wook1138

More fine tuning the fit of the torso. I am moving the placement of the base plate for the outer strap to the posterior to help with butt flare. Base plate moved and I also gave the ends a little hot water bath to bend them in a little. To stiffen up the left ab to kidney seam, I am gluing in some thicker nylon strapping. I'm not sure if this will help, but I guess we will see. E-6000 is my ticket to be stupid. I altered the baseplate for the right ab to kidney snap. I added thicker nylon strapping, moved the baseplate closer to the seam, and attached a thin piece of styrene to the back of the strap for a more rigid connection. I also ordered some black plastic sheets so I can create a tab and slot connection for the lower part of this seam. I haven't had much time to work on building the last little while - so I'm not sure when I will get to that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh yeah. I plan to trim the upper end of the cover strip. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right thigh question. The inside half looks low. The lower return edges line up, but it looks off to me. Opinions? Anyway. I’m gluing the lower half first as the seam is slightly curved to match the return edge. I also put a inner cover strip in. I did curve the cover strip a bit with a hot water bath to help fit when I glue the top half. I’ve redone this piece at least 3 times for various reasons. Mainly, the lesson is don’t build when you are tired Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He he. To be honest, there were a few moments when I was trying to get the stencils placed just right that I thought I should free-hand the whole thing using masking tape for the top and bottom edges like you did. Next time... . Can you balance out the caffeine shakes with a beer?

That looks awesome!! Nice work! Who needs stencils? Oh wait... I do. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! I really like how the paint job worked out. Can I ask what paint you used and how you did your weathering?

Nicely done! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks awesome Daniel. Good luck and thanks for all of your help'.

If anyone can pull it off, it is Sean! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You are a truly dedicated trooper, Sean. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh yeah. Especially from a distance where most people are going to see you. But yes, I'm glad I did it.

Do it...give yourself to the dark side of the force... Ha ha. I think it was about the 5th or 6th try at getting the stencil just right on the right-hand tube that I thought, "This is bull-Sith. I should tell Sean to stick with the decals". But yeah, go for it. The cleaning up is pretty easy. "Bull-Sith." Yeah, I'm hilarious.

yeah, I had read about it a long time ago and forgot until I read it again in Sean's AP build tread (I think it was Sean's thread). However,it is a bit worrisome just how easy the paint does come off.

Cleaning up the tube stripes. Well, I have to admit I was worried, but after a little scraping with a toothpick, I am quite pleased. Right side done. Left side still has some wet spots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh. Well, that is totally not what I was thinking, but yeah... that would do it! Thanks.

I second that! after some clean up it will look muck better than my tube stripes Thanks guys!! I'll try to clean it up today and take some more pics. And thank you Daniel for that pic. I think I'm going to add thick elastic to the lower/middle part of that seam. Looks like she just glued it in - I was thinking of a double or triple snap, but glue would probably be more secure. Sure makes for a nice clean seam.

Time to paint the tube stripes. I have not been looking forward to this - and I'm not ashamed to say, it nearly broke me. Okay, it wasn't that bad once I got the stencils on, but getting them placed right was a challenge for me. Cleaned the area first. lots of marks from other painting and just getting knocked around my office. The stencils come from Trooperbay. The top is how they arrive on the card. I would instinctively put the one on the right on to the left side of the helmet. But I don't believe that is right. So I switched them around - as per the cut templates below. EDIT: DO NOT SWITCH! I got called on this - and it does look a little wonky if you switch. Pencil's width from the top return edge. The ears will cover the last stripe. so I didn't paint that one. I ended up with 14 stripes on each side. You can see the bubbles on the stencil - these are pretty much impossible to avoid. This is going to bleed. Added extra tape and ready to go. I will just say it here - I hate this paint. for whatever reason, this blue tends to separate and needs to be stirred/shaken a lot. I am applying the paint in thin, dry coats. This is about the third coat. I put on 6 coats. The 4th or 5th coat got a little thick - in started to loose patience and painted a thicker coat with a wetter brush. that was probably a bad idea. Not awesome. Not as bad as it could have been, but not awesome. I'm hoping I can scrap off the bleeds once it dries with a toothpick and maybe some mineral spirits on a cotton swap. Right side of helmet. By the way, this side of the helmet in this area is quite different than the left side. These things really are wonky. Once it is dry, I will test the ears again and see if I need to remove the 14th stripe. The left side (right in the pic) seems a little further forward, but... I'm not doing this again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Third or fourth time gluing the thighs. I didn't show the right one, but that one is still giving me problems due to the funny shape of the coverstrip area. After much effort I finally managed to get this nylon base plate off. I'm moving it closer to the seam to help with the overlapping along the right ab to kidney seam New base plate. Glue is drying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, the taping process just does not do the fitting real justice. On top of it, I was doing all the fitting by myself - makes it even harder. The belt really throws things for a loop. I would highly recommend to new people that if they have the means - go to an armour party or find someone who knows what they are doing. I researched a lot of material regarding the building, but not a whole lot on fitting. My bad. Anyway, I suspect I will have the overlap on the bottom regardless of what I do - I'll be happy if I can get the top more or less straightened out.

Oh wait, "really" high density foam? I don't have that.

Thanks guys. I think the foam and new nylon strapping may work. Speaking of coming to terms with my OCD... I'm about to tackle this horror. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Daniel! I was thinking the same thing. I may add padding in a few places for various reasons but I wasn't sure how I was going to actually do it. So, test with double sided tape and then add hot glue to the foam and quickly apply to chilled armor. Best part is that I already have all those things. And since I have you here, should the back piece be a little higher up on my back here? Thanks!

Thanks! And feel free to ask any questions. The bumps are part of the ABS shoulder straps. they are glued on to the top of the chest and extend over the shoulders to the back piece where they are just tied down with elastic. They have ridges or bumps on them - the first bump on the front side is supposed to be larger than the others. AP armor also has a big bump on the back side too - gives people more room if they need it. But most can cut it off, plus one of the smaller bumps (for screen accuracy). Pretty much anything below the blue tape on those straps should be cut off.

Added a snap to the cod elastic. I left plenty of extra material for adjustments as I'm sure this is an area where comfort is of paramount importance. I replaced the two outer strap (they were elastic) with nylon along the back to kidney. This tightened up the seam but still allows some flexibility. The middle strap is still elastic. By the way, I'm using new nylon that I bought at a local fabric store. I was using stuff I bought on Amazon. The difference in quality is amazing - the local bought stuff is almost twice as thick. This new stuff is way better to work with - I'm seeing improvement along some of my seam already. new stuff is the top sample. My riveted left ab to kidney connections were done with the Amazon stuff - I will probably add new snap straps in between the riveted ones to firm up this seam. Yeah, these are the old elastic straps. I measure and label everything. I have real problems. My new upper right ab to kidney strap. the ends are extra long so I can reach in and un-snap this. Works well, but I have to move the snap base closer to the seam and tighten up the connection a little. I still have the over-riding problem I showed in my previous post - it is like the armor is way too big for me - yet it seemed fine when I did the original fitting with blue tape. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is a really good tip. I have ridiculous callouses on my fingers from cleaning E6000.