ATA Progress....... [*ATA]

[Solcar23[TK]]

Well, I've finally begun the kit. I've been trimming for 4 days and still have 3 parts to go! Wow, is that a process! My fingers are going to fall off!!

 

This is what I've got done so far:

 

 

This is left:

 

 

The tools I've been relying on:

 

 

And a bit of the progress:

 

 

 

 

Testing a bicep with my compression undershirt on.... note the cardboard standee "model", been staring at him a lot!:

 

 

 

Still need to get the helmet going but I'm waiting to get over to Gazmosis's house to get some expert help!

 

 

Onward and upward!.......

Edited April 6, 2012 by Solcar23

[Wiggleplum]

Looking great!

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

Sweet! Yeah the scissors killed some weaknesses in my hands... now they are strong hands but sore!

[Solcar23[TK]]

I do believe I am being a bit schizophrenic with my build, jumping from trimming to the lid to rough fitting to beginning the glueing prices but considering the limited amount of time I can spend on it, it really ends up being whatever is inspiring me at the time. I'm sure as the build progresses a method and order will emerge!

 

Well, so far I've trimmed and rough fitted the lid, began glueing Jesse's awesome new thermal det and started the forearms with some inside strips from the leftover trim pieces when I trimmed the parts.

 

I think next I'll start cutting some finishing strips and try to get the limbs going first then work my way up to the body and the lid. I also still need to get rolling on my snap plates!

 

Well here's just a couple of progress pics.

 

the lid:

 

 

I still haven't gotten to retrimming the teeth and eyes yet. Soon though:

 

 

Gluing the inside recycled reinforcing strips, finishing strips and assembly next. Boy could I use about 20 more clamps to get more done at once!! Menards, here I come!

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

You also might want to square out the holes in the frown. They are not supposed to be round. And also sand off some more from the eyes. But you're on the right track!

[Solcar23[TK]]

I'm on it Mathias! Thanks!

[Solcar23[TK]]

Put together Jesse's new thermal det kit tonight! Very cool! Breeze to assemble.

 

[Solcar23[TK]]

Beside the thermal det, I was able to glue one side of the forearm.

 

[Solcar23[TK]]

Finished the other side of the forearm. It's a little big on my arm right now, although I measured out 7.5 mm on each side, after assembling it seems that it ended up a bit wider than the 15 mm finishing strips. I'm going to try to to a better job on the other forearm before I decide to rip this one apart and trim the seams to fit tighter. Oh well, I guess it's a learning process. Here's where I'm at:

 

 

Here you can see how it's a but wider than I'd have liked:

 

 

 

 

Test fitting with my Eastbay compression shirt, glove, hand guard taped on and my E-11

 

 

[Solcar23[TK]]

Slow going but I was able to cut some finishing strips for the arms and legs last night as well as glue in the reinforcing strips on the other forearm.

 

Measuring out the strips:

 

 

I know, boring, but at least progress is happening! And with the end of the school year approaching I'll hopefully have some quality armor time coming up!

[Solcar23[TK]]

Well, Now that summer's here I'm back on board and planning to hit this project hard till it's done, here's some progress!!!

 

First of all, I've finally gotten my sound system completed with the iComm, Aker 12W and Memorex wireless. Ready to ROCK!!

 

 

And although it's not the most exciting part, I'm finishing the arms this week. I had to rip the right arm apart and readjust it as it was just way too loose compared to the curvier left one. By trimming it exactly at 15 mm on both sides I'm at the limit of how small it'll go but it seems like it'll fit closer to the left now. I've also retrimmed the outer edges of the biceps to 15mm but had to leave a bit more in the back so they'll fit. If both sides were 15mm I'm afraid they wouldn't fit around my arms. So far so good though.

 

I've also gone overboard with clamps! I bought another 10 2" clips yesterday plus 6 really neat mini clamps that are really tight so they hold the inside reinforcing strips in place really excellent!! This is besides the 30 others I've gotten as I needed them! I guess you can never have enough clamps for this kind of job! I could still use some more magnets though!

 

 

 

 

Arms should be completed by the weekend!

 

Next up: The legs!!!!

[Potty Meister]

looking great! I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my ata kit....happy building!

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Nice Build Carlos! looks like you on your way.

[Solcar23[TK]]

I wish I had more time, more clamps and more expertise! I just can't wait to wear it!!! AND the excitement of finally applying for 501st membership and EIB/Centurian! Hoping for my first troop in August the latest! Maybe ComicCon here in Rosemont if all goes well!

[Solcar23[TK]]

Ok, here's this evenings progress:

 

Two finished forearms, the straighter right is as small as I could get it to match the curvier left so at this point, I live with it. Both have 15mm cover strips and inside reinforcing strips made of scrap from trimming.

 

 

 

Front return edges:

 

 

 

Biceps clamped for the night. Just one more day on the left to put it's cover strip on.

 

 

Legs next!!........

[Solcar23[TK]]

Arms.......complete....

 

[gazmosis[501st]]

Sweeeeeet progress!!!! I can't wait to be by your side!!!!!!

[Owen91]

Great job! You're making it look easy!!

[Solcar23[TK]]

Ok! It's been a while since I've updated but there has been some progress! I've got the helmet built and the shins just about finished as you will see! My next task is getting the thighs together! Then onto the central body parts and the strapping system! I can practically smell the finish line in the next couple of weeks hopefully!

 

Here we go!

