naatsirhc

I would say it would be 8-10. It is tough, for someone to brake in with both locks and an additional pad lock it would require a saw or dremmel. It would probably take some time. Just using a pocket knife or something similiar would take a long time, you can not just stab thru and cut. I bought this because it holds everything, I know other troopers who use these, it is large enough that it is not easy to run off with and strong enough to keep someone out while I am trooping. I cringe at the sight of rubbermaid tubs that look as if they have been falling apart for at least a year or two. I figure that my gear is worth over a grand, so paying a bit more for a nice storage bin seems practical. I think it looks pretty good too!

one thing is I noticed on most ATA builds is that one of the thighs edges don't line up creating a sorta gap. I am not sure I want to take a blow gun to it since with my lack of true skill is lacking but is other wise not sure how to fix I was wondering how you fixed it or if it was not even present. Also what is that black 'paint' that you put inside of your helmet. I like the look of the finished product. Jesse, I used a common BIC lighter to soften the styrene. I held it far enough away to not scorch the plastic, and only for a minute or less. I then used a clamp to bring the pieces in line with each other. It sounds harder than it is, I do not own a heat gun, I have been using the lighter method for a long time when bending and forming plastic parts. Here is a pic of the finished thigh back, notice left side is flat and right side has a ridge near the bottom. The strip hides a small gap that occurs when bring the parts in line. I wish I had a shot of that area before assembly. The Black paint is called plasti dip, it is a rubber coating that can be removed. It comes in spray and brushable, my painter got overspray on mine so it is not as clean as it once was. It is, most likely, easier to paint your bucket first then brush in the black where you want it. Hope all this makes sense. Look forward to seeing your build!

I am trooping that event on Saturday, so I will see you there. Welcome to the SCG!

Looking good! Nice sandy Be sure to sign up with the SoCal Garrison and look into joining the San Diego squad! You will need to do this if you plan on trooping.

I have a Stanley tool box with wheels, I believe I paid $60. It is very tough and can be locked. It has a tray that works great for under armor, neck seal, gloves, TD, batteries etc... I like the fact that it holds everything and looks nice. It just needs some more decals and a name plate!

Jesse, The arm strips are 5/8", but yes the armor ridge once butted should equal the strip. All of my armor is done that way in the front, the back is wider with the correct strip width. My calves clam shell like the screen versions, but I used a small piece of velcro at the top to help keep them closed. I believe I have a bit more than a 1/2" hang over on the calf backs.Hope this helps, if you need pics to clarify that are different from my build thread I will be happy to post them.

Hey Quinn, Glad you picked the ATA kit. It is a tough build but well worth it. I did cut my leg strips at 7/8", front and back thighs and shin fronts. 1'' for the back of shins. It is the ridging on the actual armor that I was trying to get clarification on. Most kits out there have instruction booklets and ATA does not so that leaves a lot of room for guess work, but I found the help i needed through our FISD brothers. To help clarify, I will briefly go over what I did. I made all of the ridges on the front of the armor the correct width of the strips. It is on the back of the armor that I left the ridging width be wider based on my build. I am 6 feet and around 210 right now. Some people make there finishing strips wider in the back to match the ridge width, I used the correct strip width for both front and back of my entire armor. I believe this makes it look more consistant. I made this decision after asking for advice and received a reply from Terrell, so I went with the advice of the maker and am most pleased with the outcome of my armor. I hope this answered your question. I look forward to seeing your build, post lots of pictures and feel free to ask for help. Good luck! Naatsirhc PS- Thanks Daniel for the compliment!

Paul, You know your doing something right when you go uncontested! Thanks for doing such a great job! Congrats

Hey Todd, How about some updated pics of your progress? Good to see your still working on your kit. ATA is one of the harder builds, but the result is well worth the effort!

Congrats on finally making EIB! GO ESB!

Awsome! one more EIB for California

congrats! Nice AP build

Great job! Congrats, glad to see you finally applied for EIB. Well done trooper

Under Armor two piece, plan on getting a cold weather set. Voted!

Go ESB! Congratulations on making EIB after all the hard work.

Check off another EIB for California! Congrats!

Congrats on finally making EIB!

Great job trooper! Very nice armor.

Congrats! Nice job!

Just received mine in the mail today. Thank you for the wonderful book, I am really going to enjoy reading it! Thank again Christaan

I followed TK4510's move along tutorial for my build. If you follow that, you will be successful. I think it helps to leave more material at the bottom sides of the cap n back. One thing that will help with trimming will be wether you go for a high or low brow. I would suggest clamping the face to the cap through the eyes and see how the sides line up, then trim as needed. I have pics in my build thread that show where I trimmed the cap. I also trimmed the sides of the face a bit to remove the ridge. I removed the top part of the face, as well. I would suggest you leave excess material on the ears if you want a nice tight fit. My 2 credits!

I had my armor painted with autobody paint. My painter used an adhesion promoter called bulldog and then painted with a gloss white. You will need to wet sand all parts and be careful about what you use to dry them. Oils from your skin and other sources can cause a bad finish, the worse case is that you have to re-sand and repaint. There are a lot of good threads dealing with painting your armor and bucket, I advise you to review them.

This looks like contamination, but it could be a number of things. You will need to wet sand the entire piece and repaint it. 2000 grit should work and allow you to end up with a nice finish. You want at least 3 coats of paint, this allows you to wet sand and/or polish out future scratches from trooping. My 2 credits, hope it helps.

I would agree that buying the blaster and the mod kit is the way to go. I think you will find greater satisfaction knowing you did it. My total build price for mine was around $70, but I already owned the tools that i used( Dremel, sand paper,bondo etc..) The items I purchased blaster,doopy doos kit, T-track, paint and some oven bake craft clay( for my greeblies and sites ).

Go ESB!!!!!