Kagamaru’s Build Thread ANH TK Hero

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

 

 

Personally I think you are pretty close, albeit if it was mine I would add a touch more paint, but I'm picky  

[Kagamaru[TK]]

36 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

touch more paint

Like a second coat or just a little closer to the edge?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 minute ago, Kagamaru said:

Like a second coat or just a little closer to the edge?

A touch closer to the edge, a bit too much white showing, but as I say I'm picky  

[Kagamaru[TK]]

TK Helmet Paint (Hero)

 

Much happier with the teeth. Thanks @gmrhodes13! Other than that here’s the paint job in all it’s hand painted glory minus the tube stripes which are the decals that came with the kit. My day job is a design professor, so it bothered me at first to just kind of give in to the raw quality of the original paint. But now that it’s done I kind of love it. It makes it uniquely mine. I do have an Black Series TK helmet from years ago with perfect placement of everything. I’ll go glance at that one when I feel the need to see perfection. But I’ll happily and proudly wear this one to troop! Let me know if anything needs adjusting. And as always thank you for your guidance and feedback!

 

Teeth are better now imho. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Kagamaru

[FN1313[TK]]

Paint work is looking great.


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[Kagamaru[TK]]

Thermal Detonator Question

 

I'm looking for the dimensions for the aluminum strap on the thermal detonator. Can someone point me along? It didn’t come with my kit. The Billgrams has them at 30mm wide. But how long are they linearly?

 

Thanks!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

 

 

Length around the pipe dependant on control panel placement and width of pipe. I normally make some templates out of cardboard for correct length (cereal box or similar works well)

 

          

[Kagamaru[TK]]

Snap Anchor Placement on Ab Left Side

 

Question:

 

I was going to make the split rivets functional as modeled by Ukswrath here on the forum. However the rivets that came with the suit are too short. I went to every hardware store in town and did find longer ones but the head is only 1/8” which is not right according to the crl. Sooo I installed the rivets as is and was going to put the actual anchor snaps just below.
 

Is that okay? 

 

the bottom box is lower because of the extensions. The will meet down there instead of above the “notch.”
 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

The only issue would be your elastic could be seen from the side if the sides open and they will look in the wrong position if you have them lower.

 

Although some have been approved like that, here's an example of using two straps between the rivets

 

The rivets you have should be fine to add just snaps too, no snap plate, I did the same thing with the cod.

 

Here's how ukswrath did his, you can do this to the ab/kidney also

 

 

4c. Take a split rivet and cut it down. 

Test fit the rivet to the male snap.

 

 

 

[Kagamaru[TK]]

Kidney Plate Rivet Placement 

 

Thanks @gmrhodes13 for the response above! 
 

For the kidney rivets, should they optically align? If I follow the exact measurements the rivets will be misaligned because the extension is horizontal while the top edge of the ab plate angles up. (See photo) In order to make it optically aligned where the rivets are perfectly across from one another the measurement will be off by like 4mm. What is more appropriate/approvable?

 

Thank you for your guidance!

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 hours ago, Kagamaru said:

Kidney Plate Rivet Placement 

 

Thanks @gmrhodes13 for the response above! 
 

For the kidney rivets, should they optically align? If I follow the exact measurements the rivets will be misaligned because the extension is horizontal while the top edge of the ab plate angles up. (See photo) In order to make it optically aligned where the rivets are perfectly across from one another the measurement will be off by like 4mm. What is more appropriate/approvable?

 

Thank you for your guidance!

 

There should be no issues, measurements given are a general guide and being a few mm difference should be fine.

 

The top rivets are slightly at different positions in this reference.

 

 

[Kagamaru[TK]]

Test Fit!

 

It’s getting real now! Test fit. Still need to put the garters on the thighs. So they’re a bit low. Had to hold them up to walk.

 

Might have to shave off the wrist a bit to widen that gap. Still have the helmet insides/guts to do. 
 

Other than that…
 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good (when you bring those thighs up  )

 

Just a couple of things:

You have a gap between your kidney and posterior, also the TD clips can be seen so you may want to trim the excess from the clips.

