Scimitar

Congrats!!! Good job Trooper!!!

As noted above, that setup is what wasn't working unfortunately. As a result of lowering the biceps to accommodate my longer arms, the hooked straps sat at an extreme angle vs. a straight line across the bicep. In the picture below you can see how the strap isn't even touching the bicep. I'd end up with the strap getting caught under the bicep, on an upper corner of the bicep (which would pull the bicep down further), or the bicep would escape out from under the shoulder bell. Now the strap and hooks will be there but only because the strap is a required item and the hook will still keep it across part of the bicep.

After a few troops I found a couple things to improve on. Since I had to drop my biceps pretty low, the bell straps & Han hooks weren't working as they should. The straps would usually slide up on top of the bicep and pull it down or one side of the bicep would get out from under the shoulder bell and not go back by itself due to the tension from the strap. I wasn't happy with either of those situations, so I left the nylon strap in the center and added two elastic straps at the front and rear. The result is exactly what I wanted: the bicep doesn't come out from under the bell, the outside centerline stays aligned, and it still has plenty of flexibility. Now I just need to reinstall the required elastic strap to go around the bicep. It will still need a hook to keep it secured down around the bicep but the strap itself will be purely aesthetic. I also noticed a couple places where the holster hardware was scratching into the armor. It's all hidden but I still like protecting it from that sort of thing. No more scratches now.

Yes, you will have to cut, heat, and bend some ABS in order to make one. But it works extremely well, from my own build:

If you've waited the quoted refund time (I think they say 12-15 business days now) and you still haven't received your refund, send an email to Joe Salcedo at [email protected] with all of the important details: your name, order number, support ticket number(s), and a brief timeline of events (when you cancelled, any time you've contacted chat support, etc.). I've had to do this twice now and while I didn't get a reply back from him, the refund was processed within 1-2 business days.

Nick, first off, nice work! I also think you're good for basic approval. I struggled a little with the AP shoulder bells too since they're a bit smaller than others, so like Arthur suggests I had to keeping trimming the return edge down to get them in closer to the chest. I did leave a bit of return edge to give them some depth though. You might also want to move your shoulder bell snap base from the center of your shoulder strap to the inside edge (closer to your neck), that will help pull the top of the shoulder bells back up & in and assist with closing that chest/bell gap too. Doubling up the elastic for the shoulder strap can help too, makes it stronger and keeps it from pulling out from under the shoulder bridges. Good luck with approval!

Congrats in this thread too!! I really need to get some spare time to submit my own EIB application!

Congrats Lou!!!

I definitely don't have as an experienced eye as many of the folks here, but I'll echo the above, should be an easy approval and quick steps to Centurion. Everything looks great Lou! Good job!

Shout out to @zv288bot for the two challenge coins!! Thanks for helping to feed my coin addiction!! The patch came from a Kylo Ren in the GA garrison (IG21826) who actually lives in my neighborhood and we had no idea until Cricket's armor party. Haha! He made sure he gave me my first Georgia Garrison patch. This community is nothing short of awesome! Troop #2 yesterday went flawlessly and I had zero issues with the armor. As soon as I get some free time I'll be shooting my EIB application pictures.

Thanks everyone!! First troop last night went great, I started a log in the Field Training Exercises section to keep track of them there. I didn't have any issues with the kit until I was taking it off, the cod snap came off the split rivet. I thought this might happen as the snap was pretty cheap/thin (it was installed before I had Tandy snaps), so it's getting replaced with a new split rivet and Tandy snap. Easy fix as soon as I get a replacement rivet tomorrow from Cricket (thanks!!), this one weakened and failed after trying to straighten the posts back up for the new snap. Then it's off to another troop! I realized I had forgotten to run a couple strips of soft side Velcro on the back of the thermal detonator straps, so I had to polish out a few scratches today and then I took care of the straps. Also seen are my Nomex flight gloves that just arrived, so once I trim down and install the ABS hand guards I'll be using those when I can. The rubber gloves aren't terrible with liners, but the Nomex gloves are so much more comfortable. Especially in the humidity we have here.

