huttman

well this is a "Arrow" rivet tool, it wasnt cheap, like 15 bucs. I wont use it on my armor until i can get it to work properly. EDIT: Okay im going to answer my own question here but hope this helps anyone who was unsure how to use this as I was. THis morning I was sharing my experience with a co-worker who happens to be ex-navy and told me that he had to use a rivet tool a lot so he clued me in: Once you drill your hole, insert the rivet, you will be left with the remaining nail, simply place the tool into the nail again squeezing the grips a second time releasing (or popping) the nail off. Ive tried this on a few test pieces and it works fine. being the perfectionist I am ill probably go over the hole with some puddy and paint over it, dunno. Anyway, hope this helps

Okay I have to confess, ive never used one. Seemed pretty straight forward to me. But for some reason, while testing this tool, the nail portion wont come out, only if I cut it off, and I know thats not how its done. I damn near stabbed my hand like heysoos on the cross trying to pull it out with a pair of pliers! Anyway, here is a pic of the tool, the rivets, and the test piece. --------- Now there is a little adjuster on the side but doesnt seem to do anything. on the other side there is a place to adjust with a screwdriver, but it seems to not have an affect on any changes I make to it. So im taking one for the team, for anyone who was ever afraid to admit they cant use what would normally seem to be a pretty basic tool Anyway, thanks for any tips and hope this helps the concerned, er I mean the curious

Ok so I have been a little busy. Too many pics to show on the thread so I figured I would come up with random updates with a lot of pics. So click HERE to view my latest. The thighs were VERY challenging to do. Im a little nervous about the size still but they seem to fit. Im already working on pics for my next update so stay tuned. Meanwhile if you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to ask cheers!

I think I have to say that the thighs are the most stressful part of assembling my armor. You cant clamps the center. You have to sit there and hold it. If your not careful, If you attach two clamps on the end, you wont notice it at first, but you will creat a buckle, and realize you need to take the end clamps off. I looked a lot of places for C-Clamps that extra long, but no luck. I wasnt about to pay 40 dollars for a clamp i needed only twice. phew EDIT: Did I happen to mention that while I was holding the center down, grumbling about holding holding it right, at least 3 minutes went by before i noticed my elbow nesting in the mixture of epoxy.

I bought a lot of pressure tested industrial velcro for my armor. You are right on the different sizes. I taped both of them together for a test fit and one is defiantly larger than the other. Im just wondering if I should make them snug, or leave room. Like I read somewhere that if your able to put two of your fingers in the top, your golden. I think when im ready to do a field test, im going to the mall. North County Fair in Escondido (hint hint) and Ill see what rubs me wrong I figured an indoor mall would be choice to test. anyhoo. thanks for the tips

Glad I could help. Then again, I wasnt alone

the smell works if your trying to keep your cats from scratching the couch simply put the boots next to the area they normally scratch, problem solved! nailing two birds with one stone, end the use of your couch as a scratching post, and aerating your boots! lol well it was a fun thought anyway

Ive learned that its easier to cut off that to put back on, but my fear is having them too big and looking simply wrong. Im not a skinny guy and have worked out my legs, but i dont anticipate them getting *that* big. I will consider the garder approach, im just concerned that the webbing will be too noticeable.

I am at the thighs portion of my armor and I watched Daves 4 part video set on this topic but something wasnt covered that im still curious about, even after looking around for tips. How big should they be? How are they held on? When I tape both of mine together, One is actually bigger than the other. They arent exactly round so Im dealing with that too. Hopefully this will help out anyone else who has scratched their head on this one as well..

thanks for the kind words. I still havent received any emails, "im glad you received or product" type emails. I dunno, maybe I expect too much. I could be too worried upset the sender because i feel they have the upper hand. Im a firm believer in communication. I have 100% feedback rating at the big auction site because of it. **shrug** Had I known the knowledge I know know, Ide research a little more.

Got the rest of my goods today. The body suit is a little concerning. Even though there is a zipper that goes from the center neck to just passed my belly button, how does one ............ use the bathroom? picked up the batting helmet,new clamps and some more epoxy glue also. I should be adding some pics later

Today was the day I had had enough. Numorous emails and not one reply, and several phonecalls gone unanswered. I felt bad, felt like maybe i pi$$ed the guy off due to my constant aggressiveness. So i called him from work. a different number. A suprise the owner answered. I explained to him that I was concerned because he wasnt replying to my emails regarding parts not received, etc, and he told me he hadnt received any emails from me. He explained to me that he recently switched over from his hotmail to the new "windows live" hotmail and wondered if that was the reason. So he took a look and it appeared that I was being blocked as spam I received the rest of my packages today when I got home from work. All is good. So just a fyi, he WILL receive emails if you email him from the big auction site. Both times I spoke with him on the phone were good experiences, the only thing he didnt do that he said he was going to, was email me tracking numbers. Anyhoo, all is well. cheers..

guy on the left, isnt angled, its blunt. I compare it to yours, then his, and there is an obvious difference. just fyi and look, bubbled lenses! lol. I will never understand the debate over those, **shrug**

I have 3 comments. (questions actually) 1 is a question, why not have the screen in the frown painted black? 2nd is another question, is the brow piece suppose to be angled at the ear? 3rd, isnt the rectangle piece "on" the ear suppose to be gray along with 1 or 2 striped painted in black on it? Oh, and show us the inside

well as some of you know, i received my armor a few days ago and am already working on it. But I must say, I will not recommend this company. The refuse to answer my emails. And now is ignoring my calls. I just hope to the imperial gods i get the rest of my order. (boots,neckring,undersuit, etc). I also am not sure if this was suppose to be included, but there was no back piece/strip that attaches to the belt. Its not big im buying a sheet for the snaps anyway, but its the principle.

Finished the sleeves and the biceps last night. I used the technique from your vids dave and they worked like a charm, only problem i ran into on one sleeve was that i had to dig out some painters tape from the seem. Apparently I went to close with it. I watched your shin video and I think im going to look for some clams that will reach the center. I didnt have the big clamps like you had in the vid so i was forced to hold the seem by hand. Was up late so I didnt have time to edit any photos, ill do that later tonight perhaps. Tonight is Warhammer40K night (Wednesday) BTW, the Locktite epoxy worked like a charm. Also, on the Biceps, i'm not sure if I should keep the velcro on one side. I dont see myself becoming extremely buff in the future even though i work out. But for now its not hurting anything. cheers!

What makes you who you are? --Other than flesh and bone, Passion and determination. What makes you tick? --A good heart>? What do you do for a living? --IT, Right now I work at a Data Center as a NOC Tech What other passions do you have? --Well Im freshly married so i'm pretty passionate about that. I play warhammer 40k on wednesday nights. I like working on projects involving construction etc. One project at a time though What other passions do you have? --See above Married or Not? --Happily Married Kids? --2 cats

I grabbed some by "LOCKTITE" that dries in 7 minutes. ill keep ya posted

Hey Darrel, Thanks a lot for all that. I will admit it would be a cool thing to have another person to work with on this but so far ive only come across one other in my area to shoot ideas with face to face. Before my kit came, I did a lot of research, watched instructional videos etc. As far as the velcro goes, i took one look at it and laughed. There is a stire here in S.D. where I get a lot of my industrial needs that carry velcro in black AND in white. SO today on my break im going to hit up that place and grab some. after that ill head across the street to dixyline and grab some Devcon and some blue painters tape. If they have the smoke gray spray paint i need for the bucket, ill grab that too. I met up with the 501st at con this year and signed up on the boards. im still waiting on the second package that contains the undersuit, shoes, etc so im not in a huge rush. I watched a video last night on doing the sleeves (thanks Dave) and I like how its don. GLuing one side and velcroing the other. I have experience working with leather and rubber as i used to make "stuff" out of my garage so I have a lot of snaps, d-rings- riveter, press, etc to make sure I get it done right. I plan on using the snap system on my armor. I am hitting up the plastics place also on my brake to pick up some 15mm sheet so i can make the squares. the only thing that has me a bit confused is the piece that is attached to the belt that wraps around your waste. mine doesnt have that. in my pic above, thats everything that came in the box. ANywho, ill keep ya posted, cheers!

Am i the only one that sees the humor here? "Im going in without my helmet"

ok, then i will pick up two of them. one for my MR as well. Silly question: What do you do with a brand new batting helmet with no liner, and you wont use? donate it?

interesting, i thought the 3 holes on each side was the stunt EDIT: btw, its "smoke gray" on the teeth isnt it?

so you prefer the Devcon then? hard to choose, taking a poll here Finished with the holes:

Ive read conflicting stories about what to use as far as glue. I know some use epoxy. the syringe type with two tubes. I was sent this with my FX I could use this or go grab something better because if I run out by slim chance, i want to stay consistant. anyway, you wanted pics so here is one of me working on the breather holes on the bucket.

start with the helmet or the armor first? EDIT: Started with the bucket