MakeNoiseMan

Thanks for your answers, guys! :-D Trimming the return edge made a huge impact. My hands fits through much more easily, and I was able to trim the forearm down to 15mm cover strips on both the front and the back! Woohoo! I plan to remove the return edges on the elbow end as well. Mobility and comfort while wearing the suit are great points to keep in mind! I think I have enough ABS scraps from the small amount I've already cut out to make the inner cover strips here, so I think I'll go ahead and do those first. I will, however, keep in mind to ration my ABS responsibly so as not to run out for the visible cover strips. :-) Another question, is there a consensus on whether do trim the elbow end of the cover strip to follow the slant? In my opinion, I think it would look better to do so, and would dig into the elbow less. But I have seen it done both ways. Thanks for your input, as always!

Will do! :-) I've got a few more questions coming up already. I've been starting on the forearms today! I understand it that AP forearms are identical and there is no designated "left arm" or "right arm". Is this true of all the limb pieces (biceps, shoulders, thighs and shins)? Based on how they fit together in the box, it seems like yes, but I want to make sure! This forearm will be for my left arm. I did a test fit and then marked the overlap with a pencil. It was approximately a 2cm overlap. I split the difference and trimmed approximately 1cm from each piece on both sides (with a test fit in between, just to be sure!) And a final test fit. Feels pretty good! And now on to the questions. Firstly, does the amount of space at left at my wrist look normal to you guys? I feel like It would look better closed up a little tighter, and the forearm feels just a little loose on my arm as it gets further from my elbow. Maybe that's normal too. If I close it any smaller, my hand doesn't fit through. However, I haven't dremeled or sanded the opening yet, which would give my hand just a teeny bit more room. Bigger hands and smaller wrists, I suppose. Next, I am a heftier fellow than those 160lb, 5'10 British gentlemen in the movies. I've read that screen-accurate measurement for cover strips is 15mm on the forearms/biceps. The way my forearm is cut, the surface area of the flat part is 25mm. I have read you should try to get as close to that as possible, but that the priority is uniformity. Should I cut 25mm cover strips? Or meet in the middle somewhere (20mm cover strips, with 2.5mm of flat area on each side). Or, maybe I haven't yet fitted the forearm correctly and it'll tighten up a little more. Thirdly, I'd like to run inner strips for structural support. For my fellow AP users, is there enough ABS in the kit to make each cover strip twice? Or should I do my best to first use up my ABS scraps for this purpose? And finally, does it matter which cover strip is glued on first (outer or inner)? My instinct is to glue the inner strip first, assemble the forearm, and then glue on the outer strip once everything is all tidy and nice. Whew! That was a lot of questions. Thanks for your help, everyone!

Thanks so much, Joseph! Yes I totally see what you mean about the TD clips. Once the glue dries I'll make sure to squeeze them together a little tighter and, if I can, trim them down a little. Also, as per your suggestion, I flipped the S-trim around. I like it WAAAY better! Are both ways acceptable, or did I simply have mine on backwards? Either way, thanks for pointing it out!

Hi all! The paint has finished drying, so I screwed the mounting clips on and did a test fit. With everything fitting alright, I had my first date with E6000. I've read about all it's wonderfulness. Happy to finally be acquainted! Matt, do you think the paint turned out well enough? I thought so, so I went ahead and glued, but if not, I'll peel the faceplate off and go with the spray paint. In the meantime, on to the forearms. Onwards!

I would never have thought to search for that, that’s a great idea. Thanks :-D Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, guys! Good thoughts, Matt! Spray paint is a good idea, it looks nice and even. I'll see how mine looks once it's dry, and if needed I'll change course. The hand-painted look appeals to me, but not at the expense of accuracy. Also, I'd have to go buy some spray paint. :-) Dan and Daniel, thanks for the ongoing info! Based on that, I'll go ahead and move on from the helmet but I'll be prepared to redo the tube stripes if the 2019 CRL requires it! No big update for the moment. I did get my screws painted, though! Once the paint is dry I should be all set to assemble the TD. After that I think I'm gonna do the forearms next. Question for you experienced troopers, do your gloves go on last? If so, are you able to just stuff the wrists of your gloves inside the forearms? I can't imagine that the forearms would fit sliding over the handplates if it were the other way around.

Thanks guys! Makes sense. I just want to confirm - the bend goes away from the TD, yeah? That’s what it looks like in the photo to me, but I want to make sure that my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, heheh. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome, yes I've seen others do that! What is the best way to create that little bend? I don't work with tools or metal very often. Also, I've seen others suggest to put a strip of soft velcro along the back of the clips to prevent them from scratching your armour (which is a great idea). Just wondering, does anyone ever add hook velcro to the back of the abdomen plate to help keep the thermal detonator attached and in place? Or does that cause other problems, like difficulty sliding it under the belt, for instance.

