitted' sniper plate below. Any tips, feedback etc welcome here. As I'm going for Centurion I need to glue this and I'll be using E-6000: Ummm, just noticed my daughter has photo bombed the next pic (she's not part of the armour)! Below I'm pointing to where I'll need to pull the sniper plate down a little more when gluing to the shin: ...and some progress with my drop boxes (This was the first time I've ever riveted anything, lol!) ...and dry fitted to the canvas belt. I overlaid the ammo belt when measuring the length of elastic to hang these so they should be virtually touching the ammo belt when I attach it to the canvas. More updates coming soon, most of my arm and leg cover strips done. Kris

Yeah I'll get some pics up today with a description of my plan of attack. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

...It looks as though I've made some headway on the sniper plate and have just dry clamped and taped it onto the shin for now. I'm thinking I'll leave it now for a week or two as is in order to slowly bend it closer to the shape it'll go on. But basically I've got the plate centred as close as can be, and following the ridge lines for both sides as close as, also. Will post some pics up tomorrow of how I've got the sniper plate positioned, ready for your feedback, before I glue it into place. For gluing the sniper plate, I'm thinking, from studying it for the last several hours, that I'll glue the actual plate first. When dried, I'll proceed with the inner shin's side, then when that's dried, the outer shin's side. I want the plate and inner side glued and dried before I pull the outer side into place for glueing. In the meantime, I've pretty much finished, apart from one or two, all front cover strips for legs and arms. I've spent the past week doing inner and outer cover strips for all front parts. I did 20mm for shins and thighs (and will do the same for backs), and 16mm for forearms & biceps (and will do same for back). I'm an average height/weight (180cm/80 kg) so didn't feel I needed to deviate from the normally accepted widths for cover strips. Not really much to say/show here, this part has all come together without any major hiccups. I've used e6000 for all my gluing. Must say though that the e6000 is slow, but great for a beginner. I ended up pulling the inner cover strip off one thigh, a day after I glued it, because I wasn't happy with the join. I just took it apart, cleaned up the join, then reapplied glue - easy as! We've got an armour party in early April so will get some help fitting and trimming back of arms/legs then.

Looking at attaching the sniper knee plate but it looks like I'm going to have some difficulty. If I align the front of the plate to be centre down the front, and align the inner side to match the angle of the shin, then the sniper plate is way out of alignment along the outer shin slope. Anyone else with AP have this, and how are you guys fitting the sniper plate so that it is centred and level in front, and aligns with the shin slope on either side? It looks as though the angle of the outer side of the shin is totally different to the corresponding angle of the sniper knee plate. I don't want to do anything fancy to this, and assume there's an accepted way to settle on how it should best look?

....back to the forearms, mine will pretty much be interchangeable. Might be a future AP upgrade perhaps. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Oh that's not so bad then. You all got hours of work ahead! Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

...its 3pm Friday here in A us. Are you guys nocturnal? Lol Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Hey mate I think Aaron has already asked Mark directly which is left and right, and was told they are the same. I wondered the same for mine too. If you look at them from end on, I'd think they would be mirrored if there was a left and right, but mine at least look to be exactly the same front on profile. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Mate I'm just about ready to add my sniper plate on. Looking at I'm thinking how it's going to fit too. It seems to be a common issue. Looks like it isn't going to move for you though! Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

You can order the individual parts from doopy does. Just not the kit at the moment. I'm doing a pipe build with PVC and ordering the separate DD parts as well as some from FISD suppliers. Good luck! Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Trooper master...can't go wrong there either. But you can't get the ear pieces from Mark? Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip on the hard hat liner. Yeah I been doing a bit of adjusting etc and may either swap out the liner completely or get a sweat band. Have also started gluing inner strips on thighs and shins (front ones only) this week. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Today I started gluing the inner cover strips for thighs and shins. Using E-6000 so it's going to be slow progress. I basically got the front inner strips glued in for both shins and both thighs. That's pretty much the limit of spring clamps I've got. Tomorrow I'll go buy more so I can try to double my output: Also, thermal detonator complete. For this, the end caps aren't glued on, they can be pulled on and off, and are joined together on the inside with a length of 6mm elastic. This way I can use it for storage (tools, repairs etc). Wouldn't put valuables in it as it could be pulled off: Drop boxes: Also started putting these together, and again, am making them usable for storage (of cards, some cash etc). Did this by gluing some 1/2 inch white elastic at the bottoms to join inner and outer drop boxes to form a hinge, and at the top, it'll join with velcro: A small piece of elastic at the top allows me to pull them apart. This won't be noticeable when it's being worn: Have also been experimenting with the bucket's internal lining. I've velcroed a cross pattern across the top of the bucket to accept a hard hat inner liner, which I also applied plastidip to. Now this is where the trial and error begins. The hard hat liner/velcro arrangement itself works, but it creates a bobble head effect as the bucket still sways around, and also touches my nose, when wearing it. I needed a way to reduce the wobble of the bucket when moving, and the solution is to place small pads between the bucket and lining. Now those black pads are just some home-made jobbies to see how feasible this arrangement is. Made out of some soft cushion filling stuff and gaffer tape. They are not attached to the bucket itself, but velcro'd to the hard hat liner. And it works beautifully, it completely stops the bobble head effect, but also gets the bucket off my nose - the helmet now sits around my head with no contact which should also improve breathability and airflow in it. I want to improve the look of the pads and I've got some military style ones on order, but want them to fit with the look I'm going for in the bucket - almost like this particular trooper has made some mods to the bucket in the field for practicality. I only need the darker lenses on their way from Trooper Bay, a couple of helmet fans/switches from a local supplier, and the helmet pads I've ordered, to be able to finish off the bucket. Ok, that's it for now, my focus is now shifting towards inner and outer strips on the legs and arms, which is what I'm aiming to tackle this week... Kris

