BrianD

So here is another update. Got the kidney plate shims primed and prepped for paint. I work in a body shop so my painter will be color matchig the plastic and spraying the 1 piece of armor for me. It should come out pretty close. Also worked some more on the shoulders and biceps and got the proper hardware for the cod and butt plates. I made some strap hooks but they didn't hold well with E6000 so I may have to use CA glue on them. Also got the knee plate installed and had to do a bit of shaping to the shin with some boiling water which worked really well. Any advice would be more than welcome right now. I have been pretty much doing this based solely off of build threads here and a little help from a couple local squad members. My local squad has over 90 members so I have a huge group to get info from but being as they all have jobs and a life I am trying not to bother them any more than necessary. Any way, here are a few pics of my progress.

So I think I found a solution for the missing button on the ab plate. I used some playdoh and made an imprint from the existing buttons and then filled it with ABS paste. Trimmed and sanded the edges and top and came up with this. Still needs to be attached and maybe a little more paste to even it out but once it is painted it should be totally unnoticeable. Do you guys think this will work?

Thank you again Tony. I will trim it back once I make my final fitting adjustments just in case I need to round it out a bit more for my legs. Also, thanks for the link! Very helpful.

I got the backs of the thighs trimmed at the bottoms so I can bend my legs and walk. Still need to add the ammo pack and finalize the fitting. I read that it has to be attached with a solid head rivet. Can someone post a picture or a link to the proper hardware for this?

BTW... that is only finished with 1000g sand paper. I have not polished it yet. I think it will be completely un-noticable once it is shined up a bit.

OK! So my shim turned out way better that I expected. I'm getting the hang of the paste so I may redo my kidney shims too. I also added an inner strip to help reinforce one of the thighs.

OK, so it turns out that the thigh that needed the gap was actually the left not the right so I needed to add a shim to cover that gap in the armor below the cover strip. Here are a few pictures of where I am now. I got the shins all figured out and put the cover strips on properly. I still need to trim them at the bottoms and possibly at the top in the rear so I can bend my leg. As for the thighs, I got all the cover strips on and the shim started, The rears will be trimmed/rounded out at the bottoms so I can walk and then I will add an additional strip of plastic on the inside to reinforce the seam. Also got the shims on my kidney plate. They will need to be painted since the only plastic I could find locally was a slightly different color. Any suggestions of the best color matched spray paint that I could use to paint my kidney plate?

Can anyone tell me the proper color spray paint to match the gloss white color of ABS? I added shims to my kidney armor and the plastic that was used is a different color white. I would like to paint the entire kidney plate and shims but I need to make sure they are going to match the rest of the armor. ANy specific brand that is recommended over others? I have read some use Krylon, some prefer Rustoleum. I know how to prep and prime it already, I just am concerned the color I chose isn't going to match. Thank you,

I have another question. The only thigh piece that fits too tight is my right thigh. My left thigh is actually a little large so it will need to be trimmed. Now, being that the side I need to have the gap in will be covered by the ammo belt attached to the bottom of the right thigh is this even anything to have to worry about? Many of the pics I have seen in the build threads as well as in the pic referrence for the costume requirements here on whitearmor show that the back of the thighs are trimmed and rounded up above the lines of the bottom of the thigh pieces and all the way up to the bottom of the cover strip. Is there any reason I couldn't just follow this method?

My original plan was 25mm (1 inch) cover strips on the front and 30-32mm (1.25 inch) in the rears. I will look through some more of the threads from the link you provided. Thank you.

I would like higher than a basic approval if possible. EIB or Centurion is the ultimate goal. The pics of the pieces that are already glued are the shins so that shouldn't be an issue, They won't be seen. I haven't glued the other half of the thighs yet so I could butt them up properly as you suggest. Would it be an issue if I were to use a bit larger cover strip in the rear and make a small shim to cover the gap in the rear only? It would be easier and probably cleaner than a shim that runs the entire length of the thigh. Just a thought... I'm here to learn so I will follow any recommendations or suggestions for a solid, proper build.

OK, so I need some advice. For the shins and thighs I had to separate the 2 halves by about 1/4-1/2 inch and cover the gap with a cover strip so that they would fit me. The shins is no problem since there is a cover strip that runs the entire length on both the front and the back but what about the thighs? Since the cover strip stops short at the bottom there will be a noticable gap. How do I fix this? The first pic shows what I mean in regards to the 1/2 inch gap hidden by the cover strip. The 2nd pic shows what the gap is going to look like on the lower part of my left thigh armor.

