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Newbie Dave's Anovos build


davethedeal

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Nice work so far Dave.

 

Regarding the bicep I agree with Matt here regarding the cover strip placement. If the perfectionist in you draws you to move it by all means have at it OR, another option would be to leave it as is because the shoulder bell will cover it, not to mention it's not too far off from screen used. Here's a reference photo

 

gallery_12157_59_74335.jpg     

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've got some progress to report, and a question.

 

  • I went ahead and followed JustJoseph's advice and installed interior cover strips in the calves. I also cut out some material to reinforce the chest piece, but have not yet installed it. Trying to get a flat piece of material to follow the contours of the armor so I could glue it down was giving me issues, so I've set that aside as an "optimization" project once the initial build is complete.
  • After a whole host of things going wrong along the way, I finally finished swapping out the crappy Anovos cloth belt for the stiff one I bought from Rob Kittel. This was something I was dreading from the outset, and it proved to be every bit as troublesome as I'd feared. I won't go so far as to say everything that could go wrong did, but I definitely had issues at pretty much every step. I'm glad its over, and am pretty happy with the result. The only thing left to do is to glue the drop boxes to the belt.
  • I also got my buttons painted and glued to the abdomen. Not the best paint job, but serviceable. 
  • For a quick win, I mounted the thigh ammo belt. Actually getting the tools lined up to set the rivets was an interesting challenge.
  • Lastly, I have glued on the sniper knee. The glue is drying and I hope it will hold everything together - the sides didn't have a lot of contact with the shin piece. 

Question 7:

I've got the contours of the sniper knee lined up with the top of the shin piece, but in order to achieve that, I had to twist it to the point that there is this gap between the bottom of the sniper knee and the shin piece. Is that an issue? The CRL doesn't say it has to be flat to the shin, but that is what I was hoping to achieve. In the end I decided to get the contours right and hope this gap doesn't matter.

 

Edited by davethedeal
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Have a look at Tony's Anovos build, he got his to sit nicely, it may help to get yours sitting a little closer ;) 

 

IMG_6460b.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Its been a while since my last update, but I'm still at it. I ran into a bit of trouble over the past couple of weeks wherein the temperature in my garage dropped below freezing - that makes it tough to get much done in one push, and then I discovered that E6000 doesn't like working at those temperatures either. I was able to move parts of the operation requiring gluing into the basement and keep things moving along. It is fun to finally reach the point in the build where I'm installing the strapping and its actually looking like a suit of armor, rather than a haphazard pile of plastic. 

 

 

Yesterday I tried on the upper portions, mostly so I could figure out how low to hang the thighs, and that was quite an experience. I think I'm going to need a squire to help me in and out of this! 

 

 

In any event, there is still a lot of little things to do:

  • Adjust strapping so things fit correctly. I see in my photo that my right shoulder bell is out a bit and my right forearm needs to be lower, things I didn't notice when I had it on.
  • Painting screw heads and rivet heads
  • Install velcro into calves - I'm going this route until I know for sure if I need shims or not
  • Finish painting shoes - I used up one can of white leather paint on them, but they still look a little cloudy
  • The damn belt - I mentioned above that I had a whole host of issues switching over to my Kittle belt, and when I put this on one of the rivets pulled loose. For the photo I grabbed that loose hanging end (my left side) and shoved it under the elastic of the drop box, that's why it is not lined up right with the ab buttons. I had lots of trouble when putting the belt together due to low quality rivets where the shanks kept ripping in half. I'm going to just pull it apart and re-do all 3 rivets with better quality ones. Not looking forward to that, but at least this time it is glued with E6000 and not that hard-as-nails epoxy Anovos used.
  • I'm going to attempt a re-do of the sniper knee
  • Figure out what I'm going to do for gloves
  • I haven't even begun to start on the helmet....

 

Edited by davethedeal
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Sounds like you are still on track, well except for the weather, we have the exact opposite situation there, work in the shed from 6am and cook from 10am onwards, does slow down progress, but any progress still the same all adds up in the end ;) 

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Time for my monthly update! 

Progress has been slow due to the weather and ongoing frustration with certain aspects of the build, but I'm almost ready to submit my initial application. I'm hoping to get the final details completed and application submitted by the end of the month. When I first started the build I was attempting to get everything built right off the bat to meet EIB and possibly Centurion standards. However, seeing as I really want to get approved before spring so I can start trooping, I've decided to cut corners with what is left to do, get the initial approval, then tweak it for higher level approvals down the road. 

 

My re-do of the Kittle belt rivets went much better than the first attempt. Gotta love the forgiving nature of E6000! If anything is wrong, it is easy to rip apart and re-do. Unfortunately, my belt has suffered quite a number of dings and scrapes during the process and looks about as weathered as one would expect after a tour of duty on Kashyyyk - it doesn't quite match the sparkling magnificence of the rest of my armor, but I figure it will all match up pretty soon after the wear and tear of a summer of trooping.