 

Here's the lid. I finally got over to Gazmosis' house and along with getting the lid serviced by an expert I also got to hang with some of the coolest people I've met in a long time! Thanks Steve for the hospitality and the help! After talking to them I'm really pushing the progress so I can get out there with the MWG as soon as possible!

 

 

Clamping the shins:

 

 

Glueing on the cover strip:

 

 

Inside strips:

 

 

 

Adding the white velcro closure strips, I had to go with 30mm strips on the back and 24's on the front to make the greaves fit so I cut 15mm strips of velcro and they seem to be working great!:

 

 

Glueing the final rear cover strip (finished product on the left and you can see where the bottom needs to be adjusted and trimmed a bit):

 

 

Finished shins. They still need to be cleaned up of the excess E6000 and trimmed and sanded to be comfortable but the look alright to me so far. Any suggestions would be great! I still needed to attach the sniper plate.

 

Also, should I slightly and carefully heat bend the backs with my heat gun to get them to sit more flush at the velcro part? They don't pull apart but it does spread a bit. If your looking at the insides you can see just a few mm of velcro. It's not heinous but could be improved upon.

 

With the TK Boots and east bay under suit pants, obviously no sniper plate yet:

 

 

Adding the sniper plate before I finished for the night, It looks like my cover strip floated a bit to the right. Grr.....I may not be able to live with that, I'm really noticing it now that I'm looking at the pic:

 

 

Outer public facing side, this side sat really well along the seams and ridges. I also cut it more vertical as was suggested by Mathias in this post earlier http://www.whitearmo...=&fromsearch=1:

 

 

Inner more concealed side, I couldn't do much with it. It sits well on the opposite side and is centered so I just went with it.

 

 

Well, next up........THE THIGHS!!!!!

Edited July 17, 2012 by Solcar23

[Solcar23[TK]]

Finished shins with sniper plate. Still need trimming and adjustment! Yay!

 

 

Testing them out with the boots:

 

 

Clamping the reinforcing strips and the thigh halves together:

 

 

[Mogwai[TK]]

Testing them out with the boots:

 

 

 

 

 

I hope, you just put them on the wrong way, or took the Picture in the Mirror, because the Sniper plate is on the wrong Leg at this Picture!

But great work so far, looks nice.

[Solcar23[TK]]

It's in a mirror! Lol!

[Solcar23[TK]]

Glued the inside reinforcing strips for thighs last night! All that's left is the cover strips for both. Sizing was a breeze and they fit perfectly. I think I got really lucky considering the potential for a mis-sizing or extra large knee openings, etc. Went with 25mm strips on the front like the shin fronts so the front will look consistent and 25mm on the back in contrast to the 30mm strips on the back of the shins. I think the 5mm difference in the back won't be all that noticeable. We'll see when they're done and tested out. Things are moving along nicely so far!

 

 

[Solcar23[TK]]

Finally finished with the main construction of the limbs:

 

They still need to be fine tuned, cleaned up and the ammo belt attached, but boy am i happy to have these finished! So far the limbs proved to be the toughest part. So many opportunities to mess em up! I'm really not satisfied with the left shin because my finishing strip traveled to the left while being clamped. After all is finished I'll probably revisit this part and reposition the strip and reapply the sniper plate. For now, it stays.

 

legs:

 

 

arms:

 

 

I wasn't able to get to the armor one night this week so I prepared about 40 snap plates. I've decided to go with nylon strapping snap plates as they appear that they'll be easier to put into the armor's curves and the ones I've read about seem to be just as stable as the plastic ones. They were a breeze to make with a soldering iron to make the holes and a lighter to melt the edges so they don't fray. I used the Dritz snap tool and 5/8 snaps. I'll put a small piece of duct tape over the metal part before I glue them in so the E6000 doesn't come into contact with the metal. This can cause heat that can melt armor!

 

 

 

Attached the ab buttons finally. This was a pain as I couldn't clamp it because its too deep into the armor and I don't have any clamps that'll reach that far. I ended up taping it down but it still wouldn't stay flush so I placed the ab piece on a pillow and put a 12 lb barbell on top of the section which held it in place and flush pretty nicely.

 

 

Next, I needed to attach the ammo belt onto the bottom of the right thigh to finish it off. I got out my trusty heat gun, some clamps and a couple of tongue depressors and gently and carefully bent each section of the belt until it fit around the bottom edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit really well on the thigh but still needed to get the rear bent a bit more to fit around the corner near the back edge:

 

 

After bending the final spots:

 

 

 

 

I broke my lexan scissors the other night. Arrrrgh!! Need to get over to the hobby shop to replace

 

 

I ended up having to use these to cut the pieces:

 

 

Cut the rounded corners:

 

 

 

Taped in place to test it out. Looks good to me!

 

 

 

I ran out of steam last night at this point so I'll get the belt installed next. I got these great rivets from Gazmosis at the armor party earlier in the month and need to run to Jo-Ann to get a setting tool for them. Really nice, I'll use these for the side rivets as well.

 

 

Well, need to run over to Jo-Ann and get back on this! I'm getting so close that I can see the finish line! Still a lot of details to take care of but I'm generally satisfied with the progress.

 

What's left. Belt, drop boxes, over the shoulder chest straps, installing snap plates and the overall strapping system. Nearly there!!!

Edited July 23, 2012 by Solcar23

[gazmosis[501st]]

Sweet job on that thigh pack!!! You really took your time and it paid off. Well done!