Gwithian

Well a lot can happen in a week, but no progress has been made to my build until today. My Neice's son, Charlie, who is four, has been diagnosed with leukaemia, so we have been back and too to the hospital until today, our grandson has caught chicken pox so we are not allowed anywhere near him.... So today I thought I would try and take my mind off stuff and do a bit more to the build..... I haven't got very far and I have more questions...... Ok firstly I finished trimming the front of the right thigh and fitted the internal cover strip to one side, I did the usual stuff, marked the cut line out, scored it and snapped it off, sanded the inside and glued a 15mm internal strip.... Oh last week I popped to my bike dealers and they gave me this for my lid I'm well chuffed , it's nice and soft on the inside so it will prevent scratches when it's stored Next I worked on my magnetic shin closure, I duck taped the magnetic strips I made the other week to the inside of the shin Taped the magnets that will fasten to these on the outer cover strip Taped the outer cover strip to the outside of the shin Once I have sorted the final place for these, I will dremel out the abs on the shins to allow a snug closure This is what they look like fitted I still think it needs to be a bit lower, but that's as low as they will go on the boot. Now for my questions, I want to start trimming the other bits n bobs Sniper knee plate.... Do I cut where I've drawn the pencil line at the bottom.... I'm guessing there is no return edge as this part is glued to the shin? Top return edge? 3 to 4 mm? I will cross the angle that it fits to the shin when I've trimmed it Ab buttons..... Trim as I have outlined with the pencil ? Shoulder bridge..... do I leave 2 to 3 mm all around? Also does the wide rib go to the front or back? Finally drop boxes what thickness should they be? I realise it's a lot of questions, but I thought I can be sorting all this stuff out in between other things Thanks

Thanks Christine and Paul, I now see what I need to do, align kidney and ab at the top Christine, I will try and get the greaves down lower and will try the stirrup I very much appreciate both of your help , I would be totally lost without it.

The armoured on the UKG advised me to realign my butt and kidney and I'm thinking it should look like this, this also helps slighthe right side of the butt with the kidney notch, some pics further down .., Christine pointed out that my kidney and ab weren't aligned correctly They were like this She gave me this diagram from FISD And I think they should look like this, so I guess I need to trim the kidney. the thing is I've looked at this alignment loads of time and I have been so engrossed with getting the butt and kidney notch to align that I totally missed the alignment of kidney and ab.... it's complicated meaning a TK The butt and cod are better aligned now at the bottom , and the right hand side lines up with the kidney notch perfectly as shown above, but the left side leaves a lot to be desired Now the measurement from the central raised bit of the butt to the side is 6.75 inches on the right and 7.25 inches on the left .... so I'm thinking the left may need trimming..... I need to measure the kidney first, not done that yet..... doh.... what is it they say "measure twice, cut once" I've ordered a heat sealing iron as I'm going to have to make a new return edge on the kidney and the normal household iron I've been using really isn't up for the job...,. Anyway other stuff I've been up to.... I was not best pleased with the internal cover strip I installed on the left thigh, I mean it was really not a good job, I would have said a monkey could have done it better, but I don't want to offend any monkeys.... lol So this is it, I guess it's just as important to post what's gone wrong so as to help new troopers who may read this in the future..... sorry I'm rabbiting in again.,.. So I split it with the knife and spent an hour removing the glue...... that will teach me ... doh I find that a small off cut of ABS helps and then some medium sand paper Then I fitted the internal cover strip to one side, I will do the other tomorrow I also tried on the left greave, I still think it's s bit high in relation to the knee.... or does it need to sit lower on the boot, or is it a bit of both ? Apologies for not wearing the undersuit Next I started to trim the right thigh, took the excess off the top and bottom leaving enough to allow a 3mm return edge, which will be refined with the dremel when they are stuck together I trimmed the raised ridge at the front to take the 20mm outer cover strip, marked where I wanted to cut Scored it with the stanly knife, 4 times, it looked like this Bent it back and forth and off it comes This is what it looks like Now I know from Christine's and Frank's build threads that the right RS thigh doesn't align properly You would think it would be like this.... but it's out at the top So when you align the top, it's out at the bottom (a good half a thumb fir a small person) However no worries as it will be coveted by the thigh ammo belt ..... Anyway that's me done for the moment ..... I think

