saltyr1

So not much progress, but I did finish trimming the left bicep and attached my first cover strip! More to come.

This is another one of those 'I was on a roll' and already trimmed the tops. Now I do like how these feel so I'm not worried about them moving around too much. But I do have skinny wrists, so I might need to add foam or something in the forearms. I'll start on those next. Here are the bottom return edges.

The biceps! Trimmed them closer to final. Test fitting using what would be 5/8" cover strips fits me well (the side still need trimmed to 5/16", just left plenty incase I messed something up this round). Let me know if you have any concerns or suggestions.

It is definitely exciting seeing it come together! Here I rough trimmed the arm pieces at the mold lines. I know the ends of the forearms should have no return edges, but the rest should be pretty close. Time to start test fitting...

I was able to get some pics with the armor on (forgot the thermal detonator). I feel it's coming together. I still have some issues to fix, like the left side of the kidney still wanting to pop out a little. Back came out a little dark for some reason I also taped on the rough trimmed shoulder bell. So far so good. But really need the bicep to see the fit. I'll use Glen's method above when adding the snaps.

Thanks Caleb, now it makes sense!

Thanks Caleb! My thoughts were to keep as much material as possible as it seems ATA shoulder bells seem to show more undersuit in the front (seems moving the shoulder bell snap more towards the back helps). If the fit allowed, I would definitely add the curve (to me removing material can't cover more undersuit).

For the button covers, I will come back to them. But to keep my momentum going, I plan on trimming the should bells right at the mold lines on the sides to keep as much there as possible. And I'm 99% sure I have the Left and Right sides correct.

Unfortunately again, I've already glue them. But if needed could, they could be taken back off.

The belt should now be complete! Holster (from Trooper Bay) and drop boxes installed. The button covers added with the outside covers offset more to the ends (thanks Glen for pointing that out). If something seems off, please let me know. Now to the Shoulder Bells!!!

OK, that was easier to fix than I thought. My original thought after my disappointment was it fell into the part of 'should sit at', but it was really resting on the bottom. So the easiest way to fix it was to move the snaps on the belt. Spent most of the time trying to get the exact placement. But overall, much better. Here you can see the snap relocation: Probably didn't need to, but I filled the old holes with Liquid Stitch to prevent fraying.

Thanks Glen for the honesty. Off to correct it!

I also plan on trying to heat and bend the ends of the ammo belt again with a hair dryer.

Some progress today. Added the snaps to the belt. I tried to bend the belt with boiling water and a hair dryer. Here are pics attached to the belt. Now I am a little disappointed as I planned for the slightest overlap on the button plate. But in the end, it ended up sitting firmly against the base of the panel. I was quite surprised how solid the belt sits once snapped down (no play at all). I'll probably leave it as is, unless it could hinder upper level approval.

Some progress, not as much as I hoped. I used Ukswrath guide for trimming the ends of the ATA belt. Belt is from Rob K. And lastly the drop boxes are ready.

Hardware too

Final result after 2 days of letting the bridges dry. I added the 1/4 inch elastic for the bridges. And now I think I'm all prepared to start on the belt.

I was able to get 3 little tabs on the chest plate. As Glen mentioned, anything more became a problem. Unfortunately I've already glued them on. Now I wish I would have trimming the front more like Dan mentioned.

Here are some pics of where I plan to mount the bridges. Looks good to me, but please point out any concerns.

Thank you Glen and Mario. They came out better than I expected.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! Shoulder bridges are trimmed. But I'm torn on removing the large tab on the back. I know it's more accurate, but I don't like how the low parts of the bumps do not go flush with the sides. Meaning, it won't have a nice smooth edge if I cut if off. Any thoughts? Here is a pic of what I'm trying to describe.

Much happier with the posterior now. Added the v tabs, trimmed and added the snaps. I still have to add the split rivet to the cod area and make the strap. I was able to get the wife to take some quick pics with it on. I should have taken them with the under suit on instead of a t shirt and shorts, but I grab her when I can... Let me know if anything seems off or could be better. I know I said the belt is next, but I forgot I need to do the shoulder bridges next.

I have made progress on the torso strapping! Unfortunately I didn't have anyone around to get a pic when I had it on, but I'll get one soon! The kidney plate wanted to really push out on the side compared to the ab. For the right side, instead of using pieces of scrap ABS to make the slip joint (not sure what to call it), I designed and 3d printed two pieces in white ABS that slip together nicely (not an exact color match, but not too bad). This worked really well. The left side isn't too bad as I tried to keep the strapping close to the edges. Putting the belt on helps tighten it up, but I'll deal with that later. I'm working on the posterior now. I have some trooper butt, so I'm making some v tabs to take care of that. The posterior is still uncomfortable as it digs in, so I need to address that too. Once that is all taken care of, I'll add the snaps and split rivet to the cod. Then onto the belt!

Hello everyone! Split rivets are in place along with the Han snap. I also have been working on the strapping for the torso pieces (no pics yet). Along with the strapping, I'm going to add the split rivet to the cod piece. I'm going to hold off on the two male snaps on the posterior piece as I think I'm going to need to trim in that area to be comfortable (I'll wait till the strapping is done to get the correct fit).

Thanks, those are the measurements I used. Here are the two together: