imperialbrewer

*bump* because this is awesome information and is relevant for those of us having to shim our armor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for the feedback!! I’ll give that a go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A few days pass since last posting and more build progress. I didn’t get any responses on my questions here so sought out help on RWA Creations’ Facebook group — people seemed to be eager to help and responded much more quickly. One issue I had was the sizing of the thigh pieces with a 30-40mm gap in the back tops. Some folks shared with me how they essentially built up a back support and bondo’d the front. I may take a hybrid approach: support inner strip and fill in the outer gap with as much ABS as I can and then fill in the gaps. After it’s sanded and painted, put on a 25mm cover strip on back. Currently: I also have the arms done and strapped up — for the most part they’re feeling good: Also have much of the strapping done save for the sides: But I am in the same struggle now with the torso sides with a sizable gap (I’m not exactly a thin dude): Thoughts? Suggestions? Progress photos and time lapse videos: Day six: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ft38VzYMVOoUSAlZ2 Day seven: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FMyH5AVTGVepN73U2 Day eight: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zWQIhliYcI3g66mq1 Day nine: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FRCNWXJuxMUMS1UJ3 Day ten: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mZfB0DtaahlA2Wrh1 Day eleven: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bck4zwyAPVBS1J8b2 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I’ve got the front cover strips attached to the thighs and after waiting for the E6000 to dry I did a test fit with masking tape to help hold them to fit my thighs. I’m concerned because the tops have a 30mm and 40mm gap to accommodate my thigh size, yet the bottoms I’m bringing in by about 20-30mm each. I didn’t do any unnecessary trimming in the back — I only took off the wrinkled material left from the pull, enough to make a relatively straight line. So I’m pretty sure that I’m going to need to put in a reinforcement strip inside on both legs, but is a 50mm cover strip just out of the question, or is this normal for some? Advice? Thoughts? What would you do? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was trimming my drop boxes and this thought crossed my mind, “I wonder if anyone has made functional drop boxes.” Which was soon followed up with the question, “I wonder what stormtroopers would carry in them.” Hmmm. So have you? I thought it might be useful for carrying your ID or maybe some smaller playing cards for giving out at hospital/party troops. -----------

Yeah, I still need to go back through and sand things down once I’m done with all the cover strips. I will take a second look at the cover strip angles. Thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I should’ve probably clarified, I’m not totally abandoning E6000, but plan on using it for some of the difficult pieces that I’m less confident about: namely the thighs and shins. For the most part I was really confident about the wrist and bicep pieces, so it was more an exercise of overcoming my fear of using zip kicker and zap a gap. I think some of the other pieces I might use the zip kicker, but for the items that I want to be a lot more careful about I intend to continue to use the E6000. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Continuing on with my build, The E6000 dried on the first wrist piece and it turned out pretty good. But I decided to face my fear or Zap a Gap and do the remaining three arm pieces with Zap a Gap and Zip Kicker I had a few minor screwups but nothing I think is irredeemable: • accidentally used 5/8” cover strips instead of 7/8” on the first bicep I did, which forced my hand to do the same with the other. • because of that I decided to put in some supporting cover strips on the inside for a little more strength • a couple of the strips had small cuts into them (didn’t see them until after gluing and then pulling the film off), but they sanded out. Will polish them later. • one of the forearms has a slight mishap with the zip kicker and my yellow shop cloth — I think it sucked some of the yellow pigment into the armor. [emoji35] But I might be able to fix that later with some light sanding/polishing...or as a last resort airbrushing it with some matching white paint. Could you guys just take a look and let me know if I’m headed in the right direction or if you have tips for considering — I’d appreciate it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I have seen that posting, but I still feel it’s lacking in the information. I was hoping to get the total length of that aluminum strip. Photos in the gallery just leave me guessing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know this thread is ancient in internet years, but I've been scouring the web for the measurements for the ANH TK thermal detonator clip size / dimensions. The 2mm (thick) x 27mm (wide) is good — but how long are each of the clips before bent into shape? I'd like to make my own but information has been really hard to find save for the reference photos which still leave me guessing.