Can you reduce your padding in the helmet as it's sitting up a bit.

Shoulder straps not sitting straight on your backplate, elastic loops usually fix this if you don't have them.

One thing that does stand out is the angle of your left rear cover strip on the thigh, compare with your right.

 

[Chemi[Staff]]

Hi Bryan!

Your armor looks great. 

In addition to what Glen has pointed out, I would rotate the TD a bit. One of the latest CRL updates states: "The white control panel raised ribbed pad faces the rear, with the controls/round washer style detail closest to the right end cap".

 

Almost there, Bryan!!!

[Kagamaru[TK]]

15 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Looking good (when you bring those thighs up  )

 

Just a couple of things:

You have a gap between your kidney and posterior, also the TD clips can be seen so you may want to trim the excess from the clips.

Can you reduce your padding in the helmet as it's sitting up a bit.

Shoulder straps not sitting straight on your backplate, elastic loops usually fix this if you don't have them.

One thing that does stand out is the angle of your left rear cover strip on the thigh, compare with your right.

 

Thank you for the feedback. I think I can adjust most of this no problem. These two points I have need of guidance:

 

Helmet Padding: I don’t have any padding in the helmet as of yet so not sure what to do about that. It might be a perspective thing as I had my kid taking the photos and she is shorter than me. But if that’s not it then what do I do when I do put padding and electronics up there. As it is I need a little padding as my eyes are a little high and the padding will push them down into better seeing position. 
 

Thigh Piece Cover Strip Angle: Not sure how to fix this. I fitted the piece to my leg and when it’s not on it looks straight. Is it the way I’m wearing it? If not what is a strategy for straightening it without making it tighter? Not sure I have enough room to cut material away. What should I do? Should I buy a new thigh piece?

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

13 minutes ago, Kagamaru said:

Thank you for the feedback. I think I can adjust most of this no problem. These two points I have need of guidance:

 

Helmet Padding: I don’t have any padding in the helmet as of yet so not sure what to do about that. It might be a perspective thing as I had my kid taking the photos and she is shorter than me. But if that’s not it then what do I do when I do put padding and electronics up there. As it is I need a little padding as my eyes are a little high and the padding will push them down into better seeing position. 
 

Thigh Piece Cover Strip Angle: Not sure how to fix this. I fitted the piece to my leg and when it’s not on it looks straight. Is it the way I’m wearing it? If not what is a strategy for straightening it without making it tighter? Not sure I have enough room to cut material away. What should I do? Should I buy a new thigh piece?

 

Helmet Padding: could be the way the photos have been taken, notice your helmet looks a little squished which can happen with low taken photos.

 

Thigh Piece: personally I would remove the cover strip and replace it angled over the thigh connection, it should look a little straighter.

 

At the end of the day it is entirely up to your GML whether they will pick up on it or not, you could just submit and see what is said.

[Kagamaru[TK]]

I might try to adjust it when I’m wearing it. Perhaps it was twisted. Right now the strip is centered over the split. If I angle it like your diagram it wouldn’t follow the ridge on the left side. I’m not opposed to it. I just am not familiar enough with what adjustments are hierarchically more important than others. So in this case adding the angle makes it not square with creases in the armor. I’ll think on it though. Thank you so much for your constant and constructive help. 

[Kagamaru[TK]]

Update Corrected Cover Strips 

 

I went ahead and did the deed. Starting with what I thought would be the most difficult first. I carefully cut away the dried E6000 on the back of the left thigh from the inside panel. Then made an angled cut of almost an inch! Yikes. But I wanted it as straight as possible, while hoping that the strip would angle back in rather than go further the other way. When I was test fitting and bending before my cut it seemed to be angling the right way. (Always test fit with painters tape!) I committed and made the cut. Re-glued it and waited. The fit was already tight but I had a good bit of return edge. So after drying I sanded away all of the return edge. Tried it on over the undersuit and violà! It fit AND was straight! While I was at it I went ahead and sanded a bit behind the knee for mobility, careful not to cut above the raised ridge line. 
 