Solid. Thanks for your help! The fewest I could order was 10, so I'll have 6 left over. The offer still stands if anyone is in need of them—no charge. Just get ahold of me privately with your address and such. :-)

Oh yes, once they're side by side I can clearly see the difference. Silly me! Do they need to be brass? They didn't have that option when I ordered them, but I didn't think it would matter since they would be painted black.

Ooo! Okay, thanks for the heads up. I guess I never actually compared them to the ones I ordered, I just saw that these were painted black and didn't think twice about it. Back to Plan A!

Thank you! And thanks for all your help, Matt. :-D I appreciate it! Today it's on to the thermal detonator! Here is the photo I'm using as a reference, courtesy of Ukswrath (I think): First, I cut and trimmed the white pieces to the measurements depicted above. Without trimming the black PVC tube, the overal length was just under 8 1/4"—almost an inch too long. I marked the new length on the pipe, and cut and sanded it to size. Now the overall length is the desired 7 1/4". Huzzah! Then I placed the clips, drilled the screw holes, and slid the screws in to loosely hold them in place Quick side note: during my preparations I read that Centurion certification requires a very specific, round, pan-head, slotted screw that has been painted black. Tracking those down was one of the most interesting and challenging parts of my quest. T'weren't none in sight at Home Hardware and Canadian Tire. My efforts online produced no fruit until, lo and behold, mine eyes fell upon a site called Fastenal—an industrial supply store. Hark! What's more, their office was in mine own little town of St. Thomas, Ontario! What luck! For a mere two dollars, they special ordered the screws for me. And there I was, black paint in hand, until— Turns out Mark includes them pre-painted with his AP thermal det clips! Thanks Mark! You're the best. And my little quest was fun and rewarding all the same—no time wasted where enjoyment was had. Back to the build. I taped the front plate into position and used a pencil to trace the edges, as well as those of the clips. Once marked, I removed all the hardware and put down a first coat of grey paint. And that's where she sits now, paint a-drying. As always, critique is hugely appreciated. Thanks everyone! Talk soon.

Thanks! :-D Woohoo! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Frank! I don't mind the work! It's just that constant, naggy fear of botching something up beyond repair. I dunno what I'd do if that happened—I don't speak botchi!

Hi again! I've finished both ears. And the result: Like I said, I'm pretty sure this is the best I can do. Is anything about this going to be a barrier to Centurion? Thanks for all of your ongoing help, everyone!

Sure thing, although I don't think new and/or professionally trimmed ears would fare any differently than mine are now. As far as I can tell, because of the shape of how my helmet came together, I'll have to be dealing with either a gap, or return edge. Based on my photos above, do you think more work needs to be done? Unfortunately I don't think I can do anything else without ordering a new helmet and starting over (and possibly shrinking my head). :-( If there is anything else I can do with what I have, of course I'm open to hearing it.

Alright! One ear down, I think. Zero return edge! As predicted, it opened up the gap a lot more. Frighteningly, it opened it enough to reveal the cap underneath. Ew! To remedy this, I had to once again change where the screw hole is to pull the ear tighter to the helmet. This is the same ear (right ear) in which I earlier had to drill a second screw hole and filled in the original with PlasticWeld. The best look came from clamping the ear down and drilling a hole right at the bottom edge, where the S-trim covers. Thankfully, Mark sent a set of helmet screws with the kit, so I had a second set in addition to the ones from TrooperBay's helmet kit. Because the CRL requires a screw near the bottom of the ear, I cut one of my extra screws so I could glue it in the old, unused screw hole and fulfill the aesthetic requirement while the structural screw remains hidden beneath the S-trim. And the result! Still a bigger gap than before, but no return edge. Cutting off all that plastic felt like jumping into deep, cold water. Thanks for the push! I find my previous lack of faith disturbing. On to the left ear!

Updated vocoder! Matt and Mark, thanks for your direction. Put up your dukes, Ears, it's time for round three.

Thanks Matt! Yes I'll be correcting the vocoder very shortly. :-D You're right, there is still a small amount of return edge on the ears. My concern is that, if I trim any more off, the gaps between the ears and the mask/cap are going to keep growing. By leaving a little return edge, it keeps the connection tighter (or so I rationalize). It felt like the lesser of two undesirables. Is ear-edge removal more important than preventing a big gap under the ears? Like I said earlier, I do want to do this properly, so if that's the case I'll get in there and try to correct it. :-)

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement, Dan! Your edits of my photos are really helpful. Whoops! You're totally right about the vocoder. I must have been looking at a wrong reference picture. I'll get that fixed up straight away. As for the tube stripes, I do see the difference there. I am shooting for Centurion - do you think mine will be an issue for level three clearance as they are now? If so, it's worth it to me to redo them, but if it isn't necessary I'd sooner move on to the other pieces. Thanks again!