Thanks for the comments and advice, Christine, Frank and Paul. paul.... I will do as you recommend to the shoulder bells Christine.... I've looked at that diagram you posted a thousand times, and it's only today that I see where my kidney is not aligned correctly with the ab..... ive been concentrating too much in the butt........thanks for pointing that out Frank.... your suggestion to strap the chest and back together makes sense..... what should the gap be between the shoulder bridges of the chest and back piece...... I see I have a ton of work to do, your expert help doesn't give me confidence, heck when I started out I was going to buy a full commission from RS, but then I saw Christine's thread and thought yeah have a go...... and I'm so glad I did...... now i I just hope I can make you all proud and join you in the ranks of Centurian...... once again, many many thanks, if we ever meet up the beers are on me

Congratulations Frank, great build, beautiful armour, well deserved...... I'm really chuffed (pleased) for you

Well this morning I treated the greaves to a pot of boiling water to help mould them into shape ..... they are a lot better now Then I tried the armour on, I can hardly see out of the lid, just what's in front of me, I can't see down at all other than what can be seen through the teeth..... the problems of being a small trooper seem never ending lol Oh and the shoulder bells are a tad too big, the cod can't go any higher without my voice changing pitch lol I think it's time I shortened the right greave and start work on the right thigh . Not too sure if the left greave needs to be shorter?

It's been a lovely day here today so I decided to clean the car and the bike What's this got to do with my armour.... well I was thinking, yes I know that's dangerous, but still I was mulling a few stormtrooper things over.... you see my gloves have gone a sort of grey white And I was thinking how could I get them back to black..... then bingo.... I was spraying the bikes frame with silicone spray And I thought that might do the trick..... what do you think.... the difference is obvious Ok I know you may know this but I'm well chuffed So I started pootling ...... I took the magnets and clamps off the greaves , removed the tape and gave them a polish, it's amazing how sturdy they are with the inner cover strips..... sorry I didn't take a photo I glued an inner cover strip to the left thigh And decided to stick the torso together again with duct tape for a trial fitting tomorrow.....?the thing is the butt piece doesn't like up with the kidney on the left hand side, the right is bob on The middle lines up too But the left..... It can have a hot water bath tomorrow to see if it makes it any better, the thing is from the raised bit in the middle to the right side edge is 6.75 inches, the same measurement in the left hand side is 7.25 inches, half an inch more.... so do I trim it? Anyway some pics of the torso taped together, tomorrow is decision day regarding do I "slice the fish?" Aka "cut the cod" ..... I really don't want to do that but hay it may be a lot easier than growing a couple of inches... lol So this is what it looks like It's been another good day

Well today I've sort of tidied up the magnetic greave closures, these are the pieces that will go on the inside of each greave, I still have the outside closures to do Anyway glue dried Trimmed the excess glue from the edges and around the magnets Got all the excess glue off and sanded the edges This is how they will be fitted to the greaves, the parts where the magnets are covered by the greave will be dremeled out Cut and sanded the inner cover strips to both greaves Sanded the inside of the greaves 20mm inner cover strips glued and fitted They will be treated to a hot water bath on Monday to get the rear to align properly .... I'm well chuffed with today's progress

Thanks for the tips, advice and encouragement, if it hadn't been for you and frank and the armourers on the UKG I would have fallen at the first hurdle . Thank you inner cover strips to be fitted to the greaves tomorrow and hot water bath Monday

Thanks Christine, inner cover strips willl be fitted to the greaves, I'm guessing 20mm ? I think ink that is a job for tomorrow

Enjoying this build Christine, I'm still trying to work up the confidence to cut my cod, the thing it I know I will have to do it and trim the butt too but it's like the elephant in the room, I'm trying my best to ignore it lol. One question if I may, you said fitting the internal cover strips helped you to size the armour, I never thought of doing that, mine is just duct taped together, I guess if you need to shorten the greave you just cut through the internal cover strip too? I think i might might try that approach... thanks