 

I re-did the sniper knee. The mistake I made was ignoring Ukswrath's technique of securing the center of the knee and letting that completely dry before doing the sides. I gave it a go and tried to do it all at once, but as he states in his tutorial, there is just too much twisting of the material required to get it to sit properly. It was easy to re-do because E6000 and I are good buddies and work well together, and I'm glad I did because I expect that having that flush with the front of the shin will reduce the incidence of "knee under the thigh" syndrome.

IMG_20190310_175621.jpg.60f8ee2615c628474e4693b4f5397818.jpg

 

Question 8:

I had to add shims to the kidney because I like to eat chips. Down the road I intend to cover the seams with ABS paste. Will these shims pass a basic approval? 

IMG_20190310_175811.jpg.b6489877f1785555dcc2a73f3cfa3a05.jpg  

 

Question 9:

I cleaned up the "return edge" on the helmet eyes because I thought it just looked bad. Removing the overspray on the frown is something I'm going to put on the back-burner, but will be adding the 5th tooth. I'm also delaying any modification of the hovi tips. That said, is there anything obvious I need to do to the stock Anovos helmet to get the basic approval? From what I've read, it seems their helmet is good-to-go for basic approval, but maybe I'm missing something.

 

 

Question 10:

This is difficult to show in a photograph, but is pretty obvious with the naked eye. I added a red oval to the photo to try and accentuate what I'm talking about. My helmet, when viewed from the bottom, is not symmetrical. It looks like somebody sat on it for a while and warped it, and I'm wondering if Anovos helmets are all sort of lop-sided, or if it is because mine sat in a BBB for several years with other armor on top of it before I acquired the kit? So much of this kit is non-symmetrical that I'm really not sure if that is on purpose or not...

 

Edited by davethedeal
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Question 8

A. I dont know, I stay away from the cookie jar for this very reason 

 

Question 9 

A. Over spray on the frown

B. Ears are ok for EI, But will need to be canted for Centurion

 

Question10

A. This is normal. Remember the original suits were made back in 76/77 long before the days of Computer Aided Drawing and 3d Printing. So the helmet being Asymmetrical is completely normal.  That and we all like turning our head sideways to get our helmets on :smiley-sw013:

Edited by James Whitley
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#8 Yes, basic and EIB

#9 That's up to your GML. Unless there's something drastically wrong the helmet will pass EIB also. Centurion, check the Centurion application threads. There you'll get a good idea what will need to be updated.

#10 As James mentioned this is completely normal

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I submitted my application and emailed photos to my GML, and now I'm just waiting to hear back on what tweaks I need to make. A big Thank You to everyone that has given me advice and answered my questions along the way!

 

I feel like I've hit a milestone and started reflecting on it over the weekend. I started wishing I could go back to visit myself back in October when I first started down this road and give some advice. Here are the things I'd say:

  1. This is going to take a lot longer than you think. All the steps are fairly simple, but every one of them will take longer than you imagine, and that all adds up.
  2. The cost of the actual kit is only the beginning. Prepare to hemorrhage cash for the next few months buying all sorts of tools and equipment.
  3. The first time you put this armor on, its going to be incredibly uncomfortable. Don't get discouraged, just focus on the problem areas one at a time and eventually it will feel much more comfortable. You'll even be able to walk up and down stairs eventually, I promise. 
  4. Even after you get approved, you're still going to be making modifications for months (I can see that coming!), so be prepared to continue to devote time and money to the project.
  5. Don't buy black boots and paint them white. Buy white boots, even if you have to go up a size or two to get them wide enough for your fat feet. Dying/painting them is a pain, and the paint will scratch off too easily, meaning you're going to be doing upkeep every time you troop.
  6. Don't swap out the Anovos belt for Kittell's belt. I know, and I agree, the Anovos belt looks like crap, but that swapping out of the belt is going to be the worst part of the build. It's also the only part of the build that will draw blood. Save that for an "optimization" project down the road.
  7. As strange as it may sound, some of your friends really are going to laugh at you for doing this. Idiots.
  8. Don't buy that one-piece undersuit. How are you going to pee?
  9. Don't just blindly follow that one tutorial you found that looks like it is all encompassing. The tutorials are suggestions. Take some time early on in the build to look at other build threads or watch youtube videos. You'll get some good ideas from them.
  10. When it comes to doing the actual work like cutting and grinding and gluing, don't stress about it so much. I know, the kit cost a lot and you don't want to screw it up, but it really is true that most screw ups can be fixed.
  11. Scratches in the armor are inevitable. Just call it battle damage and move on.

I'm sure there's more, but that will do for now. Thanks again to all who helped me make it to this point!

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Question 2 - No return edge. A little bit of curve on the outside where the plastic bent around (where it would have met the edge) is okay but there should be NO inside lip/return edge whatsoever.
 
This answers my question, although still wondering why?
Seems to me no return would make it look cheaper/ not as professional?


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  • 5 months later...

What did you end up doing about boots?  Did you find something that works for you?  I am looking to go for EIB and want a boot that I know will fit.  I wear a 10W and Imperial Boot suggestion is to order an 11.  I am worried it will look to long for my frame and build.  I'd appreciate to hear what you decided doing and how happy you were with your decision. 

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