Sawanator

You are a wonderful person! I love it, thanks!

Already combed that one! Was so excited the first day I got approved, I was trying to soak everything in. Thanks again for all your help. It's so appreciated, all through this build. You, and all the other troopers who chime in, are awesome. Excited to start paying it forward.

Bing! Lightbulb finally went off! Lol I was so confused what the first link was (because I was only looking at the other links that took you to the 501st.com site). I get it now, sorry for being slow on the uptake. Access has been requested.

TK 13239, requesting access https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=37125

Thanks for the tip. Worked like a charm!

Thanks. This is great. I got my TK status up and running on the 501st and have access to the forums. Not sure how/were to update the bade, or does that just happen on its own? I'll put in for the fancy banner (which is awesome, thanks for posting that). I will put in for my Expert Infantry soon. Is this the right post to follow? Aside from the standard front back side photos I used for submission, are there any extra photos that are worth posting to help with this application? Thanks again for the assistance.

Well, it's official. TK status approved! Now how does one get those cool pictures you all have with your TK number? Is there an app or photo site that works well for these things?

Thanks for the tips. Just curious, how should the drop boxes line up? I thought the right edge of the drop box had to line up with the right edge of the last ammo slot on the belt +when looking at the left side). Or is it just that it's not straight? I think my leg was slightly bent which make it look not lined up.

Thanks for the tips. Any idea how to cut the bottom of those clips?

Back from hiatus. Made several tweaks and added internal padding to try to keep things in place and prevent the armour from rotating on me. One thing I noticed here is that I now have an overlap on "wings" of my AM black plate (bottom corners). I've ready other posts about this being an issue. I never bothered to fix these because it didn't used to over lap. Should I try suiting up again and seeing if if was just the way I was wearing it, or should I clip the wings on the bottom? v

No. I didn't hear about that. When I last checked ImperialBoots, they didn't carry my size (14 or 13 Wide). Thanks for letting me know about KeepTrooping, though. I'll check their sizes in their next wave.

Ya, I was worried about that. Sucks being so close and can't find footwear that works.

Alright. Back at it we go. We drilled out our rivets and patched them up. We are still playing with buffing them down so it looks right. I'll post some pictures in a bit. The main thing I want to focus on today is boots. I've posted before that I have rather large feet and don't fit the standard trooper boots. I tried Crowprops, but it just didn't work out for me (James' were fine). Anyway, I'm at the point of sources new boots and found some Chelsea boots that I want to have painted. I'm thinking if just using these for trooping as I'm sure they aren't up to snuf, but I wasn't sure how all the rules around that worked. Please let me know if these boots would pass for general trooping? I have a pair to wear for when I submit, I just can't wear them that long.

This is great, feedback. Thanks. I wore it for about 2 hours today. These are my take aways: -i need to fix straps for sure. My biceps and shoulders were too saggy -need padding in the forearms, bicep and thighs to prevent rotating. -my chest is pushing my helmet up, and I really can't see. Is this normal? -the cod piece really digs into my thighs at the back before it curves in. Are there any fixes for this? Other than that, it wasn't bad at all. No other biting armor anyway.

So I'll start this by saying this is a test run. I have lot's of issues to fix, but I was really happy to just get it to the point where I could wear it. Things I know I have to do: Fix rivet (they are the wrong spacing). Already practice patching a crack, so feeling better about this fix Fix my knee ammo belt (it's just on temporarily, but is upside down...it's a long story). a replacement is on it's way. Figure out how to adjust my should bells being so far away. The seems ok from the back, but haven't figured out how to close the gap at the front. Small gap between kidney and butt plate (easily fixed) One leg was sitting lower than the other Need to pull in my kidney and abs plate a bit better The last thing is my helmet, When I wear it without armor, it's fine, but with everything on, it doesn't come down far enough. Feels like it's hitting my chest armor and pushing it up. I was able to correct it a bit by shoving a small rag at the back of my head, which tips the helmet down a bit. You'll see it looks like I stand a little knock-kneed, which throws off the angle of my legs. Need to practice standing straighter. Also, I find my thighs rotate a bit, could someone help me with the orientation? How should those thighs be sitting? Anyway, please comment away. I know I have lot's of fixes coming, and I want to get it right. Thanks.

