ScaryGuy building his Anovos kit in the Netherlands

[hupspring[TK]]

I have the same problem with the helmet tilting back due to the weight of the battery at the back. Have you come up with any ideas for how to counter it? I was going to add something of similar weight to the front under the frown, but I don't know if I want to add something that doesn't need to be there.

 

Concerning somewhere to store valuables, I picked up a cheap camera pouch at the dollar store and velcroed it to the inside of my chest. It's big enough to hold my wallet but still small enough so it's not taking up too much room. My phone is too tall to fit (iphone 6s) but a smaller phone would fit.

 

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

I have the same problem with the helmet tilting back due to the weight of the battery at the back. Have you come up with any ideas for how to counter it? I was going to add something of similar weight to the front under the frown, but I don't know if I want to add something that doesn't need to be there.

 

Concerning somewhere to store valuables, I picked up a cheap camera pouch at the dollar store and velcroed it to the inside of my chest. It's big enough to hold my wallet but still small enough so it's not taking up too much room. My phone is too tall to fit (iphone 6s) but a smaller phone would fit.

 

I can notice the tilting with the lenses, they are a bit higher then I would want them to be. It's a tiny bit, so I haven't taken any counter measures yet. I have a lot of magnets from my build, they can act as counter weights by sticking some near the hovi mic's. Plenty of room there.

 

I'm going to mount a small bag in the back plate. I found one almost the same size as the O II plate. I'm mounting it with snap plates and snaps. Plenty room for my iphone 6s, wallet and keys. Pics will follow, the E6000 is drying .

 

I'll want the front to be free if I want to mount an audio system. I already have an aker to be used with the tk voice app.

Edited May 14, 2016 by ScaryGuy

[hupspring[TK]]

After thinking about it, I'm actually considering stashing an extra USB battery at the front of the helmet which would help even it out.

 

I didn't even think about getting a larger bag for the back plate - maybe I should do that too. Although I'm starting to get too much stuff stuck to the inside of my armor. I already have an Aker/icomm strapped to the ab plate since I had a lot of extra room in there. Sometimes I think I should just go HWT or sandy so I can have a backpack to store stuff.

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

After thinking about it, I'm actually considering stashing an extra USB battery at the front of the helmet which would help even it out.

 

I didn't even think about getting a larger bag for the back plate - maybe I should do that too. Although I'm starting to get too much stuff stuck to the inside of my armor. I already have an Aker/icomm strapped to the ab plate since I had a lot of extra room in there. Sometimes I think I should just go HWT or sandy so I can have a backpack to store stuff.

Two smaller batteries, each on one side in the helmet, would also balance the helmet. Most battery packs are pretty long, don't know how they would fit in the curved side. Well, at least we get to keep tweaking our armor .

 

Lol, a backpack would be nice , but I agree you don't want to put too much stuff inside. Or join the rebel legion and have a R2 unit follow you with your stuff .

[kman[TK]]

Two smaller batteries, each on one side in the helmet, would also balance the helmet. Most battery packs are pretty long, don't know how they would fit in the curved side. Well, at least we get to keep tweaking our armor .

 

Lol, a backpack would be nice , but I agree you don't want to put too much stuff inside. Or join the rebel legion and have a R2 unit follow you with your stuff .

Mouse droid FTW!

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

Mouse droid FTW!

Didn't think of that. Hmm, tempting ... .

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

After the E6000 had cured I could test my valuables bag solution. I found one that was almost the same size as the O II plate. I stuffed everything that I normally carry around in it (wallet, iphone, keys) and put on the armor.

 

 

Well, that didn't work. It's too thick so the backplate was more then an inch from my back. Searching through my closet I found an old travel wallet which hangs around your neck. Very thin and a bit smaller. 

 

 

It has enough space for my phone, ID / ATM card, some cash and a car key. Not enough space to bring my entire wallet or the prison guard key  set I normally walk around with. So I have to let some stuff at home when going to a troop.

 

I cut the neck cord from the wallet and applied some more snaps. 

 

 

So for now I'm pretty much done for my first troop. 

Edited February 24 by ScaryGuy

[illusionz_09[TK]]

the back definitely looks like a great spot for valuables.

especially since i have my Aker speaker on my chest already. No space for anything else there lol.

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

Just before my first troop there where two things still bothering me: the foam padding wasn't tight enough, so there was still too much wobbling when I move my head. And I didn't like my self made bracket solution. It wasn't strong enough to keep it in place when I toggle the switches, and all the duct tape gave it a sloppy look.

 

First I decided to replace the helmet foam with a hard hat liner. I used duct tape to find the best mounting position inside the helmet, then I glued the helmet clips with E6000.

 

 

This feels so much better! Now the helmet follows my head movement, even with fast turns. Because there's more air around your head it doesn't feel like your wearing a helmet.

 

 

I ditched the bracket and decided to go for a static solution. I made some abs brackets for mounting the switches. These are glued to the helmet with E6000. I also glued elastic bands to hold the power pack. I used wire tubing to hide the wires. These are currently only held by the bracket and power pack.

