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Helotech

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
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Everything posted by Helotech

  1. Update: Received my 2 sets of rubber hand armor as well as the hardware set from Joseph. Awesome service, delivery and product! I'll use one set on the rubber gloves, and another set on some black Nomex gloves for hot weather use. Finally found some acetone, so I can do the repairs to the sniper plate screw holes I've Taken apart left forearm armor. It was overlap glued on front, and overlap velcro on back. This will be my trial piece for switching the entire armor from mostly overlap construction to butt joint and cover strip. The only parts on the SDS that are not overlap are the front of the thighs and shins. The glue was a real pain to separate... Belt is about 90% done. Still have to add belt to ab armor female S-snap poppers. They are hard to find here, so I had to amazon them. Should be here on Monday Attached ammo ABS belt to fabric bel with Chicago screws square dimple caps not glued on. I will have to remove the fabric belt to put the 2 female popper snaps for armor attachment Attached Line 24 female snaps to holster leather straps Attached Line 24 male snaps to fabric belt with rivets Attached 1" elastic to drop boxes with rivets. The elastic is not glued down yet, pending the S-snap installation. They do align with ends of the belt for Centurion requirement The belt is temporarily installed on my mannequin. There is allot of overlap on him as his waste is super skinny.... White elastic will be trimmed slightly My mannequin (nicknamed Mannie for short) is way to skinny. There is quite a bit of overlap at the back. The holster sits more to the side of my leg when I wear it.
  2. Hey gmr, I should have elaborated. The clips on my pictured TD are the SDS supplied ones. That's how it was delivered. I have an unbent piece of aluminum that will replace those The Velcro is the SDS supplied stuff as well. That has already been taken off. I haven't had a chance to hit the fabric store to get the white webbing for the drop boxes or shoulder strap. To confirm: The original drop boxes used loops that went around the belt, but then they were glued down. Right? I've separated the two ABS belt pieces (ammo portion and the wrap around). I now have a good piece of ABS to attempt my first cover strips. The rivets that SDS used were a bit of a pain to drill / cut out... The 3 tab buttons were a little rough from SDS. They had sharp corners and weren't cut very straight. I just cleaned them up a bit. Belt snaps I was just looking up the measurements on another forum (Ukswaths build) before adding: a) the female snaps on the fabric that attach belt to ab b) The Chicago screws I am using to attach ammo belt to fabric,
  3. Baby steps so far. Removed the black loops from the holster and installed tan leather. I'm tearing apart (gently) the ABS belt, then I will drill the 4 holes in the tan leather for mounting once I get the proper spacing measured out. Once I get the ABS belt apart I can use the back belt for cover strips for the rest of the armor. I also picked up a piece of 1" aluminum strip from Canadian Tire (CT) The SDS TD clips are only 3/4" wide, and set too far from the TD end caps The screws will be replaced once I get my handguard and hardware order from Joseph.
  4. I'll do one forearm on the back and see how it looks.
  5. Oh happy days! Parts have started rolling in, so the modding can begin. Received snaps, Chicago screws, leather for the holster, and some rare earth magnets. Also ordered a compression suit from Tommie Copper. It was a little more than others, but the quality and material is very nice. There are some logos I may have to get rid of. This thing is SUPER tight and very unforgiving... I was notified that my rubber handguards and other hardware has shipped from Joseph. Awesome customer service. I also asked Ukswrath some questions about the armor on h=one of his builds. I'll post the info here. The SDS uses overlap construction on the forearm and bicep front and back. Glued on front, velcro on back. Thighs and shins are butt joined front with cover strips, and overlap with Velcro closure on back. The pieces with overlap have the raised "simulated" cover strips. See the attached photos of right forearm. Glued front of forearms is at right of pic. Velcro closure to the left. Raised front strip is pronounced top to bottom,  The back strip is shallow at the top, pronounced at the bottom. Front strip glued: Back Velcro closure. Flat at top: Wider towards bottom: To change the forearm to butt and joint, I would have to cut off the raised "simulated" cover strip. I think I would have to slice at the red line. Being careful not to remove too much and making the forearm too tight. I asked Ukswrath about this. He said the forearm should be glued on both joints. I do have some minor wrist return edge that need removing. More to follow.
