Christina's Anovos ESB TK build

[TheLilTK[TK]]

So excited to get started! I recieved my Anovos kit on Saturday and I've already begun initial trimming. I'm 5'4 so there will be a lot of work on getting it to fit me, but I'm not worried. I'm shooting for Centurion do I'm following the CRL to the letter.
I have a list of things I need to do before I start building:
1) paint inside of bucket and trim down lenses  - done!
2) add padding - done!
3) remove current decals and update with ESB from Trooperbay - done!
4) Paint 2nd rank bar on ear -done!
5) order new gloves - done!
6)make new neck seal (Anovos seal is much too tall for me)
7) Make new straps for Anovos holster for ESB requirements
8) Build THG Props E-11 kit
I'll update with pictures as soon as I have them.

Edited February 18, 2016 by sitpadeshu

[gazmosis[501st]]

Looking forward to your build, Christina!  "goof off" worked best for me when removing the transfers.

[TheLilTK[TK]]

Made some progress! Nearly done with the initial trimming, but I have a lot if fitting to do. The abs piece makes me look like an old person wearing pants too high (it almost reaches my collarbone). <br><br>

I've been working on my strategy for fitting the body first:<br><br>

1) cut cod off and trim 1"<br><br>

2) trim corresponding 1" from chest<br><br>

3) may need to trim top of abs slightly too, but I'll see.<br><br>

I may have to shim as well. I have a 38" waist, but can't get the front and kidney together (1" gap). I may just need to shape the pieces a little more though. They are pretty flat to the more curved plains of my body.<br><br>

I stripped the bucket of existing decals and frown paint (except thr ears) with rubbing alcohol and painted the inside with plastidip. Just need to clean up the mess I made with it and I can put the lenses and mesh back in. Using SUGRU paste to give the lenses a little lift from the eyes for ventilation.<br><br>

Pictures aren't working from Photobucket so I'll add later.

Edited February 9, 2016 by sitpadeshu

[TheLilTK[TK]]

Still no picture. When I paste the .jpg from Photobucket it just shows up as script. Will try again tomorrow

Edited February 9, 2016 by sitpadeshu

[ask382]

I have noticed that when posting from a mobile device, pasting the img link from photobucket doesn't work. <br><br>

Try on a computer ☺

[TheLilTK[TK]]

Some pictures of my cleaned off bucket. I'm still waiting on my new decals to arrive.

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by sitpadeshu

[TheLilTK[TK]]

I received my decals from Trooperbay and replaced the Anovos decals.  I think it looks pretty good, but since I'm going to Centurion I would love feedback.   I have also glue t-nuts inside the bucket to screw the lenses in for security.  I've also replaced the head gear with padding.  Just waiting on my Evillboy fans to finish up.

 

 

I have also begun fitting my pieces.  Since I am 5'4"  I have some work to do to make it fit.  I had some panic attacks before deciding it was time to cut the cod, but once I did it was no big deal.  I removed about an inch and it looks pretty good.  I'll need to shim about 1" on each side of the kidney.  I have a armor party on Friday so I'll check the fits with the back pieces before I start working on the shims.

 

(the 1st picture is the before cutting and the 2nd is after cutting.  The blue tape shows where it sat before

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

Good luck Christina. Looking forward to your build

[TheLilTK[TK]]

More updates!  Been having a really good time with this build.  Taking my time and working toward my end goal.   This weekend we had an armor party.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with a bunch of newbie TK builders like myself.  We didn't have any vets with us, so we relied on the research I had already done and some of the tips others had picked up. 

 

I needed help making sure my pieces fit, so the guys held me together long enough to get some pictures to check the fit.  It came together pretty well.  I didn't need to trim more than I already had from the kidney (1") and the butt plate and the back fits were good.  The front looked okay, but I decided to cut an inch off of the chest to make it look a little more proportional to my short torso.

