Scimitar

Whoa!! Hopefully no injuries from the exploding glass.

Today I gave the shins a hot bath. The left shin wasn't cooperating but I finally got it worked right, but then the rear strips came halfway unglued from all of the heat. Got those reglued and curing though. Started gluing the magnets in the right shin and into the magnet covers but I have to stop for a bit so I'll finish that later tonight. I also glued in the rest of the snap plates to get that out of the way and got one of the shoulder bridges glued in place and curing. I did a test fit with the thighs on and got the front of them trimmed down nicely. Now I just need to mark & trim the rears of the thighs and they'll be done. During the test fit I also snapped on the shoulder bells and thanks to my long arms I'm going to have to drop the biceps very low in the shoulder bells to minimize the elbow gap, so I positioned the snap plates inside the bells accordingly, with some wiggle room just in case. I'll probably need to make slightly longer bicep hooks too. And I'll have to remake new bicep-to-forearm straps with a gap wider than 1/4". I did get the belt all done though (modeled by my wife's mannequin). 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 or Remake 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 

I used 6-32 x 9/16" screws for mine, they work with the nuts supplied in the AP kit and the screw heads are about the same diameter as the AP screws. I sourced them online as I couldn't find them at the usual places locally (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc.). I have a ton left over, if you don't have any luck finding them and want a set for your TD just PM me your address and I'll drop some in the mail.

A bit of an adventure tonight with riveting the ammo belt to the canvas belt. Big thanks to Christine for catching a mistake I made but also for some helpful moral support! Somehow through all of my research I had missed the need to curve the belts together while marking the outside holes for riveting. I had only remembered folks posting it wasn't necessary to give the ammo belt a hot bath to pre-curve it and for whatever reason I didn't even think about curving them. If you don't do this step, the rivets will definitely have some hard diagonal stress when you wear the belt. I could see it as soon as she mentioned it so off came the two outside rivets. I curved the belts, slotted the existing holes in the canvas belt to match the new rivet location and reattached the ammo belt, backing the rivets with finishing washers I had. This provided some extra bite into the canvas and ABS inside the belt and will keep the rivet from sliding in the slot, it doesn't move. And they provide a nice finished look too. So if anyone asks me I would probably recommend giving the ammo belt a hot bath, just in case. lol And here's the belt snapped to the armor: The ammo belt doesn't sit exactly even under the large button plate (even though the canvas belt was even last night), I tried to put some good light on the picture to make that visible. Basically it touches the right corner but there's a 1.5mm gap on the left side. Does this still look ok for Centurion? I went back to Home Depot after work and got the Husky 25 gallon bin, it fits in the trunk just right. First thing I did was clean it up, very dusty. Now I need to get some stickers for it.

Y'all are the best. I'll swing back by after work and pick it up! Yeah, I figured as much!

Cool, that's the 25 gallon bin that they had next to the big 50 gallon bins, but it looks so small inside. lol I'll give that one a shot! Thanks!

Got the belt snap bases installed in the ab. Thanks to multiple people for noting that the left side snap needs to be about 40mm from the raised edge on the AP armor vs the 59mm that the Billhag diagram calls for. Then I marked the canvas belt and set the other side of the snaps. I also trimmed the 45* angles onto the ABS belt, drilled the rivet holes, and went to install it but found out that none of the rivets I have will capture the thickness of both belts. Oops! So went to Home Depot today for rivets with a longer grip. I also bought a Husky 50 gallon rolling box because I figured it was finally about time... and it doesn't fit in my car (G37 sedan). It could have fit in the back seat if I didn't have a car seat, but I would like to avoid having to take that out to troop, and my wife and daughter might want to tag along from time to time as well. So, any recommendations for a slightly smaller box? I considered the Husky 25 gallon box they had, but it seems like it wouldn't be tall enough for everything to fit after some padding was added. Seems like something in between those two boxes would be perfect. 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 straps 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 Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System 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

That's definitely what it is. It's a dim light but it's there. Well if Anovos ever gets their act together I'll be building a TFA FOTK, this build was supposed to keep me distracted from the delays on that kit. Now that it looks like I'll probably be done before they ship I might begin working on the Phase II Clone Trooper that I've started hoarding parts for. Trying to decide between a Shock Trooper or a 501st Battalion Clone. Meanwhile my wife decided she wants in on this fun (but without armor) and wants to do an Amidala Pastel Lake Gown, so I may need to help her start working on that too.

