Jump to content

DBoz

Member
  • Posts

    59
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by DBoz

  1. I actually have not made any progress on this build. In fact, I have been absent from the board for quite a while. It was just luck that I happened to stop by here and see your post. My TK build has kind of taken a back seat to my R2D2 build and as such remains in the box in the garage. Some day I will get back to it.
  2. Agreed. Especially since the whole point of the notches is to get the back plate to line up with the butt plate. Seems silly to require the notch be moved entirely away from the butt plate. But, as has been stated, it is what it is.
  3. 6/32 is not actually a fraction when referring to machine screws. It is sometimes written as 6-32. The 6 refers to the diameter of the bolt (don't know what the actual measurement is off hand) and the 32 is the thread pitch (1/32).
  4. You need a couple of clamps like this for the thermal detonator. Should hold down the control panel pretty well while drying. http://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-Small-Trigger-Clamp-DWHT83191/204987956
  5. Wow. I got really lucky with my belt. Sorry you guys didn't. As for using a dremel, be very careful. Those rivets will heat up fast and melt the belt plastic. I tried this on one of mine and got some melting on the belt. I stopped before it got too bad.
  6. Undersuit came from ANOVOS today. It's not awful, but a set of under armor or the like would probably be better. The gloves are rubber. I have not tried it on, so can't comment on fit at this time.
  7. Still haven't decided. Kind of waiting to see how ukswrath's build works out using it. Kind of leaning toward snaps, though because the ANOVOS abs is so thin. It seems like a snap system would be more durable.
  8. eBay is also a good source. I just got a set on there for $13 shipped.
  9. Great job on the shims. It is something I'm going to have to tackle as well, although I will probably need more than 2". Just wondering if the way you've done them will be passable for Centurion because of the notches. I like that they are molded in on the ANOVOS Kit, but this presents a possible problem for those larger troopers who want to go for Centurion approval. Is it acceptable to shim like you have, or will it be necessary to trim off the molded in notch (thus requiring an even larger shim) and then cutting the notch into the shim itself? Something I am pondering.
  10. Thanks! It was really easy. If you use the same T-nuts I did, just make sure to snip off the spikes before you glue them in place. It will make things much easier and nicer looking.
  11. Not much progress. I'm generally lazy, so I only do a little at a time. Right now I'm focusing on the helmet and I'm waiting on an order from Trooperbay before I can really move on with that. Anyway, today I installed the lenses. As shown above, I'm using T-nuts as a base to screw the ANOVOS supplied lens material to the helmet. First, I placed the lens material in the helmet and marked where I needed to drill holes for the screws (the marks, if you can make them out, look off in this picture, but it is because of the angle of the camera): I had originally intended to make the lens a one piece deal, but noticed when I marked the holes that, because I had misaligned my T-nuts, this would have put stress on the lens in order to get it to line up the way I wanted. So, I split the lens piece in two and with the pieces screwed in place, I drew a rough outline of where I wanted to cut with a sharpie. Next, I did a rough trim using the shears. And then cleaned them up using the Dremel and sanding drum. Cleaned up lenses installed: I also got around to gluing in my scope reticle on my Hyperfirm. My new belt from TKittell should arrive tomorrow, so that will probably be the next thing I tackle. I just need to pick up some white elastic to replace the stuff supplied on the drop boxes. I most likely could reuse the stuff already on it, but as I detailed earlier, I had some problems attempting to take apart one of the drop boxes and I would rather not mess with it again, I am just going to cut the elastic off. Plus, it will be cleaner to use new elastic. I may also make an attempt to clean up the wonky right side of the frown. Nothing too drastic, just some filing to open up the teeth some. Once my Trooperbay order arrives with my replacement brow, neck trim, correct ear screws and paint, I can get the helmet reassembled and start on the Plastidip/cheesecloth coating of the interior.
  12. DEC's stuff is excellent. I've got both his budget DL44 Kit and his droid caller Kit. Both beautiful.
  13. I've got a ticket in now with no response as well. I am assuming they are probably overwhelmed with all the kits that have gone out. My experience with them in the past has been quite favorable, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
  14. I'm using T-nuts for my lens mounts. Haven't gotten to the actual lens install yet, but there are some notes about my experience so far here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?/topic/35115-DBoz-ANOVOS-TK-Build/page__view__findpost__p__463933 I think they should work fine, just make sure to trim the spikes off before you install them.