Thanks. I may apply for basic when I'm done and then fix it before I apply for Centurion. I'm sure there will be other fixes for sure. Still struggling with huge gaps between my shoulder bells and chest. Just the way I'm made. My shoulder bridges are gluing right now, then I will post some pics.

Ya, we could try that first I guess. Is it possible to remove the split rivets?

Ya, I was afraid of that. Crap. Guess we are ordering new abs and kidney plates.

So I'm trucking along doing my belt, and I read one post about how the bottom rivet is covered by the belt. We followed the standard rivet placement posted and once I placed my belt on, I can clearly see it's doesn't. I'm worried that since AM armor was bigger, we were supposed to space it out more, which would bring the other rivet lower. Is this a deal breaker? Does this mean I have to redo the ab and kidney plate? Feel like it's kinda permanent with the rivets set already and we would need to order replacements.

I'll give it a shot and see how it looks. Thanks.Nice thing is I can just add an extra snap connector, leaving both if it works.

Any tips on what to do here? Do I need to trip the should bells or adjust them at all? Because my chest is bigger than the chest piece, I'm not sure how best to bring the should bells to minimize tha gap.

This is really cool. Simple too. Thanks for sharing.

Alright, So, I had major issues with imgur (in fact I still am). Having such a hard time shrinking and cropping. As a result, I couldn't upload during the build, which was problematic. I also have been guilty of not taking enough pictures in this journey. Been hard since we only work on this like 2 or 3 times a year, but I definitely should have done this more as a journal, and I regret not doing that. Anyway, here are the updates so far. I'm about 80 to 90 percent done. Lots of little things. James is further behind, and I will post his stuff later. I'm having "larger guy" issues. My ab sides are bursting open, and I need to fix this. Been doing lots of reading, and I like the nylon fabic hinge idea I saw in AJ's AM build thread. He used his rivets to support them, but I've already got mine set, so I'll work around that somehow. I also like this idea of a shim on the open side. I will rig something up there as well, and I hope this helps. I noticed that my kidney's reallly push things out. It's almost like I need some padding on my gut (except I have enough) ;-) the push the bottom part our a bit. I'm hoping between the shim, and the new joint, plus wearing the belt, things will "shape up". I can see some other issues here, such as my large chest is making a large gap between my shoulder bells (see main pics below). I really don't know how to proceed here. Do I trim them? Do I need to shorten the strap to the shoulders? Onto the pics main pics. I have to admit, I got excited, and I just threw things on, even though I don't have many pieces done (including my thigh belt system yet (hence me holding my thighs up). Please let me know if there is anything else you think needs fixing. I'd be happy to post more pictures or better angles (I didn't realize James took so few). Other issues that came up. I think I made my thighs too tight.I gained a bit of weight. When we were cutting and measuring, we didn't realize there was a belt system, so we went a little tighter than we were supposed to. Think I need to open them up a bit as I cant seem to get them high enough now. Plus, I keep pinching my skin from my inner thigh on the cod piece. The last one is that I noticed I couldn't get my helmet down enough, but it may have been because I was holding my legs (which caused me to shrug my shoulders a bit(. I'll have to test that out next time/see if I can tip my helmet forward a bit. Anyway, I'm very happy with the progress so far. Got a long list of things to fix. Annoyingly, several snaps started coming off from the abs, so I have to re-glue. This works out ok in the end, so I have to kind of re-jig things there anyway. I will make more posts in the next few weeks as I make adjustments to things. I'll sure I will have some questions. Looking forward to hearing tips on how to proceed with some of these issues.

Not sure if there are any early risers. I was hoping to fet my shins done yesterday, but was too tired to focus. I was having a hard time getting the fit. Any recommendation on the gap between armor and leg (both near the knee and the ankle)? I assume it's ok it my cut is angled, as in I have to pinch more armor at the bottom than the top. Lastly, is there a recommended height from the ankle? Obviously low enough the boot doesn't slip out, just just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Thanks.