Carrying on with the shins, I made all of the magnet covers I needed using my Super Advanced Magnet Cover Jig Thingy. Freshly pressed: Magnet test fit: And after a nice round of surface sanding here's the group. I need to re-sand inside the recesses to prepare them for gluing (the surfaces were sanded before pressing). The shins definitely need a little reshaping via a hot bath, but I'm going to give them both the full 72 hour cure time before I subject them to that heat. Remaining to-do list: Drill/install snaps in ab for belt Build Belt Glue on Shoulder Bridges Glue Shoulder Bridge elastic in place Glue in straps for Shoulder Bell to Shoulder Strap connection Glue in snap plates for Shoulder Bell to Bicep connection Reposition Bicep Hooks Reshape Shins Glue in Shin Magnets and Covers Final thigh test fit for upper thigh trimming Glue in snap plates for Thigh Garter System 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

Thanks!! If I had a router I'd have improved that jig thingy, but this will get the job done for 10 covers. Thank you sir! Thanks Brad! It's a good point! Cell phones use flash memory, which is not affected by magnets as there are no moving parts. This is why many phone cases & mounts these days use neodymium magnets to connect. But pacemakers and implanted defibrillators can be affected by those magnets, a study found that a distance of 3cm or less could cause interfere with the magnetic switch in those devices, but typically observed after long contact (magnetic jewelry, name tags, etc.). Either way, like you said, always something to try to be aware of regardless.

The left shin's rear cover strip is glued on and drying. Next will be giving the shins a hot bath if needed and scuffing up the magnet surfaces and gluing them on under the cover strips. I need to reposition my bicep hooks, they aren't quite right and pull my biceps/forearms up too high on my arms. Easy enough to fix after another test fit. That will help me measure for the snaps/straps that I'll be using to connect the shoulder bells to biceps too. I did a test run for making the shin magnet covers since I don't have a spare magnet to sacrifice to the heat gun. Let me see if I can lay this out so it makes sense: - One of my 9mm sockets is just a bit larger in diameter than the 12mm magnet, which is perfect to let the magnet just drop in place in the ABS. - I drilled a 1/2" hole through one piece of wood, this piece serves as a guide for pushing the socket straight down and also helps press the ABS corners back flat after being warped by the heat gun. The thickness of this piece is less than the length of the socket. I was prepared to countersink the hole so that I could push far enough into the ABS for the magnet to sit flush, but the thickness is just right. The socket adapter bottoms out on the wood and the recess in the ABS is just right. - The second piece of wood is the base and I simply drilled a 1/2" diameter recess into it to push down into. And here's the first test piece that came from this crude setup. Perfect fit. I've since marked the wood base with alignment lines and each piece of ABS will get marked as well so that the magnets are as centered as possible when I press them. So I had planned to make a tab/slot connection for the right side kidney/ab connection, but playing with magnets sparked a crazy idea. With a buddy's help, we 3D printed some ABS bases, seen here with the N52 magnets already installed: The alignment when connected is perfect: The N52s have a crazy strong pull and I had to twist the bases to pull them apart, something that wouldn't be possible when they were glued to the armor, so I added thin ABS covers to them and that did the trick. They still have the super strong pull but they don't have to be twisted to pull apart. And installed: I intentionally left a 1mm gap between the ab and kidney just in case adding the belt causes some weird closure problems (didn't want to run into any weird issues I didn't account for), if everything is ok I'll just reposition two of the magnet bases on one side to close that gap. But these work exceptionally well with the existing straps and should those ever fail these will hold that connection closed very well.

I figured if I messed it up I could just toss some velcro under the cover strips and call it a day.

Thanks! Nope, not even in the slightest. I did forget to order a heat donor magnet when I ordered the magnets for this particular project, but I have an idea on how to make the little covers without sacrificing a magnet, going to mess with that tonight too hopefully.

Got to work on the shins over the weekend. Using the magnets for this project, I made outlines on the top side of the shins for cutting guidance: Cut those out with a small sanding drum on the Dremel and taped the two halves together in preparation for the next step: More cutting outlines: All cut and ready for the cover strip: Cover strip installed on the right shin only at this point, will install the left shin cover strip tonight: Also glued in the strap for my shoulder bells: Here you go, using @gmrhodes13 idea, I made one to keep the right side of my posterior from sinking under the kidney:

I had to remake one of the inner shin strips, I accidentally tore one of them up drilling one of the 1/2" holes. No worries though, made the replacement today and got them installed. Used some rolled up packing paper to separate the two sides as the opposing side wanted to push the strip in. Got the thigh ammo pack installed: Painted the rivet heads white and added some glue to keep the pack in place. When I was shooting pictures in May, one thing I noticed (and helped fix when I could) was that the ammo pack had a tendency to fall down if not secured somehow. And got my bicep strap hooks made (and installed, not pictured): The torso is also completely strapped together and I tried it on, the fit is good! I need to take some good pictures of that at some point. The only thing that I noticed was that I need to give the upper shoulder tabs of the back plate a hot bath to make them curve down towards my shoulders. I also need to add some sort of padding to the snap heads up front, they push into my collar bones a bit.

I've had no issues with the actual Tandy snaps, if I had received them the first time around everything would have been fine. lol I've since seen a few recommendations for Fasnap, I'd not mind trying them out to see how they compare.

