lucnak[TK] Posted March 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Thanks for the help guys! Trimmed the screws and installed my mic tips.. I sanded the rims to make the white come out. Started painting last night. Will post an update once my painting is further along. Have to wait to get some tube stripe stencils this weekend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Is it just me or does this grey look too light? It's definitely Humbrol 5 from the container, but I'm not so sure that it's the right darkness. Could I have bought an old canister of paint? Does this paint get lighter over time? This is my second coat on the frown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentry71[TK] Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 That does seem very light. From other threads, apparently you REALLY have to mix up the Humbrol paints. Could some of the pigment still be settled to the bottom? Hopefully others can chime in that use Humbrol (I personally used Testors). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty33[TK] Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 I had the same issue with the Humbrol paint. Not sure if it was because it was old or I didn't mix it enough. I bought another tin, mixed it up really well and all was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 I had the same issue with the Humbrol paint. Not sure if it was because it was old or I didn't mix it enough. I bought another tin, mixed it up really well and all was good. I'm gonna try shaking the tin for a while before using it when I get the chance. Hopefully I don't need to buy another tin! The store I went to didn't have a lot of stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylverbard[TK] Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Stir the bejebus out of it. I grab wooden stir sticks from coffee shops...so many uses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Kung Fu Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 +1 on stirring to humbrol paint ALOT... and then some more :-P. I'd avoid shaking the can, alot of paint builds up on the lid and gets sloppy when you open it. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Even on Testors paint I stir it with a toothpick. I had to do some touch ups last night and I used the toothpick to fix a few small nicks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thanks everyone for your help so far! A few things: Received my TK Boots! I ended up buying them from someone who found these to be too small, so it was quick to arrive! Also got my gloves and hand guards from Trooper Bay. Will need to glue these a bit better later on to make sure they're on there nice and solid. It might look like they're glued low, but when I close my fist, they're right up at my knuckles. The gloves are a bit smaller than I'd like, but they'll do the job! I finished painting over the weekend. Looks like stirring did do the trick, but I had to let it sit for a while. I initially stirred a bunch and didn't see a colour change in the tin, so I assumed I had defective paint. My wife was going to be near the store, so I asked her to pick another one up for me. I opened the tin and thought "wow this looks way better!" and it turned out that that was the tin that I stirred. Go figure! Thanks to Andy in the Capital City Garrison for the paint mask for the tube stripes! I had to clean up a little with a q-tip and paint thinner, but I think my paint job turned out alright! Here's my helmet as it is now. I need to order a new S-trim as I trimmed mine a wee bit too short and that's bothering me, but no rush. I also need to protect my head from the ends of the screws that I cut. I added some foam around my forehead in the helmet. My head is quite large so I don't need the helmet to sit any higher, otherwise I'm looking out through the teeth! Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on what to improve. I may touch up the rear traps since some lines aren't as clean and straight as I would like them to be, but they'll do! My right ear definitely has a bit of a gap and I tried my best to close it as much as possible. I think if I ever build another helmet, I'll be able to do a better job with that. Now the question is...what do I work on next? I still have some pieces to trim, so I will probably do that, cut some cover strips, and also paint my ab buttons. Weather is warming up, so hopefully I'll be gluing pieces in my garage in a few weeks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illusionz_09[TK] Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Looks great. Start on the forearms first, its the part that is the most forgiving. Allows for a lot of wiggle room and no return edges, so it helps to get the ball rolling and learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Couple of questions for you guys: My thighs are a bit bigger than average and my legs are slightly shorter than average. Will it look weird if I add about 5mm to my thigh cover strips but keep my arm cover strips at 16mm? My arms are not bigger than average. Also, can I shorten the thighs by taking some off the top? And can I remove all return edges on things and shins? I feel like I need to keep a little bit. My forearms appear to be a little shorter than most...what's the recommended way to shorten these? My hair is long enough that it would stick out the back of my helmet. Would a balaclava be the best way to take care of this problem? If so, recommendations? Can I remove all return edge on the chest plate around the neck area? I feel like this part would be rather uncomfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentry71[TK] Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Balaclava is your best bet for hair issues. On the AP kit, there isn't a return at the neck line, so removing it from ATA should not be an issue. Personally, I would keep a little bit just for the illusion of depth. Once you get it trimmed down some, you probably won't even notice it. Your first two points may have to be answered by someone else with a bit more experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Couple of questions for you guys: My thighs are a bit bigger than average and my legs are slightly shorter than average. Will it look weird if I add about 5mm to my thigh cover strips but keep my arm cover strips at 16mm? My arms are not bigger than average. Also, can I shorten the thighs by taking some off the top? And can I remove all return edges on things and shins? I feel like I need to keep a little bit. My forearms appear to be a little shorter than most...what's the recommended way to shorten these? My hair is long enough that it would stick out the back of my helmet. Would a balaclava be the best way to take care of this problem? If so, recommendations? Can I remove all return edge on the chest plate around the neck area? I feel like this part would be rather uncomfortable. Arm cover strips are 15mm, 20mm front and back thighs, and 20mm front of shin, 25mm calf enclosure. That's fairly close to screen used. With that being said, the most important part is making the armor correctly fit YOU. For example, my biceps are larger so I have larger rear cover strips on my biceps. I was fortunate enough to buy AM2.0 thighs and shins to fit my bigger legs, but I am short so I had to trim a lot off the top of the