It was just a fine line masking tape I got at the hobby shop where I bought my paint. Don't remember the brand name but I can check to see if I still have the package. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Thanks Dave. I made the cover strips wider on the legs so that they fit my shins and thighs. The 20mm would have been too small so I used wider cover strips. I didn't notice the cover strip stopped short at the bottom of the thigh, thank you! I will trim it back. What is the best way to remove E6000? I did know about the closing of the shins. It makes sense, you wouldn;t want to be able to see the velcro easily. I will have to check to make sure I put the cover strips on correct because in all honesty I wasn;t thinking about that last night when I did these, I was more concerned with the shape of the parts and what was going to make them fit better. Hopefully they end up being the same. As for the fans, do you find it better to have both blowing in or would you recommend one to blow in and one to blow hot air out?

So I had to add some shims to my kidney plate to close up the gap to the ab plate. I made some ABS paste, glued a backing plate on and added some plastic from a sign I purchased at the local hardware store. I will paint the inside when it is finished since the blue writing didn't want to come off very easily. I think I may have used too much paste but it should sand out and polish up, just may take a little more work. What grit do you all recommend I use to sand down the ABS paste? I was thinking of starting with 400 wet/dry and stepping it down to 600 and finishing with 1000. Will thei work? I also purchased a fan kit and a power supply for my helmet. Still trying to figure out the best placement for the fans. I have also finally started on the leg armor as well.

Thank you Tony. I have sent an email to AP to see if he has any. I did notice how old those threads were when I was reading them. I was just curious. Was that considered to be the most accurate way to do the ab buttons back then?

1 more question. While I was looking for someone who may have a button plate available I came across a few posts like this one... http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/1977-correct-tk-ab-button-kits-run-1/?hl=buttons What does it mean "Correct TK AB Buttons"? The ad says that these were needed for elite status but from what I read the only way for upper level approval is if the buttons are integrated into the plastic. The description in the ad sounds a lot like what I got except mine are more of a rivet instead of having a screw post. Sorry if this is a dumb question. All this info can be a little confusing for a newb.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the feedback and advice. I finally got all my snaps glued in and will be starting my test fitting tonight. The local member I have been talking to and getting advice from is the assistant squad leader and one of the costume reviewers for our local Southern California Inland Empire garrison. He is going to walk me through the adjustments I will need to make for the armor fitting. I noticed that the same buttons that came with my kit appear to be available on Jedi Robe which I know is not a reputable place to purchase armor. I will be looking for a button plate to use in place of the rivet buttons and will likely fabricate a 5th button for the one that is missing from the right side. I'll post some more pics in a couple days when I get the body and arm armor all sized up and fitting comfortably.

That helps a ton, thanks! I have gotten some explanation of the shim process from a local garrison member so when the time comes I should be able to figure out how to make it clean. Any recommendations on where to purchase a 4 button plate? Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

The kit came with buttons. They are pre painted and they install in the ab plate kind of like split rivets. It came with all 9, both blue and gray. I know that according to the CRL here it says that will not qualify for centurion approval but I have been told that different garrisons have different requirements. Honestly a basic approval would suffice for now being my first attempt. This may end up being a display suit being as how I have no idea how it is going to look on my larger frame (I'm 5'10", 240 lbs) and may have too much black undersuit showing. I have been invited to my local garrisons build party in a couple weeks so hopefully they can help me work through some of my concerns. Out of curiosity, how would I go about sculpting some buttons if I decided to not use the ones that came with the kit and go for centurion level approval? I assume I could buy a button plate with the 4 buttons and glue it on but what could I use to build the 1 missing button from the other set of buttons?

So after reading through some more threads I decided to go with elastic strips. I got 1", 1.5", 1.75" black and 1.75" white for the shoulders. I had to redo my lenses. I used super glue (oops!) and the fumes messed up the lenses. I pulled them and have new ones on the way. I did add some 1" foam padding inside and got the mic tips installed. I also got some more snaps installed on the body armor. I have more snaps in the mail so I can start on the arms and legs when they get here. My boots should arrive tomorrow so I can start fitting the legs as soon as they arrive!

Oh... should I use nylon webbed straps or should I use elastic bands for the straps? What width for what areas? What width white straps and what material should I use for the shoulder straps? THanks!

While I am waiting for my boots from TK Boots to arrive on Monday, I have been working on my body armor. I have been using the CRL's, build threads, stickies and screen shots as well as was getting lucky enough to find 2 local Southern California Garrison members who live in the same city as me that have been very helpful to help me getting to where I am. Thank you everyone for your willingness to help, give advice, criticize or comment to let me know whether I am on track or not. Here are a few shots of my body armor so far.

Thanks. What about the edge? Should it be white too? Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I read that the mic tips should be white. Is this correct or am I better off leaving them all black? Also got the lenses and neck trim installed... .