JenEcho

Name: Jenny Mehan Height: 5' 2" Weight: 140 lbs Future Garrison: Capital City Garrison (Canada) Armor maker: AP Helmet maker: AP Cloth belt maker: AP Neck seal maker: Geeky Pink Boot maker: TK Boots TK type: ANH Stunt Blaster: Brett Fulford Name(s) of any Trooper(s) who significantly helped with your build: lucnak, wook1138, GMRhodes13, Cricket, ABS80 and a wonderful local member (sorry if I missed anyone) I'm so excited!! Still need to figure out the wiring/padding in my helmet and make stirrups for my darn shins, but here goes nothing. And yes, I just noticed that I need to paint my knee ammo rivets. Oops.

Who want to play "spot the mistake"? Thank the maker rapid rivets are easy to remove. *headdesk*

And, apparently I'm a special kind of smart (or possibly a cautionary tale)... Measured my belt alignment perfectly with my button plate, snaps are perfect everything is amazing. Except - I did all this with only the canvas and NOT with the plastic ammo part. (see pic 1). Luckily, my snaps aren't set in the middle so when I flipped my belt over, it seems to line up ok (see pic 2). Is it OK though? Need your expert opinions. Don't worry - those rivets are just poked in so changes can be made without too much swearing.

Yeah, it was your pics that made me pause. I'm going for centurion, so I guess I'll trim them. Thanks

Didn't make much progress tonight. No time booo. But, I trimmed the belt ammo pack according to the Billgrams diagram, 1/2" in with a nice clean 45 degree angle. But, it doesn't line up perfectly with the edges of the canvas. Will this be okay or should I trim it so that it lines up perfectly? I'm SO CLOSE to being done, but darn work deadlines - I won't be finished in time to pick up my little one after school. Only the belt and the bicep/shoulder straps left. If I knew what I was doing with this belt, I'd pull an all nighter, but there is no way I'm going to risk screwing up at this stage

Thanks for the help! Swung by the leather supply shop and picked up some double cap rivets (which are apparently aka rapid rivets). Wondering if they might be a bit too long though at 10mm. Guess I'll find out...

I'm in the final stretch here! And apparently I've left all my questions to the end. Belt attachment (i.e. the plastic to the cloth) - What's best? I was thinking snaps would let you wash/replace the cloth if you ever needed to. But, would rivets be the more secure and correct method?

Awesome thank you both! I think we have some Gorilla Glue downstairs so I'll give that I try. And then I'll head to Home Depot tomorrow if it doesn't. Did you sand the back of the silicone? I find that it just doesn't seem to "rough up" and lose that super slick surface no matter how much I go at it with the sandpaper.

I am stumped! What will make this silicone stick?? So far, I can tell you with absolute certainty that E6000 won't, Zap-a-Gap nope, this Bull Seal adhesive recommended by the guy at the store - no luck. Good thing is at least the dollar store near me stocks lots of black rubber gloves...

Oh, I forgot the third part of my question - again I've seen it done and not done, but should I line up the ammo pack with the front cover strip?

More questions for you wonderful people! For the thigh ammo pack - how far in from the corner do you put the rivet? The spot I have marked is 1/2" from the edges. And my AP kit came with 9 split rivets. I'm assuming I use 2 of these for the ammo pack? (6 for the ab/kidney, 2 for the ammo, 1 for the cod?) Speaking of rivets - these came out just fine! Going to slap a coat of paint on them tonight when I do the second coat on my helmet screws, which look a million times better now that I've had hubby countersink them.

You're my hero <3

So it's ok if the notch is weirdly notched like that top pic? I'm breathing a MASSIVE sigh of relief if that's the case.

UGH! Things were going sooo well today, until they weren't. I did not pay close enough attention to Cricket's "cutting of the cod" step and now I'm left with an ab line/kidney notch that is off by 10mm. So, am I better to try line up the notch/bottom line and rebuild the top with scraps and paste? Or line up the top and rebuild that bottom line? I'm so frustrated right now.

Just updated my to do list and I'm pretty stoked. I feel like the end is within my grasp! My goal right now is just to have everything done for May 4th so I can pick my kiddo up after school while wearing it (because I'm the most awesome mom that way and she's still young enough to not be completely embarrassed). Then I'll do all those final sizing/strapping tweaks and hopefully be approved to do an Autism walk in June. You'll notice that I haven't tackled the actual DRILLING INTO THE ARMOUR part yet. Anxiety rising... HELMET - paint ear screws white - add second coat - secure s-trim - cut and secure lenses - cut/size padding, wrap in fabric, attach with velcro ARMS - add strapping BELT - attach plastic ammo box part - attach drop boxes - attach holster - snaps THIGHS - add ammo pack - use two rivets - add snaps for garter belt SHINS - add fuzzy side of velcro strip BODY - final sanding - add male snaps to chest plate - make female snap elastics - 3 rivets on left kidney, 3 rivets on left ab - 2 male snaps on butt - with functioning strapping - 1 rivet on cod with strapping SHOULDERS - glue straps - attach elastics, snaps, strapping MISC - order voice system - figure out fans/batteries

No it wasn't for mobility - it's cuz I'm 5'2". Definitely needed some modifications to make it hobbit-sized

Another question - even though I've sanded my small button plate down to 20mm x 70mm, it still seems to be big and overhangs the space. Anyone who's built an AP kit, did you find you had to make it much smaller?

Great idea with the extra ABS - I think if I shape a piece to fit under that return edge it will definitely help take the strain off the corner. Thanks

Boo! I have a tear in the worst place - back top corner of my left shin. That's a spot that's definitely going to come under stress from putting on/taking off my shins. I've seen the post about fixing a tear with material and crazy glue. Do you guys think that will work in this place? It's definitely in a hard place to get at with the return edge and my newly attached sniper knee.

No pics, but I have been working hard on my build. Up next for this week - garters for thighs, second coat of paint, attach lens and mesh to helmet. Hoping to get some in person help to fit everything so I can start attaching snaps, etc. Questions: 1. Do you glue the brow trim and s-trim on the helmet? 2. Is it best to wait until the body parts are sized/assembled before assembling the belt?

Aw thanks Luc! I'm sure I'll pick up speed and excitement this weekend. I asked Andy how much he'd charge to build it and he gave me a pep talk LOL

Honestly, your build is the BEST THING - I love that you documented all of your experiments and "learning experiences". It gives me so much hope

Small update - spent a couple of very frustrating hours on Saturday trying to repair my poor melted and deformed forearm, but with no luck. Tried another water bath, low level heat gun and blocks to shape, and even busted out the iron, but while I could get the edges moderately back to normal there are still indents across the arms where the elastics dug in. The plastic has started to feel "weak" and it has lost its uniform thickness. RIP right forearm. I've reached out to Mark about purchasing a replacement. Did a bit more trimming to size the thighs, finished up the outer cover strips on the biceps. Definitely felt a bit unmotivated though. I'm looking forward to the 4 day weekend to spend some good chunks of time on it. Thanks for your support and advice. It's always appreciated

Whelp. That turned into a train wreck in record time. I thought I would help secure that nice rounded shape using rubber bands - which sunk INTO the plastic and warped the entire thing. Pardon me while I go have a Kylo sized tantrum. Hubby thinks we can reshape and save them using the heat gun. Worst case I really hope I can order new forearms. Sigh https://imgur.com/a/wKzMC

Just checking in. Had a great visit with Andy and he helped measure and size things for me. Not much progress (darn job, kids, etc) and I’m stuck and super frustrated with one of my forearms. I need to reshape it in order to glue the strip. Trying to force it with clamps and magnets resulted in E6000 everywhere. It’s about to get a nice sous vide treatment treatment which will hopefully give it enough flex for me to bend it. Next I guess will be the heat gun. https://imgur.com/a/5BxW4