  15. I am also curious about this as well, especially since the ANOVOS Kit has this detail in the mold. I am going to have to shim my armor and have been wondering whether I should leave the cutout where it is molded on the kidney piece, or trim it off and then ad the shim with the notch added at it's edge. I prefer the look of the molded in notch over just cutting a square out of the corner of the shim, but I'm faced with the possibility of the notch then not being in the right place for centurion approval.
  16. I took my belt apart as well. It seems that the glue placement on the rivet covers is random, so everyone will have a different experience. Just go slow and be careful. I posted pictures and comments in my build thread: --------------
  17. Although the CRL does not specifically state it, I believe the single crotch rivet should not be painted. Also, I have read that it should be brass, however many of the Centurion applications I have seen have a silver rivet in this position, so it seems to be acceptable.
  18. Never said it wasn't possible. Just that it wasn't as simple as just removing the top two screws.
  19. Not exactly. This leaves behind two gaping holes in the belt.
  20. All except for the crotch rivet. That one stays unpainted.
  21. So, depending on how you look at it, I either made a whole lot of progress this week, or very little. My armor is now completely rough trimmed. However, I did not do the trimming. A buddy who just finished trimming his kit offered to trim mine. I am a bit sad at being deprived of the wonderful experience that is armor trimming... wait... no I'm not. But I am grateful for the help. So, as for what I actually did, there isn't much. I had planned on getting some work done on my helmet mods, but I got called in to work some OT, so that didn't happen. Anyway, I did manage to finish taking apart the belt. In my usual fashion, I made this much more difficult than it needed to be. I had planned on just drilling the rivets out, but was afraid of melting the thin plastic with the heat transfer, so I tried using some end cut dikes to snip off the rivet. This sort of worked for the first one. I had to work it a bit, but I got it off. For the middle rivet, I managed to cut off part of the rivet head, but then pretty much only succeeded in smashing the rest down more. Being an idiot, I tried to dremel it down the rest of the way (using low speed), but this just heated the whole rivet up and melted the washer to the plastic. Exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place (you can see the mark left in the pic above). So, I ended up drilling it out anyway, which worked quite well, actually. Should have just done it to begin with. I then drilled out the final rivet with no troubles. Once I got the belt apart, I decided to try and separate the drop boxes. These are once again assembled with CA glue, most of which pooled at the bottom, so the bond there is pretty strong. Be very careful if you decide to try and do this. I managed to get one box apart fairly easily. As stated, the bond was strongest at the bottom of the box, but I was able to break it apart by flexing and inserting a small flat head screw diver. You will hear the glue bond cracking. The other box, I was not able to get apart and managed to damage it in my attempts, as seen in the pictures below. The inner box split in one spot (you can kind of make it out in the first picture). I decided to just let it be for the time being. So, after that, I did manage to get a little bit done on the helmet. I am using T-nuts as lens mounts and they have four small barbs on them, as they were meant to be hammered down into wood. My original thought was that these barbs would give extra surface for the E6000 to adhere to, so I left them on. Unfortunately, the E6000 spread out more than I thought it would and the barbs were sticking out. To remedy this, I used the end cut dikes to snip the points off and then went over them with a needle file to knock down any sharp edges. End result is not real pretty, but it is functional. It is all going to be covered by plastidip and cheese cloth eventually anyway, though. I also trimmed out some of the excess E6000 Oh yeah, one other note on the helmet. As mentioned before, it is very thin plastic (1mm). When I originally put my T-nuts in place with CA glue, I was sloppy and they weren't aligned very good. I decided I wanted to try and fix this, so I tried to pop one of the side ones off to re-position it. The CA glue held much better than anticipated and I was not able to get it off. Due to the thinness of the plastic, however, I was able to damage the helmet. It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but the plastic has been misshapen and turned white where it creased. So, be careful if you take your helmet apart. Finally, this week I got a set of Centurion rivets from justjoseph63 (TK10963) and as I was sitting here composing this post, my strapping bracket set from Mr. No Stripes showed up. So thank you to both of you! At this point, I am still undecided as to whether I want to use the bracket set or go with snaps for my strapping. I would like to use the brackets, but with the thinness of the ANOVOS kit, I am worried that the plastic will not hold up. I plan on waiting and seeing how ukswrath's build with the brackets turns out before making my final decision.
  22. In my case, I didn't like how short the brow trim on mine was. I plan on replacing it with a piece from Trooperbay that I can cut to length and angle to match the traps. Not necessary, but more aesthetically pleasing to me.
  23. I plan on cutting down my lenses and screwing them in. I have installed T-nuts to mount them.
×
×
  • Create New...