No, seriously, that video was pretty helpful in getting an idea of positioning things and how the armor sits and walks. I know the strapping will help as well, but doing this on my own with no one around to help poses a lot of challenges. Thank you for your help! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I never thought I would ever say this in my entire life, but the close-up of your crotch was really helpful… LOLOLOL [emoji13][emoji23][emoji23]

Yeah trimming down that return edge helped a great deal — much more than I thought it might. Latest fitting: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OK, I think I might give that a try with putting on the cover strip on the front first, then remeasuring the back. Also a really good point about the return edge. I will get rid of that altogether. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do these adjustments look OK? I just worry the thighs aren’t up high enough. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am having a heck of a time trying to fit the thigh pieces. I think I’m measuring at the right placement but then the back thigh joints are far too apart. I think a 40 mm cover strip wouldn’t pass inspection. Tips for fitting? I only cut the front down to 10 mm each side and only trimmed off the warped material on the back from the pull. My thighs aren’t THAT big. [emoji53] HELP Front: Back: Side of knee: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A few days have passed and have made more progress with trimming and fitting. I've got the arm pieces all trimmed and fitted and have started onto the thighs and shins and have those mostly trimmed and are prepped for fitting later today. You can see galleries of the build process below with commentary: Day three: wrist trimming and fitting Day four: bicep and shoulder bell trimming and fitting Day five: thigh and shin trimming But what SCARES ME HALF TO DEATH are these damn legs. I don't know if it's just the plastic or if it's just the case for all builds — but it feels likes the leg pieces (especially the thighs) are a little warped. Trying to line up the two halves was SUPER stressful and frustrating. Even after trimming off the excess on the back (the remnants of the exterior portion of the pull) and the 10mm cut on the front halves, there feels like there's this little raised lip on both sides AND like the legs are warped and don't quite line up right. After a lot of futzing with it, I secured the fronts with masking tape on the interior to hold them together. But I really worry about this, especially when it comes to gluing the coverstrips. There's a really subtle ︿ raised edge where the come together (not THAT extreme but enough that I am paranoid about getting a thorough bond). QUESTIONS: Did you guys struggle with the legs, too (particularly pairing them up together)? Did your leg pieces feel a little warped? Any advice for the fitting portion for the thighs and shins? You can sort of see the curled lip on the ridge on the right:

Day two: starting on the wrist pieces I've started out on the wrist pieces and trimming them up, and trying to figure out sizing. QUESTION: Do any of you have a rule of thumb that you use when considering the spacing between your arm and the armor itself? I thought I heard somewhere one "finger space" all the way around, but wondering what everyone here has done when sizing your arm pieces? Day two photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o6Esd6XUTcQOkbsI3

Oh yeah, it’s not going anywhere. If anything, I’ll probably rig up a hinged EVA plate to make it easier to show others. Also good to know on the one-battery pack. I don’t have a power meter to verify anything, but when I tested the level of air being pushed through with one versus two fans on one batter, I really didn’t detect any noticeable difference. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Say @CableGuy — I've been poking around the forums and Centurion build info, and saw that you hooked up your own cooling system. I've been poking around with my own as well, two small 5 volt fans, both hooked up to one tube-shaped USB battery pack with both a switch and small LED power indicator light. Did you run two battery packs, one for each fan or did you run both off of one battery pack? At first glance they both seem to work hooked up to one battery pack, but I'm unsure about the implications of doing so — i.e., reducing the lifespan of the fans (which are dirt cheap anyway) and/or the USB battery pack.

I'm able to edit my comments left by Tapatalk, but just not delete them. I wonder if that's just an administrative setting somewhere?

So is there a way that end-users can delete their own comments on a thread? I cannot seem to find an option in the UI for deleting some duplicate posts created by the Tapatalk app when I was attempting to respond to some replies on my build thread. Tapatalk was having issues — either receiving a response from the White Armor server or completing the post/request process, and as a result I had like three extra messages posted to the thread. Is this just an administrative choice to prevent us from deleting our messages from forum threads? If so, that's fine — but then can you please go and delete these three comments [1, 2, 3] for me? LOL — thanks.

You, sir, have made my day. I've got plenty of EVA foam sheets lying around that I can just E6000 to the interior. PHEW!

So you had a similar situation with permanent marker writing on the interior of your helmet? What's the thickness of your ABS?

So I'm thinking ahead to strapping and have been watching Ross Walmsley's video series (in this case particularly his strapping videos) and the thought occurred to me about making the straps adjustable — particularly for waste level adjustments. I know pretty much everyone just measures their straps to ensure a proper fit — but for blokes like me that are not exactly happy with my manly figure right now and are trying to lose weight, the question kinda nags at me "what if I lose weight and this starts to fit too big on me? (said no one ever)" So has anyone ever added additional snaps to give you some flexibility in the fitting? I'm thinking that most of the adjustment would actually be on the sides and not the other areas — so side straps with additional snaps to bring it in for a tighter fit in the event that I shed a few pounds.