Shiny reporting in and requesting access please! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=29061

I am now officially TK-17529!!!

Nothing yet on my official approval but I did get permission to participate in tomorrow night's troop, so I'm excited for that! Last night I got the Velcro in place on both boots and shins and then I figured out how to pack everything in the tote. Should be all ready to go now! Running To-Do List: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges Velcro Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins & Back Plate at Shoulders Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers (Temp. Countermeasure for Covers in place) Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System Glue on Silicone Hand Plates Install Sniper Knee Plate () Submit Application/Pictures to GML Submit Member Application Hopefully be able to sign up for 9/28 troop () Make any necessary changes & submit EIB Application Make any necessary changes & submit Centurion Application  Start next build 

Thank you!! Hopefully the EIB application won't be too far behind this.

Can you drop the outside of the bicep down (not sure if it's strapped inside the shoulder bell yet)? That should get you just a bit more downward travel on the forearm when your arm is straight, because you don't need much. Like Cricket said, the gloves/hand guard combo makes a huge difference in the appearance, just taping the guards onto the gloves where you want them placed will give you a much better idea of what you're working with. I saved gluing them onto the gloves for last just in case I needed to make any more adjustments to the arms, which I did, going from the 1/4" gap to 1/2" gap between the bicep and forearm.

Thank you!!

Thanks Greg! It's exciting to finally be to this point! And that's what I'll do.

And... I have submitted my pictures!! Now I anxiously await approval. I still need to secure the Shoulder Bridge elastic in place (decided to do that with Velcro instead of glue) and I need to add some Velcro to the right shin and boot, it stays put until I do an action pose. It comes back into line but just not all the way. The left shin doesn't move but I'll add some Velcro to it too. Running To-Do List: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges Velcro Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins & Back Plate at Shoulders Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers (Temp. Countermeasure for Covers in place) Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System Glue on Silicone Hand Plates Install Sniper Knee Plate () Submit Application/Pictures to GML Submit Member Application Hopefully be able to sign up for 9/28 troop () Make any necessary changes & submit EIB Application Make any necessary changes & submit Centurion Application  Start next build 

So drilling the holes in the magnet covers did not work. So I will be making new covers with flatter recesses, thanks to LTM for the sacrificial magnets & jig thingy! In the meantime I took some of the magnets I had been using for clamping and re-purposed them into inner strip magnets. They work perfectly for this because they are larger than the holes in the shins and their surface would be where the original magnets would have been. I also decided to redo the shoulder straps, this time completely doubling over the elastic front to back for strength and reinforced them with plastic strips in between all of the snaps like before. This let me ensure that the shoulder bells were as tight to the shoulder bridge area as possible, the first straps were still allowing too much gap for my liking. As noted previously I also lengthened the distance between the bicep and forearm, I had to use 1/2" vs the usual 1/4". Thanks long arms. I also added a bit of padding under the forearms to keep them from rotating, the left one more so than the right. I need to reglue the left strap to be further inboard. Small and easy improvement. I also glued the silicone hand guards to the gloves using the Loctite Plastics Bonding System. When the activator is used properly this stuff sets up FAST! The glue itself is also very runny, so be sure to take that into account. I did it all at once while wearing the glove and had some get out from under the hand guard. No worries though, acetone will remove it from the glove with no ill effects that I could see, other than a little fading that went mostly away after I handled the gloves for a bit. If the acetone touches the hand guard it will smear white onto the glove but that wipes away with acetone too. I'd recommend gluing them on in sections, starting in the center and working to the edges. The glue sets up so quickly you could do it easily while wearing the glove and you'll likely make less of a mess. And don't worry about going overboard with the activator, it doesn't leave any residue behind. Sniper knee plate. The one part that strikes fear into the hearts of many AP kit owners. I started by clamping it flat against the cover strip with a stronger clamp than the normal spring clamps I've been using (thus the tape on the front of the knee plate in the pictures). The left arm (facing the knee plate) naturally fell into alignment with the shin ridge when the plate was angled, the right arm of course did not. So while clamped I figured that I needed to twist the right arm to move it down into alignment with the shin ridge. I practiced the movement it took to make the arm move down and then did that with a hot bath. The result is a knee plate that is centered and resting flat against the cover strip, a bit crooked as expected with the AP plate, and is aligned with the ridges. Then I applied a healthy amount of glue on the front and waited to glue the arms as a next step. Here you can see the arms are mostly aligned and only need a little bit of finger pressure to close them against the shins. I don't have any pictures but I glued and clamped the arms to the shins with a little glue to account for the small contact area (don't forget to sand both surfaces to help adhesion). Then I added a little more glue in layers, separated by a few hours each time, to build up the glue support between the arms and shin. This method seems to be working well so far, the arms aren't coming off even with the repeated action of putting the shin on and taking it off. Running To-Do List: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges Velcro Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins & Back Plate at Shoulders Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers (Temp. Countermeasure for Covers in place) Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System Glue on Silicone Hand Plates Install Sniper Knee Plate () Submit Application/Pictures to GML Submit Member Application Hopefully be able to sign up for 9/28 troop () Make any necessary changes & submit EIB Application Make any necessary changes & submit Centurion Application  Start next build 

