CloseTheBlastDoor

Thanks for those reference photos! Due to an interview, hand pain, and getting ready for a vacation, I've not spent much more time on this, but I hope to have a few more hours soon to plug away at this.

Thank you for the advice, ShaSha! I agree that getting the strapping done is the next logical step. I did already trim the large tabs from the backs of the straps, so we'll see!

I thought a lot more about the shoulder strap issue. And then I didn’t because I kept getting stuck. So I did some other stuff, like trimming the belt, just to feel like I was still making progress. Following the Billgram: I trimmed the length with the 3-5mm margin from the main blocks. I found that a metal straight edge with some scrap ABS sheet to build up to ~4mm worked well as a guide. I’ll do the same with the ammo belt when I get the replacement from WTF. That was a nice aside. The rest of the trimming I will do later. So, for the chest plate, I had a really difficult time finding symmetry so I could find a centerline and would have a decent reference to draw some cut lines. As the left side came up higher than the right, I thought I’d measure the side cut-outs and then use the difference as a guide for trimming the top left. I used this crude method of taping a USB cord along each edge: You can see that I marked the length by wrapping a piece of painter’s tape around the cord. “But wait,” you ask. “The lengths are the same!” Yes, they are. So much for that idea! Upon inspection, I did notice that the left side had a little bit more return edge leftover than the right side. So I trimmed that down too, but only gained maybe a few millimeters. I had a conversation with Walt about this shortness issue, too. He rightly pointed out (and it was pointed out here too) that there is nothing in the CRL about how many shoulder strap ribs overlap, but at the same time I don’t know that he felt that this chest plate was out of spec with his standards. The other WTF builds that Glen pointed out surely seem to have more material to work with. And the chest plate seems angled out where the straps connect. I have neither. I decided that enough is enough, and that I was just going to go forward and see what happens. I had to make some assumptions about what symmetry means here. I placed the chest plate on my table, and put the left side over the edge. I marked and cut: Getting the neck right was where I wanted to ensure some symmetry, too. With initial trimming, it had fit like this, where it was very uneven and biting into my neck: I took some measurements and decided that about a 150mm diameter circle was a good guide for trimming. It seemed to align with my neck and allowed space for the neck seal. A good tracing and cutting followed, and then a go at Glen’s ‘box’ method for fitting. With a 1-big + 2-small rib overlap, this is how it looks: Left side: Right side: I feel like the box is a bit too deep. As you can see, there isn’t a lot of overlap to be had. It was quite awkward trying to dry fit this onto the real me without help. Time to look for a mannequin torso or something. Then I will also be able to work more on shoulder strap shaping.

Yes, thank you, that definitely helps! I guess the WTF chest plate is simply not shaped the way yours is to begin with. Will look at other WTF builds too, as Glen suggests. BTW, who was your armorer?

Yeah, mine looks quite different, and does not have the 'angled out' cut on the sides. I'll have to think on this one a bit more.

Still a bit hung up on the shoulders. I haven't trimmed anything there off the chest plate yet, because there doesn't appear to be much strap overlap: I can only overlap the one large tab and three small ones at most, it seems, and I have yet to trim. I will have to trim some, since there is some lumpiness from forming. I traced the bump-out in the chest plate in China marker just to show how close to the front I already am. Also, I am wondering if I need to trim the sides in the photo to the dotted lines so they taper to the strap width more, which is what I think I see in some of other folks' photos. I am hoping not .

Good advice!

Ooh, good note on the larger tab on the back! I'm not too big, so I can probably get away with removing it entirely. Will check fit first, of course. Thank you, as always! One other thing: I notice that the chest plate's shoulders don't quite align (left shoulder side is higher), so I didn't trim that area yet. Should I trim to the thin dotted line so the sides match up? Or should I trim to a line that follows across the top, so the straps follow more straight over the shoulders? a

I haven’t quite set up to get the snap set done, as I need to order more of the line 24 snaps, and a few other things. In the meantime, I found the Billgrams. What a gold mine! They are super useful! They were nicely gathered here: I decided to trim out a bit more of the armor, namely the shoulder straps, chest plate and back plate. For rough cutting I found it most useful to use a bandsaw to get an initial trim on pieces with a flat surface, and lexan shears for the others. Then for either, a closer trim with Dremel+drum sanding head, followed by 220 grit sandpaper. Shoulder straps: Button plate, untrimmed with Billgram measurements marked: Trimmed: Chest and back plates have a generous return edge on the bottom, while next to nothing on the other edges. On these other edges I left the natural rounding intact, but there’s not much behind it, if that makes sense. I did this by not applying the Dremel perpendicular to the edge, but parallel to the forward-facing plane of my body. Chest: Back: Hoping for feedback, and advice on to what radius I should form the shoulder straps. Thanks!

Thanks guys!

Thanks to both of you. Sounds like I will use snaps, and then I can still have the choice of either nylon or elastic.

Good idea on nylon instead of elastic! How do you feel about snaps instead of gluing directly, though?

Thanks, Glen, it certainly feels so! I am now officially motivated (had a bad motivator before ).

