TK-Tom

Helmet pics - just need to mount wireless mic (hoping the fans will not be a problem, being so close to the mic) Can you tell I am a rookie armor builder? The inside of the bucket just does NOT look professional, but it is functional and fits me.

Light starting to break through at the end of the tunnel~

My fans have been running for ~2 hrs now and still going. Should work great. Thats it for tonight folks. TK-Tom out~

Lastly, I needed to stretch out the stiff as a board Anovos Holster. So I worked it with my hands and left a soda bottle in it for days now. Need to fit my HFX E-11

Next up tomorrow night, I will finish off my torso tweaks. Painting screws white, shortening the back plate to kidney plate elastic, installing sound setup, and replacing chest to back velcro-elastic with snap plates. This is something that I felt like I needed/wanted, to keep the parts closer together. They go on the lower corners of the chest and back. Had it working on my first fitting and I liked how it felt and how I moved around things stayed put. So I made the snap plates to replace velcro.

Got me a polishing tool for the larger armor pieces - fits my drill, and I will use Novus 123

Replaced Hovi Tips with ones from UKSWrath (non speaker version), because I am shooting for EIB and that was needed. So now bucket it ready, just need to install wireless mic, but it is charging up tonight. This is not a pretty bucket interior, but it is functional and fits me. Maybe someday I can become advanced enough to have a super nice, professional looking interior. But alas, I am still a rookie...

Got replacement TrooperBay S-Trim and my bucket foam

Replaced velcro with snap plates to connect biceps to shoulders. Bicep clips would not work, I need the biceps where they are shown in pic and clips would be too low. This will prevent the twisting I had in my first full fitting too. Used nylon, not elastic

Some other misc things I needed for the bucket, fans (decided to go USB), had hard time fitting USB sticks in to run fans, I wanted 1 power stick per fan. Overkill I know, but I'm a rookie and don't know any better. Got these for $3.75 each at FYE Had to black tape these together then velcro with USB connectors up. Still a tight fit, and not perfect, but functional in bucket... Wanted a chin strap so I can move my head better... Attached these to the ear screws.

Still working on the bucket, could NOT get the padding to fit me right. Two hrs of messing around and still no luck. Come to find out, the padding was .5" and I need 1" so i tried to pile on top of each other, but the curvature was too much. Felt like my brain would come out my ears. Finally got padding that works, in tonight.

Then I needed to E6000 the T-Nuts to the helmet. Some people were saying that E6000 gluing metal to ABS will disfigure the ABS on the other side due to E6000 heating up the metal. I never had an issue with that when I glued snap plates on my torso, but just in case, I added some painters tape to the bottom of the T-Nuts before gluing. The Anovos helmet is very, very thin ABS so maybe they were right? I decided to do a test first, but is was not an accurate test, this was thicker ABS... No warping on the other side (no pic) I had no issues with gluing.

Wanted to replace the lenses in the bucket, so I got this from TrooperBay. Perfectly accurate, but way to thin and not dark enough.... So instead of ordering the correct ones, I decided to cut up my original Anovos lenses and try to emulate what KMAN did with his lenses.

After replacing the ear screws with the proper ones from TrooperBay, I had to paint them white. I got some Testors gloss white enamel paint and dipped the screws in. This paint seemed a little thin to me, but it worked. Except when I put them back into the ear, I tightened them too far and had pancake ears. So I had to loosen them up. Looks better... I touched up the paint after I was done messing with them

So, let's take some time to update my progress on my tweaks and other things I need to get done for approvals. I did not like the excessive gap on my left ear, and while it is acceptable, it was a little too excessive for me. So I examined things really well, and figured out that I could CA glue the part of the face that overlaps the back on the helmet on that side, and presto! Gap is minimized to my liking. BEFORE... AFTER...

Thank you sir~ Had one heck of a time last night, trying to get padding in the helmet. I purchased these: https://www.amazon.com/Myheartgoon-Tactical-Airsoft-Helmet-Accessories/dp/B016GTU3PK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1470420088&sr=8-3&keywords=helmet+padding but they are only 1/2" thick and it was not enough to prevent bobble head. If I stacked them, then it was headache city. Got so frustrated. So I will try this and if this doesn't work, I have a trooper who is sending me some EVA. Three places to install and done he tells me.

With much of my time this past week, taken up for our local church VBS, my official submission photos will be next Saturday or Sunday. This will give me time to finish off my tweak list and do some polishing of the ABS beforehand. Disappointed, but that's life. I should still be able to make it in time for my first Troop - Star Wars Night at the Syracuse Skychiefs MiLB game in Syracuse, NY.

Tony, do you have rough measurements on cutting this...

Ok then. PM Sent.

Ok, does this picture give you a better idea/look?

Ooops sorry, not at home right now so I cannot do that. Can post later tonight. But moot point if you are selling

Here is the original Anovos Hovi...

I have been trying to purchase Mic Tips, just because things like that will save me some time, but the guy just has not responded to my multiple PMs http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/4369-mic-tips-mic-tips-mic-tips/ Is there someplace else I can order the Hovi Tips? I guess I could just do the poor man's method, I already bought the mesh (if it is good enough).

So I cut the Sniper Plate one down some, about in half...

I added some foam behind the sniper plate knee area and the lower back of the same side thigh. This is 2" foam from Joann's and is very soft so it will squeeze down alot, but I think 2" is too big.