 

I glued some foam on the back of the fans and cut it a bit round. This makes it easier to glue/stick the fans to the curved part of the helmet.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty happy how it turned out. A much cleaner look and it takes less space then the bracket. After that I was all set for my first troop!

 

My first troop was at the "Stripdagen Haarlem" , a comic festival mostly focussed on european comics. It was really awesome! People didn't really expect cosplayers (it's not a comic con) so we drew a lot of attention. A lot of people and kids wanting to take pictures with us (3 TK's and a commander). It was pretty hot but I had both fans running and they worked great. I also have quite some room at my sides, so sometimes there was some cool breeze running through. I really had a lot of fun.

 

We were asked by a local toy store, the "Toy Boys", here's us posing with them. I'm on the left.

 

 

Everything went great. I even walked some stairs. It was a bit tricky but I managed to look a bit through the frown watching the steps. The only issues I had were my feet: I had some blisters because the TK boots are a bit tight and still brand new. We made a few rounds walking around the festival, and by the last round my feet really started hurting. I already stretched the shoes a bit by putting bags with water inside the front of the shoes and putting them in the freezer for some hours. When the water freezes it will expand and strecht the leather a bit.

 

I also found a crack in the hard hat liner. Not sure when this happened but I glued the crack and put some tape around it. I might have to replace it already.

 

After a few upcoming troops I'm gonna strip the inside of the helmet and give it the plasti dip treatment. I also ordered a Rom/FX and ukswrath's hovi mic speakers. Everything will be mounted inside the helmet after the plasti dipping.

 

But first, more troops! I got two more upcoming this weekend. Woohoo!

Edited February 24 by ScaryGuy

[kman[TK]]

Congrats on your first troop!  It's amazing the effect TKs have on kids (and grownups!) isn't it?  So much fun!

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

Congrats on your first troop! It's amazing the effect TKs have on kids (and grownups!) isn't it? So much fun!

Thanks! Yes, walking around with just TK's was amazing. Hearing "oh look, stormtroopers!" all the time (next to "it must be hot inside"). I don't think many other costumes have that same effect. If you're into star wars that obscure expanded universe character is totally cool, but unknown to the general public. But everyone recognizes a TK, and loves to see them. Apart from the totally scared kids, but hey we ARE the bad guys .

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Thanks! Yes, walking around with just TK's was amazing. Hearing "oh look, stormtroopers!" all the time (next to "it must be hot inside"). I don't think many other costumes have that same effect. If you're into star wars that obscure expanded universe character is totally cool, but unknown to the general public. But everyone recognizes a TK, and loves to see them. Apart from the totally scared kids, but hey we ARE the bad guys .

exactly!!!

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

After 3 troops I'm still happy with my fan solution, so it was time to make things final. I removed everything from the inside, and give the helmet the plastidip treatment.

 

 

 

I carefully taped everything but I didn't notice that the paint could get through the gap near the ears. So when I removed the bag there was some spray near the ear gaps. Luckily plastidip is easy to remove.

 

I also bought a rom/fx, and the hovi mic speakers from ukswrath. I like everything placed inside the helmet, with no cables attached to the armor. I added another switch so I can also switch the rom/fx on and off. Could be handy if it gets into a feedback loop.

 

Originally I wanted to power the rom/fx from my Anker powercore 10000. However, the rom/fx needs 9 - 12V and the powerbank is 5V so I needed a converter. I bought a 5 - 12V converter from Pololu (https://www.pololu.com/product/2577). The powercore can deliver 2.4A so I thought it would be more then enough the rom/fx. Here's the wiring with the converter.

 

 

This week I received my rom/fx and I tested it with the converter. Things didn't work as planned though, When turning up the volume the initial current when starting to speak is so high the powerbank is shutting off. With a USB wall adapter I measured peak current of 2.7A - 3A. Way too much for the powerbank. With a 9V battery the max current is around 1A. So I guess the combination with the DC converter is the cause of drawing so much current. I don't have enough electronics knowledge to solve this myself. I was hopig buying a standard converter would be enough, but I think for this to work something is needed that is designed specifically for the rom/fx / powerbank combination.

 

So for now I dropped the idea and I will be using a 9V battery. The 8x AA solution is too big to fit inside the helmet. 

 

The results. The powercore is in the back of the helmet with the 9V battery on my right.

 

 

The rom/fx is on the left. It's larger then I thought but still fits next to the hard hat liner. I used cable management ties (double sided velcro) to mount them in the helmet.

 

 

 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Very crisp and clean look, much better. I'm still working out the rom/fx mic placment. It has a very stiff bending wire. I think I'm going to attach it behind the vocoder area.

Edited February 24 by ScaryGuy

[kman[TK]]

Beautiful work, Theo!

 

I need to spend some time cleaning things up in my helmet. I will likely borrow some of your ideas.

 

I also need to find some nice small switches like you found. That's been a bit of a stumbling block.

