Jeff's WTF Build Thread - first time builder

[jeffnorth86[TK]]

Hello everyone,

 

I received my BBB from Walt last Thursday and I've made a decent start, but I have some questions, and I'd like some input from the community before I proceed. I started with the forearms and biceps.  I took off all of the return edge on the wrists and left about 1/4" return edge everywhere else...I figured I could always take it down more.  Here are a few pictures wearing the armor:

 

Now here's the first thing I wanted to check.  Only one of my biceps has the "thumbprint".  That matches up with the "curvy" forearm, correct? And those two pieces go on my left arm, yes?

As far as fitting goes, both the thumbprint bicep and curvy forearm are fairly snug, but the other two pieces, especially the right forearm, feel big.  Here's a picture of the gap in my right forearm:

 

Is this fixed with padding, or heating and shaping, or something else? I left a little bit of extra room on each piece for where the cover strips go...I trimmed each side to 3/8" so that'll add up to 19mm under the cover strip.  Will sanding that down to 15mm take care of the fitting issues? Should I take off more of the return edge?

 

Another issue is on my curvy forearm...the two pieces don't line up correctly at the top:

How is this fixed? Is it okay since the cover strip will cover it up?

Any and all advice is appreciated.  Thanks guys!!

[jeffnorth86[TK]]

Besides the arms, I did a few other things on my first weekend of work.  I sewed up my canvas belt, attached the holster, trimmed the belt ammo box, and constructed my drop boxes.

I haven't attached the ammo box to the belt yet as I need to put on the snaps to attach the belt to the ab plate, and I'm not ready to take that plunge yet, so I just mocked it up as it would appear.

I also cut out the button panels for the ab plates.  I still have some trimming to do on them, but I don't want to take too much off and lose my gluing surface.  Another issue is that the middle button plate has a slight bend to it, and also has visible bubble on the return edge I left for gluing.  How can I fix this?

[Kacrut[501st]]

... any update?.