Twosolitudes ANH Stunt (AP)

[GilFran007]

Quote

To anyone reading this who hasn't yet purchased their armour, seriously consider paying the extra for the supplier to trim it for you; otherwise, make sure you get the lexan scissors early.

I did question Mark's mark-up for trimming the kit at first....he did manage to talk me into it when I pulled the trigger on it.

 

I am so happy that he did....paying the extra is well worth it, especially for a new builder like myself.

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

Major trimming is done, and with the wife being out of town on business I’m going to get a chance to focus on my build a bit more.

 

first up is the gluing the cover strips on biceps:

 

 

I’m also keen to get at the sniper knee plate. I’d like to get that challenging task behind me. My Imperial Boots shipping notification came via email, so I’ll be able to do some fitting with the shins when they arrive.

 

 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

It’s a Good Friday for doing some work on the armour.

 

Cut out and painted the button plates. 

 

 

Also prepping the shoulder bridges to be affixed to the breast plate. Think I might also add some reinforcement to the bridges; there was a good post on that.

 

Shin cover strips are being applied. DHL tried to deliver my Imperial Boots yesterday when I was at work, so I’m guessing they’ll try again tomorrow after the holiday (Good Friday, which my wife just let me know is not a holiday in the US? Surprised me).

 

[Neb Sgird[TK]]

28 minutes ago, Twosolitudes said:

Shin cover strips are being applied. DHL tried to deliver my Imperial Boots yesterday when I was at work, so I’m guessing they’ll try again tomorrow after the holiday (Good Friday, which my wife just let me know is not a holiday in the US? Surprised me).

 

 

 

Looking good! Our founding fathers wanted nothing to do with anything Catholic, so Good Friday was out

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

The time spent on armour build this week has been dedicated to a pitched battle between the sniper knee and myself. 

 

It took me several several hot baths before I was finally able to calm down enough to finish the job. 

 

 

(In the background you can see the Satin black paint waiting patiently by the vocoder it’s meant for)

 

 

m

 

What worked for me was using the tip I’ve picked up from most of the the other build threads where the left outer shin half is raised about 10mm when joining the two, and then using plenty of clamps and E6000 to hold the sniper plate in position.

 

 

 

I’ve gleefully moved on to the rear cover strip and preparing the Velcro closure.

 

 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

With shins slowly coming together, I continue to ignore the vocoder and set my sights on the thighs

 

 

After a fitting, it looks to me that I need to trim and additional 35mm from the left thigh to have it fit, and that’s still leaving a comfy amount of space (I’ve been skipping leg-day a bit too frequently).

 

 

Is that normal?

 

although it’s marked on this piece, I’ll probably trim from the *outer* thigh armour half.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Twosolitudes
Meant “outer” thigh armour piece

[wook1138[TK]]

6 minutes ago, Twosolitudes said:

Is that normal?

 

although it’s marked on this piece, I’ll probably trim from the inner thigh armour half.

yeah, my thigh pieces were quite large on me.  I also had to taper the cut to allow for my skinny knees (i cut very little at the top and a lot near the knees).  You want to share the trimming to both pieces.  I just split the total amount in half and trimmed each side.  If you have someone around to help you size, you can adjust how much to trim off each side to keep the cover strip join lined up nice along the length of the thigh.  If that doesn't make sense, I can probably find an example of this someplace or draw a diagram. 

[wook1138[TK]]

PS  The knee looks good!

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

9 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

yeah, my thigh pieces were quite large on me.  I also had to taper the cut to allow for my skinny knees (i cut very little at the top and a lot near the knees).  You want to share the trimming to both pieces.  I just split the total amount in half and trimmed each side.  If you have someone around to help you size, you can adjust how much to trim off each side to keep the cover strip join lined up nice along the length of the thigh.  If that doesn't make sense, I can probably find an example of this someplace or draw a diagram. 

Very clear, thanks!

[Neb Sgird[TK]]

A note (Hopefully I'm not too late). Be sure to divide the amount you're trimming off the thighs between the two pieces, and only trim the back (the front is likely where it needs to be already). So for your 35mm on the left thigh, do 17mm on the outer segment and 17mm on the inner. 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

17 hours ago, Neb Sgird said:

A note (Hopefully I'm not too late). Be sure to divide the amount you're trimming off the thighs between the two pieces, and only trim the back (the front is likely where it needs to be already). So for your 35mm on the left thigh, do 17mm on the outer segment and 17mm on the inner. 