 

You may want to check with Ukswrath re powering your Rom/FX with a power bank. I believe he has done so, although he used a larger power bank mounted in his backplate, designed for powering laptops and various other things, which has a dedicated 9v out. Likely a cleaner circuit than using a step-up converter with a 5V power bank.

 

Also of interest, if you read recent posts in his hearing assist thread, apparently the 5V power put out by USB is very "dirty" as it runs through a PWM circuit. He was not able to use them for his hearing assist setup, either. Could be the problem is related.

 

How do you like the Hovi mics with Rom/FX? Have you actually trooped with it yet? My Rom/FX arrived today, and I'm hoping I can squeeze some more volume out of it, because I've been a little disappointed with the volume of the sound output, despite how much I like the overall kit.

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

Thanks! Feel free to borrow my ideas, sharing is what this forum is about.

 

The black switches are "SCI R13-270 C-02", the red one is even a bit smaller in depth but I couldn't find a part number on it. They require a 15 mm mounting hole. Most others that I found need a 20 mm hole.

 

Ukswrath used a large powerbank with a dedicated 9 or 12V output. I will look into his hearing assist thread. I also found out that my powerbank uses quickcharge 2.0. This allows a device to request a higher voltage, like 9 or 12 V. The device has to put specific voltage levels on the D (data) lines. Then the powerbank will switch to a higher voltage. Might also be interesting to investigate, but for now the 9V battery will do.

 

I haven't trooped with this setup yet. I'm still deciding where to put the mic. It needs to be really close to pick up my voice. I already lowered the sensitivity level. Are you using the romfx supplied mic? Volume with the hovi speakers is turned to max. Output volume is ok if speaking difectly to someone, but no idea how that works in noisy environment. The romfx speaker has a bit more output, but it has to be mounted in the armor. Could be a fallback option if needed. The romfx setup is not as loud as an aker.

Edited July 8, 2016 by ScaryGuy

[kman[TK]]

I suspect I'm going to end up giving up on the self-contained helmet idea and falling back on my Pyle speaker (similar to Aker), if I can't get more volume out of the Hovis. They're not bad in a quiet environment, but troops tend to get loud and kinda raucous, especially outdoor troops with lots of people, so currently, they're not really cutting it for me, unfortunately.

[pewpewpew[TK]]

Only a small update, I finally took the plunge and started cutting the tops of the thighs. This solves two issues: the cover strips were a bit short at the top, and the thighs were pressing against the cod and butt plates.

 

 

 

I was afraid for loosing the return edge, but after looking at many pictures with similar cut thighs and I decided to go ahead. Loosing the return edge is not an issue for Centurion approval. I used a compass to trace a line 10 mm from the top. Then I used lexan scissors to cut the abs. It was a bit harder to cut through the (inner and outer) cover strips. After that I sanded the top smooth again using 180 grit.

 

Without the return the thighs have a sharper look:

 

 

 

The thighs are now clear from the ab and kidney. It did not change the mobility because the bottom of the thighs are still at the same position. I'm gonna wait until I had some trooping experience to see if more adjustments are needed.

Do you have any advice for somebody that needs to modify their thighs like you have? Now that it's been a while is there anything you'd do differently? Also, to clarify, removing these return edges won't affect Centurian status?

This is a great build thread. Lots of goodies in here.

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

I suspect I'm going to end up giving up on the self-contained helmet idea and falling back on my Pyle speaker (similar to Aker), if I can't get more volume out of the Hovis. They're not bad in a quiet environment, but troops tend to get loud and kinda raucous, especially outdoor troops with lots of people, so currently, they're not really cutting it for me, unfortunately.

 

That's too bad. I haven't been to large events yet, and the hovi speakers seem fine for the events I've been to. So you're gonna use the romfx with the Pyle? The romfx speaker also isn't loud enough?

 

 

Do you have any advice for somebody that needs to modify their thighs like you have? Now that it's been a while is there anything you'd do differently? Also, to clarify, removing these return edges won't affect Centurian status?

This is a great build thread. Lots of goodies in here.

 

No, I wouldn't do it differently. I just would have cut the thighs sooner if I knew how it turned out  . I was afraid cutting the return edge would be really visible, but it isn't. Well at least if the thighs fit your legs correctly. I can move a finger around my thigh when wearing them. Because they hang on the front on my garter belt they tilt back so it closes the gap on the front. 

So put some painters tape around the top and mark a cut line using a compass. One end of the compass can follow the return edge, the other end draws the line on the painters tape. Start with only a little bit. I cut 10 mm and it was already enough for me. It's easer to cut multiple times then to put some material back.

Cutting the return edge on the top of the thighs doesn't effect centurion approval. What matters is how the thighs fit you.

[pewpewpew[TK]]

That's great! I didn't think of putting tape down first.

[kman[TK]]

That's too bad. I haven't been to large events yet, and the hovi speakers seem fine for the events I've been to. So you're gonna use the romfx with the Pyle? The romfx speaker also isn't loud enough?

Might be loud enough. I had planned to use the Pyle with my other devices, so it's going to take some experimentation to decide my final setup.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[Tom Lee[TK]]

Amazing work.