TK-Timbuktu

Cool, I didn't cut as much to make sure it wasn't too thin, but will have to see how it looks with the armor when fitting. the original trim line made them crazy thick though.

Awesome, thanks. And yeah the wrist makes more sense. Time to learn how to sew I suppose. I'd like to get as accurate as possible on this build, but at the moment I think I'm going to stick with the plastic handguards and maybe upgrade later on.

After a couple weeks of not working on my build, I finally got the time to get back to it. Did more fine trimming on the chest and back pieces, then sanded everything down in preparation for fitting. After that, I went ahead and drilled the holes for the brackets after checking my measurements several times. I also installed the brackets to the armor and it came out better than I thought given my measuring skills. And following ukswrath's build I went ahead and used shims to reinforce the brackets. Here are the results after some trial and error. I think it looks good and hopefully better after some paint on the bolts. I know I am going to have to drill the holes for the side rivets and cod (have them marked to drill now) and that I probably should I have done that first, but I only thought about that after the fact. Like I said, trial and error. But so far I am looking forward to keep the momentum going on this build. And finally, I was able to trim the hand guards to better fit, but I'm still thinking it's a bit thick. What's the rule of thumb on width around the handguards? I have it at about 10mm all around right now (front is wider at the moment). A lot of the photos I see are the flexible handguards but was planning on using these for now at least. And for now I am using the provided hand strap, swapped out with industrial Velcro. I also want to add another loop to go around my thumb to keep it from falling off but will look into that more later. In the meantime I am going to finish the fitting process in time to start gluing sometime this month at a locale that isn't my apartment (don't feel like breathing in all that E6000 in an enclosed space). I'm hoping that if I have it all fitted and ready to glue, I can get it all glued on the same weekend. I have 50 rare earth magnets and a 22 pack of clamps for the job, so we'll see.

Got my set of brackets in the mail from Trooperbay, so I started to measure out where I'm going to drill following ukswrath's build. Measured sides (3/4 inch) and after making the bracket holes on the sides found the middle of the back plate. After that I marked the bracket holes for the center. To ensure consistency and because I'm not the best at measuring, I'm making center lines for the brackets and measuring 20mm from hole to center line. (They're about 40mm from end to end) Next I lined up back to kidney and got them lined up as best as possible. Then I did each side of the top kidney, lining up with the back plate. Now measuring the middle of the lower kidney and the sides. And here's the finished bracket holes marks for the lower kidney plate. And to finish off the bracket hole marks for the back armor, lined up the posterior with the kidney plate. As much as I admire the asymmetry, lining these pieces up proved to be pretty stressful, but after trial and error I think I have them lined up as closely as I can. The center and left (looking from the inside) are spot on, but the right (from the inside) is off a bit, so I'll have to adjust that one later. Although at some angles of holding them center with the kidney the inner right looks close. Any tips for properly lining these pieces up without having an extra pair of hands? Inner left: Inner right: Inner right after making new bracket marks. Still not perfect but a little closer: Center: I'm going to start on the abdomen and chest plate later today or sometime tomorrow. I'm also planning on making support pads for the brackets, so that will be on the to-do list as well. And I'm not going to start drilling yet so if there are any suggestions or corrections I would gladly appreciate the feedback. Also for clarification is the correct drill bit 7/64?

Have been busy building IKEA furniture the past couple days, but I did get the chest and ab plates trimmed over the weekend. Left some extra return edge until I get the brackets to see how much I can trim off. I'm also going to start fitting this week when I get the free time, starting with the biceps.

If you haven't already, check out Panda Props videos, the way he shows it is that you want to overlap the pieces so they're even when fitting. Keep in mind he's doing a bigger size kit that is not Anovos, but check this one out and see if it helps, you can start the video at 8 mins:

Not too much to report, got all the back pieces rough trimmed, as well as the thigh ammo pack. Will get started on the chest and abdomen tomorrow, and then from there I'll start fitting. My goal is to have this completed by spring, so far I think I'm on track for that.

Thanks! I haven't started fitting yet, still doing trimming for the torso parts, but I will definitely take that into consideration when I get there. I think measuring and fitting might be the most difficult part of the whole build, so it'll be a slow and precise process for me. What parts would you recommend to start fitting first to get the hang of it? Or would you say the thighs are a good starting point?

Thank you, slowly but surely. I've watched his videos as well, I also like Panda Props videos, he explains the process more in depth.

Nice job, looking great. I'm excited to see your progress on the fitting, too. How do you like the helmet interior? I had to use a bit more padding but it seems to fit quite nicely. Still debating if I want to switch out with the chin straps. Keep up the good work!

And as per Swede's advice I went ahead and got rid of the return edges on the forearms.

Alright haven't been online in a couple days but I did get the thighs done yesterday. Here's the left one after trimming. And here they both are. Ended up better than I thought after fighting against the awkward angles. Also got the kidney plate done, will need some sanding, but this piece was softer to cut since the plastic was much flimsier than the other pieces I've cut so far. There wasn't really a trim line on this one so I just used lexan scissors all around.

Thanks a lot!

Thank you very much. And yeah, it would've helped because several pieces were missing number stickers so had to go through process of elimination to determine some of the thighs and shins parts.

Got the right thigh pieces trimmed yesterday. Didn't take too long, just getting around the awkward angles on them was a bit of a challenge. Here are some before and after shots. The "finished" result after the initial trim. Turned out better than expected, with only one minor injury to report (always wear your gloves). I also took some time to go over the "strapping system" that comes with the anovos kit, and I wouldn't trust it to hold anything. From looking over at what other people have done, I think I am going to with the brackets for sure, the belt for the thighs, and I still haven't decided on what to do with the arms yet, but I do like the method of all arm pieces being attached. Might look into it more next week and start gathering the supplies for it.