Thanks for responding, Glen, especially on a Sunday! I probably spent the last 90 minutes reviewing what you said, and the links you provided, which then led me to other links of interest. Lots of info! To clarify things a bit, this is my understanding and what my approach will be, based on what I've learned: Double snaps everywhere, even on limbs. I will have to order more snaps! Nylon is used on the armor side, elastic for connections Nylon looks like it's 1" wide and 2" long. I've seen people use ABS instead, or sandwiched ABS inside nylon. Seems like if the armor is thick enough, and I'm using authentic E-6000 glue, I should be good to go with just nylon Elastic is 2" wide, and its length will depend on what sections are being mated. Using discretion, place female snaps 5mm shorter than where they should be when the elastic is relaxed Double over ends of elastic so snaps go through more material = strength Make a jig with two holes in it to ensure that snap spacing is the same everywhere. Burn holes with soldering iron using this jig. Also, using the iron, seal the edges of the nylon and elastic so fraying is prevented Sound OK? Is there any strapping that goes between the thighs and shins to maintain that gap? Otherwise it seems like the shins could droop quite a bit.

With the thighs as done as they can be for the moment, I thought I’d start looking into straps/snaps at least to understand what’s coming up, before I start on the torso and belt parts. I’ve found this reference: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/43292-anovos-strap-replacement/#comment-580593 I’d really like to make a complete set of straps/snaps all in one go (or two). Is there a guide somewhere that spells this all out? Like “make four strips of black elastic (or nylon) 2” wide and 4” long, with two snaps at each end” sorta stuff? Also, I’ve seen others just glue the straps to the ABS in certain places, particularly to join the arm sections. Is that advisable? These look like single-snap points otherwise. Thanks!

Thanks! Indeed, you all are so awesome!

Thanks, Brian! It did turn out that I did exactly what you said. X-acto plus careful lifting off of the strip. I was able to salvage the front strip, too. It was getting the excess E-6000 off that was a bit of a swear-fest! Used a popsicle stick for most of my work:

Thanks. Yeah, I really did it on this one with both front and backing strips!

I did end up contacting Walt, and he will send me a new ammo pack. While I waited, I thought that I’d run through the rest of the thigh construction. I cut 20mm wide strips for the fronts, and again like for the shins opted for an inner strip as well for strength. On the left thigh, I aligned the lower edges. The upper ones came together pretty close, so that was great. On the right thigh, I aligned the top edges instead. The outer half had a bit of a curve to it, so some of the ridge comes out under the cover strip there. I glued the front and rear strips on both thighs first before fitting. For fitting, I followed @gmrhodes13’s advice of a finger’s width spacing, and will do the refinement later when everything starts coming together. I cut and glued the rear strips at 20mm, but didn’t double that up in case I needed to make adjustments. I also added a small backing strip at the bottom front of the left thigh, to make it look more even. Lower left thigh, front, with backing strip in place: Back view: Then I smoothed all edges and strips of both thighs. I thought I was done. But now looking at the left thigh, there is a glaring issue that I can’t believe I didn’t catch before. The ridges are spread out! I don’t know how I could have measured so poorly, and in all the gluing not have noticed, but it is pretty obvious now! Is this going to be a problem? Now that I have doubled up with front and back strips, it’s going to be even harder to get them off if I indeed need to fix this. If so, any advice on getting the strips off?

Thank you, Gerald! I was thinking the same.

Quick question on the knee ammo pack: mine has some ridges running in between the boxes, that are from the forming process. Aside from appearance, would this be a problem with approval? Should I try and get a new piece?

Do you think that what I've shown in the last picture is too tight? It's with the thigh hiked all the way up. I just don't want to cut too much plastic, cuz there's no turning back from that. Is there a rule of thumb for how much space one should leave? I hear ya on the circulation! I have some degree of foot problems, so can't imagine standing for more than an hour at a time.

OK, for the top of the thighs, I’ve trimmed out all of the return edge in the inner half, and for appearance have decided to leave about 3-4mm on the outer half. For the bottom, I’ve left 4-5mm all around, since I thought it would look weird removing all of the edge on a ridge that is protruding from the thigh. Top edges: Bottom edges: As for fitting, I have everything taped and have tried them on. As far as trimming to suit my skinny legs, there is quite a bit of material to work with, which is good. Below is one attempt. Should the fit be that close, or should I leave some more room? The bottoms have a good amount of slack. Should I pull the thigh up my leg as far as it can go, to assess the proper fitting? Another question I should have asked in the beginning: Can one sit down in this costume? Seems like the highest part of the thigh jabs right into the inside of my hip if I try.

I have pretty skinny legs too! Thanks for providing that info from Joseph!

Now, thighs! I had deferred this a bit because I didn’t have the compression pants yet. I trimmed the front edges down to accommodate a 20mm cover strip. The ridge lines are not exactly straight, so there is some allowance for that. How much of the return edge on the top and bottom of the thighs should I remove? I’ve searched around and have seen varying opinions. Some say to trim the inner thighs on the tops all the way down, which for armor bite sounds like a good idea, and to leave 3-5mm on the outer tops. Others say to leave about a 5mm return edge all around for the bottoms. I don't see anything in the CRL about thigh return edges.