Ok, today I've made some progress on my magnetic closures of the greaves . Yesterday I made four 20mm cover strips, the magnets will be loaded as in the picture First I marked where to place them Even though they are 15mm diameter I could only buy a 14mm drill bit, so I used that Clamped the strip in place before drilling, I used a couple of off cuts of wood to help I cut the burrs off with a stanly knife and then widened the hole with the dremel Sanded them to get rid of the rough bits Finished job Well almost... sanded down the sides to be glued together Hopefully it will look like this when finished Applied the glue and spread it Stuck the pieces together Just about to fit the magnets, added extra glue for good measure Magnet in place All six glued Finally held together with clamps I'm still not too sure about the greaves..... I've looked at tweaking them again, I've tightened them around the calf, actually they feel more comfortable and a bit more snug, I think the rear cover strip is more vertical, hopefully..... slowly slowly catch the monkey ...... as they say, I think I might be getting there..... what do you think? Hopefully I've made two steps forward today Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Christine, glad you like the additional poctures, I will post some more. The following thread shows what I have done with the magnetic closures, you were the inspiration for this, so I hope I have made you proud . I havent trimmed the rear of the outside greave on the left leg, it's how it arrived from RS. I have tried to tweak this today and again the pics are below .... next post, I think they look a bit better in the mean time we have been away for a few days in the Lakes, there were loads of Americans there, we met a lovely couple from California whilst climbing Catbells . Will post some pictures Derwent water And we climbed the hill catbells that's in the background [emoji3] The summit above and to prove we did it a selfie And ingleton falls Hope you like Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can do pics...... upload them in Tapatalk on the UKG then copy the post in here .... fantastic

A little bit of progress has been made I think, ... or as yoda would say Made progress think I .... Ok maybe not lol Well I've been trying to mould the kidney and butt to fit my torso, I've also tweaked the greave, made it shorter like you suggested and this is the result, oh I've also decided to Tetris the thigh to make it narrower at the top, I've not cut it yet but you will get the general idea. I'm still not happy within the non vertical rear cover strip to the greave I have started making the magnetic closures for the greaves, I have cut 20mm cover strips which will hold the magnets on the inside , this will comprise of two cover strips, one at the back, the other with holes cut out of it to fit the 15mm diameter 2mm thick magnets Cover strips cut, six magnets in place Doing a test hole on a scrap piece of ABS, couldn't get a 15mm drill bit so had to make do with a 14mm bit and make it wider Using the dremel , how on earth did I manage to do stuff before I got one of these? What it will look like when finished Went to see the Childe of Hale today, I'm stood nest to a life size statue of him, yes I'm small but please bear in mind he was 9ft 3ins

Hi Christine, thanks for the advice, I will certainly be taking it on board, I would love my armour to look like yours, how you sculptured the thighs is perfect. Ive contacted RS but I thought I would continue with the greaves to see what they are like when finished. The thing is , as you know, left and right greave are the same, so the outside left is the same as the inside right.... if you get my drift... and I haven't trimmed the outside left or inside right section at the rear, and both are a bit sque wiff , so I think I iwould need both to be replaced? I will try another hot water bath for the butt and will then strap them together, I know I'm going to have to cut the cod but I'm not looking forward to trimming the butt... but I may just have to trim it... finally .... regarding the greave and where it should sit relating to the knee.... you stopped in mid sentence...... it's like one of those cliff hangers you get in tv programmes .... oh oh I was planning to use 12 15mm magnets to hold the greaves, six on each side, do you think that will be sufficient? i really wish I could post some pictures , today my wife and me went to see the Childe of Hale, he was a 9ft 3in giant who was born in 1578 and died in 1623, he was invited to James the 1st court , in Hale village there is a life size statue of him, I look minute stood next to it lol

Hi Frank, thanks for the encouragement, it's very much appreciated. I have the left greave rear cover strip as vertical as I can get it, the thing is other than trimming the front to allow the 20mm cover strip I haven't trimmed the rear of the outer side, it just seems to be wonky ..... ive made a start on the magnetic closures like you and Christine did, I will try and post a picture ..... other than that ive been shaping the butt and kidney to get them to follow the contour of my torso rather than sticking out. I think I may have to cut the cod and resize the butt, but I thought I may try strapping the torso together first? What do you think? Also where should the top of the greave be in relation to your knee, mine is currently half way up the knee and I'm wondering if it should be a tad lower? Hopefully some pics pics to follow humm.... it doesn't line the size of my photos...... any ideas how how to upload them?