Thanks, I’ve been taking my time on this, and I’m glad I did. Between you and Greg’s feedback, I think I managed to avoid messing up my thighs. 

 

Here’s to following the old saying: “Measure twice, collect advice, read every post ever written on this step, cut once.”

 

 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

I cautiously move foreward, attaching a cover strip to the front of the left thigh, and an inner cover strip on the left forearm. I don’t think I’m going to hit my early May target for completion, but I’m not in a hurry... much rather get this done right.

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

As well as clamps and magnets painters tape can be a great help.

 

At least you have the right idea, it's better to take your time than rush through.

 

No doubt you will get there soon, keep up the great work

[Neb Sgird[TK]]

No need to rush, as you say. To clarify what @gmrhodes13 means, painters tape can help you keep your lines straight, and, when clamping, can keep the clamps/magnets from scratching up your armor. Good tip.  

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

The last week or so have been dedicated to finishing my thighs and forearms. After some helpful and timely guidance (thanks Greg and Ben), I finished trimming the back of the thighs and set some inner and outer cover strips. I’ve especially become a huge fan of inner cover strips.

 

 

 

Thighs are done (except for the ammo pack)

 

 

Forearms are also done, return edges completely gone:

 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

Attaching the ammo pack to the Right thigh. 

 

The TD was used as a template for the curved corner.

 

 

test fit fit then drill some holes

 

Paint the split rivets. In hindsight, this could have waited, as the paint ended up requiring a redo anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looking good

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

On to the belt... found the middle and marked which way was up on both the canvas belt and the ABS portion.

 

 

 

Next I drilled the holes for joining the ABS pack to the canvas belt (no pic)

 

Next, I marked off where the poppers would be placed on the Abdomen for both sides using this handy guide:

 

 

Right side:

 

Left side:

 

When test placing the ABS belt portion over the torso, I noticed that even though the Left side was measured precisely, the snap wasn’t going to be underneath the ammo belt bump on that side, so I walked it over towards the centre until I could tell it would be where I wanted it.

 

Next I drilled holes and placed snaps:

 

 

Having placed the snaps on both sides, I wanted to then make sure that my belt snaps would line up, so I used the marker method to determine the location for them.

 

Using a felt tip marker, I inked the snap a little:

 

Then I lined up the belt where I wanted it and pressed it into the snaps, imprinting where I’d be placing my holes for the canvas belt snaps:

 

 

After using a hole punch to prepare the belt for both snaps and rivets (for the ABS part), I placed said snaps and rivets. 

 

 

Next up will be adding drop boxes.

 

[wook1138[TK]]

It is looking very good.  Nice work!

[willeywonka[TK]]

The felt tip marker idea = brilliant! Wish I’d have picked that idea up for my build haha. 

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

2 hours ago, willeywonka said:

The felt tip marker idea = brilliant! Wish I’d have picked that idea up for my build haha. 

Like all the good ideas, I saw it in another build thread.  I wish I had kept better track of all the threads I had learned from.

[Twosolitudes[TK]]

Drop boxes and buttons ready.

 

I’ve noticed that in some threads 3/4” white elastic ribbon is used for attaching the drop boxes, while I have 1”. Does anyone see a problem with that?

 

There’s nothing in the CRL pertaining to L2 or L3.

 

Just checking before I start riveting things. 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

7 minutes ago, Twosolitudes said:

1”. Does anyone see a problem with that?

Nope - Carry on (1 inch was used on the movie-suits)

[CableGuy[TK]]

Your build is really coming along. :-)

Just noticed your ab buttons and thought I’d throw up a suggestion. The smaller of the two has very straight edges, rather than curved. It’s a really easy update if you wanted to do it.



Best wishes
Dan :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wook1138[TK]]

1 hour ago, Twosolitudes said:

’ve noticed that in some threads 3/4” white elastic ribbon is used for attaching the drop boxes, while I have 1”. Does anyone see a problem with that?

Like Daniel mentioned, one inch is screen accurate.  I originally used 3/4" as well but had to switch out to 1" to allow for some trimming of the elastic to fit around snaps and such.  the 3/4" was just to thin to accommodate that.  I don't know why so many builds refer to the 3/4" thickness as a standard. 

 

Looking good!