KoldKolby

Update on the build (gotta love summer plans keeping me away from this): I found out that my calve and thigh cover strips were too small so I removed those and I'm cutting new ones. It may be hard to notice with the previous pictures, but front-top pieces of the thighs aren't the same height. I would post pictures of the strips I put on and the difference of the thighs but I can't upload photos because of the file size limit and Tapatalk isn't working for me. I'll be rounding those off after looking at other AP kits to see how they made the curve. I put wire mesh in behind the teeth of my helmet, and I ordered the hard plastic lenses and the S neck trim from Trooperbay.

So I started this build last Summer, but had to put it on hold because of college. Now I'm back on Summer break and anxious to finish this. I did remove the rivets and buttons from the kidney plate since I misplaced them, and the ammo belt from the thigh since it was too high. I'm planning on using Velcro for the back of the forearms, like the calves, since my hands dont easily slide through. For my helmet, I have the flexible plastic lenses (they came as one rolled-up, rectangular plastic sheet) and wire mesh, but I don't know what to use to glue them on, or how I should cut out the plastic lenses. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This will be my last update until December, since I fly off to college tomorrow. I redid the strapping system for the torso to have the screw heads on the outside, rather than the inside. I also attached the chest piece with the straps, and now everything is stored in a crate until I'm off on vacation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Feels like everything is coming together, literally. I put together the whole back of the torso with the strapping system, and I left the chest piece off to glue on the elastic. Should I glue on the shoulder straps before or after I attach it to the ab armor with the strapping system? I also redid the outline around the ears of the helmet, and the left side turned out fine but paint got under the tape on the right side so I'm gonna redo that. Also, what adhesive should I use to put the wire mesh in behind the teeth? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So after my third attempt I finally got the snaps to work. I put the studs on the kidney and sockets on the straps, as well as extra layers of ABS to have a snug fit. Before the snaps were kinda loose. Now they're easy to use and I'm gluing down the other end. I also painted the ears of my helmet, but I think I'll go back later and make the black outlines thicker. Some spots I didn't tape off right so the outline is nonexistent on some parts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've officially reached my first problem that's stopped all major progress. I tried putting in snaps on the one side of my kidney armor, but for some odd reason the stud won't snap into the socket easily. The stud and socket snap together when they're by themselves, but once I put them on the armor and nylon strap they're extremely difficult to put together. Any thoughts on what I should do? Since I'm stuck I went ahead and started putting on the movie-accurate strapping system and cleaned off the black paint from my helmet's ears to get a cleaner outline before I use the gray paint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did put the ammo belt a little higher than normal, but that was to line it up with the bottom of the cover strip. I made sure that it lined up with the strip and the ridge, so the final product worked out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today was filled with awkward building positions and lots of annoyance. I completely redid the chin for a cleaner look, and I'm proud of the outcome. I finally put in the first straps for the torso (one side between the kidney and an armor) and I set the other side of the thigh ammo belt. I also put the sides on the thermal detonator and painted over any white spots. I hope I can have the majority of the torso put together before I leave in a week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I didn't have much time today, so I got some small tasks done. I sprayed the inside of my helmet with Plasti-Dip, put together the thermal detonator, and started putting the ammo belt on the thigh. I'll put the sides on the thermal detonator once the panel finishes gluing and rivet down the other side of the ammo belt later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today was a short session. I put the tube stripes on the helmet and painted the chin and teeth. Still gotta put the lenses and wire mesh in, but I'll spray the inside with Plasti-Dip first. As you can see in the pictures, I painted the cylinder for the thermal detonator, but I'll put it together later. I also did the strapping for the forearms and biceps. There's a long Velcro strip in them so I can adjust the length. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today felt like a lot of busy work, but I had to do it. Spent a lot of time sanding down the legs and arms, and I trimmed a little bit off of the helmet's neck to make it easier to put on and take off. I fitted the ab and kidney armor, now I just need to sand those down and start putting on the strapping system. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The cover strip for the thigh I glued yesterday finished drying, and I just glued on the back cover strips for the shins (the last strips I need to glue). Tomorrow I plan on sanding down any excess material for all of the strips, and sanding the edges I didn't completely sand down to make sure I'm not gonna get cut up, setting the Velcro on the forearms and shins, and painting the rest of the helmet decals. I'll probably start on the strapping system Thursday if all goes well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't worry about me getting ahead of myself. This is about a week of progress, including redoing the front cover strips of the forearms, only because one became misaligned and the other I thought the gap in the back was too big to use Velcro. Besides that, it's been pretty smooth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did sand them down, although I still have some sanding to clean up the look. My hands are a wider than my wrists, so a few inches from the end my knuckles (especially the thumb) kept getting stuck. So unless I made some extra wide cover strips, I thought my best bet would be Velcro. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've already made a decent amount of progress on the build, but I was posting updates on a different low-key thread. At the moment, I've glued all of the cover strips on, except for the back of the shins. I still have some sanding to do for the parts with the cover strips on. I'm planning on using Velcro for the back of the forearms, since the size is good on my arm but my hands are too big to slide through. I've put the helmet together and starting applying decals, but Im waiting till I get paint before I go any farther with that. The torso hasn't had any progress, but I have someone who'll help me with it once I finish the arms and legs. A side note so my situation isn't a mystery, I have a self-made deadline of August 13th, since I fly off to college on the 14th. I'd like to have submitted my armor by then so that I can go straight to trooping when I'm back on my breaks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk