ESB TK WIP - UKG - first build - hoping for centurian

[Chemi[Staff]]

Good idea to order a 1.5mm  sniper knee!!!

I used cyanoacrylate with a drying accelerator(ready in 3 seconds, and only at the 3 main points of contact with the shin). Then I reinforced the rest of the joint with a glue similar to the e6000.

 

Very good work. Congratulations !!!

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Good idea to order a 1.5mm  sniper knee!!!
I used cyanoacrylate with a drying accelerator(ready in 3 seconds, and only at the 3 main points of contact with the shin). Then I reinforced the rest of the joint with a glue similar to the e6000.
 
Very good work. Congratulations !!!

The thinner material has gotta help, right!?



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[Short4ATrooper]

The thinner material has gotta help, right!?



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It’s a really smart decision and should definitely help. It’ll still be tough, the sniper knee always is but thinner should be easier.


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[TKSpartan[Staff]]

9 hours ago, CallMeMrTibbles said:

The thinner material has gotta help, right!?

 

Hi Richard, If I can make a suggestion .  Consider a clamps change so you can apply less pressure and if possible use more clamps to have an uniform pressure to the sniper knee. As we say here, "You never have enough clamps and magnets" 

 

Here you can see what I usually do to attach the sniper knee.

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

48 or more  hours later

 

   

 

 

Keep on doing a great work !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tat2trooper[TK]]

Now am dreading doing the sniper knee again on my new build. 

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

 
Hi Richard, If I can make a suggestion .  Consider a clamps change so you can apply less pressure and if possible use more clamps to have an uniform pressure to the sniper knee. As we say here, "You never have enough clamps and magnets" 
 
Here you can see what I usually do to attach the sniper knee.
 
  
 
 
   
 
 
48 or more  hours later
 
   
 
 
Keep on doing a great work !! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for this.

I think I made things harder for myself by removing too much from the sides, meaning I had less material to clamp on to, and had to try and bend the abs more to make contact (hence the more aggressive clamps).

'You only learn when things go wrong' definitely applies here

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Meanwhile...

New (standard size) back and butt pieces arrived today. Already trimmed and poppers being glued.

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

TD done

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That came out great, nice work. One thing to watch once you get suited up is make sure you have some of the O detail showing from the back, many forget this when assembling their TD's  

 

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

One thing to watch once you get suited up is make sure you have some of the O detail showing from the back, many forget this when assembling their TD's

Do you mean just to bend the clips a bit to rotate the td down a bit?

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

20 minutes ago, CallMeMrTibbles said:

Do you mean just to bend the clips a bit to rotate the td down a bit?

Yes that normally takes care of it

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Improvised tools:
For setting thigh ammo rivets
Mole grips
Cover strip off cut (to stop scratches)
Nut (to reach over the lip at the bottom of the thigh)

These are 10" mole grips and the jaws were only just deep enough.

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Need to adjust the straps between kidney and butt, the canvas belt needs shortening, and I'm going to stick a small piece of foam under the front of the belt (out of sight) to angle it up a little so it butts up against the bottom of the ab buttons, and I need to cut the notch either side of the ab plate, but otherwise I 'think' the torso is complete.

I've already replaced one of the chest to ab straps, as the chest in this pic is off to one side a bit.

Anyone spot anything else that needs sorting(?)



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[Chemi[Staff]]

The armor looks great !!! I would put the belt a little higher (1 finger more or less) as you say...

 

Very good work Richard.

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

The armor looks great !!! I would put the belt a little higher (1 finger more or less) as you say...
 
Very good work Richard.

Thanks! Gonna be a pain to completely move the belt (but will if I have to). A bit of padding should hopefully be enough

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 hour ago, CallMeMrTibbles said:

Thanks! Gonna be a pain to completely move the belt (but will if I have to). A bit of padding should hopefully be enough

Reference of belt position

 

    

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Reference of belt position

Looks like I'm going to need to move the belt then! Well, if you're going to do something better do it right!

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[Short4ATrooper]

This is my TX kit but it’s exactly the same as the TK.

If you attach a strip of Velcro vertically on the inside centre of the belt:



Then a tab on the small rectangle just below the main ab button panel, just out of shot here:



With the strip on the belt running vertically, you can adjust the belt position to the correct placement without having to precisely marry up two tabs of Velcro.


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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

That genius! Definitely going to do that. Thank you

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Ok, so....

I'm pretty happy with the torso now. Repositioned the belt so that it just overlaps the ab buttons.

Didn't go to the effort this time of closing up the shins (wish I had now).

Very unhappy with the thighs. Massive gap at the back on both, so will have to remove rear coverstrip and resize them.

Also, feels like a huge gap between thighs and shins (front and back). Obvs the sniper knee is missing (waiting on a new molding), but even so, the gaps feel massive.

Yes, the mobility cuts make the back look worse, but they had to be done.

Also, getting pinching between the cod and right thigh , but will address that after I've resized the thighs. May need to redo the thigh to belt elastic after too.

Oh yeah, I have realised that the belt overlaps the wrong way, but I need to shorten it anyway, so I'll sort that then.

Anything else jump out??


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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Something I'll have the chance to sort in resizing the thighs is trying to line up the rear coverstrips with the notch in the butt plate.

Pic below is taken from the centurian reference

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

27 minutes ago, CallMeMrTibbles said:

Pic below is taken from the centurian reference
 

Image above is incorrect, should be right in the middle of the coverstrip

 

 

[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Image above is incorrect, should be right in the middle of the coverstrip

 

 

Thanks!

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Not sure if I'm overthinking the rear thigh assembly...

Two halves of the thigh should meet at the halfway point at the bottom (correct?)

Should the cover strip go vertically straight up, or should it go up to the angle on the top of the rear thigh? (Should those two things be the same place?)

I'm using RWA XL thighs because I'm tall, but don't have big thighs, so they are closing up more than I think they're designed to. It means they have a lot of overlap and I'm concerned that the shape at the top rear of the thigh isn't correct. You can see this in some of my last pics, but it's even more exaggerated now that they're closed up even more to make them smaller (no pics yet, will take some tonight when I get home).

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[CallMeMrTibbles[501st]]

Had a bit more time tonight than expected.

Stripped off the rear coverstrips and taped up for a better fit.

My worries here are how to blend the left and right halves so there isn't a sudden step in height, and for them to fit my leg the molding at the bottom is now crooked.

I'd consider replacing with standard thighs, but I have long legs, and there's already a larger gap than normal between thigh and shin. Struggling to see how other tall guys get a good fit! (yet they obviously do)

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