Red_2[TK] Posted October 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Ten four! And thanks for the heads up on the belt caps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 11, 2015 Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Haha, had to google the Ten-four thing to understand it! It's nice to learn new things 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 Ha, Germain! You guide me through my build, I teach you random English military derived nuance. So got some more stuff done. Lone male snap on the top right ab. Cut the corners of the belt, and hung the drop boxes. 1" elastic riveted to the back of the drop box, also riveted through with the same rivet attaching the ABS portion to the canvas. Caps on the end area left and right aligned accordingly. (Thanks again, Germain.) Looks great from the front ... ... but not the sexiest look in the back. The straps ended op going over my ab snaps. So I notched the elastic. Oh well. May have to fix that down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 (edited) Also bolted down my detonator clips. Heads on these are a tiny bit larger than I'd like so I'm gonna keep my eye out for bolts with a smaller head. Edited October 12, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Moved the belt up a tad. (Only took a couple tries. ) Now it's overlapping the button plate a tad which is more accurate and as recommended earlier in the thread. Detontator slid onto the belt. My clips are the bent version, which I'm not to fond of now that I'm finally getting to see how it fits. It's snug but doesn't seem to slide all the way down. Maybe I can adjust it. I also bent the shoulder straps back a bit to help sit more flush. And added some velcro to my boots and inside of my shins to help prevent pop outs. That was my biggest issue the first time I walked about in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 12, 2015 Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 (edited) Very good progress! I agree with you on the bolts for the detonator clips, smaller would be good. And don't worry about the notches you had to do on your drop boxes elastics, they did the same on the original armors: One little thing I noticed and that you could improve one of those days, is the main abdominal button plate. There should be an ABS rim all the way around it: . Otherwise it's really looking neat! Edited October 12, 2015 by The5thHorseman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Yeah Germain, I have an extra button plate to redo that! Forgot to mention. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2015 Screws with smaller heads for the detonator! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) I'm about to screw down the holster and noticed that the furthest fastener is going to be hidden by the belt since it'll be underneath the overlap. Is that okay? Did I mess up by not making the overlap portion on my left side? I'd be looking like this guy to the furthest left ... Edited October 13, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 Yeah, this happens because you have removed material from your sides, and hence reduced the lenght of belt needed on the side. Actually, you could solve this problem by reversing how the belt closes. If the velcro side with hooks was on your left side, the rivet would still be on the overlap section of the velcro but it wouldn't be hidden. But honestly I don't think it's too dramatic, I guess you could leave it as that and still be Centurion approved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 True, Germain. But this is one detail that's bugging me despite it being passable. I could order another belt and just move everything over. I could also remove the velcro portions and flip them. Hmmmmm ... what to do, what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 If it really bugs you too much, I think pulling the ABS and fabric belts apart and flipping the fabric belt won't be that hard. The drop boxes strapping should even be salvageable by doing so. You will just need to slide them off the fabric belt and switch their side (the left hand boxe will have to remain on the left hand side of the belt). The end caps will also need to be removed and glued again, but it's not something impossible with e6000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 Decided to just flip the Velcro. Busting out the seam rippers and the sewing machine tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Thank you to my middle school Home & Careers classes for all those sewing projects. Ripped the seams on the velcro, repositioned and sewn back in. Boom! Swapped out the ab button plate so the ABS surround is present. Paint has a few bubbles which I need to fix. Edited October 14, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Awesome! I'm sure you're glad you took the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Well, add me to the list of peeps who advocate the Loctite 2 part plastic bonder method for attaching handguards! Worked great. Second pic because I'm trying to figure out why my pics are coming out blurry. Looks like Photobucket is for some reason blurring the photos when I resize them down. I haven't had that issue up until recently. Not sure why it's happening. I need to figure out why because I'm hopefully going to be ready to apply soon. What the heck? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Oh also, the handguards I purchased from Trooperbay were a considerably warmer white than the suit so I sanded them a bit, wiped down with alcohol and sprayed them with the white SEM Color Coat and that worked super well. It's a flexible paint made for upholstery and such. I used it to paint my boots. Highly recommend! Here's the link to SEM's site: http://www.semproducts.com/refinish-flexible-coatings/color-coattm-aerosols 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) So I started the arduous process of erasing my tube stripes. Back when I first applied them I noticed I hadn't paid attention to the "pencil width away" guide. After looking at references and request posts it started to bug me. Here we go ... A bunch of q-tips and half an hour or so later ... I use a Silhouette Cameo to cut the stencil out of vinyl (same as last time, Pandatrooper's crookedy template). I highly recommend a Cameo for ease of use and cost. Great for my small projects here and there. Globbing it on ... Just kidding, though doing it this way leaves a pretty thick coat making it almost look like they're stickers. Too lazy to bust out the airbrush. When I pull the vinyl back I'll have toothpicks at the ready to fix any stray paint. Edited October 17, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Had to look up what a Silhouette Cameo is. Looks cool but no way the wife would let me buy it to make a few stencils 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Had to look up what a Silhouette Cameo is. Looks cool but no way the wife would let me buy it to make a few stencils You gotta sell it, Jason! "Honey, check out all this amazing stuff on Pinterest we could make with this thing. The holidays are coming up. We could step up our craft game!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Not too bad. I got one stripe on the right tube that got fuzzy during clean up but easy to fix. Before: After: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Good call, it's indeed looking better now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) Edited October 18, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Put fans in this morning. A pair of 4 AA battery packs 2 switches and 2 squirrel fans. Made a mounting plate out of For Sale sign ABS. Punched holes where necessary, painted it black, then mounted and wired everything up. I'm awesome at soldering. That's a joke. Looks fine enough. Battery packs are velcroed in and secure. The mounting plate just sits in the tube groove and I made a couple holes so the lower ear bolts can pass through a bit. My first impression when wearing the mask and turning them on? They're loud. These are obviously exhaust fans. I intend to mount two smaller fans at the frown to suck air in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red_2[TK] Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) Put everything on today to see how stuff was fitting and lining up. Putting my shins on is probably the hardest part right now. My thighs are either not lifted high enough still or I need to finally get those cut outs in cause there is not much room for me to bend my knee. Also that is causing my right knee cap to hit hard on the front of the thigh when walking. Ouchy. Otherwise, there are a few pinch spots here and there that are easily solved with a small trim. I need to secure my helmet a bit better. How well are people able to look down? I don't have my shoulder strap elastics in at the moment. I resecured my left calf after the pic was taken it stayed closed the whole time. The wife didn't think to tell me before she took the picture. And that black sliver sticcking out of my backplate is my zipper pull. Tucked that back in also. Look like I may need to trim the thighs towards the back or the butt. It didn't feel like that was hitting. I hung about a bit in the sun for a few minutes, then turned the fans on. Wow. Big difference. Fire away if see anything. I'll be attacking those thighs/butt this week. Edited October 18, 2015 by Red_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.