Was going to post that as well, so here are the pictures instead.

Small pictureless update: - Both shoulder bridges are glued in place, the second one will reach the targeted cure time tonight. - All of the shin magnets are glued & cured inside the shin cover strips. Back to the magnet covers, even after three days they were still not cured under the magnet, basically they were curing at the sides and sealing the wet, excess glue inside. The recesses are slightly domed instead of flat, this may be contributing to the problem, so last night I drilled a small hole in the center of the back of the covers and reglued. I think this might take care of the issue. We'll see. I have a backup plan if not. In the meantime I started playing with the sniper knee plate and after a bit more trimming of the remaining return edge I have a plan of attack for attaching it, so I'll be taking care of that within the next day or two. Running To-Do List: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges Glue Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins & Back Plate at Shoulders Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming (Front done, rears to be done) Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System Glue on Silicone Hand Plates Install Sniper Knee Plate () Submit Application/Pictures to GML Submit Member Application Hopefully be able to sign up for 9/28 troop () Make any necessary changes & submit EIB Application Make any necessary changes & submit Centurion Application  Start next build 

Looking good! Same step I worked on last night. Were you able to find some screws for your TD?

Same here as well.

Forward progress on the shins last night. I cleaned up the left shin from regluing the cover and inner strips and then I glued the magnets into the cover strip, so those are curing now. I found out that the magnets I glued into the little covers Sunday morning still weren't cured yet. The E6000 was cured at the surface but was still liquid under the magnet. Accidentally found that out when one of the covers got too close to one of my clamping magnets. Guess I'll need to give them the full 72 hours and see what happens. I put some magnets inside the right shin to test how well it will close once the magnet covers are glued in place. I'm happy with this! I also reglued the hooks back into the biceps, I positioned them a little higher than they were originally to accommodate the potential bicep placement. I plan on gluing the second shoulder bridge on tonight and once that cures I'll begin working on getting the arms positioned right. Going to try to get the rear of the thighs trimmed up tonight too. Running To-Do List: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges (One glued, one to go) Glue Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins & Back Plate at Shoulders Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers (In progress) Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming (Front done, rears to be done) Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System Glue on Silicone Hand Plates Install Sniper Knee Plate () Submit Application/Pictures to GML Submit Member Application Hopefully be able to sign up for 9/28 troop () Make any necessary changes & submit EIB Application Make any necessary changes & submit Centurion Application  Start next build