CableGuy

Blimey Jesse! You’re really coming up with some out-of-the-box ideas for this build. Very inspiring. :-)

Congratulations, David. Great news!! :-)

Hi Aaron. Yes - to my eyes, the bottom ones look okay - just the top two pairs that need adjusting. Thanks Aaron.

Hi Aaron, Thank you for the additional photos of the wrist ends. You’re quite right that this was to see the removed return edge at the wrist opening. What you have is perfectly acceptable. At this time, we will have to request a couple of changes to move ahead with your Centurion application. First up, your drop boxes look like they might be free-floating. As such, their alignment varies between photos. For L3, Drop boxes are vertically aligned with the end of the ammo belt with minimal gap between belt and box. It also appears that they are hanging a little low in your main front photo. These should be touching (or have minimal gap to) the underside of your plastic ammo belt. The drop box alignment is a requirement of the L3 CRL so we will need to see these adjusted. Ref To keep these nicely aligned, you could stitch of glue the straps in place to stop the drop boxes from moving out of place. Ref;  Another issue that we’ve noticed is the spacing of your side rivets on your ab and kidney. As Centurion is all about the finer details, we feel that we have to raise this as a required change for L3. As per the below reference photo, your top rivets are too far down the armour, leading to the middle rivets also being out of position.  To remedy this, we would suggest filling the existing holes with ABS paste and drilling new holes, spaced like the reference photo. Once completed, just post updated pictures (without belt) and we’ll move along from there. You've made a really nice job overall. Just these minor changes and we’re good to go. Thanks in advance.

How goes the build, Jack? :-)

I would highly recommend following the advice above from seasoned troopers. Armour from eBay, etsy, Amazon etc is unlikely to end well. Especially when they say it’s around £35. :-(

What an exciting time!! Great to see another enthusiastic trooper joining the ranks! .... scrap that.... the FAMILY. :-)

Hi David, It’s totally up to you as it shouldn’t be an issue for basic. Each frown on screen was slightly different anyway, so there’s really no right or wrong as such - the common element is a slight point at the ends. Personally, I’d be tempted to go a little like this;

Great progress, Patrick!! :-) For the knurling, i purchased a relatively cheap set of ‘Rolson’ shaping/modelling tools from Amazon - they happened to have a nice knurling pattern on them which worked well for mine. Here’s a pic showing the tool and the packaging that the whole set (around 10pcs) came in. Lovely build thread so far, Patrick. :-)

If it helps, I found these videos by Ross (of RWA Creations) incredibly helpful. Using these, and Starwarshelmets.com for reference, it really made the process a lot less daunting. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt_lWzaSmADNiCC8TkZyfwg Although it’s a different armour maker, the general principle is similar. :-)

Good choice. DA makes some lovely stuff. You’re doing well so far. Slow and steady wins the race, and all that. Happy to help along the way. Any questions, just shout. :-)

Just spotted another thing, Gordon. Your faceplate is currently quite high. As below, you could consider lowering the face plate to follow the typical ANH stunt look. Note how the eyes are nearly parallel to the green line; Best wishes Dan

Hi Gordon, Nice progress. As Daniel said, you have lots of excess on those ears that can come off. I’ve roughly marked on here where the cut lines appear to be on your ears (in red); You’ll see the green line in that first photo. The screws on the ears usually line up with the trap. Whilst you’re at this stage, you could consider lining up with the trap and drilling new holes. Keep up the good work, Gordon. Btw, do you have a UK Garrison build thread running? Dan

Hi David. Great job! Personally, I can’t see any obvious reasons why you couldn’t achieve basic with minimal additional effort. (Of course, the final decision comes from your GML). For me, the main thing I’d suggest is to bring those shoulder bells in as tight as possible to the chest. It looks like your right shoulder bell elastic could come in by around 1 inch and the left by perhaps half and inch. And watch the alignment of the coverstrips (legs in this example). You’ll also need to paint your side rivets and thigh ammo pack fixings white. If you’re aiming for the higher clearance levels down the line, or just want to go the extra mile, there are a few small things which would help to elevate your armour. Starting from the top, the brow trip seems a little uneven from one side to the other. Also, Anovos have a habit of applying the tubestripes quite low down the cheek. Raising these to approx. a no.2 pencil width from the cheek would be more screen accurate. The frown paint can also be extended past the in-drilled fifth tooth. This shot shows the frown and the spacing of the tube stripes; With a little bit of adjustment here and there, it looks like basic and possibly EIB are easily in reach for you, Trooper. :-)

Hi Aaron, Could we please have a photo clearly showing the wrist end of your forearms, please? Thanks in advance.

