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Ericia's AP ANH TK Build


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I have all the pieces trimmed and cut to size... and I am going to start assembling tonight.

 

I am having a bit of a problem with my bottom size of the armor... either my butt is too big and hangs out the bottom, or piece itself is too small...

 

obviously the latter.

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I always wondered why the "cheeks" weren't better protected...lol, my derrière is exposed to the elements as well, it's just the cut of the armour, also if it was covered anymore , it may pinch I between the thighs.

 

Keep up the good work.

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I always wondered why the "cheeks" weren't better protected...lol, my derrière is exposed to the elements as well, it's just the cut of the armour, also if it was covered anymore , it may pinch I between the thighs.

 

Keep up the good work.

^_^ Glad I am not the only one lol

 

I was thinking the same thing.... and I searched a million pictures, checking out the cheeck gap for reference LOL

 

 

As I start getting things assembled, Ill post pictures.

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So, I am just going to do a quick photo dump. Sorry in advance for such large photos. I am at work and all photohosting sites are restricted.

 

I have been tracking my progress via Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

 

55569F87-F1C3-40B1-8C3E-CD53FA6B19D3.jpg

 

Added the Velcro to my shins. I will go back and do the hook attachment at a later date.

 

 

80936122-4D5C-4AA6-9E65-DEF629635245.jpg

The start of my Canvas belt.

 

 

 

27260B0A-0FD2-4F63-B035-3A9DA02BE3C6.jpg

 

Approx 1/4 inch hem

 

 

7B7EF723-9A61-42DF-9FCA-6333935293D1.jpg

 

3 inches wide.

 

 

 

439BCEF9-413E-4502-8C26-007F01C1F993.jpg

 

 

Attached the Velcro with E6000, I will go back and sew the Velcro on.

B3948643-8BE9-4062-A6BA-1D6BBCDFC70D.jpg

Neck Seal.

 

 

 

CFC9FD69-71AC-4A62-B170-A3BC59D76E4C.jpg

 

Neck Seal without the bib.

 

07B882C7-BA3A-4059-B8E6-1E36E8D9F0AA.jpg

 

Ribs of the neck seal.

 

0D504EFA-80D8-40A1-8DE3-9BB1318DBD7F.jpg

 

Neck Seal with Helmet.

Edited by aicire
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Okay. So. The amror.

 

I am only 5ft2in. I had to trim down significant amount off the thighs. By trimming from the top down, I slimmed down the top (the largest portion of the thigh). They are not closing entirely. 

 

Are my only two options: Shims or Gym?

 

D7DEE2DC-AB78-4C6A-95AB-BE708E2BE4EA.jpg

 

They extent from my thigh/pelvic crease to the top of my knee in the front.. The back of the shins are sitting directly under my bottom. (And I am not sure why the angle of this picture makes the <- right thigh look like its cut funny.)

 

I am just holding the rear/kidney piece in "place". It doesnt "tuck" under or "cup" my bottom at all.

 

The shins fit fine without any additonal trimming. Ignor the fact that they are not closed/lined up correctly. Its hard to do without assistance.

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It took a time or two to realize your username is Ericia spelled backwards...

 

Maybe a third option besides shims or gym?

By trimming the inner thigh slightly lower, you might be able to make up the gap.

Also maybe lower the rear slightly to cover more black.

 

If nothing else, I enjoyed drawing the picture!

 

D7DEE2DC-AB78-4C6A-95AB-BE708E2BE4EA_zps

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It took a time or two to realize your username is Ericia spelled backwards...

 

Maybe a third option besides shims or gym?

By trimming the inner thigh slightly lower, you might be able to make up the gap.

Also maybe lower the rear slightly to cover more black.

 

If nothing else, I enjoyed drawing the picture!

 

D7DEE2DC-AB78-4C6A-95AB-BE708E2BE4EA_zps

 

Haha you're probably the first person to ever notice my username is my name spelled backward.

 

My butt has never looked so happy ^_^ LOL

 

I see what you are saying. I might be able to do that. Especially if I lower the rear.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Use slightly larger cover strips on the back of the thigh to cover up the gap. It won't even be noticed! Also The AP bottm flares out instead of inward. you can fix this with heat or when you strap the butt to the cod it'll pull the bottom part in towards you making a better curve.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update.

