NerdBird

Been gone for a bit, I got busy with a summer class that turned out to be harder than I thought. It's over with and now I can start working on the build again. I was stretching my boots while I studied for the class and today I tried the hair dryer, the boots feel perfect now. As for progress on the build, I started working on things that I took notes on a month ago that were bugging me and the bottom half feels great. I am currently working on a button system for the top, not a big fan of the Velcro that I currently have. If that will make it so the armor wont pass let me know. Lets get down to the photos. Need to do a hot water bath for this piece, still over lapping (calf) Need to cut this down, it's pinching me a bit (thigh) I have setup a belt that I will wear for the thighs. Is this okay? Also the gap between the thighs and the calves seems to be too big, is it okay if they are that separated? Also the gap between the pieces that are glued together. I am thinking about using abs paste to fix it, is that okay? This is one of the calves, should I cut it? Here it is with the bottom, currently doing some things to the top so I could not attach it. Are the ammo packs too far out? The butt cover seems to be a little too open, should I fix that? Lastly here are the sides, the right needs to be painted white over the silver caps. The left side is something I have no idea how to fix, the bottom of it will not be flush with the kidney. Anyone have any recommendations to fix this? Thanks to everyone on these forums! You guys have been so much help and I can't say thank you enough. I tried reaching out to the garrison in my area about any upcoming build parties and they did not know of any so these forums have filled the gap of guidance that I have needed.

These are all great suggestions! I will have to try them out next weekend. Been very busy with a summer class that is going on right now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got my boots, gloves, blaster and neck seal in finally. I feel the boots are a little too small because my little toes are smashing against the edge of the boot. My big toe is almost an inch away from the tip, I just have some wide feet. Should I think about getting a bigger size? Kind of stinks if I made this mistake

Very true! Thank you for the heads up on different surfaces, that would have never crossed my mind till it occurred. I will make sure to wait to add major changes till the boots and gloves come in. I am not too sure when I should be getting either of them, should be sometime this month or next. I am really happy to hear that everything is looking great, just have those small changes for comfort and pieces that I need to add.

Got myself all suited up today and boy did it hurt. Lots of work that I did not know existed, very glad I put the armor on today. The right thigh's strap was a little short so the painters tape helped hold it up. The chest piece got caught where the abs and kidney meet, we did not catch that till after the armor was taken off. As you can see in the second photo, the right side is not wanting to line up with the abs so I am going to need to figure something out for that. What do you guys recommend to make the armor more comfortable? Are the biceps too high? How does the belt look? Over all, anything you notice that should be changed? Let me know! Thank you everyone for all the help. All of it has been wonderful.

Thank you for the heads up! It just came in today and I took it to a piece that I have been testing on. It really did bring that shine, I could not believe my eyes. I do need to work on getting better at the sanding because I can see some scratches in the armor after I buffed it. I need to order more of the compound that came with it, there is only a little packet and I don't see it lasting long. Thank you for the tip on the buffing equipment, it is very helpful! Here's the list of things that I still need to do. -Glue sniper knee (The sides came undone during the bath) -Glue back cover strips for shins -Hot water bath back piece -Check belt alignment -Add button on crotch (only have 1 right now) -Paint rivets on kidney and ab (paint came off while putting together the right side) -Sand down and buff left side oops -The helmet is it's own list of things to do -Check to make sure everything looks good. I put the rivets into the right side of the kidney and ab piece today. It seems that they are a little short but, are doing the job. Tonight I should have a photo with myself completely suited up for the first time! Just need to do a hot water bath for the back piece again, currently the back is not touching the kidney piece. There is a good 2-3 inches of space.

Those are really cool, I might have too look into something like those because I am using sheets right now and whatever around the apartment fits the area I am sanding. Okay that's good to know, I tested it earlier and it seems to work a lot better doing that. I used the Novus #2 that I have with a drill and I am surprised it actually was making some noticeable changes I don't have too many tools so I make due with what I got. Now I got to try this out! As you can see from the above images for what I was doing was working but, takes A LOT of work. I will order that kit right now and do some other small things that I need to do while I wait for it to come in. Thank you all for the helpful input and things I should do for buffing. I got a couple small things I will want some input on but, that will come up as I get there.

Wow! That looks amazing! For the polish and scratch remover was it the novus #1 or did you use something like a cutting compound that Gmrhodes13 was talking about?

Is there a tool that you use with the cutting compound? Also for sanding, are you doing it by hand or tool as well? I will try to stop by the store today to get that sandpaper as well as that compound. Once i get to the 600 grit I start using water with the sand paper, should I only use water or do a dry then wet process for each one going up from 600? Thank you for the top on the dish liquid, I will be trying that out today.

Update here I got higher grit sandpaper, 800, 1000, 1500. I tested it on the test piece and it felt even smoother but, still no shiny. Think I need to use a tool to add that shine. If anyone could help me understand what I need to do for that I would appreciate it. I have also put some work into the shins, I did a hot water bath for the left shin and it worked perfectly. Probably the best outcome I have experienced so far this build. I might do it for the right but, I have not decided yet. I have also finally added paint the buttons on the ab piece, they are looking good! -I have trimmed down the cod piece a bit so I should not experience the rubbing anymore on the thighs -I gave the back piece a hot water bath for the straps on the shoulders. It helped but, it did not extend it far enough. I am thinking I need to attempt it again and see if I can achieve a little more length on it. -Doing this should help align the ab piece with the kidney cover. -The last bit of gluing that needs to be done is the back cover strips for the shins. I am so excited that I have made a lot of progress, I know there will be a lot of tweaking that I need to do to achieve a better looking suit.

Alright got a small update. I decided to sheer the cover strips on the shins off and swap the pieces so it would be what others recommend. I think it looks a lot better and they are drying right now. Hoping that will help with the sniper knee. Also I have decided to do some small things that I have not done yet such as the thermal detonator and ammo pack on the leg. I think they both look great and it's coming along nicely. Now I know I will be coming up to the point of buffing out any scratches and fixing those holes that I should not have created. I decided to try a tester for the buffing and I must be missing a step due to the lack of that nice shine. Here is what I got, On the right is the control where I did not touch it, the left I treated as if it got scratched. I used grits 200, 320, 400, 600 wet. Then I used the Novus #1 on the left to see if it would give it that shine but, it just feels super smooth and it's dull. What would you recommend to achieve that shine?

Now that is a nice case!

Alright here is an update. I was busy the past few days so I was not able to do much. Today I have gone and purchased a big black box, I saw this one was recommended and also it has tons of room for extra things I also have started work on the sniper knee.I think something is wrong with mine, I tried as much as I could to attach this piece and be flush with the shin but, nothing worked. I am gluing what I have now and hoping this will not hold my armor from passing EIB certification. I also have figured out how to upload photos using Imgur so now I don't have to deal with what I was worrying about earlier. Found out that my allocated attachments data was all used up. Let me know if I need to figure something out for that gap on the sniper knee, I will peel it off and redo it if need be. If you know of a way to help it be flush with the shin I would love that information. Thank you everyone!

Oh okay perfect! Everytime I have uploaded my photos the number for the size has gone down so that's why I was under the influence that I would need to make a new one. For the last post I was only able to upload up to 30 kilobytes Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a great thing to point out. I will be making sure to cut that return edge off of the cod piece, currently I have only sanded it down so I will make sure to work on that tonight. Thank you for the heads up on everything so far everyone! On a side note I will have to make a new forum I guess due to how many photos have been uploaded to this forum.