thighs and the bottom of the shins. Plenty of guys have become EIB/Centurion & PO/SWAT approved with larger cover strips. You want the thigh and front of the shins to be the same size. So lets say you need 22mm front thigh cover strips.. make sure you use 22mm for the rear and also 22mm for the front of the shin. It gives off a uniform appearance. If you have large thighs you can also shim and blend it in so you can still use 20mm cover strips too but it's a lot of work. For your arms, you can enhance the inner elbow notch more to give more range of motion. Get a haircut or use a hair tie. Yes you can remove the return by the neck but it shouldn't be riding that high to be that big of a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illusionz_09[TK] Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 I'm going to piggy back off Airborne's comments above. I agree with everything he said; like he said fortunately he had the AM for the thighs which allowed him to cut strips to the correct size. If you have a full armor of ATA like me, then for those of us that are not stick figures then we need bigger strips. Just make sure if you need bigger sizes for strips then you put them in the back/inside of the armor pieces so from the front view you cannot tell. You may want to look at my build for references. From the front you view, all my strips are screen accurate (i.e 15mm for biceps, 20 mm thighs) However, so the fit properly, on the inside of my biceps the strip is 30mm and for the thighs i had to go to 40 mm. As long as you make left/right the same size you should be good to go. Just make sure you apply everything clean and you cannot tell and will not affect your centurion standards (if you are going that route) Good Luck. keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 (edited) There's a few ways to do it. You can do like David but that gives an increased ridge, basically it'll look like this [ _ ] You can have larger outter cover strips that look like [__] and still be fine too. Here's an example of one of my favorite SWAT approved "Look, Sir! Droids!" sandtroopers. TD-10068/Millenium1 Edited March 8, 2016 by Airborne Trooper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Finished cutting and sanding my thighs and shins this weekend. Thighs are slightly low here since I'm not holding them. I really need to hold them to keep them up. How much mobility do you guys have with these on? Can you bend your knees and walk pretty freely? Just trying to get an idea of trimming requirements. I've already trimmed the pointy end on the left thigh. Please excuse the crappy mirror selfie of my legs. I will be using 26mm strips on the thighs and front of shins. 30mm on the back of shins. I also cut and trimmed down everything else and painted my ab buttons, drying here: You can still see some pencil that I used to center the circle I drew. My circle template has lines to show the middle of the horizontal and vertical axes. My advice for painting the ab buttons, keep with the natural curve of your wrist and spin the piece as you go. Much easier. Cleaned up the edges with toothpicks and paint thinner. My next step is to create some snap panels while I wait for the weather to warm up. I might also glue some basic stuff like the buttons to the ab and the elastics in the shoulder bells. The only thing I haven't cut yet is the kidney tabs...still figuring out where this line up and I can't do that till I join up the rest of my torso stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illusionz_09[TK] Posted March 14, 2016 Report Share Posted March 14, 2016 Movement will usually be very limited. It all depends on your cuts and position of parts. Most TK's cannot really bend. Especially once you have the ab plate on. Just build it first and then worry about modifying your movement after. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Have finally started gluing things...another question for you guys: internal strapping - did you use nylon everywhere or elastic in some key areas? Just trying to figure out how to make it comfortable and keep it looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastertk[TK] Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Have finally started gluing things...another question for you guys: internal strapping - did you use nylon everywhere or elastic in some key areas? Just trying to figure out how to make it comfortable and keep it looking good! Elastic everywhere. That's what I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentry71[TK] Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 I did elastic everywhere as well, though there are some areas where I am considering changing out a few to nylon (back to kidney specifically). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmosis[501st] Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 save that great ab button paint job by not installing those plates until last Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 save that great ab button paint job by not installing those plates until last Ah too late! Do people tend to scratch the buttons when assembling the rest? I didn't even think of that! I could just tape some paper towel over top once I start handling the ab? I did elastic everywhere as well, though there are some areas where I am considering changing out a few to nylon (back to kidney specifically). I am thinking definitely some nylong for backt o kdiney since that needs to stay nice and tight. Elastic for chest to ab for some movement. Not sure about the sides for kidney to ab...I was thinking nylon since this should stay nice and tight as well, but then again, could make breathing a bit harder if it's too tight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentry71[TK] Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) On the sides, go with elastic for movement, but when creating the elastic, make the length slightly short to allow for a little stretch. For example, if the distance between fasteners is 3", make the elastic strap only 2 1/2" between the fastener locations. That should make things snug, but still allow comfortable movement as needed Edited March 16, 2016 by Sentry71 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucnak[TK] Posted March 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 So I made all the panels for my snap panels last night and I still need to add the actual snaps and I'm trying to think ahead - how did you guys measure out the length for the straps, particularly for chest to ab? Hold them up on you and tape them to tell the distance and then make the strap fit? And it seems to me that back + kidney + butt is always the same height for everyone since these should all be edge to edge, so really the fit comes in how long your shoulder straps are? Anyone know the measurements for the butt plate snaps and cod rivet? I can't seem to find that info right now and I would like to get that done soon. Sorry for all the questions, just trying to make sure I do this right the first time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentry71[TK] Posted March 17, 2016 Report Share Posted March 17, 2016 I did butt plate snaps at 15 and 35mm in from the edge, and cod rivet at 30mm in. Gleaned this info from other threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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