BrianD

So, I think I just have the gloves left and I'm finished. Thank you Tony for the heads up on the belt issue. I will address that soon. I will need new gloves and handguards soon as well since I am hoping to go for EIB or Centurion eventually. I have also secured the left shin armor to the boot with Velcro. It doesn't twist like it is in the picture below.

Pics didn't load. Let's try this again. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I got the shins fitting properly now. Wanted to see if you guys could confirm the placement of my holster. Thanks! Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Got the new straps and snap plates done and made the final fits to the ab and kidney armor. Fits nice now! Have to finish the straps for the chest plate, trim the bottom of the shins and add velcro and redo the straps and snaps for my belt and thigh armor but other than that it is almost finished! I had a question on the belt drop boxes. Are the boxes supposed to line up with the very outer edge of the ammo belt or are they supposed to line up at the edge of the 45 degree cut? I posted 2 pics at the bottom here for reference to my question. Thanks!

I am considering going with dual snap straps for the body armor. Would you consider that overkill? I ordered Tandy snaps that should be here by next Monday (hopefully sooner). I am concerned that all the movement while trooping may cause a snap to come undone and lets be honest, reattaching a snap is not always the easiest thing to do while wearing this armor. I figured with 2 snaps on each end instead of just one it should be pretty solid and not have to worry about it coming apart.

Roger Roger!

Thanks Tony. I think I should be able to trim it to be pretty close to flush. As for my calves, yes they are on the large side but it appears like that for now for 2 reasons. First, I have not trimmed the lower section to contour my boots yet and 2nd and probably the primary reason is that I have not added the Velcro yet so the shin armor is not closed in the back. Once it is attached on the back it will close that big opening at the ankles. More to come... had to redo my drop boxes and shorten a lot of the elastic straps to close up some gaps. I picked up some black snaps (Sew-ology brand) and realized that once I already did 3 or 4 new straps when I went to snap them together they didn't even come close to holding. The female part was way too big to snap onto the male end. 1 more trip to the store for supplies lol! Oh well, I'm almost there!

Oh, I also trimmed down my drop boxes! I did have one question... can the kidney shims overlap/underlap on the ab plate at all for EIB/Centurion levels? I need to shape them some more, but if I don't cut them I will have a 1/2-1" overlap. It would look seamless when I finished it, but I thought I read they should but up and not overlap. Any advice how to get it tight? Here is a pic of them. They have not been heated and rolled in to contour my body yet. It just shows the amount of overlap and what it looks like tucked in.

OK, so I got an Imgur account. Hopefully this works. I did a test run on myself without the final adjustments to the straps so please don't tell me how bad it is... I know! LOL! Then I built a duct tape mannequin to help. I have since been in contact with the local SOuthern California Inland Empire squad to help me dial it in, which I am in process of now! ANyways, here are a few updated pics.

Ok, so I wanted to give an update but Photobucket has crapped out and my photo files from my phone are too large to upload. Any recommendations on an easy way to begin attaching photos again?

I made my drop boxes so that they can be opened or used to store small items. Good or bad idea?

Ok, so I attached my knee/thigh ammo belt with split rivets. From what I read this is still upper level approvable. How does it look? My ultimate goal is to get Centurion approval so please, if anyone sees anything so far that needs changing please speak up! Does this look ok so far? I should have everything together soon. Been slow the last month or so due to waiting for parts and not having a 2nd hand to help me with suiting up and measuring/fitting everything to make sure it all fits well. Thanks!

I wanted to make things easy to remove from the helmet. I hear they can get quite sweaty while trooping so I thought it would be nice to be able to clean it. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

So, I finally got my knee ammo belt and I am ready to finish my legs. Is there an exact measurement from the corner that the split rivets need to be placed or is it open to what will work best? Also, do any of you attach it at the front center with glue or Velcro or is it best to just use the rivets?

I'm almost finished. I have been waiting for a replacement knee ammo belt which should be here any day now. All I have left is to mount it, measure and trim the shins and add the Velcro to the back of the shins. Hopefully I will be able to post some updates in the coming week or 2. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

It is. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Finally got a chance to do a quick update. I'm waiting on a replacement part. In the meantime I have been working on my helmet and building a blaster kit. It is a 3D printed kit that was a blast to build. I'm not expecting it to be perfect but I'd like to hear opinions. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

What kind of rivets should I use to attach the drop boxes to the white elastic straps? Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

http://www.jpcycles.com/product/126-502?redirectedKeyword=126-502&totalResult=1 This is what I got. It fits nicely and doesn't lift the helmet up too far so I can see. I plan on just using Velcro to attach it so I can remove it easily for cleaning. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Trimmed the button plate and started on the belt. Cut the 45° angles on the ammo belt and added some snaps to attach it to the belt. Waiting on a belt I ordered from TKittle and a holster (and neck seal) from Darman. Also got the kidney plate painted with the shims installed. Turns out the closest color was either a Porsche or Ford white. My painter did a great job matching the color of raw plastic. Also made a belt to attach the thighs. Once my belt arrives I will fine tune the body armor to make sure the thigh placement is dead on. From there I will trim if necessary and then start fitting the shins. Also plasti-dipped the inside of the helmet and got a bicycle helmet liner instead of the foam I had in it previously. Much more comfortable and looks a lot cleaner. I'll post pics of the helmet once I get the fans installed. Anyways... Here are some pics of my progress. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Thanks. I'll get that trimmed down. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Thank you very much! Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Is it ok to remove the return edges off of the shoulder bells? I need to get them closer to the chest armor and that would help a lot. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Painted the buttons. I had some issues with the decals I had so I decided to hand paint them. No stencils, just free handed. Look ok? Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

A few pics of the buttons installed and my personally organized workshop lol! It's a mess but I know where everything is. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk