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Level 3 build question.


Tecnotic

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Hello there! Back at star wars celebration Anaheim me and my dad jumped on the ANOVOS TK kit. Since then me and my father have worked on our kits slowly but surely. Mine was ready for SDCC 2016 and I was able to walk around in it. Visited the 501st booth got some pointers and tips and since then have been slowly fixing what needed to be fixed. We are aiming for third level certification but have one question.

 

On the CRLs it states " Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor. A single visible seam line is present." Now me and my dad aren't the smallest people in the world and need a little more wiggle room. I had originally built my TK with this certification in mind and it worked but I needed to be about ten pounds smaller for it to really be comfortable. So I decided to make the three straps a little bigger so that the armor sat on my body straighter. Now the CRL say "Ideally" is this statement for those of us who aren't skinny enough to have the no gap seam?

 

In short my question is; If we require a larger a gap to fit into the armor better is it still  possible to get level three certification?

 

​P.S. Me and my dad plan on being certified 501st TKs for Star Wars Celebration Orlando which we are attending.

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You will need to shim the gap between your abs and kidney plate with some abs to reduce the gap.

 

ae624c6a1b5f25f6b82185e5766d645a.jpg

 

I'm not totally sure how you do it as I never had to but I'm sure someone will be along soon with some pointers.

 

Also if you post your pics in the request eib thread they will give you pointers on what is needed to achieve level 2 (expert infantry) and level 3 (centurion).

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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There are quite a few build threads that show excellent images of shimming being done. you will have to cut some ABS sheet to the same size up and down as your ab/kidney. make an inner strip to create a butt joint(you are basically extending the ab and or kidney to fit your waist and leave no gap where it connects) then you will need to make some abs paste out of small scrap bits of abs and acetone. fill the space in between the butt joint with the abs paste like you would bondo. let dry. sand it down smooth. fill any more imperfections. sand and smooth again. when it all looks like one piece and is smooth then you polish with plastic polish. most people on FISD use the novos 1/2/3 polish kit. you may also prior to polishing hit the plastic in that area with 1500-3000 grit wet sand paper to get super smooth. 

This is for getting centurion and ESB certifications. Where basically the most undersuit you want to see in the gap where ab connect to kidney is 1mm or less when standing straight with your arms at your sides.

 

good luck!!!  :duim:

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Hey Chris, glad to see you asking a great question.

The guys are definitely steering you in the right direction with the side shims.

First off, its always best to post a photo of what you are talking about to give us all the best chance of answering your question as accurately as possibly, plus we all love to see photos of armour.

Level 3 is about talking that next step towards a more screen accurate look, but also to have our troopers all look very similar in appearance regardles of size, shape height or gender.

Yes idealy we would like to see no gap what so ever, so the introduction of the humble side shim was created. At EI the maximum gap allowed is approximately 12.5 mm per side, so this is where shims come in to close down any gap larger than this.

You want your side shim to sit flush and extend from the Kidney plate, evenly on both sides (don't shim one side with a large shim or your kidney plate wont sit right).

to make the side shim sit flush it is easiest to first glue a base piece behind or on the inside of the kidney plate to create a surface in which to glue the actual shim to. Same as what you do to make a but joint and cover strip on your limbs to hold the halves together, only the cover strip is internal. This leaves you with a seam line which is what you fill with ABS paste, sand and polish to conceal the seam line.

 

This link is just one members side shim build, which has some good internal and external images of his process

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/30226-side-shims-on-abkidney-help/?hl=%2Bside+%2Bshims

 

 

Hope this helps. :)

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Thanks so much for the help guys! So helpful! Sorry for no pictures, here is a few for your viewing pleasure!

 

Like I said before, my kit is done and wearable but making some modifications for level three and making it more comfortable then it originally was after I built it. Here is a few pictures from SDCC 2016 and two pictures of the current modifications. 

 

YkXcSa.jpg

 

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TNwQNX.jpg

 

The left side originally had no gap on it at all and the right side had a very large gap and it didn't sit on my body fully straight. So the other night I added some length to the left side to let it sit better on my body.

 

Here is the larger gap I added.

 

HqklLv.jpg

 

s1blDb.jpg

 

Sorry for the large photos. 

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