I'm currently building my TK so I don't feel qualified to post here, but what I would like to say, and I hope you don't mind, is that the help and support I have received with my TK build has been amazing and that's down to all of you. There are are times when I feel it's one step forward and two back as I progress through the build, or like now I seem to have hit a brick wall, when I see a fellow TK has liked one of my posts it makes me think "yes I am doing something right" and it gives me the encouragement to continue. Without the encouragenebt and support I have received on here and the UKG I think I would have fallen at the first hurdle . The new new look is awesome and I appreciate all the hard work you guys n gals put into this, thank you oh also looking forward for Tapatalk to start working again

Well today I thought I would trim the return edge on the left thigh and check how much I need to remove from it to allow it to fit my small legs. Trimming the return edge I put the torso on and checked the thigh against the cod/ ab and butt pieces This is how far I can bend my leg, all those pesky rebels need to do is put some steps in front of me and they will be able to escape lol I tried to draw a rough line where I think it needs trimming, that's the thigh Or does the butt need trimming or both? Now I'm not sure they fit correctly, they are perfect around the knee but I can get my arm inside the top of the thigh, is that too much of a gap? Oh and the amount of trimming needed I want to get the left leg completed before I start on the right leg Oh ... I'm presuming the return edge needs to be replaced along the whole circumference of the top of the thigh? Now the saga of the greaves.... I am really stumped and flummoxed, on the left greave I have trimmed the front on both sides to allow the cover strip , however the outside of the greave at the rear was already trimmed by RS, it's the same in the right greave, only it's the inside on that one, as left and right are the same on the RS armour. Anyway my dilemma, when I line the rear up it sort of twists the outside piece and the resultant joint is anything but vertical .... The above picture is about as vertical as I can get it and let's face it it's closer to being horizontal than vertical lol These are left and right greaves with the same problem I did think of ordering new ones but I could end up with the same results. I know the seam has to be vertical or as close to for centurion .... but mine will be nothing like that..... any ideas? Could I add a shim ? Would that stand out too much? I'm really at a loss now and the more I try to sort this out the more stumped I get , it's really frustrating . Hay hoe Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck Frank , your armour is looking amazing

Thanks for the index younplaced in your first post, it's made navigating your thread so easy, just been reading up on your magnetic closures, that she my next job Hopefully it will work

Good luck with your centurion application Frank and thanks again for all the tips [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I too have the RS kit, it's wonky, screen accurate and in my book , wonderful , as the guys n gals have said take your time, research is key, there are loads of great build threads on here. I've had a few set backs but the thing is people on here are willing to help, advise and help when things don't go as planned. No one will laugh, I guess we have all been there, the only stupid question is a question that's not asked, so look at the tutorials , at first they made me think heck can I do that, but when you see what people do you think yeah I can give it a go and it's not as hard as you think, enjoy your build and I look forward to seeing the progress you make, we all learn from each other, I've learnt she'd loads from Christine aka cricket and Frank aha fragarock plus pandertrooper snd the guys on the UKG ...... I couldn't have got this far without them [emoji122][emoji3] Good luck [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stefan the build is looking great , love the work on the lid, you did a much better job at the painting and riveting than me [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today I've not done much, I've cut some abs strips with the aim of fitting them inside the greaves to help them line up, these are the male side, I will make the female part fir the other side so they slot together. They need bending slightly to follow the curve of the greave. Once installed I plan to fit some magnets to close the greaves as Christine and Frank have done . I just wanted to check if it's ok to install these tabs on the rear of the greaves, or will that prevent centurion application? Thanks Also you will see from the last picture that the cover strip won't be fully lined up with the outside part of the greave, I mean it won't be stuck parallel to the trimmed outside greave, I've done that so that it's vertical when closed, again would that be ok? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk