RogueTrooper[TK] Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 First, disconnect the elastic between the cod piece and butt plate. That is making a big problem for you. It is pulling your butt plate down which in turn changes where your kidney plate is. If I may also suggest, separate or disconnect your back plate from your chest plate and add a little bit longer piece of canvas for the bridge between the two pieces. By adding a longer bridge, this will give you a little bit more length, eg. it will help lower the chest plate and back armor, thus giving you less area that you will need to shim. Try doing some test fittings after adjusting those areas. A tip: to temporarily hold/bridge the back plate to the chest plate, use blue painters tape or some type of tape that will not leave a residue on the armor. Try this and see where your are. If you need help, just post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Looking at the side shot it seems your kidney plate is not connected to your abdomen. Your kidney is sitting way too low and should line up with your abdomen no matter what. These two pieces of armour are your base point for getting the whole torso so sit right on you. Once you have connect the kidney and abdomen together, you can work on the other pieces. The chest looks like it is sitting fairly well, but you might try shortening the straps that connect it to the abdomen (if possible). Next up is hang the butt plate from the kidney and leave a minimal gap. Don't bother connecting it to the cod at this point. Your butt plate looks way too low and can sit higher on you butt than you have it. Do the same with the back plate and try and leave small gap above the kidney. You can pull the back section up or down slightly with the shoulder straps connecting the back to the chest. You need to test fit everything and maybe tape them together as Tom suggests. If you have an elastic strap'n'snap system inside you can simply add extra snaps to the straps and just play around with the armour until it is comfortable. I think if you have to have wider gaps between back, kidney and butt tahn most then it might no look too bad. A small shim on the lower edge of the kidney would be the best place to add it 'if' you feel you need to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Thank you for the advice. There is no elastic between kidney and ab yet, they do however line up when I don't try to pull up the ab to keep the gap between chest and ab to a minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Detaching the elastic on the crotch was easier than I thought. Now the ab and kidney line up and the gap between kidney and back has been halved. Still a bit to go, but I've separated the crotch from the ab, hoping to gain half an inch there and hiding the gap behind the belt. There is now a 1 inch overlap between ab and chest, making it easier to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locitus[Admin] Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Sounds like you're making good progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 Found an easier mod. I extended the shoulder straps, making it possible to lower the chest without a gap between straps and back. The gap between kidney and back is now nearly neglectible. Will post pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormy320 Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Heige - keep an eye out for an envelope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Got it today, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Now that both my gloves are here I tried getting the suit on and a couple of issues occured. Nothing I don't know how to remedy but I thought I'd bring it by you. First of all the elastic on the shoulder connecting to the rest of the suit came undone. No biggie, it was the first one I did and I didn't rough up the plastic with sand paper so it adhered badly. Will order some e6000 come paycheck tomorrow. Getting the calves on without help was a hassle until I made the crotch elastic detachable. Now I can put the thighs and calves on first before clamming the ab and back around myself. The sides of the butt piece flare outwards due to the stress on the piece, Figuring I'll reinforce the elastic on these sides to keep them flat with my body. And the most serious one: an elastic in the center of the upper ab rim to keep the chest in piece has been too tightly fitted, and there seems to be a bit thin pulling in the return edge, resulting in hairline cracks in the bend of the edge. I just let the pieces be until I can get some proper materials, but I'm figuring I'll use glue plastic strips on the back side of the ab return edge to reinforce it and keep it from spreading + fill any cracks that have occured with resin. Is plastic weld used sparingly useful on HIPS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueTrooper[TK] Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 The sides of the butt piece flare outwards due to the stress on the piece, Figuring I'll reinforce the elastic on these sides to keep them flat with my body. Using elastic on these sides will help, also you may warm up the flare parts with a heat gun, so bend the flared sides inward to fit your body better. Warning be careful not to overdo the HIPS with the heat gun. And the most serious one: an elastic in the center of the upper ab rim to keep the chest in piece has been too tightly fitted, and there seems to be a bit thin pulling in the return edge, resulting in hairline cracks in the bend of the edge. I just let the pieces be until I can get some proper materials, but I'm figuring I'll use glue plastic strips on the back side of the ab return edge to reinforce it and keep it from spreading + fill any cracks that have occured with resin. Is plastic weld used sparingly useful on HIPS? You can use either E6000 or HIPS Styrene Plastic Glue for the repair jobs on HIPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Drats on you americans and your fear of including chemical names on products! Will try to find a Norwegian alternative. I'm also thinking I'll reinforce the entire suit with glue and fabric. E6000 recommended here too? Seems like I'll have to get significant amounts of the stuff. Heat gun on the sides of the butt seems like overkill as I can easily poke them back and I'd ignore it if they didn't push the drop boxes out of alignment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueTrooper[TK] Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 I'm also thinking I'll reinforce the entire suit with glue and fabric. E6000 recommended here too? Seems like I'll have to get significant amounts of the stuff. E6000/fabric would be the best reinforcing the insides of your armor. Drats on you americans and your fear of including chemical names on products! Try emailing ePlastics at Info@ePlastics.com to see if they have a local dealer in Norway or know somewhere you can get their "HIPS Styrene Plastic Glue". http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Styrene-Glue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 3 tubes of e6000 ordered from tk-4510! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Aaaaand TKboots ordered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Less words, more pictures! Here you see that the butt is too high, I have now fixed this with a thicker piece of elastic. The back is also riding up, because of the elastic between the chest and back, I have fixed this with elastic between the chest and kidney, effectively making the backpiece a part of the kidney-butt-crotch-ab clam system. I will take some new pictures once I get dinner done. This is also the first fitting where I did not break into a sweat putting it on. Making the crotch elastic detachable has done wonders, so I now get the thighs on, then calves, then clam, then chest/back, hook the shoulder/biceps into place and fit the forearms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormy320 Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 That is looking really good. I like the shoulders! Where are the aerators on the helmet? More pics!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Oopsie! I've been painting the inside of the helmet, forgot to put them back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW1 Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Hi Helge looking good there , are you going to cut the return edge out on the iner forearms so your wrists have more movement plus its very screen accurate to have this as did the origanal forearms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 I will be doing that yes, just didn't want to use my coarse utility knife. I now have an exacto knife kit which will be great for the job. I've also padded the forearms and thighs to keep them in place, a very successful modification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 I did a fast fitting before bed time to show you guys. Here the gap is maybe a bit too small for my tastes, As I'm so tall, I know there'll be gaps and it's better to spread them out in acceptable lengths than to have some non-gap areas and some gap. The right thigh has sunk because of a strap button gone missing. I will as mentioned earlier fit some elastic to the back of the thighs to tighten the gap between butt and thighs, but I don't count on getting very much done here. It's all getting as good as it can get, gap wise. 10 days ago: Gratuitous jolly pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueTrooper[TK] Posted February 13, 2011 Report Share Posted February 13, 2011 Hi Helge, good to see that you got the gap between the kidney plate and back plate looking better. BTW, did you get any E6000 ordered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted February 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2011 Yes, I ordered some Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Yes, I ordered some Thursday. No you didn't! You forgot to press check out! No glue arrived so the build has been a bit on hold. I need some new stickers as I've notice the blue stripes are crooked on the lid, and I'm gonna paint the stuff anyhow. Might as well add some ANH and ESB lid stickers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 My ATA has yet to sell, and paycheck's arrived so I think I'll keep it =) I've searched high and low for leather retailers in Norway only to find that one has to buy gross, starting at 10' square. However, I found some tan leather scraps and have got an old leather jacket that I don't wear because it's too stiff. It has now been butchered and the result is this: It's not perfect but I had fun building it, the rough edge on the left side will get some sewing machine stitching done to make it look a bit tidier. Gonna use the rest of the leather to make a holster for my Bryar pistol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueGrot Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 I also FINALLY ordered some e6000 along with some decals to go with my ESB lid. Double checked that I did in fact press check out One thing I noticed, beating those snap buttons tight was alot easier with a star shaped screwdriver than the tool that came in the kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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