Don’t think they’re doing a run at the moment. I’m keeping an eye out for the next time they do. I’ve already sprayed (well, re-sprayed) a lid in my renovation project. It would be great to do that on a more accurate lid and to weather it like the screen used lids. :-)

Following with interest, sir. Were you tempted to wait for one of the HDPE helmets? That’s my next project. :-)

Undersuits were mentioned from Ebay. That’s fine. Armour is a very different story. :-(

Hi Ryan, Thank you for your EIB application and for the additional photo. Let's get straight in to it... CRL and EIB Application Requirements: All required submission photos appear to be present. You've made a really nice job of your armour, well done. On behalf of the FISD Deployment team I'd like to welcome you to Expert Infantry. Congratulations! Other-Armor Fit/Assembly: In this area we discuss any areas still needing some improvement. Though they will not hold you back from Centurion, Centurion is the elite level of accuracy and what we suggest here will help you reach that. As I mentioned above, you've made a lovely job with your armour. There are some small areas that we think you help you elevate your armour even further. We'll start from the top and work through them. If it does not damage or upset the alignment of your lid, we would suggest adjusting the angle of your right ear. These should, ideally, line up with the angle of the trap, as shown below. Also, it could be the angle of the photo, however, your right tube stripes appear to be further from the cheek nearer the ear. Ideally, the tube stripes would be approx a no. 2 pencil width from the cheek, equally from front to back. Ref Tubestripe reference; Moving down a little, there are a few simply dressing issues that could be addressed. A very common request is to get as small a gap between the shoulder bells and the chest armour. It looks like you might be able to squeeze that right shoulder bell in a little to match the left one. Your arm spacing could do with a little tweeking. I would suggest lowering your right bicep and forearm a little to even out the forearm to hand guard gap. Also, your thighs and shins are currently not lining up. It looks like your shins should twist out a little and the thighs should angle in. Examples below; The arm spacing is also apparent from the back. Also, be careful when aligning your shins closures to get them nicely aligned. It looks as if the inside half of your right shin/calf extends too far over and the outside half is angled down. With that amount of overlap it looks like you should be able to trim it down to match the left one, which looks much cleaner. Your butt plate appears to be riding over your kidney plate. As per the reference picture, this should sit just below the kidney, rather than overlapping. Adjusting your strapping is likely to resolve this. Whilst your sniper knee is okay for EIB as it meets the requirement, it does appear to be leaning back quite a bit. I would consider removing and realigning the sniper plate for a neater look. Your blaster looks really nice. Just a few things stood out to me. Firstly, the scope rail appears to be quite bent/curved. For a cleaner look, this could be straightened out so that it is horizontal. Also, if we are getting really fussy, (), your handle appears to have some metal effect weathering - the handle of the original sterling would have been plastic, so would not have suffered this type of weathering. A gloss black paint would help to recreate the original look a little better. Here is a pic of an original plastic Sterling grip for reference: Finally on your blaster, we would highly recommend upgrading to a more accurate D-ring. As you'll see below, the original D-rings were not as long as the current item you have fitted to your end cap. Applicant's; Reference photo; Centurion Suggestions:In this section we prepare you for Centurion. Because Centurion photos show much more detail than EIB, items pertaining to Centurion might be seen there and not here. We try to point out all we can from what is seen but the final accuracy is the responsibility of the trooper. At this stage, I cannot see any obvious areas that would prevent you reaching Centurion. We hope to see you applying soon, trooper.

Perfect. Thanks, Ryan. Be with you very shortly. :-)

Hi Ryan, We're nearly finished with your review. Could you please just post one final picture - we need a clear shot of your cod and butt plate attachment. We can see the inside of it but we need to also see the outside. Thanks in advance, Dan

Well done, Rat. Well deserved. :-) Best wishes, Dan/Daniel/Danny/Bob ;-)

Nice work, Patrick. Nicely done with the mag housing to conceal the battery. :-) Just out of interest, what’s your approach with the green stuff on the rear end cap? I can see that you’ve built up a little slope with green stuff, as apposed to the traditional squared look; Keep up the good work. :-)

As Daniel says, as long as they don’t go past the longest part of the armour, it should be fine. Most builds, (including my own and many other Centurion builds), go to the longest parts - it’s only after a so long using these reference pics that you see how the actual armour was put together. RS make great suits, no doubt, and are probably taking the more common approach to cover strips. As the ref pics show in the RS gallery, the original, screen used suit cuts off a little sooner on certain armour parts. :-)

Don’t worry about little gaps. That’s perfectly in keeping with the originals. :-) Re the size, check out examples in the gallery for a rough idea of the thickness. Also, bear in mind the angle that they will be mounted. Note the green line - the screws align with the trap. Here’s some ears to ogle. :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk