Addertime

Yep. That's how it will happen. Not to worry, then comes the tinkering phase. On my shins, the return edge on the top of the shin sits right at the base of the patella when my knee is locked. My shins are full length. I fall right in the target zone for TK armor at 5'10". I suppose it also depends where it sits on your boots. Do you have your boots yet?

Shoulder Bells The shoulders were the easiest pieces in the whole kit but you kinda have to have the torso and arms ready before you can see how they'll work out. Shoulder / Bicep Hook Having seen these hooks several times, I figured that must be a good idea and as soon as I slipped the bicep into the shoulder elastic I was sure of it. I began by marking out the bend lines on a piece of cover-strip fall Then I used the iron on "wool" setting and heated the lines,alternating sides to make the heat even As I made the bends, I used another piece of scrap to make sure the gap was correct And the first bend is done The rest of the bends happen the same way. It looks complicated but it was very easy and only took about 15 minutes to make both pieces. They're a little lighter duty than I wanted but I wasn't sure how much material I was going to have left over to make them. Now the I see I have enough, I'll make another set in case these break. And here is the finished product:

No, there was no info wtth the caps but I had seen a post you made here on FISD on the topic so I knew to do that. Still, it took a few tries as the caps were really tight and the ABS doesn't stay malleable for more than a few secs after being removed from the boiling water. I was happy with the end result. I just expected the process to be easier.

**Note - I'm actually finished with my build. I fell behind with the updates here on the forum for a couple of reasons but I plan to get it all up here for posterity. There are a few epic, "go to" build threads here and I don't think my build or documentation brings much to the table and only a few people followed my build. I valued their support but I spent a lot of time on the build and didn't have a lot of time to post. I documented it all though and will get it all up here eventually. I'm pretty happy with the finished product and though it needs some tinkering, it's done. Thermal Detonator The end caps were a bear to get on the tube. I used boiling water and it took about 4 tries before I finally got them both seated correctly. I followed the caliper dimensions from the RS suit pics in the reference galleries and the rest was easy. Here's the making of the brackets: And squaring off the control plate: Drilling the holes and adding the screws. Finding #4 slotted pan head screws has proved difficult here in Frankfurt so I had a friend in the States mail some to me. I should have them soon.

The lengths on both the belt and knee packs are specific to your build. I noticed that different armor makers have different proportioned blocks on the belt and that directly affect the visual location of the fasteners. Disregard the 1 1/2" and 3/4" dimensions on the belt and look at the reference photos in the gallery section to get a good feel for the placement. A study of the Centurion application threads will show you that no two are exactly the same. Also, the belt and body pieces kind of need to happen at the same time. I stressed a lot over the order of operations and with good reason and I still managed to screw up a bit. The male snaps on ab piece need to happen first as you need to set the female part on the belt before permanently affixing the plastic packs to the cloth belt.

Ah, DragonCon, I'm envious. I've always wanted to go. Have fun and take lots of pics!

Biceps came out great! I like your magnet covers. At first I wasn't sure what I was seeing. In my experience, the forearms and shins were the pieces I tinkered with the most and they still move around oddly but I think that's just how it is. My TM forearms were each pretty unique. One was about a half inch longer than the other one. I decide to leave them, trusting Paul's quest for authenticity. In the end, the imperfections and differences that seem glaring while building are less noticeable when it's all together.

Nope. I've tried to get my glasses in and out of the helmet and it's not easy. I've decided to go glass free when I'm in the gear... but yeah, I might go the contacts route also when my annual comes up at Christmas time.

Love your specialized "pencil-taped-to-my-finger" tool. The shoulder bells look great!

Ha! Yep. You can stop whenever you want and leave the fit a bit loose as it doesn't have to sandwich the plastic helmet parts too tightly.

Nylon locking nuts. You keep turning the screw and as it threads into the nylon it's held tight. It won't back out even if there is no tension against it. It's sort of like having Loctite built into the nut.

Yay! Congrats on a job well done! Now... onto the next build...

I need to make one of those things also. Lookin' good! You must be getting pretty close to completion now.

Hands Or, really, I should say, temporary hands. Latex to come. Done.

Almost there! We've all had build days like that. Keep the faith.

And back to the snaps... Line 24 snaps on nylon webbing Making the elastic connecting bits and a shot of the whole mess, me included.

You might notice that the work surfaces change in various shots. I have two different workspaces... the attic is where I work on quieter aspects late at night and the basement is where the hammering, painting and beer drinking while admiring my handiwork (and sometimes drowning the misery of my mistakes) happens. You can tell where I am in any given photo by the grid on the cutting mat... tight grid on old mat = basement, big grid on new mat or floor = attic.

Snap. snap, snap. Here's the rear plate with level 3 snapage: I bought this punch many years ago when I was really into SCA fighting and it built a lot of steel armor. I love how easy it punches any hard surface. I use a spring-loaded center punch to help locate the punch die. It makes quick clean holes. I love it. And, as before, a few turns with the countersink helps to better seat the snaps. And done.

Oh snap. I considered long and hard whether to go with the original strapping. It has a certain elegance to it and if my suit had the hardware included, I would've used it but being as I had options, snaps seemed the way to go for portability and ease of dressing myself. Now... let's make some snaps! Shoulders first I found that a little countersink action helps the Tandy Line 24 snaps sit flatter against the plate.

Ok, let's get back to this... Setting up to add the split rivets. Marking, punching the holes and finished holes! And here's a shot of the rivets installed

Not that brand but they others for just a bit more. Really, I just wanted them NOW and it was an easy option.

My bucket still looked pretty unsightly even after the rivets but the ears cover the seams (and the sins). Don't worry, that's how they look.

You're welcome! Have fun with the build.

Rudimentary snap setting tools often come with snap sets. I got my line 24 snap from Tandy with a tool and the popper snaps I bought at a local fabric store also came with a tool, or rather tools as it's four different tools. Pop rivets used are typically aluminum. The split rivets I got were aluminum. Foam is available many places from Amazon to Grainger to JoAnne's Fabrics. The mesh is window screen from the hardware store. And yeah, a little acetone is worthwhile. You will inevitably mis-drill a hole and ABS paste fixes it right up.

Yay, yay, yay! Let the fun begin! I love the pre-marked ears. I spent a bunch of hours on my ears. And the paste... yeah, been meaning to do that myself. I made it a long way without needing it but all of a sudden I have a need... :| Thanks for the push and good luck with the build. So glad you got it!