 

 

7A22C100-44BB-4009-8655-3D7EBA7073B4.jpg

Bend in my belt.

 

 8F027E75-BB8F-4B28-957A-0F6311A07896.jpg

 

Bending my shoulders straps

 

B854DC27-191B-4534-B008-B9F0F250F60A.jpg

 

Bent and sanded the battery pack

 

CF034DD5-794D-4CCF-B7C4-83DE287332DD.jpg

 

 

Okay so..... I cut my cod.......................  

 

7D31284C-7DF7-43A9-BD3D-2E5D365696A9.jpg

 

 Back

 

BD08DAD7-A6BB-4EB2-A3D3-99C631EA49A4.jpg

 

 Front

 

A812C575-7F13-467A-9E8B-14AEF7F3A4B8.jpg

 

Added ABS paste to both sides..... waiting to sand it down this weekend.

Edited by aicire
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Lastly, I tried everything on for a quick fit.....

 

-Yes, I know the upped arms are on wrong, I couldnt keep them up any other way without them pinching

 

-Yes, I still need to figure out my thighs lol

 

-Yes, I have not cut my kidney and butt yet

 

-Yes, I have not added covering strips

 

-Yes, I heated and bent the read in, cups a lot better.

 

C1DB30AA-AD93-4DD5-844B-5D99371F4BC1.jpg

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HOT!!!  You're getting there!  I'd like to see a full blown disco trooper to match your other helmet!

 

I know it's a test fitting, so everything is just hanging loosely, but I'm wondering are the shoulder straps attached?  The back needs to be much higher and the chest needs to drop a little.  I know someone suggested shims for the thighs - maybe ask for expert opinions on tapered shims?  Wider at the top of the thigh to almost nothing at the bottom - otherwise you're going to end up with a ton of gap around your knees.  I think Panda trooper coined the phrase "church bell thighs" for trooper thighs that swing around the knees while walking.  There's got to be a way you can get a nice fit and achieve a tapered look.  I know you're 5'2", so cutting the cod was probably a great move for getting a better fit.  I'm considering the same modification.

 

I'm 5'4" and expect to be making EXTENSIVE modifications.  So far, I have the shoulders, biceps and forearms finished and haven't run into a single issue.  My wife says it's because I'm stocky and "solid".  Wha?  I'm taking it as a compliment.  I'll start the torso next, where I expect to be trimming every piece and forming new return edges.  I'm DREADING the thighs - my wife says I have "superhero" thighs and if she had her way, I'd be walking around all day, every day, in Spandex bicycle shorts (I climb several thousand feet worth of ladders every week at work).  As far as my armor thighs are concerned, I think they'll fit without shims, but I already know I'll be trimming quite a bit from the length.  When I initially tried them on, my knees were pretty much INSIDE the thighs.  Not good.

 

And now for something completely random...I've even considered starting a thread about this...Armor building time is my escape from the world and decompression time from the rest of the day.  As such, I disappear into the shop and crank my Bose with either new music or old favorites.  Tonight, I discovered a great band and a really nice track when I started reading your post.  In my mind, you're now forever associated with Porcupine Tree "Flicker". :)   Any inspiration music while you're building?

 

Looking forward to more updates, especially the final thigh solution!

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Ha! I highly doubt a full disco trooper is in my future. Rhinestones are not inexpensive.

 

The chest and back are connected via white elastic so the back straps are laying free. I can easily pull the chest down/back up to fit better. Putting armor on solo is no easy feat.

 

I know you think you extensive modifincations are needed.... but really..... Only things I had to alter were the thighs, took an inch off the kideny, an inch off the forearms, brought in the uppper arms a couple inches, and took approx an inch off the cod. Which was way less than I anticipated. I played soccer from youth through college. My bottom and legs are not as slender as most--- as you can tell lol, but I have not ran into too many roadblocks with getting my armor to fit my size.

 

the biggest issue you will run into, when you cut your thighs, like me, you will trim from the top down, causing the wider top area to become the narrow mid thigh piece. SUCKS! Hello shims, ammiright?

 

Also, you should probably do whatever your wife tells you.... happy wife, happy life.

 

Of course, I youtubed that song. Its like youre trying to speak to me... I just know it....

 

I usually put on Pandora, because I can totally hear the music over the sound of my dremel HAHA

My top stations are:

"Lomax"

"Fink"

"Today's Country"

Edited by aicire
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I love the disco trooper.

 

In regard to the back of the thighs...I had similar problems, as have a few others.  There was some discussion about this, but the end decision was to use cover strips that were as close to the official width as possible, but still wide enough to cover and bridge whatever gap you may have between the two shells.  Mine weren't coming together at an angle like yours, so that's an additional difficulty you may have to deal with.  But I would basically go with shims and cover strips, and then if the gym option works out (I"m working on that myself) then you can always slim your cover strips down later.  :)

 

Are you going for EIB?  It's not hard to get your build to that level if you keep the requirements in mind as you go along.

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I love the disco trooper.

 

In regard to the back of the thighs...I had similar problems, as have a few others.  There was some discussion about this, but the end decision was to use cover strips that were as close to the official width as possible, but still wide enough to cover and bridge whatever gap you may have between the two shells.  Mine weren't coming together at an angle like yours, so that's an additional difficulty you may have to deal with.  But I would basically go with shims and cover strips, and then if the gym option works out (I"m working on that myself) then you can always slim your cover strips down later.  :)

 

Are you going for EIB?  It's not hard to get your build to that level if you keep the requirements in mind as you go along.

 

Thank you for the suggestion!

 

I need to really focus on doing squats! HAHA

 

Could you post a picture of how you did yours?

 

Eventually, yes EIB and beyond lol

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Thank you for the suggestion!

 

I need to really focus on doing squats! HAHA

 

Could you post a picture of how you did yours?

 

Eventually, yes EIB and beyond lol

EIB and beyond!  Excellent!

 

Here's a picture of my thighs with two versions.  Again, I didn't have the angle problem, and my shells did meet, but the width of the raised ridge in the back was way bigger than normal.  So on the left is a cover strip that covered the whole raised ridge created by the two shells coming together, and on the right is a cover strip that is the correct width.  The one on the left looked too wide, and the one on the right looked too thin, in proportion to the rest of the armor.

 

11742843115_231a0cc0d2_o.jpg

 

So eventually I ended up (with some gentle persuasion from Gazmosis, who I have to agree was right) making strips that were in the middle, and matching the width of the strips on the back of my calves, which did have a gap between the shells, so those strips couldn't be any thinner.  I'd recommend you try something like this-- potentially adapted based on whatever your actual distance and angle between your shells is.

 

12020252876_b5b13dbd6e_o.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Another photo bombed post. I have truely slacked on keeping this up to date.

 

But... here are some progress pictures.

 

and we are not going to talk about how photobucket unedits my cropped pictures when I upload them. So. Sorry in advance for that.

 

5D64CBA8-D64A-4316-97FC-D11291D3936F.jpg

 

2CEDEAEB-531F-4A2E-9EDE-2E722EBDFBC7.jpg

 

 0842B22F-9D99-483E-A6EA-2646BCE98164.jpg

 

430595D6-CA42-44EB-8B51-759D1E3DAE0B.jpg

 

 43DA1B07-7355-4D51-9865-E4F4BE14E567.png

 

E7062328-64A8-4C98-8E6E-1A2487A89F04.jpg

 

E5F93A01-3B39-444F-AB10-5989F1B01EE3.png

 

8034B513-0E0D-4C1F-ACF0-6A9DF2A6E4B4.png

 

13969E92-481B-4E02-92B2-32FDA7B11DA4.png

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All in all... here are a list of my modifications to make this AP armor fit my 5'2'' frame

 

  • Trimmed a small amount off the bottom of the shins.
  • Removed two or three inches off the top of the thighs while following the curvature of the armor.
  • Add tapered cover strips to the back of my thighs since I have a wider bottom than most men lol
  • Trimmed an inch off the kidney
  • Trimmed two inches (one inch on both sides) length wise from the biceps and still had to overlap them significantly
  • Trimmed an inch and half from the end of the forearm and added foam inserts.
  • Trimmed the hand plates to fit my hands exactly
  • Separated the cod from the abs, removed an inch and put it back together with abs paste and epoxy
  • Add shims to the abs to meet the kidney flush.
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