Shinyarmour1 AP ANH Stunt First Build

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

I have had second look at the glove sizes and was wondering if the medium might work after all.  There doesn't appear to be much of a size difference.  Although the medium glove length is a little storter, I did a test fit with the forearms and there is no risk whatsoever of the gloves popping out of the forearms (no matter how hard I tried).      So which one looks better?  Like I mentioned in the preivous post, the large moves forward after several finger/fist clenches, while the medium doesn't.
 

 

So now that I know the length of the gloves wouldn't be an issue, I am still wondering about the glove size.  Here are some comparison images:-

Medium

 

Large

 

Although in this image it looks like the medium is too short, I've tested it before and won't pop out of the forearm.

 

Would it be acceptable for me wearing AP rubber hand guards on size medium gloves instead of the large gloves?

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I think you will find once your handplates are glued on they will look better and bend a little to conform to the hands. I can get in a medium but went large so I can wear cotton liners inside, does get pretty sweaty in rubber gloves  

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

13 minutes ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

Would it be acceptable for me wearing AP rubber hand guards on size medium gloves instead of the large gloves?

 

Hi  C.  my opinion: i would go for the gloves that fit better to my fingers. the forearms cover enough and this wouldn't be an issue.

 

and as @gmrhodes13 Glenn pointed, consider wear cotton liners inside, believe me , your hands get pretty sweaty in rubber gloves

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Thanks for the feedback.  Since the medium size fits best, I'll probably go with that.  Great tip about the cotton gloves by the way, I do have a pair that can easily fit inside the medium, so that's good.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

3 minutes ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

Thanks for the feedback.  Since the medium size fits best, I'll probably go with that.  Great tip about the cotton gloves by the way, I do have a pair that can easily fit inside the medium, so that's good.

It helps to have a few pairs spare as they are pretty cheap, you tend to sweat a lot so swapping them out at a long troop is refreshing, nothing worse than putting back on a warm soggy pair 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

I've run into a problem with my gloves and am in need of some help.  I took the measurments for the rubber hand guards and taped the ends as a guide for the gluing position.  I even rolled up some bubble wrap to place inside for the hand like shape instead of gluing flat and risking wrinkles.

 

 

I purchased Loctite super glue for this because so many builders have said that this is a difficult area to bond.  As the instructions stated, I used the activator on both surfaces, waited 60 seconds, applied the super glue, pressing down and waited a few more seconds.  It wasn't until afterwards that I realised the glue not only oozed out from the sides, but 2 parts folded over by the thumb had glued together.  As you can see it doesn't look good.

 

 

Is there anyway to fix these issues, maybe something to remove the residue and undo the fold?  Or am I going to have to cut the rubber hand guards off the glove and purchase new gloves?  I am open to any and all help to fix this issue.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Shinyarmour1

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

The only thing I've had luck with in trying to separate the glue is soak in a warm salt water bath OR leave in a freezer. 

 

Generally glued the handplates on I cut some thick cardboard to fill the inside of the glover, if you cut it slightly larger it will stretch out the glove nicely

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

3 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

The only thing I've had luck with in trying to separate the glue is soak in a warm salt water bath OR leave in a freezer. 

 

Generally glued the handplates on I cut some thick cardboard to fill the inside of the glover, if you cut it slightly larger it will stretch out the glove nicely

I have just tried soaking it in warm soapy water for 30 minutes - nothing happened.

Then I tried your suggestion of warm salt water for 30 minutes - nothing happened.

 

Is there a measurement of how much water and salt to put in?  And for how long to soak it?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

8 minutes ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

I have just tried soaking it in warm soapy water for 30 minutes - nothing happened.

Then I tried your suggestion of warm salt water for 30 minutes - nothing happened.

 

Is there a measurement of how much water and salt to put in?  And for how long to soak it?

Not that I'm aware off, I just go heavy on the salt.

 

Found this after a quick Google search https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Super-Glue# also this https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-remove-super-glue-606803#:~:text=Super Glue is a cyanoacrylate,will not dissolve Super Glue.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Hi everyone, sorry its been a while since I last posted anything, but I haven't have much opportunity to work on my kit (real life does get in the way sometimes).  Anyway, I managed to progress with the strapping system for my arms:

 

The elastic going around the shoulder bell.

 

 

Installed the snaps and straps.

 

 

I measured the placement of the snaps several times in order to get the positioning accurate and even.  Following Ukswrath build, the forearms-to-biceps spacing should be 5-7mm.  I have made mine 5mm spacing.

 

 

Overall, I am realy pleased with the function of the snaps and the assembly slowly coming together.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

NOW...something very important that I want to share with any furture builders reading this thread, a helpful tip that I have learnt before gluing any snaps in.  There has been some debate about E6000 glue coming in contact with the metal snaps, and how it reacts by creating heat that can cause melt indents on parts of the armour.  I've conducted these tests and experiments before making a start on my armour itself.  Although I didn't take any photos of this process, I can still share my results and experience.

 

These rumours are 100% true.  When E6000 glue comes into contact with the metal snaps, it reacts in a way that creates heat and that heat does cause the armour surface to melt (even more so when heavy clamping force is applied).  I used several pieces of nylon webbing with snaps installed and glued them onto scrap pieces of ABS; waited 48 hours and removed the nylon from the ABS to see the results. Here were my results:-

 

Test 1. If you are careful and just glue around the edges of the nylon (without metal contact) then you should be good.

 

Test 2. I glued along the edges of 1 nylon snap, applied glue onto the snap base itself and used a light clamp force.  After ripping it off there left a small melt mark on the surface.

 

Test 3. Same thing as step 2 only instead I used a heavy amount of clap force.  That left a larger melt mark on the surface.

 

Test 4. With this one I cut a piece of blue painters tape and covered it over the snap base (but not the entire nylon strip). Glued along the edges of the nylon and onto the painter tape, used light clamp force and remove the nylon. It worked perfectly, there was no trace of melted plastic and not even any blue colouration or tape residue.

　

Option 4, was the best result and its the tecnique that I will be using for the rest of my build.

 

　

Please Note - These test and experiments were performed on AP armour, which is slightly thicker than other ABS plastic from other armour makers.  Which means that the results of plastic melt could be more severe to other armour parts which is thinner.  I strongly advise that you first perform these tests to understand the limitations and strength of your armour.

I hope this helps.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I have never had issues with snaps and E6000 reacting and I've used various coated snaps, there must just be one type that unfortunately react.

 

You could probably trim down the painters tape on the corners so it gives you a little more surface for the glue to adhere to the nylon.

 

 

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 5:38 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

I have never had issues with snaps and E6000 reacting and I've used various coated snaps, there must just be one type that unfortunately react.

 

You could probably trim down the painters tape on the corners so it gives you a little more surface for the glue to adhere to the nylon.

 

 

 

 

I've already made the test before making a start on my armour. After waiting 24 hours to dry on a scrap piece, I pulled hard trying to remove the snap to get a feel of the adhesion strength, so even with the tape covering the snap, it still held perfectly.  And I cut the tape to leave enough room for the glue to bond onto the nylon surface., but I will keep you suggestion in mind for the rest of the snaps. 

 

 

I managed to get some time to paint the screws and split rivits, so they will be ready for when the time comes.

 

 

Instead of ordering a neckseal, I decided to have a go at handmaking my own. I found a tutorial on making a neckseal from scratch and thought "Why not"? I gatherd the required materails and improvised for the others:-

 

1. An old black t-shirt

2. Zipper

3. Window insulation foam tubing (from local hardware store).

4. Neadle and thread

5. Measuring roll

 

I don't own a sewing machine, so I had to doing this all by hand. But I am very pleased with the results (sorry no progress pictures, just after images).

 

I had enough material left over to make another neckseal. Except this time I made it with the dip for under my chin giving me that little extra comfort.

 

 

Next item on the agenda...Thermal detonator.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, the ribs are a little wide side though.

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

The CRL does not mention a specific number of rib requirements, so I'm not too worried about that.

