Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Hi all, My name is Lawrence and I'm a first time builder and 501st member hopeful. My build is an ANH stunt kit from Anovos. I am following Uswrath's ANOVOS TK build (stunt). A lot of good information there. I've also been getting some guidance from some You Tube videos from TK 1636 of the Dune garrison https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeDunMes3e0wQn8_ns-ma4g/featured. and Panda Props https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmlecIQFeXtVHAvcEPa3GTg. Uswrath's build is geared towards Centurion level so I will be aiming for that. It's taken almost two years for my kit to arrive so I've had a bit of time to research a number of builds. Even with all this great information out there i'm sure i'll be stumped on something at some point and reach out to the veteran members for help. I live in a small apartment so i'll have to adjust as such. I have a rather large desk that I've covered with a protective mat to work on individual pieces. No room for a belt sander so all my sanding will be done by hand or a Dremel tool. I figure this will allow me to give it just that little extra attention to detail. O.K. so on BBB day I didn't have a lot of space to lay everything out so I inventoried everything in sections. Although the pieces come numbered with a guide you can print out I went ahead and labeled everything with blue tape and Sharpe as suggested by another member on a Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/groups/838545079553903/. I found that this allowed me to quickly identify parts. I was able to trim the pieces pretty easily using a pair of tin snips for the large areas and an exacto blade for the cuts along the cut lines. I followed the indented cut lines provided by Anovos. This worked nicely for me. Next up, sizing....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Welcome, Lawrence, and REALLY nice start to your build thread! If I could make a suggestion, it would be to remove a lot more (if not all) of the return edges on a few areas. Some like the fact that it makes you armor appear to be "thicker", but in reality it can really cut into you while trooping. (We call it "armor bite"). I am including some reference images of screen used pieces to give you examples. Important: If you decide to remove these areas, be sure to do another fitting/sizing before gluing anything. Otherwise, the piece will be too loose afterward. The scoop/top on the biceps should have none. Again, these can will cut into you. Also, they can not be seen and may cause your shoulder bells to flare out. Reference image The wrist area should have no return edge at all, which includes the "bump" area as seen at the bottom of the reference image below. You can leave some of the edge at the top, and trim as much as you feel comfortable with or remove it all. Reference image I realize you aren't at these points yet, but this suggestion also includes the tops of the thighs, especially in the groin area (trust me on this one). If you find that the shoulder bells are too far away from the chest/back, the bottoms can be removed on those as well and still be screen accurate. Reference images Keep up the great work, and continue to post lots of photos and ask any questions you may have.. we are here to help! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Hey Lawrence - good luck on your build 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank75139[501st] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Looking good! Off to a great start. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Gree[501st] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Great way to start. Just some "to watch out for" advice, you will start to get the hang of the build, one thing I can suggest right now is to stay humble to the armor, if you get too cocky with it you can get ahead of yourself and make a costly mistake. Take you time. measure twice and cut a little as needed till you get the right fit. you can always take more off, cant always put it back on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 Wow, a lot of awesome feedback on my 1st post. This is great. Thanks everyone. Thanks Joseph for the great advise and examples. I will definitely trim the return edge in those areas and probably some others. Thanks also Matt. Jordan, I believe I know what your saying. After I read your comment I keep thinking "respect the armor". To me this means treating it with the care and caution that was used when taking out on BBB day when measuring and making cuts. Thanks again guys, I'll be posting some sizing pics soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted January 4, 2019 Report Share Posted January 4, 2019 One thing to keep in mind is take... your.... time...... As I often say, consider your build more of a marathon than a sprint. Also, as Jordan mentioned "measure twice, cut once". It's better to spend a bit of extra time taking off things in small increments rather than cutting off too much at once. When in doubt, ask us as many questions as you like and we will steer ya' in the right direction, and remember that photos help immensely when you have an issue. Also, as Matt mentioned, if you are (hopefully) aiming for Centurion level it's better to do it during your build rather than after. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35371-eib-and-centurion-what-do-these-terms-mean/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rat[TK] Posted January 5, 2019 Report Share Posted January 5, 2019 Great start Lawrence and yeah Joseph knows his business.Good luck on the build.Sent from my 5054N using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2019 So today I worked on the right bicep. I tried it on with my under suit top on. The Anovos cut lines seemed to be pretty darn close to my size. The upper end was a little snug and the bottom end seemed fine and included an approximately 1/2 inch space between body and armor as suggested by Uswrath. I decided to keep some return edge and trim it or remove it from key areas for sizing and areas where "bite" is a problem. As mentioned earlier I don't have room for a belt sander so I fashioned some sanding sticks from sandpaper sheets and paint stirrers. A trick I learned from a foam armor tutorial a few years back. I trimmed the return edges using a dremel tool and by hand. Starting with 150 grit then finishing with 400 to smooth the edges. I sanded a little and tried on several times until I had a fit that was comfortable and provided me with full range of motion without any "armor bite". I removed the entire return edge from the upper end of the right inner and rounded the return edge on the descending angle. This removed any "bite' and made it easier to remove the upper end of the right inner that extends past the upper end of the right outer. Next i'll work the left bicep in a similar manner. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 I finally got the left bicep sized. I initially thought I may have cut too much off because it was little tight on moving. I trimmed the return edge on the top a bit and I was able to move better. I moved onto the left forearm. I removed the entire return edge on the wrist end. I also trimmed the front butt connection where the cover strip goes. I trimmed each side down to 7.5 mm using a score and snap technique with metal ruler. (didn't get photos, too focused). I sanded the edges flat, taped together and re-measured. 15 mm total in width. I placed both bicep and forearm on to double check size and movement. It seems to feel fine. I did have to remove some more return edge from the top of the forearm inner to facilitate better movement. I have good range of motion with no bite and size looks and feels right. Any suggestions or corrections before I glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 All looks good, you may find you'll need to remove a little more of the inner return edges once you've been trooping, can get armor bites there, we tend to move around a little differently when interacting with the public, but for now I'd leave it and move along, nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 8 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said: All looks good, you may find you'll need to remove a little more of the inner return edges once you've been trooping, can get armor bites there, we tend to move around a little differently when interacting with the public, but for now I'd leave it and move along, nice work Thank you. Is it very difficult to trim edges once everything is glued or is it just a matter of a little sanding down here and there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted January 16, 2019 Report Share Posted January 16, 2019 Just now, InVaderWeTrust said: Thank you. Is it very difficult to trim edges once everything is glued or is it just a matter of a little sanding down here and there? Basically you'll know were to sand just by the marks on your arms, if you do actually get any . It's not too hard to sand by hand, I use a Dremel which just saves some time. Always finish off sanding too with some finer grit sandpaper, gets rid of any sharp or rough areas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arson Dex[501st] Posted January 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 Worked on the thighs this this week. After trying the right thigh on it was clear that I would need a larger thigh than normal. After looking up some forum posts on adding shims to the thigh I decided to build the front of the thigh as usual and keep any modifications to the rear butt connection. The bottom end of the thigh by the knee was fine, it was the upper part that requires additional space. I started by removing the entire return edge at the top of both inner and outer thigh pieces. I marked the crease on the inner part of the armor and then scored it with an Exacto blade. I was then able to snap the return edge off easily. At this point the only sanding I did was to remove some sharp areas where I had cut to avoid snags on my under suit while sizing. Even with the return edge removed I saw that I still needed several inches more. As mentioned I decided to build the front of the thighs as normal to preserve accuracy at least in the front. So I went ahead and trimmed the front butt connection to 10 mm on each side to maintain the 20 mm ridge under the cover strip. Even though this caused the thigh to be smaller when I needed larger I was more concerned with accuracy in the front and comfortable with making modifications to the rear of the thigh. I measured the front butt of both inner and outer thigh and marked it. Then I clamped a cover strip along my measure marks and drew a line along it. After marking the line I clamped a metal ruler along the line and scored & snapped using an Exacto blade. My next order of business is to work on shims for the rear butt connections. At first measure it looks like I'll need to fill about a 1 3/4 " gap at the top of the rear thigh narrowing down to about 1/2" near the knee. I'll take several more measurements when I get an extra pair of hands to help out. Any advise on adding these shims to the rear thigh would be greatly appreciated. Did anybody else have similar issues? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 On 1/15/2019 at 9:12 PM, InVaderWeTrust said: Thank you. Is it very difficult to trim edges once everything is glued or is it just a matter of a little sanding down here and there? It's still pretty easy to trim something down once it's glued, but it's better to do it before, as the piece may be too loose afterward. As Glen mentioned, you may not feel the bite right now, but a few hours with your arms constantly bent carrying an E-11 can make a big difference. AWESOME job on trimming those wrist openings, by the way! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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