  6. Ok. That helps. I do have a build thread going, and I'll move all this info to it.
  7. No worries. The Velcro came attached as is with the armor. The SDS armor comes assembled and ready to wear. I assumed it was supposed to be there, and could allow people with larger hands / arms to put the forearm on. I tried slipping my hand through instead of using Velcro opening and it barely made it through. This may change once I grind off the return on the bottom. I just reread the CRL and in basic approval and it states forearm must be fully closed. Does this mean it must be glued fully closed? I’m not opposed to gluing it completely shut, as long as it gets approved. Any thoughts on my question about changing it to butt joint and cover strip? Your help is greatly appreciated.
  8. uk, First on a side note. I ordered and am still in the process of installing your excellent Helmet electronics. Fantastic system. The helmet buld has been put on hold while I sort out the armor update. Sorry to post these in your thread, but I require some much needed clarification. I'm working on updating my SDS for basic approval, with a possibility of updating the armor to the highest level I can. Haven't started trimming any ABS yet. The SDS uses overlap construction on the forearm and bicep front and back. Glued on front, velcro on back. Thighs and shins are butt joined front with cover strips, and overlap with Velcro closure on back. The pieces with overlap have the raised "simulated" cover strips. See the attached photos of right forearm. I noticed in this build you trimmed what I assume is the raised portion (hard for me to make it out from your pics), then added interior and exterior cover strips. Am I to remove all traces of the simulated raised cover strips from all pieces? Glued front of forearms is at right of pic. Velcro closure to the left. Raised front strip is pronounced top to bottom, The back strip is shallow at the top, pronounced at the bottom. This is the right forearm, with glued front area. Projected cut line in red. Would I also cut the slightly raised area on the other side of the joint? Back joint. The molded-in cover strip is very shallow at the upper arm. Velcro closure. Shallow top, deeper mold at bottom of forearm (far end of pic) Thanks for any help you can provide.
  9. Shopping spree almost complete. Wahoo!!! All hardware ordered: Sourced snaps, Chicago screws and leather straps for holster from Ottawa store I did buy extra snaps (Luc...LOL) in case I want to change from veclro to snap system Ordered rubber handguards and Centurion hardware pack through Joseph on this site. Ordered new black compression undersuit Ordered some magnets to help with adding missing cover strips Purchased a couple tubes E6000, plus white velcro for armor closure at Canadian tire. These items should arrive soon. Only items left to grab are the white elastic and straps and some good clamps for cover strips. Still waiting on the internal bracket straps from No Stripes and ear pieces / thigh ammo belt from ATA. Hopefully those will be here in about 2 + weeks.
  10. Luc, Thanks for making me waffle back and forth on this I'll do the Velcro for now, as the snaps will add quite a bit of build time. I'm itching to get approved and start trooping. Since I have a few other things to do, I figured I already had a workable strap system and would spend my limited time on something else. I was thinking about the consistent placement of Velcro and straps. This can be made easier with reference marks on the armor and straps. I'll see how it goes. My mods have been delayed slightly due to confirming hardware and family / life commitments. For the drop boxes, I wanted to be a little more screen accurate. From what I have seen the boxes are attached with a single elastic strap, not looped around the belt. Just a preference I suppose. keep the great help and info coming!
  11. gmr to the rescue again! Ordering hardware and leather as soon as I can nail down details. I thought my list was complete... I'm going more towards functional with "some" screen accuracy. I have been going through wingnut65's (and others) builds, and the "What we know about strapping" post in Screen Replica section. Unfortunately, some of the hardware info is posted between several pages, with lots of back and forth. So, even though it should be simple to just make a list I'm finding it confusing. I've ordered the Mrnostripes bracket and strap system to replace some of the current Velcro and elastic. Waiting for it to arrive. I won't need to do as many (or any...) snaps in the armor. I'm still liking the elastic fabric with Velcro attachment that came with the SDS. It allows for some fine tuning in the fit. I'll probably make the straps shorter or add more Velcro inside the armor as the current ones are way to long. There is currently no fabric shoulder strap at all connecting chest and back. The SDS relies on the ABS shoulder strap velcro'd to chest and back to hold everything together. I'll probably keep it simple (no snaps...) and Velcro in a white elastic strap. Easy to replace if it stretches out over time. The bell to white shoulder strap attachment will be switched to Velcro instead of snap. What I have so far to order / source. Please let me know if this is right: Hardware Qty 7 Split rivets 7 brass washers on inside, unknown diameter 6 on kidney / ab plates, left side. These may be decorative on mine and not hold the side strapping on. one on cod piece, towards the rear 8mm head, 3.9mm shank, 9.2mm length Qty 6 Chicago screws 3 holding ABS belt to fabric belt. Not screen accurate as original were cap rivets, but like wingnuts idea of being bale to remove the ABS portion if required for cleaning fabric. 3 for the holster. 2 on the tan straps at top of holster, 1 on the holster weapon retention strap Unknown size of screws Qty 2 Double cap rivets. One person answered me in a post saying these were actually Single cap rivets... meh.... Hold thigh ammo belt to thigh 7.36mm head, 8.36mm tall, unknown length, but I think I read 8mm? Qty 2 Line 20 Snaps hold the belt to the ab armor. male on ab, female on belt 7/16”(11 mm) diameter cap, 3/16”(5 mm) long post Qty 7 Line 24 Snaps 4 male snaps will be attached with pop rivets to inside of belt for holster attachment (Hero build) Not screen accurate but easy to remove holster Female part attached to tan leather holster strips 2 male snaps on posterior tab 1 male snap on upper right of ab armor 9/16”(14 mm) diameter cap, 5/16”(8 mm) long post Qty 8 3/16" pop rivets 4 are used to secure the male portion of Line 24 snaps to the inside of the fabric belt. 4 for attaching the straps to the drop boxes and the belt. one on each end of the straps. Fabric Black elastic to hold thigh armour to inner belt 75mm wide will glue this down or Velcro to thigh. no need for snaps Top will be looped around belt Black elastic for bicep to forearm. 50mm wide will glue this down, or use Velcro. no need for snaps White elastic shoulder strap 45mm wide will glue down or Velcro. No need for snaps White elastic for drop boxes 25mm Riveted to boxes and belt Current SDS armor strap system. Simple and fairly functional: Note the thigh armor attaches to indicated strap instead of an inner belt suspension system: Posterior. No snaps Cod piece. No split rivet One of my dog's, Chester, watching me work...
  12. QUestions: What is the width of the tan leather straps attaching holster to the belt? Is the a measurement for gluing the ridged shoulder straps down to the top of the chest armor?
  13. I'm will be waiting a couple weeks for my new ATA ammo pouches and ear pieces. No huge issue as I have lots to do. I was looking at ways of attaching the bel to the armor once dressed. I've read lots about people using 3 snaps to attach the belt to the ab plate. There are issues with the snaps coming undone. Does anyone simply use strips of Velcro on the back of the belt and on the ab plate? Seems easier than adding rivets.
  14. Never thought of that. I still will do it just in case the ammo belt slips down. The SDS belt is held in place by screws which I will change for rivets. Is Velcro okay to hold the front of the belt up to keep it from rotating down? I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I want to finish the armour as best as I can. Borderline OCD anyone....?
  15. Hey all, Just realized this thread is just supposed to be for pre-approval. I think that in the time ahead I may be adding too many build or mod pics and posts, which are out of the scope of this thread. I just found out about the Build Threads in this forum (once again, lots of info out there....), so I'll be switching to that page.
  16. Hello all! I started a thread on the TK Pre-approval page just to get a general feel for what I need to do for my SDS Hero armor. I also started something on a Garrison page (Capitol City Garrison, Canada). I kind of messed it up, because I thought I was in their region, but I will actually be in the Canadian Garrison. Many people started asking me questions and giving me helpful comments about the SDS armour on the Pre-approval post. I started posting pics in those spots, and realized they weren't the place to do it. Since I am fairly new to this, I didn't realize there were actual build threads on the forums. Doh! Soooooo, long story short, I think I am supposed to post my mods and updates here. Here is the link to the pre-approval thread: www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/47286-helotech-requesting-pre-approval-sds/ |Just some initial pics: First cuts to the armor. Eeeek! It's mentally challenging to take a blade to pristine armor. Addressing the too long covering strips on the thigh armor. I will be taking the little cut off pieces and glue them on the inside of the armour at the same spot. I will then fill in the gap with ABS paste. I have a new thigh ammo pouch on order with ATA to address the rounded top corners of the SDS piece. I also ordered new helmet ear pieces to address (in the future) the 4 ear bumps. With a little work, I can make it to level two at least. Centurion in the distant future. Stay tuned !
  17. I thought about this. I've been in contact with ATA maker about the pieces. They are not that expensive, so if they don't match it is no great loss. I'll still try to mod my armor ammo pouch as described above. I may be able to carefully cut out the ear bumps and simply use that small piece. Since the bumps are painted, any seam will be hidden under paste and a layer of paint.
  18. Dan I've seen these diagrams and know about the changes, but thanks for the info. These forums are great I have already sourced some tan leather through another member. Theresa local hardware store that apparently has most of the snaps, rivets, etc that I will need.
  19. Rebecca, No offcuts or trimming. This was a complete ready to wear from SDS. No, I'm not lazy, just too many hobbies, busy with work and time compressed to build my armor from scratch Thanks for the info about the sniper plate. Never thought of that. I'm going to attempt the ammo pack fix as I stated above. If that doesn't work, then a shopping I will go!
  20. Thanks. Most people just say "glue" without specifying how, so this clears it up. As for fixing the ammo pack: I've dug around quite a bit and haven't found anything concerning fixes. I had minor brainstorm and realized that the SDS armor has a complete ABS belt. As I will only be using the front portion, I will have a long piece of ABS to use as scrap. It is thicker than the armor ABS, but it may work as a patch for the rounded corner. 1. I am going to cut a triangle piece of the belt to match what the top of the ammo pack should look like. 2. I'll cut / sand the bottom of the triangle to match the current rounded corner of SDS pouch. 3. I'll add a small stiffener / backplate that will overlap the joint between the pouch and my triangle piece 4. The seam will be filled and polished smooth. Hopefully this will still meet with approval for basic?
  21. Hey. I'm looking to source the cap rivets. Any idea of the shank lengths?
  22. gmr (or anyone else) Advice requested: I haven't had to work with ABS in this way before. Is the sniper plate glued to the calf with the ABS paste? Other type of adhesive, such as the E6000 everyone talks about? I didn't want to use something to "hot" so that it melts the plastic. I have to somehow fix the top rounded corners of the thigh ammo pouch. Unfortunately, since this was a completely built set of armor from SDS, I don't have scrap ABS sheet laying about. I was thinking of adding a backing plate with he correct right angle profile behind the top corner. Then I would layer it with ABS sheet and filling the joint line with ABS paste and sanding / polishing smooth. Do you think this would work? Are there any commercially available ABS that would work. I haven't been able to source ABS sheets locally. The only plastic sheets I have are styrene by Evergreen that I use for model building.
  23. Hey Jayse01 I have the SDS as well and am starting to mod it. I do have some questions: How are you solving the top rounded edges of the thigh ammo pack? What glue are you using to attach the sniper plate to the left calf? ABS paste? Good luck on you modifications. Dave
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