 

 

I had to bend the pieces a bit at the sides to get them to curve around my form a little better.  I decided to use boiling water (I'm terrible with a heat gun) and was really happy with the results.

 

 

Once I decided the fit was good I had to put the return edges back on the chest and kidney.  I watched Pandatrooper's youtube videos a few times and then practices with my sealing iron on some scrap.  I found it they key was keeping the heat moderate and just letting it sit there until the plastic started to give on it's own (no pressing).  It took several passes (4 hours for both edges), but I'm happy with the results.

 

 

The last thing I did this weekend was add the shims to the ab pieces.  I only needed to add 1" and just didn't feel that was worth splitting onto both sides.  Since the abs piece was flatter I decided to do it there.   I have the pieces curing tonight and will add the paste tomorrow.

 

 

I did notice that I will need to adjust the side seam on the kidney just a little.  It was a tad too high.  Not a problem to trim it and fix the return edge in that spot only.

 

This week I'll finish up the shimming and do another test fit and then start putting in the snaps.  Super happy with my progress so far.

[sharkbait[TK]]

Looking good!  I built straight to Centurion on my ESB TK as well, it's really not that much more effort if you do it from the get-go.  Split rivets can be a pain to remove, but buy extra (they're usually cheap), and practice with one before you try and set them on the cod or ab/kidney connection.  Mineral spirits works great for removing paint, and for cleaning up details.  Also, frog tape works better than blue tape for masking off areas (especially for the tiny ab buttons).  

 

When you get to the thighs (which I recommend doing those last, because it's easier to get them proportional when everything else is done), check out LadyInWhite's tutorial.  The gist is that instead of making a straight line cut to trim width, you do a sublte "V", smaller at the top and deeper at the bottom, to adjust for a female thigh which is more like 2:1 unlike male thighs that are 1:1.  You don't see it directly in the end result, you just see a better fit that looks "normal".  https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1IS7jqceqOfOQ9KqkM3fH0DaqDSp2TIWQ_q-npSSBy4o/mobilebasic?pli=1

 

Also buy extra snaps; you'll inevitably screw some up.  Tandy Line 24, they aren't the cheapest, but they're very solid and will hold up the best.  

 

Can't wait to see more.  .

[TheLilTK[TK]]

Thanks Sharkbait (love that username)! I have a lot of progress, but the thread has been pretty quiet so I haven't been posting much. I'll get some new progress posts up soon.<br><br>

I have installed snaps on the chest, back, cod and butt plate, but I'm still working on the shims on the ab so I'm leaving that and the kidney for now. I'll be sanding and polishing the ab shims tomorrow so I can trim the kidney and get snaps and rivets installed. <br><br>

The Anovos kit came with 10 split rivets so I was planning to use those and I bought 100 line 24 snaps from Tandy. I found a great tutorial on setting them in the how to section and haven't messed any up since. FISD for the win!

[TheLilTK[TK]]

I've been making some great progress, but I've been terrible at transferring pictures to photobucket. 

 

I shimmed my abs piece and have put in the rivets and snaps for the core pieces.  I just need to fit the shoulder straps in and finish the belt and I'll be done with the main body.   This weekend I plan to sew a neckseal for myself.  The Anovos neckseal is 2" too tall for my neck. 

 

I'll post more pictures from my progress this weekend.

[TheLilTK[TK]]

Been working hard!  I finished putting snaps and straps into the main body this weekend and was able to try it all on.  I was pretty happy with it.  There are a few fixes I plan to make for a better fit.

1) remove some plastic from the bottom of the rear piece (it looks like I'm wearing a diaper)

2) put some velcro on the back of the belt so it doesn't keep slipping up my back

3) change the right side straps to nylon.  since there is only 2 elastic straps they stretch more and create a gap

4) change the screws on the ammo pack on the belt to chicago screws and glue the buttons on top

5) cut down the cod on the sides (it is going to give me some horrible bruises if I don't)

 

So far so good.   Once I finish up this hit list I'll start on the legs.