...I'll post some pics in my thread of what I'm trying to achieve with the inside of my bucket. Just trying to not make it look like a bike helmet and more industrial/military with a combo of hard hat liner and a couple of pads to hold it steady. All black. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Pyrates I applied plastidip to my hardhat liner and velcroed it along the top and down the sides. Still had a bobble head effect but found some padding between the liner and helmet seems to lock it in place. That was a mock up and I'm just going to put a couple of thick foam blocks sandwiched between bucket and liner to hold it steady. Will see how it goes.... Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

I'm a klutz...have asked the mods to move this thread to the build thread sub-forum.....late nights. Oh, it already is moved...lol

Hey all, modest progress today, I just did some work on the frown mesh. I was going to put in the mesh I was prepping in the earlier post but wasn't happy with it. I didn't like the size of the mesh pattern and thought it was too big for my taste. I wanted a smaller mesh pattern. Some limited research online seems to suggest that there mightn't have been any mesh or covering behind the frown at all! So I was trying to think if I had anything on hand, either material or mesh, that I could use as I still wanted to hide my mug from being seen through the teeth. Rummaging through stuff at home, I came across the thin mesh you find in computer drive bay covers, like this: There's a thin mesh behind these covers, so I pulled out two from a computer tower that still functions as a secondary computer, so that I could layer them together. I used gaffer tape around all edges to tape them together - especially the ends as they tend to fray. Pics of this step below: Was tempted to glue it into the bucket for a clean look, but practicality has won out - I used gaffer tape to fix it over the frown (below). This way it can be removed easier if necessary, to either replace it, or if needed to do fix ups to the helmet. Plus I can always glue in place if I decide I want to... ....and the result below - I like the look of this finer mesh heaps better... ....and in other news, here's some shoulder bells with strapping started. I'm following the video tutes of TK 1636 for these. I'm using E-6000 for all my gluing, including these shoulder straps - forgot to burn the edges to prevent fraying so that blue tape is my reminder!: And below, the bicep hooks I'll use to hold them in place over the biceps - here's the link to where I got this how-to (although instead of using a cigarette lighter to heat the plastic, I just boiled it): http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/37-howto-create-a-bicep-strap-hook/ I'll keep posting updates of where I'm up to (mostly all rough trimming and sanding done) to catch ya'll up on my progress. Kris

I was wondering the same thing...about identical arms. Answers that one then. There is apparently a difference with the screen ones, with the left being curvier on one side. Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

Thanks Pyrates, yes, it's the stuff you use to stick posters on the wall that I used to block out the teeth to paint the helmet inside. If I remember correct, you didn't have a great experience with the decals so I was nervous to give it a try - but I found a tutorial from Trooperbay where he mentioned the water/detergent trick and I gotta say that it made it easy to position, the challenge was pushing air/water out. I've also ordered darker lenses and s-trim from Trooperbay as well so once they arrive I should be able to finish the bucket.

Ok, I'm just going to summarise some of my progress so far, and put up a a few more posts till it's caught up to where I'm at. Helmet (the most recent work I've done): I've painted/detailed it fully, apart from the rank stripe on the ear piece. Also painted the inside with Plastidip - handy thing I discovered was that blu-tac is good for plugging the teeth if you seal the gaps totally - it maximises coverage inside as there's no tape there. Used Mark's (AP's) decals for the helmet (I managed to get that air bubble out from the tear in the first pic). Some photos: Where I applied the decals, I gave the area a fine spray with water mixed with a minute amount of dishwashing detergent, then wiped the area so that it wasn't wet, but allowed the decal to slid into position, from where I could press it down and push out any air/water bubbles. Below, the Plastidip process. The way I did it was to apply around 10 coats THINLY, which avoided any runs in the helmet. Resist the temptation to do any more than a light mist for the first couple of coats, just keep going back to it every 30 minutes with another thin coat: For the frown mesh, I cut up black flywire. I made a template of one half of the frown and cut out four patterns, glueing two together with a THIN bead of e-6000 around the outer edge (below pics). I'll then attach them inside the helmet (not sure how yet): So this is where I'm at for the helmet. I've done pretty much all trimming for the rest of the armour, and am almost ready for fitting/final trim, I'll post up more updates for specific areas over the next few days. Kris

This is the upgraded armour I received...apologies for the bluriness, I've just taken it quick but hopefully you get the idea.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes. And for those who've ordered the AP kit - great choice, you can't go wrong with it. It'll nice to see some fellow AP threads amongst the sea of Anovos builds here! I do have photos and updates to post of my progress and assorted mumblings thus far and will endeavor to get these posts up over the next few days/week so that they're caught up to where I'm at now..