 

Onto the TD

First, I made a start with painting the tube.  Since I did not have a spray can with the matching colour, only the small Humbrol pot and some brushes, I had to paint the tube by hand.  While I left that to dry, I worked on the measurments for the control panel and end caps.

 

I used the Canon reference measurments from Ukswrath build thread and adjusted it accordingly.  The control panel has been trimmed to 121mm in length and the end caps 19mm.

 

The paint has dried, but the end caps wouldn't fit on because the tube circumference is slightly bigger. Some troopers use the hot water bath technique to slip the caps on, but I'm not going to do that.  Since the cap circumference is smaller than the tube, forcing it onto the tube could cause a noticable bulge on the caps or make them split from the pressure.  So what I did instead was measure the tube ends 5mm, tapped around and sanded it down.  This allowed the caps to slip on much more easily.  It wasn't till after installing the end caps that I measured the tube and found it to be too long.  No problem, it's an easy fix.

 

I measured again how much it was over by (current length 198mm - needs to be 184mm). So I measured and removed 14mm from the end, sanded down 5mm around the paint end for the caps to slip on.

 

After that, the rest was easy. Just placed the control panel inbetween the end caps and measured the correct spacing, then glued into place and waited 24 hours.

 

I looked at the supplied painted screws and could see a little paint chipping off. So I touched them up with some gloss black. Since I already asked about these being L3 acceptable and Justjoseph63 said that they would be.

 

While the glue was drying I got to work on the metal clips. The belt clips are also supplied by Mark and after doing some research on these, I found that troopers made 3 recommendations in modifying the TD:-

1. Bend the belt clips to better secure into the canvas belt and add accuarcy.

2. File the belt clip corners to prevent dings and scratches on the armour and add accuracy.

3. Apply velcro (soft part) to the clips to better secure into belt and prevent damage to the armour.

 

I did all 3 to my clips and it will pay off in the long run.

 

The glue dried and that meant I could place the metal clips on and mark where the drill holes would be.

 

Hopefully this meets L3 requirement - TD completed. 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Thought I might do something simple like the knee ammo belt.

 

 

Trimmed the corners by using the extra pipe piece from the TD build.

 

 

After a hot water bath.

 

 

I'll get back to the ammo knee belt when the thighs are complete.

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Onto the shins and thighs now. I've already trimmed and sanded the coverstips:-

20mm - Thighs front/back and shins front

25mm - Shins back

Now its just the shins and thighs themselves to work on. The shins seem to line up alright.

 

 

The thighs are a bit more of a challenge.

 

As I have read in build threads that the front left thigh lines up beacuse they are both straight.  But the right thigh has a straight half and a curved half. 

 

So I was wondering what the protocol is for the coverstrip/ridge exposed underneath. The coverstrip will need to be curved slightly, but with 1 straight half and 1 curved half, how can I conceal as much ridge as possible?  I already marked the area for where I believe it lines up best, but does it look correct?

 

 

 

Also, the thigh backs both don't meet at the top.  If I trim the taller side down would that be taking too much off?  If I had to do that it would remove a portion of the return edge, so all of it would have to go.  Or can this just be covered over by the coverstrip?

 

I did a very quick test fit and found that because I'm a thin guy, I would need to take the thighs in a bit.  This would make the top half even higher and I'd have to remove a lot for the back tops to meet.  What's the best thing to do?  I'll provided some more images when I do a proper test fit so you can see what I mean.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Shinyarmour1

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

On 10/3/2020 at 11:45 PM, Shinyarmour1 said:

o I was wondering what the protocol is for the coverstrip/ridge exposed underneath. The coverstrip will need to be curved slightly, but with 1 straight half and 1 curved half, how can I conceal as much ridge as possible?  I already marked the area for where I believe it lines up best, but does it look correct?

 

Hi, what I usually do is to align the ridges with the cover strip with no  ridge exposed underneath.  just as the reference below.

 

 

 

looking forward for your fit test to see the thigh low section  adjustment.

