BDWC

added "hans hooks" today that is all

Now for the inner barrel... Since the sides are now one piece, the only way to do this is to cut off the front nose enough to insert the inner barrel and now I have to use a coping saw blade to carefully cut out the cross brace

This is a picture of the "rebel" style fins in their original shape And this is after trimming and flattening them out,

drilled out the lower set of vent holes used a reamer for the final sizing and deburred and trimmed

Here are some close-ups of how I cut out the parts under the rail The start of the cutting: And after breaking through....note that the top of the tube will have to be filled and this is the tool I used for the job

Like many others, I had started my Rubies E-11 mod while waiting on my ANOVOS ANH TK armor. Then once the BBB arrived the blaster got back-burnered. Well, armor is in the final stages, so I figured that I need to post some of the trials and tribulations I ran into during my mos process. Once I found out that the Hyperfirm basters have seams and are not cut-out under the scope rails, I decided that it would be easier and way cheaper to spead the time instead of the money to make the blaster the way I really wanted it set-up. I actually had this ready to go, but after checking the threads, I found out the tip about adding an inner barrel. So I dug out my patiently applied and sanded fillers in each of the screw holes to gain access to the fasteners. Unfortunately I had already bondo-ed the seams and effectively solvent welded the two halves together. I could not get the shell halves separated, so I had undone my work for nothing. Now here I am plugging and smoothing things back out to take another approach at this. Plugging the hole and patching seams

Tony, as I stated above, I tried the hot water bath...it maybe helped a little, but the return edges restricted any changes. {Engineering note: Return edges act like the flanges on an I-beam, they give rigidity and resistance to twisting to the flat part it is attached to.} So, I all but removed the edges and they flex enough to basically open up to put on and not be too tight once in position. With the return edges, they were so rigid that even when softened with the hot water, they would not greatly change shape and actually tears in the return edges started to occur (that was a major clue that they had to GO) I also removed ALL of the returns from the shoulder bells, because they were 1) too tight and would not stay high enough, even with strapping, and 2) they would "squish" themselves out of place since they were not wide enough to cover the overlap part of my biceps, since my biceps are much bigger than the molded curve of the shoulder bells. I like the look that return edges give to provide the illusion of thicker, heavier armor, but I just need this "thinman armor" to open up a bit. Besides these are the only parts with this issue (we'll see about the shins) and the rest will provide enough to make up for it. I knew I would be tweeking my armor, but I had hoped I could at least get everything together enough for basic approval before this process began......just another perk of not being average size

Got any tips for making the oval biceps more round? Sent from my Imperial communicator using Tapatalk

Yes, the ukswrath combination Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Tried put on my arm armor after sewing my shoulder and front-to-back straps and snaps, and discovered that my biceps were way tighter than I remember after gluing up just a month ago. So I tried the hot bath method but there was too much return edge left to keep them from flexing to the rounder form I need. Instead this caused small tears in the return edges and pulled apart one side of the cover strip at each location. So I went ahead and pulled them apart to trim some more since I just wasn't feeling the ABS dust today Sent from my Imperial communicator using Tapatalk

Okay finally getting to the dreaded shins, Here I have 24/27 on the left and 25/26 on the right Hopefully this is correct [emoji3] Sent from my Imperial communicator using Tapatalk

Thanks so much Tony That's good news indeed as I am at a crossroads as I am sure are many others new like me. Thank you again for all of your continued unselfish help you give to this group!

Seriously, can I extend the ab plate instead ? Or will my EIB be rejected for it? Of course I am assuming it would not matter for basic acceptance PLEASE can a DO or other please clarify this???? Thanks on advance for dealing with all the noob questions

Still haven't found much time to get back on track with this build, but did some velcro install and fit checks today Now I truly see the advantage of snap, especially for shoulder connections Still going to use velcro for the first round though just to figure put locations ( not much flexibility on snap location outside of "rip off and re-glue") Question: How much does the shoulder overlap the bicep? And should the lower return on the shoulder bell be removed? Sent from my Imperial communicator using Tapatalk

BUT......do NOT use the industrial strength It will melt the ABS !!!! Trust me as this happened [emoji30]

Is that allowed? Even for just EIB? Because I like this idea!

Thanks so much! And for the ref pic too! Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Was anything said about your thigh pack when you submitted for approval? From Tony's build thread it seemed that the pack was supposed to be offset, but I really wanted to install it the way you did...centering the middle pack on the coverstrip Thanks in advance for any tips!!!

Okay, hard to find time to work on my kit right now, but trying to wrap-up some details at least. so I thought it'd be an easy task to slap on the thigh ammo pack....WRONG! My understanding is that is is supposed to have the pack ends evenly spaced on the lower thigh ridge, but this offsets the packs from the center of the coverstrip. So off to reference pics I go......but most screen caps focus on the helmet, upper armor placement and TD shots. The only one with any clarity and close-up enough to be of any value was this: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/137-screenshot72343/ So maybe it looks slightly shifted to the inside (left)?? Also I checked the CRL and the only requirements listed are for the pack being on the lower ridge, having rivets, and being painted UGH... Evenly spaced ends of centered pack? Flush with top of lower ridge or mounting holes centered vertically on ridge? Still TO-DO: - commit to a shin combination - finish sizing shins and glue-up - Cut apart lenses for new mounting nuts installed in helmet - knock out ANOVOS strapping just for basic approval Then: start trooping and upgrade straps, shims,& helmet electronics along the way

Tony, just a quick couple of questions on the thigh ammo pack:1) back edges are centered, NOT the ammo packs themselves, right? Would it be unacceptable to center the middle pack on the cover strip?, because my OCD really wants that[emoji15] 2) What is a cap rivet? What you installed looks like small Chicago screws to me but I can't tell. Is there a downside to using the Anovos supplied split rivets? This is probably obvious to you experienced builders, but us first timers don't find all of these details to be so obvious Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Thanks againI am still learning so not near the point of bickering but just researching I appreciate the clarifications so I can at least qualify to troop with my local garrison, but also to tailor my armor to what makes me happiest....at least that was kind of the point of buying and building the armor My Reasons: 1. To join 501 to volunteer and make kids/fans happy 2. Once qualified per #1, to give back to the community thru 501 events 3. Have fun and enjoy my kit and character Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

So if I shim but leave the notch where it is, is that suitable only for basic? I really don't understand if the gap must be removed for all levels and at which level the notch becomes a concern Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

So your t-nuts were #6? The smallest I could find without barbs was 1/4". Does the smaller screws hold the lenses well ( big enough head size)? Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

The final word was that YES the notch has to move to the end. I don't agree with how that looks, but "them are the rules" so im going to do it because stormtroopers follow orders from their higher ranking officials [emoji2]

Worked on the hand guards, sculpting a curve into the plates. And since these are going to be eventually replaced, I tried forming them with a heat gun. I was super careful and they came out gret. Once the plate was heated, I pressed it onto the back of my well gloved hand to shape then ran under cool water to set it. I still don't know if I would have tried this on more critical plates, but I wanted to give it a go in case my shins need adjustment and I'm not successful with the hot bath method. There is definitely more art involved in the heat gun method and things can go south quickly if you overdo it. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk