KaiserW

Our build journeys are very similar. Thanks for reaching out on my armor question, I failed to find this thread previously, it is a wealth of information. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here is the thigh issue. Front looks ok, if I can work out pulling them higher, I may take a bit of the inside to close the gap on the outside. The back is my issue. See the shadow in the back picture, that's my cheek spilling over the top of the thigh piece, and the gap between the thigh and butt plate looks too big. Any thoughts?

Here is the chest and back plates with my cod/ab plate as tight as I want to get it, not quite singing soprano, but close. Thinking of straightening the top area of the back plate to get a bit more perceived height:

Here is my belt positioning, it should cover the kidney/butt plate transition, just worried about the height on the ab plate. The AM belt ammo boxes are 3.375" tall, so thinking of cutting it 3.5" and having my belt be the same. Right now the height seen is 3.875".

Here is the butt plate return edge in question. Thinking of ironing it down to get a little more length?

Posted this over on our garrison page, but not many have experience with the AM kit. Somewhat disappointing weekend working on my TK. Seems I may be right at the height limit for the AM2.0 kit. Need to make some mods to fit my torso length. If I pull the body sections up so the cod is tight, then my an impolite person is hanging past the butt plate. Ultimately I need it there, otherwise the chest/back don't overlap/touch the cod/back respectively. I have a decent return edge left on the bottom of the butt plate. I was thinking of getting the iron out and flattening the return edge to get another half inch or so, but not sure how that would look. Another option is to order another butt plate and mend 2 together to get another 2" or so length to the plate. That or does anyone have a "buns of steel" vhs I can borrow so I can get this flabby an impolite person of mine lifted Also the thighs may be an issue. I was trying to keep the rear cover strip over the transition like most kits. I ended up having to taper the cuts towards the bottom to get the strip to look vertical and in line. Ultimately they are super tight and not being able to go high enough may be part of my butt plate issue. Hoping I can remove the rear strip, place a larger rear strip in the back and expand my gap by just shy of the 20mm and re-glue the outer cover strip. Not sure if 20mm is enough circumference to make a difference, but i'm going to try. I'll tackle the thighs tonight and am going to work on my belt. Another thought I had too, I may be able to hide some gaps with the belt if I increase the distance between the kidney and butt plate. I'm just afraid the belt will sit too low in front. Most pics I saw have the belt right up against the button plate. Mine would need to be a good 2" bellow it to cover the gap well. Ugh, we'll see, one thing at a time. Sorry for the crazy long post. Thanks for letting me vent. I'm going to take pics now. Will upload soon

Slight delay in building: Had to get these done for the boys for Halloween. Unfortunately that means my TK isn't finished for trick or treating. I'm going as an imperial mechanic, I have a tie flight suit and cog beanie Next deadline for my TK is for Rouge One! Luckily I learned a lot rushing through the kids builds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reassurance Storm, that is what I did. The elastic is on the front piece and ready to fit on the back, and I will trim if needed once I see how it fits. I had to step back from my building and work on the kids TB's and FN for Halloween. Almost done, but boy is it going to be a mad dash for the school Halloween dance Friday I will at least be able to wear my cog flight-suit and beanie for Halloween . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wanted to get the ab/cod/kidney trimmed up, but ended up taking over a poke gym with the kids after work and getting a quick bite at wendy's So instead I repositioning the sniper knee plate, I didn't like how it was laying. Trimmed a bit off one side so it laid flatter in the edge, and centered the diamond more. Very happy with how it turned out. Then I decided to go ahead and at least get the front cover strip on the thighs, that took a bit longer just due to the size and curvature. Also tried to minimize the gap at the bottom of the left one where there is no cover strip. So now I'm ready for the body stuff. I test fit yesterday, and I'm pretty much at max height for this suit. Gonna try to trim up the above mentioned pieces and get snap plates installed as well as the suspenders system so I can make sure I trim the thighs accordingly, if at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok this got me thinking (I know this could be dangerous) Back when I was doing my initial research, I remember seeing something (post or video, not sure) about someone making a jig/mold from wood to match the return edge they needed, and formed it around the jig with the sealing iron. You could try the same thing with a scrap piece of wood to help keep the area flat and at 90 degrees. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got the chest and back plate all trimmed up as well as the shoulder straps. I am trying to figure out the best placement for the shoulder straps. The tops of the chest flare a bit and I kept a bit of return edge, so the strap doesn't hide the top of the armor. I have the straps covered in tape holding them onto the chest/back pieces to test fit. So no pics tonight of my quandary. Going to go through a few AM threads and see what others did. Here are the trimmed pieces though: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The AM2.0 kit is 10% bigger on average. So it's been tough to go by the standard measures. I personally am just going for basic right now with my AM2.0. The notch is one less thing I have to worry about. I can always come back to it if I decide on EIB or Centurion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Sentry. Tested this Sunday night, it looked good for adhesion Monday, so I put the helmet back together, looks much better. Got the sniper knee attached, may need a bit more reinforcement, we'll see when I pull the clamps/mags tonight. Got my snap plates for all the AB stuff made as well. I can just use a solid button with a webbed snap in place of split rivets on the right side ab, correct? I know it won't be centurion, but right now I'm just going for basic. Sorry no pics, my phone was playing music, and subsequently died Btw, the faceplate attachment on the helmet is going to be a pain. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tried photobucket last night on my laptop, it sucks. The mobile app is a breeze. The hot water bath didn't deform any of my armor, just made it pliable enough to reform, then ran it under cold water to hold the shape. 30-40 seconds in boiling water with the heat off is what I did Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did the boiling water pot on my forearms. Only thing I learned is to clamp your cover strip ends to help hold the shape. Otherwise the cover strip just popped off, also I only used external cover strips on my forearms, so not sure if it applies to internal cover strip construction. Did you figure out the back/front chest piece locations? There should be a gap there, covered by the shoulder straps, which is why they don't line up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thighs trimmed and test fit. definitely gonna need to take a bit off the top, but I will wait till I have the midsection fitted to ensure minimal gap between the thighs and the cod. Shins were a bit of pain to figure out R & L. I am 99% sure I have it now. Hope so because the inner cover strips are curing. I also got in these magnets (https://www.apexmagnets.com/3-4-x-1-8-disc-magnets-adhesive-backed) they are great. I doubled up a 4"x4" old t-shirt square and wrapped these magnets in them with a zip tie. The nice part was they have their own adhesive, so no glue like my last set, and they seem to stay better too.

Thanks Christian! Progress so far, bells, biceps and forearms are all done. Attached snap plates this evening. Just need to remove a bit of excess glue and they are all set. Going to try to get the shins trimmed and assembled this weekend, if not the thighs too. Then it's just the ab sections and the helmet. Speaking of the helmet. I test fit some fiberglass mesh tape (like used for drywall) as a spacer between the back and top of the bucket, and everything fell in place nicely. Will fiberglass meshed between ABS with E6000 cause any problems? I'll probably test it on some scrap this weekend too, just to be safe.

That's what I get for skim reading. Good to know! I guess it's back to my plastic pick and good elbow grease Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like the use of tape to keep excess glue off the armor. Gonna steal that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great, long, weekend with the family at Cedar Point. Rode some awesome coasters! Got home early enough today, re-did the right forearm after the hot-bath ungluing. Trimmed and cleaned the left forearm, also gave it a bit more opening on the upper inside. Got the cover strips finished for the biceps and installed bell hooks per Ukw's instructions. Trimmed the bells as well and installed the elastic.

Wire in a small potentiometer to lower the voltage/speed till you get it to the level you like. Otherwise, not all fans are created equal, some are quieter than others. You may want to try a different brand.

Nice! How did you get the sides (where the ears go) to meet up with the top. Mine looks like this, and I was trying to figure how to redo it. It's almost like the whole back needs a spacer around it to line up better.

2 steps forward, 1 step back Biceps trimmed, hot water bathed to fit and ready for covers strips. Decided to open up the left top forearm a bit with the bath as well. Ended up popping part of both cover strips. So 3 sets of covers strips to do tomorrow Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Realized I left little to no return edge on the outside upper forearm's. This should still be ok for basic approval, right? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got the right forearm trimmed and glued! Going to get the biceps fitted tonight. If I am going to get this done as well as my kids TB's and TFA I need to get rolling. Also, going to need more magnets!!! It's moving much faster now with each cut and each cover strip, I like it. This is sooo much fun. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk