Jeffnmar
-
Posts
55 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Articles
Media Demo
Posts posted by Jeffnmar
-
-
Well , I got my 501st approval today , our garrison GML got back to me this afternoon and I had an email shortly after..
Say hello to TK-70921 :-) ....
I will be submitting on this forum later today and then start work on some fixes for EIB :-)...
A big shout out to all of you for your help and feedback , still more work to do but at least got my basic out of the way!
-
5
-
-
3 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:
Excellent work on these suggestions, Jeff! I admire the fact that you are taking on these items, and your attention to details is to be applauded! You are absolutely correct when you said that very few commission builds are perfect right out of the box. Fitting armor from afar is a lot different than in person!
I (honestly) hate to add to your list, and it will not affect you for Basic or even Expert Infantry but the button covers on the ABS belt will need to be reduced
ifwhen you apply for Centurion.
As seen in the reference images, they lie flat against the belt and have no raised edges. I had to make the same exact change for my first build, and it's really not that difficult. Just (carefully) use a razor knife to pry them up, trim down the sides and glue em' back on. Should take you all of 10 - 15 minutes.
Reference images Centurion approved AM belt
Just keep doing what you are doing, keep up the great attitude and we will get you there, sir.
Easy fix , in fact I see @gmrhodes13 mentioned that above as well , I should be able to get that taken care of this evening , good call out and attention to detail. I should have the TD buttoned up this evening as well , can anyone say Armor Party for 1 :-) .
Thanks goodness e6000 glue was used , couldn't imagine that headache if another adhesive was used. Does heating up the glue with a heat gun help? I was wondering because I didn't want to deform anything with he ABS.
-
2
-
-
3 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:
Something still off with your TD the gap is very small, perhaps check the end cap width.
Comparison
You are correct about the clips, perhaps open them up a little so the drop down further on the belt.
Drop box alignment is much better
DOH!!!! The end caps are measuring 1" , looks like I need to reduce them to 3/4" ( take 1/4" off) , that should get them more in line . I will reposition the clips as well as suggested.
Time to hit the sander , not sure I can cut the thicker end cap plastic with cutters :-) ... A little frustrated that these things are off ( specially the helmet and TD) since this was a commission build , but then again I am not sure of any commission builds that are 100% out of the box!
-
2
-
-
38 minutes ago, Chemi said:
Hi Jeff. Great work!!!
About the tube stripes(helmet), something that strikes me (and that we see often
), is that the tops in the front section should lean forward. I am just telling you this for your information. If you can fix it, that would be great.
CRL-Fall of tube stripe tops ideally lean toward the front.
Reference images
Thank you for that , I have a few things I need to do on the helmet near the left ear , and might tackle this as well. This was a commission build from Daves Darkside , I might mention that to him as well so he is aware in the future. I think I should be able to remove these pretty easily and reapply a new set following your advice.
TY for that , great attention to detail Chemi!
-
1
-
-
How does the TD look now , I repositioned the metal hooks to get more of the 'O' showing, is it OK if of some of the metal clip is showing on top , on the CRL I noticed a very small portion , from my picture it looks like to much is showing and I should bring in the metal clip closer to the TD for a more 'flush fit' .
I measured and I am right a 1/2" spacing for the end cap and the program piece , so should be OK there now.
-
I was able to work on the belt and TD this afternoon , helmet and butt strapping next , I did order some sheets of PVC off trooperbay to work on the thigh cover strips and make some VTABS if tightening the straps for the piece doesn't correct the problem.
Used some hot glue to help position ( and strengthen a bit) the drop boxes so there is better alignment with on the belt. The rest was corrected by properly putting on the belt and keeping everything "level". Not using the belt to help suck in the gut from the 'dad bod' also helped keep from the bunching issue :-)...
-
1
-
-
Thank you so much for the feedback , have some time dedicated this weekend to help correct some of the issues. I can work on getting some of the strapping at the correct length to help with a few of the issues , I will take a look at the TD and correct the helmet issues.
Thanks so much , almost there !!!!
-
2
-
-
On 11/4/2021 at 11:32 PM, fishgoh0nk said:
If you have trouble reaching down to snap it in while wearing it, you can pre-snap it and step into with your calves, boots and thighs already on. I prefer it that way opposed to cramping/pulling my pectoral muscle reaching down there.
Great Idea , I will be using that one for sure !
-
1. Name: Jeff Wilson
2. Future Garrison : Cloud City Garrison
3. Armor maker: AM ( commission build)
4. Helmet maker: AM
5. Cloth belt maker: AM
6. Neck seal maker: Darman
7. Boot maker: Imperial Boots
9. Blaster maker: Quest design Canada
10. Gasket maker: N/A
11. Height: 5'9"
12. weight: 210lbs
13. TK Type - ANH Stunt
14. Shoutouts : @gmrhodes13 , @fishgoh0nk, @CallMeMrTibbles and @justjoseph63 , and there were a few more that helped along the way, can't thank everyone enough for all the help!
Let me preface this was a commission build By Dave at Daves Darkside Depot , I did have a build thread 'per say' but did have some trimming and tweaks that needed to be made , I jut want to thank everyone for their help and feedback , Ideally I have been able to make the necessary adjustments needed to gain basic status with the hopes to move up the ranks! I feel this a great start especially since I am rocking the "Dad Bod". :-). LOL .... Looking forward to the reviews , ideally I have all the pictures below needed and did not leave anything out.
-
Awesome, will work on that piece next , I think you are correct that it is a bit loose now that you mention it…
-
1
-
-
On 11/3/2021 at 2:21 AM, fishgoh0nk said:
Not certain yet, but I wanted to ask the board if it seems that the kidney plate is longer than normal? The least risky route is to ensure your butt plate is sitting low enough, can you include a picture of the butt plate so we can see the leg clearance? Make sure you also have the cod elastic set, this area seems a little too cramped imo, likely because it's hanging with no cod elastic. Depending on what it is, you might need to make the 'taint' area narrower.
The second part may to be kidney trim, but not unless you're certain, because there's no coming back from that.
Just my 2 cents.
Here is a recent picture of my clamshell as requested , I think I have been able to tighten up the straps and attachment points enough to help. I am going to try and tweak my straps firsat before I start cutting :-) ..
Anything look off? I think I am at the point now to try and submit an approval email this weekend.. Feeling confident , I have scoured the CRL and several builds and even YT videos and feel that I a, 'buttoned up' ( pun intended :-) )
-
1
-
-
8 minutes ago, CallMeMrTibbles said:
Looking down is hard for all of us TKs, so we feel your pain. Small children, pets and ground level hazards are the bane of our lives while trooping, so don't necessarily worry that you're doing anything wrong with your build in that respect
That's What I have come to realize , so no worries there at all , that's why we have spotters :-) .
-
1
-
-
I am 5'9" and around 210 , I sent a few pieces back to Dave to have them resized which he did free of charge ( AWESOME customer service). The butt plate is pretty much as low as I can go , so I think leaving it for now is my only option, I don't want to start cutting on things unless I have to :-) , I will play around with the strapping a bit more and see what I can come up with but if I need to shorten some lengths I will do that. . Right now things are fitting just OK , helmet is OK but the hovi tip area does rest on the chest piece, I cant look down at all but left to right is better. NOT sure if the current set up I have will get me approval or not?
I will check out those builds you suggested , and see what info I can gleam from these , they should provide useful. There might be a local armor party with my garrison this month as well, praying that goes through and get some some help there as well.
I'll try a few more fittings and send some pics on how well it is going , might be that I have to shorten some pieces and not look back :-).
THANK YOU ALL for your help so far , I really appreciate the support.
-
2
-
-
Excellent examples of the AM armor ( which I have) , Do you recommend I lower all the back pieces and shorten the white shoulder strap to bring the chest piece in closer? What is the best way to lower the back plate and the ab section? Do you think trimming will be necessary for this?
-
I think you all are spot on, I removed some of the padding I added and left the original ( thin grey helmet pad) , the helmet fits more level and gives me good visibility. I also lengthened the white straps over the shoulders a bit. The helmet still sits on the chest piece but that seems to how it is suppose to fit?