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year! After a night of festivities it is back to business today! The stripe paint finished drying, and I removed the stencils. A while ago, I read an awesome idea about painting a coat of the surface colour (white for tubes, grey for traps/tears) over the stencils first to seal in the edges and prevent bleeding. Unfortunately ... I forgot about this idea until this morning, when I peeled the stencils off. Whoops! Not a huge deal! It just means some extra time tidying it up with a toothpick dipped in paint thinner. For the traps and tears, I went back with a small paintbrush and grey paint to correct the black stripe bleed. Well worth the effort. However, for anyone who may be reading this in preparation for their own build, learn from my oversight and put down that base-colour coat first. I'm sure it's a time-saver! In addition to the stripes, I also created the "phantom teeth" on my frown as Q suggested. To do so, I extended my frown and then used the toothpick to erase a small section near each end. Here's my result! Finally, I attached the TrooperBay S-trim around the under-ridge of the helmet. I didn't end up having to cut mine down at all—by installing it slowly and sort of pushing back on it as I did so, it snuggly fit all the way around at met back under the chin. You can also see my electronics installed inside. Man, there is even less space in there than I thought there would be! Fitting it all inside was a challenging, but rewarding, puzzle. I have a little more tinkering to do, but I can put it on my head (sideways and twist). The installed electronics are Henry's helmet fans, Ukswrath's hovi-tip speakers, hearing assist and power amp, and an iComm. And—I think—that's a wrap on my bucket! It's been so much fun to work on so far. I'm very much looking forward to tackling the rest of the armour. As always, if you guys catch anything that needs fixing or improving I really appreciate your feedback. I think I'm gonna do the thermal detonator next. We'll see! Til next time. :-)

Hi everyone! I took another pass at the ears. Thanks for the feedback! They definitely look better now. You can't argue with Mark the armour master himself, after all! There is a bit more of a gap under the ears now, but as I understand it that is canon and fine. The overall look is a huge step forward from how I had it before. Before putting the ears on, I drilled the holes on the back ear bump for the hearing assist, and installed the microphones under the ears using Sugru. You'll notice I had a little repair work to do from trimming and repositioning the ears; my new drill hole was rather close to an edge, so I used PlasticWeld to toughen it up (as seen in the photo above). Additionally, the bottom screw hole on the right ear fell right on top of the rivet that fastens the mask and cap, so I had to drill a new one in the ear. Not the ideal situation, but worth it for the new ears I think. I filled in the old hole with PlasticWeld and, when it dried, sanded and painted it gloss white (still have another coat to do). I'm hoping it's a tolerable blemish. Speaking of painting, I got to work on the remainder of the helmet. This included the stripes on the traps/tears, the ear bumps/rank stripe (outline for starters), the ear screws, fixing the vocoder and the tube stripes. Woohoo! I used the TrooperBay stencils for the tear, trap and tube stripes. I still have another coat to do on the tubes. Some of the ear bump lines are a little messy, but I'll tidy them up with a toothpick once they dry. I also started messing around with electronics inside, but I'll wait until the paint is dry before finishing that up and posting photos. Happy New Year everyone!!

Whoops. Forgot to post photos of the ears from the back! Here we are.

Hi, everyone! Thanks so much for all of your feedback and suggestions. I finally had time to sit down and address this "helmet's too small" issue. Here goes! Firstly, I removed the old rivets and repositioned the mask further forward as Joseph suggested. I had to use bigger rivets than last time, since the holes expanded slightly while removing the first rivets. I don't think this is an issue, though, since they're covered up by the ears anyway. Then I set out to work on the ears. Because of my big head, and the subsequently abnormally large gaps between the mask and cap, my ears were going to have to work a lot harder to cover up the seam. Here is the gap I was talking about: I countersunk the drill holes in the ears, as required for Centurion. Et voila! Here is the result. I am pleased with the seam coverage, but I was worried that the ears stuck out too far as a result. After looking at some reference photos, I don't think they're too far off. Let me know if you think it's problematic. Good news, though—my head now fits inside! I did still have to trim a little of the bottom inside lip, but not much. Huzzah! Next is installing Ukswrath's hearing assist so I can leave the ears screwed on for good, and then painting the ears, the lines on the traps/tears, and touching up the vocoder. Onwards!