That makes sense. I've had four different "Line 24" snaps so far: the ones Mark (AP) included with the armor, the snaps that came with my setting tool (Home Depot), the Amazon snaps sold as Tandy snaps (but weren't), and the actual Tandy snaps. All 4 have different length posts, the Amazon fakes were really short, so that's why I said that.

Just remember to not go too thick on the ABS, otherwise you may not be able to get the snap post sufficiently through the combined layers of elastic and ABS to set it. I found that different brand snaps have different post lengths, of the ones I've had so far the Tandy snaps have the longest posts. Good luck with your build!!

The correct snaps showed up today, that was a relief. So I finished making nylon snap plates for the chest-to-ab and back-to-kidney connections and glued them in place. I need to get some 2" wide black elastic for a couple connections where a little more flexibility seems to be desired based on what I've read (center back-to-kidney connection & chest-to-ab). Once that's all connected all that's left for strapping is connecting the chest/back, the arms/shoulder bells, and gluing snap plates in the thighs for the garter system. The shoulder bridge reinforcements are done, I test fit them against the chest and they still look good even with the slight added thickness, proper clamping when I glue them on will make a difference for sure. And the metal strap helps shape the bridges any more as needed. And I began to work on the shin closures. I got the inner strips cut to length and measured for magnet placement. Next I'll drill those out, use them as templates, and begin cutting holes in the backs of the shins.

Even better! I don't have ready access to a sewing machine or I would definitely do the same, might sound lazy but I don't want to hand sew the ends. lol So I'm just hitting them with my soldering iron to prevent any fraying and hoping for the best on the wear/tear aspect. Thanks Lou! Yep, I'm using my soldering iron to seal the ends of all of the straps I'm using, thus the lack of lighter burn in the picture above.

Went ahead and attached a good length of elastic strapping to the chest piece to prepare for sizing it to the back. I'm officially out of good snaps so I'll have to wait for my order to arrive before continuing that step, that should be tomorrow though. Something else I picked up from Christine was at the armor party, I watched her setting some snaps in elastic and she was using ABS sandwiched where the elastic was doubled over for reinforcement. Definitely seems smart for a junction like this, so in some ABS went. Now pulling this apart pulls against the plastic rather than the elastic.

It's definitely a good idea! Thanks Christine!! Thanks Dan! I'm trying to be thorough. Sometimes I get so focused on the work I forget to stop and take pictures. Or look around and see that everyone is leaving the armor party but me. LOL ------------------------------------ So I revisited the left side ab/kidney connection tonight. It was driving me nuts and I didn't want to work on anything else until it was fixed. Here's what happened when I connected the cod/posterior strap: I tried a few different things tonight to see if I could fix the overlap, most of the solutions I didn't like for one reason or another. Ultimately I ended up using a piece of ABS between the lowest snaps to even things out. I'm obviously not sure yet of the longevity of this solution, however, everything is still very flexible (even the plastic strap), the armor isn't stressed and can still move "around" it, I can get in and out of this portion without issue, yet the gap remains the fixed. I think worst case scenario it might pull one of the nylon plates up, and that can just be glued back down. About a 1mm gap all the way down now as it sits. I threw on my belt and the gap closed up nicely even with the plastic strap in place. My trial and error straps, the working length ended up being 59mm. Fortunately I still had those crappy snaps to do the trial and error portion with so I didn't waste any of the good snaps. And here's one of the reinforced shoulder bridges all done, I threw some white paint on the exposed bit of metal at the back just to hide it. The cover slid over a little but not badly enough to mess anything up. This thing is insanely solid now and should glue down to the chest well with the flat surface area.

Thanks Jim! I would not have thought of adding the metal strip myself either, I would have done exactly what you did had I run into any issues later. Thanks again! That's what I'm hoping for!

Got the lower torso all strapped up today. A little heat gun treatment reduced the slight flaring of the lower/outer edges of the posterior piece, it now contours to my sides much better. I do have a bit of overlap at the bottom rivet on the riveted side, but only when I strap the cod and posterior together. I'll need to figure that one out... Also got notification that my next order of snaps shipped today, should be here Wednesday, so that's good! Hopefully they're actually Tandy snaps this time.

I appreciate the input guys, so thanks! Like Q mentions, I knew I wanted some backup over just having a single snap, so I added a second single snap setup at the bottom (which is at the top in the picture below). The tab & slot system will go in the middle of course. Threw some paint on the rivet heads: Double snap plates added for the chest/back straps: And I borrowed an idea from Cricket and reinforced my shoulder straps. Basically I filled all of the ridges with scrap plastic and then glued in a metal strap (K&S 0.028" x 1" W x 12" L (cut to length)). Once that's dried and the excess glue removed I'll be gluing on a very thin plastic cover on each strap.