I can look left to right slightly , and with the helmet sitting lower have better visibility. Below are some pictures I took for reference, does this look acceptable? The only concern I have is if I look down , even the slightest the helmet stays straight and I am looking through the nose :-) .
IN the second picture below , you can still see the page gap between my chest and the chest piece , I do not have anything in that area , I know I need to work on the plastic shoulder straps , plan on using a heat gun to shape them. Any suggestions to the get the chest piece closer to my chest?
-
I have a commission build and have everything just about refined to get my submission ready for approval . One thing I continue to struggle with is the helmet and the chest piece , for some reason I can't seem to get the chest piece to lay closer to my chest , right now I have a gap around a my neck that the helmet in turn 'rests' on and completely limits my head movement left to right , I realize there will be some mobility issues but at times the chest piece will 'raise' the helmet up ( the shoulder strap area hits just below the HOVI tip area) bumping the helmet up. The part I am having the most trouble with is the shoulder strap area where the part of the helmet with with HOVI tips hits when moving side to side.
If I push the chest piece in with my hand , I have ZERO issues and it fits perfectly.
To date this is what I have tried with little help.
1) lengthened my shoulder straps that connect the back and the front thinking it would lower the chest piece and provide a better fit , still having the same issue.
2) shortened up the straps on the bottom of the chest piece to 'pull down; the chest piece thinking it would give me more room to work with, again, not helpful.
3) Tried added foam pieces inside the helmet to have the helmet 'sit up taller' so it will not rest on the chest piece but hasn't helped.
I am at a loss , this is the final tweak I need , do I just need to drop the chest piece down more or maybe trim something , or will this require a heat gun :-)
-
Thank you so much for the feedback, I will start working on those straight away , already got the left shoulder bell attachment shortened and they line up perfectly now. Interesting on the V , will look at that for sure , anything that can help with that damn saggy butt of my mine :-).. Was not wearing my neck piece, totally forgot that piece, doh.
Will work on the shoulders , I used a heat gun to try and round them a bit and I think they warped a bit, will give this another try and get them more in line with the phots you presented.
-
2
-
-
Here is a picture of the gap I am trying to close a bit to bet a better fit with the helmet ( forgive the helmet hair LOL) . I have tried playing with different lengths of white nylon over the shoulders adding in various snaps at different lengths and still can't get a good tight fit near my chest.
-
Since this was a commission build form Daves Dark Side I do not have a build thread , but have reviewed SEVERAL to get some helpful tips and tricks to better fit my armor. I have done some trimming , glueing, realigning several straps and am getter closer . Below are some recent pics of the fitting after tweaking from the bottom up , and realized there might be more before I submit for final approval . Still tweaking the shoulder bells. 3 things I know I need to fix yet
1) Shoulder bells , need to shorten the straps a bit to get a better fit and close that gap a bit
2) I CONTINUE to struggle with the front chest piece , it seems to ride just too high near my chin , my helmet literally sits on the top of the chest piece and at times lifted my helmet to where I can't see out the eyes. I added some padding to the helmet to have it sit a bit more forward and seems to help a bit , I wish I could figure out a way to get the chest piece to fit more sung this reducing the gap between my throat and the top of the chest, I swear I could stick a tennis ball down that opening.
3) the thighs are a bit long, epcailly on my left , get a bit of wear on my knee cap causing some discomfort after awhile , trouble bending at the knee as well to walk.
Comments welcome on whatever tweaks you think I need , but I have certainly come a long from the original build thanks to all the talented folks om this forum :-)
-
Biceps are fitting a bit tight, specifically the bottom portion especially with the strap attached . Is there a method to widen the opening on the bottom a bit without taking the cover strips off and resizing , just need a tad bit more room with a bit of a wider opening( top part is fine).
Ideas welcome?
-
I ended using ETSY as well and ordered one from www.questdesigncanada.com , read some good reviews and they seem to be built pretty solid with some parts being metal. Went with this option , will report back how it works when I receive ( end of December). Whats the difference in ROTJ vs ANH blasters? Hope I didn't ge the wrong blaster for my ANH STUNT ...
-
Need some help with the chest piece and it seems to ride up a bit interfering with the helmet. Alone the helmet fits fine with line of sight just about perfect . Once I put on the ab and the chest piece the front of the helmet seems to "sit" on the shoulder straps raising the helmet up and thus making my line of sight below the eyes , I am unable too turn my head side to side at the slightest degree and the area around the hovi tips will bump up against the chest peice.
In thirst photos you can see there is a bit of q gap between my chest area and the chest peice riding up around and leaving a gap up top.
IN these pictures I am pointing out with my fingers where the helmet is hitting the chest plate thus raising the helmet , so high in fact I cant see out the eyes. Curious how to lower the chest piece so the helmet will not sit on the shoulders guards impeding eyesight and head movement, can I cut trim the top?
In this picture I am pointing where my eyes actually are , the helmet around the Hovi mics is actually sitting on chest piece raising the helmet up making it almost impossible to see out of .
In this picture I am pushing down and holding the chest piece with a fair amount of force to improve the helmet fit. I am not sure adjusting the straps that connect to the ab would help as I am pushing down with a fair amount of force , and still have a fair amount of difficulty of moving my head ad the area around the Hovi tips still hit the shoulder straps.
Side profile shot not ....
-
So after 8 long months ( thank you Covid ) BBB day finally arrived. I had originally ordered a trimmed kit from Daves Darkside but with time constraints between work and home ( again , thank you Covid) I opted for a commission build , otherwise it would be another 8 months before I could even get around to start working on things and I cant wait that long :-)
Unboxing day and got everything laid out , Dave's packing job was excellent ensuring every piece was well wrapped and taken of during transit, big thumbs up.
Once everything was laid and I ensured all pieces ( and then some) were accounted for and it was time to try things on . After reading the directions carefully and watching some YT videos I felt prepared enough to give it a try. I opted not to put on the bootsor the thermal detonator at this point, just wanted to get a feel for the armor.
Full understanding that this is the first fitting and I have to get use to things , but after studying MANY builds and using the CRL as a reference I got a bit concerned , wasn't exactly how I thought the fit would go. I talked to Dave at Daves Darkside and showed him some of my concerns and I have to say his customer service is above board , ( 5 stars all the way) , after reviewing some of the pictures and concerns he is fully prepared to correct the following after I sent more measurements along with pictures to help with the details.
I will include pictures below on my concerns and welcome comments from this team and/or recommendations and ensure I am on the same page with other builds I have studied and followed.
I fully realize that I am not a 'skinny" guy , I am rocking the dad bod at 5'9" at 210 , but this suit seems to be 'conformed' to a 6 foot 240+lb guy , with the picture below in the garage , this thing looks huge on me :-). Fully expected to add girth , it is armor after all , but just seems I am a "large" body into an XL size kit? wrong on this?
See pictures and comments below.
1) shin pieces are a bit on the bulky side , taking them in a bit and may shorten things ( Velcro came off on the left leg, couldn't fasten).
2) with the thighs , these things are HUGE on me , he will be taking these in as well specifically the bottom part
3) He wants me to send these back as well to ensure proper fit, they are a bit on the large side as well.
4) Biceps need a lot of work , very LARGE on me and push my bells out when I flex my arm.
My next post I will try and seek some advice ion the chest / cod piece and helmet fit, having some concerns there as well ..
-
1
-
-
Good to hear some of your issues are being looked at. Unfortunately it can be an issue some times with commissions to have all pieces fit you correctly, some times some tweaking is needed, appears you need a little more work than just tweaking.
Dave seems to be able to offer some help which is great.
Correct on the ‘tweaking’ , there is a bit more work to be done and Dave is taking care of me. Understand the difficulties with commission builds , can’t be easy at all going off pictures and measurements, so my hat is off to him .
Wish I had the time to do this myself but since COVID hit I have had zero time to take on a project like this .
We’ll get this
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk-
5
-
501st Trooper Status Requests (Include link to your 501st profile in your request!)
in 501st and Detachment Access Requests
Posted
Hi , TK-70921 requesting access
https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=34337
Thanks so much... - Jeff