wook1138[TK] Posted June 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 2 hours ago, Pyrates said: Oh no - what’s happening to the Tapatalk images? PS - Your TK goodie should be showing up in your mail any day now mate! Just checked the mail... got it! Sweet!. Thank you sir! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrates[TK] Posted June 8, 2018 Report Share Posted June 8, 2018 Just checked the mail... got it! Sweet!. Thank you sir! Awesome!!!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) A few more things done on the build. Pretty much all the gluing is done with a few small exceptions. All holes are drilled and I think I'm ready for some strapping. Anyway, here is what I've been up to. Sizing the shins and thighs. Here is my crazy method of figuring out how much to trim off each side so that it fits and the seam will run at a nice angle down my leg. I hope it works. Belt and thigh ammo belt trimmed and ready for installation. Kept my trim to about 4mm - default for how Mark pulls these pieces. My 45° cut on the belt is 10mm to fit my canvas belt properly. The canvas belt is sitting a bit low in the picture, but it does meet up with where the 45° cut meets the outside edge. I had to do a whole whack of hot bathing and heat gun. I needed to reshape my kidney piece and make it not so wide. I traced the original shape on to cardboard for reference and used hot baths to squish the outsides in a little. This caused buckling of the top and bottom return edge, so I had to use a heat gun and some pieces of wood to reshape the return edge. Sorry no after pics, but it worked out pretty good - mind you, I am terrible at hot baths and heat guns. Also had to reshape how the back meets the kidney. This is an issue with my TK as well - no amount of strapping adjustments could fix it. the back seems to pivot at the outer edges when fitted to my body. This is the return edge along the top of the kidney and AB. The AB side flares up so I also had to reshape that too. Again, no "after" pics. But all is good now. Also shaped my shins to they close better and my posterior to avoid "butt flare". Marked the hole for the cod. Measured about 1-1/8 inch from end and drilled with 1/8" bit for a split rivet. Posterior. Two 5/32" drill holes for line 24 snap bases. I think I measured about 1" from edge and then another 7/8" for second hole. 5/32" hole for snap in right Ab connection. The hole ended up being about 18mm from edge and top. 1/8" holes for split rivets along left ab to kidney connection. the holes are 10mm from seam. 20mm upper return edge and there is about 58mm between each hole. So, at this point, all the arms and legs are assembled except for the 25mm back coverstrips for the shins. I still need to drill holes on the Ab for the belt and assemble belt. And some trimming of coverstrips here and there. Also need to finish up the helmet. And then... I can finally start getting dirty. Need to trim for the three-button button plate and the sniper knee. Anybody know how thick this thing should be? Time to do some research... . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited June 15, 2018 by wook1138 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 5 hours ago, wook1138 said: Anybody know how thick this thing should be? I just cut it after looking att some screnn shotsYou can see it roughly on this pic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Judging by the paint drips on the helmet someone is shooting for SWAT . Very nice work on this build 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 Sniper knee plate. A lot easier than a TK knee (for the AP kit at least). Added some pieces of plastic to the back and glued into place. I hope it is enough to hold. The shin is curved and the plate is flat, so I piled on the E6000 and will hope for the best. Reference Also trimmed this guy. Reference picSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 I fixed the sniper knee plate. I had to bring it up about 1 inch. Thank you MEPD. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2018 (edited) On to snaps and belt. First off - Belt: I used the standard measurements (various builds and the Billhags diagrams) for placing the snaps on the ab on my first build - the left side of the ab calls for 59mm from the return edge as shown below. this is way too much for this armor. I went with 40mm instead and it worked perfect. The right side stays the same - 28mm. Usual measurements By the way, taping the anvil to the back side of the armor works great for setting these snaps. Also reaming out the holes helps the snaps (male base) to sit flush. The left belt snap (tandy line 24) and two snaps for the posterior. Right ab to kidney connection snap and the right belt snap. Once I've centered by belt to the armor, I taped it in place. I took a sharpie marker and marked up the snaps on the armor - then I pressed the belt to the snaps to leave an impression of the marker on the belt. The belt is level and placed just below (but touching) the center button panel. This leaves nice marks where the snaps should go. I did this process twice - just to be sure. Belt in place. I still need to trim and glue on the rivet covers. I used Tandy small single cap rivets to attach canvas belt to ABS ammo pack. The docking bay 94 captain actually has a low fitting belt - it looks like is has fallen down post-weathering. I will need to reposition this belt for SWAT application - but I am told that I need to have the belt here for basic approval. I find it weird that something good enough for L3 approval is not good enough for basic. Oh well. anyway, I was going to install another set of snaps to allow me to easily adjust this in the future - but I forgot and put on the ammo pack before adding the snaps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited June 17, 2018 by wook1138 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 Looking good Greg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 Is this gap normal with the original bracket strapping system? The screws are standing on each other. InsideSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 If you can tighten them so they dig into the plastic further (without cracking the armor of course) than do so (looks cleaner). Other than that yes they're acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 If you can tighten them so they dig into the plastic further (without cracking the armor of course) than do so (looks cleaner). Other than that yes they're acceptable. Thanks !Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Well, not much happening with the build this week. I managed to get all the holes drilled for the original bracket strapping system and tested some of the connections. I also did some more minor reshaping of some return edges with the always scary heat gun.Drilling holes. Glued 3 button plate. Glued rivet covers on belt. And started painting a bunch of screws and rivets white. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 21 hours ago, wook1138 said: Is this gap normal with the original bracket strapping system? The screws are standing on each other. You could take a large drill bit and very gently turn it by hand to get the screws more flush but be careful not to apply to much force 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 5 hours ago, TheSwede said: You could take a large drill bit and very gently turn it by hand to get the screws more flush but be careful not to apply to much force Oh yeah, I even have a handy dandy tool for this very purpose. I'm just trying to convince myself I don't have to do it for all those holes. Plus, I'm worried about making these holes any weaker or more susceptible to cracking than they already seem to be. I'm sure they will be fine. I'll probably have to add re-enforcement ABS as well. It is too hot today for patience. Time for a beer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrates[TK] Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 Brother - this is an epic read, just like the last. Beautiful work!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted July 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2018 Minor progress these last few weeks. Life with young children is not conducive to building armour - plus we’ve been away on vacation for a bit. Oh well, here are some more check boxes that I’ve checked off. Started to add the canon bracket strapping. I managed to get the screws counter sunk a bit. I have seen other people use elastic along the left kidney to abdomen connection. They also used a extra piece of ABS to support it. I tried the same method, but once I got the split rivets set, a gap formed. The elastic got stretched a little a now won’t retract due to the ABS support. This is a lot more gap than I want. Not too happy. I changed out the right ab snap for a “Tandy”-less snap. Added some bits of ABS to the inside of the thighs. I will ABS paste the outside. The screen used thighs appear to be filled as well - probably paint. Reference Snap bases for shoulder straps. I also added a snap base opposite the right ab snap (not shown)25mm coverstrips for back of shins. Adding Velcro before gluing. I’ll see how that works. Just waiting for one snap base to set. Happy belated Father’s Day. My wife ordered me a couple of helmet bags from Trooperbay. She even knew that one should be TD. Just when you think they don’t care... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableGuy[Admin] Posted July 8, 2018 Report Share Posted July 8, 2018 Great progress, Greg. Tidy work, as always. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted July 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 (edited) It is funny how these things come together. After picking away at little things for what seemed like forever - I started adding some strapping and voila, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just need to finish some arm strapping and the basic build is done. For various reasons I am not using the original bracket strapping system for the chest. So I glued in some snap plates about 4inches up from the lower return edge. Added snap bases near the top edge of the ab. Taped chest to ab to double check alignment. Realized I need to shift a snap base. Test fit. I’m trying to get the placement if the chest with relation to the ab to match the reference but still fit okay. I did need to redo one chest to ab strap. Reference Left side (mirror) pic. More gap than I would like, but not terrible. Right side mirror pic. I’m using a plastic reinforced nylon strap for the right connection. It doesn’t overlap but it does cause the two haves to offset like this. May need to revisit this. And back. The gap between the back plate and the kidney plate is a lot less here than on my first TK. I’ll need to hot bath the shoulder tabs at the back to bend them down a bit - they are sticking up about half an inch or more above my shoulders. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited July 12, 2018 by wook1138 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 Nice work Greg . Regarding the Chest to Ab plate placement, I wouldn't be concerned with that as I much as maybe the weathering when you get to that stage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 On 7/8/2018 at 6:35 AM, wook1138 said: Just when you think they don’t care... Awesome 3 hours ago, wook1138 said: May need to revisit this. A tab-and-slot? Did one on my Sandy, figured a solid connection was good as the fieldpack might push and shift things...made a longer tab so it made strapping easier as the side pouches were a nuisance when kitting up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted July 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2018 1 hour ago, TheSwede said: Awesome A tab-and-slot? Did one on my Sandy, figured a solid connection was good as the fieldpack might push and shift things...made a longer tab so it made strapping easier as the side pouches were a nuisance when kitting up Yeah, I made one for my TK but I was hoping to avoid it this time around. That is a good point regarding the pack and other various accoutrements. I think you convinced me to do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted July 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 Weathering test number one. Although I like the look of the subtle weathering one gets with Fullers Earth, I worry about the durability and, more importantly, I need to be able to carefully control the pattern of the weathering. I feel I can do that better with paint since I have experience painting and zero experience with Fullers Earth. Try one is using regular art acrylics and a shop towel to dab the paint for texture. I used burnt umber, black, yellow ochre, and white. I started off drawing a pattern and filling it in with dark grey. Then I did a coat of brown. Then a coat of sand colour. After each layer I rubbed off most of the paint with a towel. Well, I wasn’t happy at all with that. Too dark. So I wiped the piece clean with some mineral spirits and tried again. Outline pattern. Paint in area. Dab with towel and spread some paint around. A layer of brown/tan colour and dab with a towel. Rub away some paint once dry. Flick some brown and yellow at it. Rub off some of the specks. I needed to use mineral spirits for the flecks as they were pretty stubborn. In sunlight at a distance. Sunlight, bit closer. Not terrible. I will try the same thing tomorrow but I’ll use an airbrush. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted July 15, 2018 Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 looks really good in the sunlight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted July 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2018 looks really good in the sunlight:duim: Thanks. The sunlight washes it out a bit. It is so hard deciding how the weathering should look - ie what lighting conditions do you weather for? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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