 

cheers. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You will also find using tape inside under the join can help straighten pieces before gluing too, just because a piece have a curve doesn't mean you can't straighten it when aligning with the other side

 

 

Always align the bottom ridges with thighs, top ridges with shins

 

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

1 hour ago, TKSpartan said:

 

Hi, what I usually do is to align the ridges with the cover strip with no  ridge exposed underneath.  just as the reference below.

 

 

 

looking forward for your fit test to see the thigh low section  adjustment.

 

cheers. 

So is the coverstrip supposed to cover the ridge at the bottom of the thigh, but have some ridge exposed at the top?  I'm still unclear about the ridges/coverstrip.  Looking at my other images, if I adjust the thigh for so the coverstrip can conceal the lower ridge, won't the ridge at the top be exposed more even with a curved coverstrip?  Also I measured the ridges, marked the centre, taped up and measured again; the top - 22mm/middle - 20mm/lower 25mm .  I found that if I made the top and bottom 20mm by sanding it straight down, then the coverstrip would be hanging over the curved middle ridge by 3mm and not glued onto it.  3mm is not much, but would that be acceptable?   

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Cover strips stop above the lower ridge of the thighs, front and back, notice some ridge showing in some places and not others.

 

 

But on the shin fronts the cover strip covers the top ridge on the front

 

On the back of the shin they stop below the top ridge

 

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

Test fit

I have to keep in mind that because I am a thin fellow, I can't have the shins/thighs too close to me or else the legs will not be in porportion with the torso. However, because I am using E6000 for my build, I can make it a little big (just to be on the safe side), then take it apart and size down. Thank goodness E6000 is flexible that way.

Lets start with the shins by themselves. What I did here was trim the shin at the front, tapped them up, but left the back alone until I know how much I should remove equal to both sides. I did 2 different sizes for in the same image so you can see the difference side-by-side and let me know which one is correct for me. My right shin I can a fit 1 finger gap and my left shin I can fit 2 fingers gap.

 

As you can see the left shin sinks doen my leg a little, but fits better around my boot (I will be using these boots for my kit, but I'll explain that later). My right leg looks to be in correct position, but I don't know how high/low it needs to be in regards to my knee. Here are the thighs except this time, I used only 1 size for the fitting. This is so I could have a proportion comparison with the shins. and thighs My shins are still the same (Right shin 1 finger - left shin 2 fingers) but the thighs are 2 fingers gap.

 

In these next photos, the thighs are 3 fingers gap.

 

I don't know why but even when the thighs are the same size, my right thigh looks bigger than my left. Mabye when I know which size looks best on me, I would just have to take my right thigh a finger size smaller to match. What is the correct finger gap? Which ones look best for my size?

 

I am going to use these boots and paint them with Angelus white leather paint. I can't remember where I saw it on this site , but that's what they did in the movie. But before I can paint them, I just need to know the correct size for the shins before I place the velco on top of the boots.

 

2 finger gap shin was used for this display.

 

I've asked a lot of questions here, but I would greatly appreciate as much feedback and advice as possible. Thanks everyoe for all the help and support

[Shinyarmour1[TK]]

23 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Cover strips stop above the lower ridge of the thighs, front and back, notice some ridge showing in some places and not others.

 

 

 

That's what I was referring to in image 1 and 2 how the strips at the top don't cover the ridge.  Not the ridge at the bottom where the knee ammo belt will be in image 3.  So it's okay to have a little ridge showing at the top of the thigh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

So it's okay to have a little ridge showing at the top of the thigh?

 

Yes it's ok. 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

2 hours ago, Shinyarmour1 said:

I don't know why but even when the thighs are the same size, my right thigh looks bigger than my left. Mabye when I know which size looks best on me, I would just have to take my right thigh a finger size smaller to match. What is the correct finger gap? Which ones look best for my size?

 

Hi, in my opinion the left shin sits better on the boot and it leaves some room if you need to lower the thighs 

 

In the following reference photo you can have an idea of what I refer. 

 

 

 

and with the thighs It seems that the left thigh and shins looks better than the right side. I think you may want to reduce the wide of the lower section to match the left one.

 

 

 

 

hope this can help.

 

cheers.