Sorry for the butt shot. I tried to crop it down to spare your eyes:

 

 

I’ve also corrected the rotation of the TD. I’ll post a photo of that next time I test fit the full uniform. 
 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks for your feedback and guidance.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks much better now, nice work

[Kagamaru[TK]]

Comms Instructions

 

Is there a tutorial somewhere that goes step by step on running fans, iComm, speakers, mic, and Aker amp, from one rechargeable power source. I built a Jawa mask that had two fans, a speaker, and a soundboard, from one. Jawa hoard had an awesomely detailed pdf that walked through it. Is there something similar for the tk helmet guts? I saw a cool layout by @kamakazi34 here, but the video demo seems more about layout instead of the super detailed step by step a novice needs, and doesn’t include a rechargeable power source. Any pointers would help. 
 

Thanks!

Edited August 17, 2023 by Kagamaru

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Not one with the same power source that I'm aware. Many use the Icomm and Aker behind the chest and run the mic up to your head, use a separate power source for your fans.

 

I know some have added a lot of electronics to the helmet but it can be very tight on space if you include and aker and icomm in there

 

I do like using seperate power sources as they run longer that way, no worries about running out at a long day convention, but each to their own.

[Kagamaru[TK]]

E-11

 

So a while back I ordered an airsoft e11 replica. It hasn’t shipped yet and was pre ordered. As I get close to finishing my armor I have started looking at that bit and came across this discussion:

 

 

Toward the end it sounds like they are basically saying the airsoft version of the e11 is no bueno for Centurion L3. So should I cancel the order? I don’t want just a 3D printed blaster. I want something with some heft to it. Which the airsoft has as it’s not plastic. I have no idea how long I’m going to have to wait for it to even arrive in the states to be shipped to me so I feel like if I’m going to change gears I need to do it now. But I need some guidance on options that will pass muster but not be even more expensive than the airsoft which was like $450.
 

Thanks for input. 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Kagamaru

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I'll tag our DO's @Deployment Officer Team as ultimately it's they who decided on what's acceptable for L2 and L3

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

10 hours ago, Kagamaru said:

 

So a while back I ordered an airsoft e11 replica. It hasn’t shipped yet and was pre ordered. As I get close to finishing my armor I have started looking at that bit and came across this discussion:

 

Do you have a link to the site that you ordered it from?  Seeing some photos would help determine whether it would pass at Centurion.

 

I have seen a few different versions of the Airsoft, but you should compare them by vendor.  One I looked at ($350.00, below) has a few discrepancies-  most of which can be rectified, though.  Bear in mind that I am a bit of a weapons accuracy snob, so take this for what it's worth. 

 

1.  Back half of the Hengstler is missing

2.  Bottom of grip is more squared than rounded.  Not the biggest of deals by far.

3.  Screw attachment is rounded on the left side and recessed.  Again, not a deal breaker IMO.

4.  Spiral wire was used for promo blasters, not those seen onscreen.  (Some folks like em' but I've never been a fan).  

 

 

T-tracks are too short and need to cover all the holes.

 

A replica Hengstler counter and T-tracks can be purchased of course, but for that price I would look elsewhere, but that's just me.

 

I can appreciate the fact that you don't want a 3D printed version, but I once trooped with a friend's full metal version and my arms were worn out after a few hours, and I can't even imagine trying to wear it in a holster.. too heavy.  An alternate would be one from Questdesign.  IMO the best manufactured replica available.  Not the cheapest (about $200.) but certainly the most accurate.  Made of cast resin, they have a bit of heft but not too much. 

[riveting]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:14 AM, Kagamaru said:

Test Fit!

 

It’s getting real now! Test fit. Still need to put the garters on the thighs. So they’re a bit low. Had to hold them up to walk.

 

Might have to shave off the wrist a bit to widen that gap. Still have the helmet insides/guts to do. 
 

Other than that…
 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

On 8/14/2023 at 3:14 AM, Kagamaru said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Bryan,

 

To back pedal a little, I went through your thread again with a keener eye and if you wanted to get a little closer to screen accuracy? there's a couple of things I'd recommended tweaking, a quick one would be the bells.

 

 

I believe it would increase "the look" & would fit a little better?

hope this helps?