Coastertk

Looks good man!

Just use a flat head screwdriver. Bend each tab over as much as you can. Follow up with a hammer to really lay them down flat.

You are going to have to remove the 3 square rivet covers on the plastic belt, if you have glued them already. I hope you used E-6000 if you did. Drill out the pop rivet head until it pops off. The rivet will fall apart easily. Separate the plastic from the canvas. Redo your snaps. Reassemble using the same holes for your rivets. Reapply the plastic square rivet covers.

Backplate doesn’t overlap the kidney so you are good there. Supposed to be a minimal gap there. As for your chest and ab overlap goes, you could try and replace with some larger armor like RTMOD or AM, but color match can be an issue there. I would recommend cutting the cod and lowering it down. The gap will be covered by the belt.

How tall are you and what make of kit do you have? A photo of you wearing it might help too.

For your tape job, I would recommend using a 2” painters tape, and tape it vertically along the butt joint. 1” on each side. And as for your magnets, have you wrapped them in small pieces of cloth? Similar to a wonton. Use a Zapstrap to keep the cloth on tight. You can the slide them up and down the cover strip to exactly where you want them. Just be sure to build them in sets and be mindful of polarity.

At least you figured it out before cutting down the rear raised edges to 7.5mm. The broader raised edges in the back aren’t that huge of a deal in my opinion. Just keep the cover strips consistent at 15mm is what I’d do there. Also I’d recommend using inside cover strips. They really help to reinforce your armor. You can fully tape your pieces from the outside and not have them shift while you glue the inside pieces. Then remove the tape, and add your outside strips.

If you happen to paint outside the “line” so to say, you can easily shape it after it dries. Simply dip a toothpick in some paint thinner and pick away at the unwanted paint.

Drop box alignment is what stand out to me. Shift the drop box elastic outward until the outside of the boxes are aligned with the edge of the plastic belt, then pull them up until they basically touch the bottom of the plastic belt. Glue the elastic in place to the canvas belt and they will never shift out of place.

Yes and yes. Leg cover strips should come in around 22mm. Only exception is the back of shins (calves) which is 25mm. I would also recommend using “inside cover strips” on the front of shins as well! And yes, remove all the return around your ankle. That will allow it to sit closer to your boot, and help you in the fitting.

I use 1.5” black elastic for my strapping. After folding the ends over (double thickness) it is still thin enough to set snaps. They also allow for a bit of stretch should you ever attempt sitting. Less likely to “pop” a snap off during a troop. Use a garter system to hold your thighs up. A belt with two elastic straps hanging down with snaps connecting to your thighs.

I knew it was only a matter of time. Welcome to Centurion brother!!

I really like the work you did to re position your mannequin. Nice job there. If it’s not too late, for accuracy, you could flip your biceps around as they appear to be on upside down.

For the sniper knee plate, line it up in the front centre, clamp it down then clamp down the two sides. The outer edges of the knee plate should be cut as vertical as possible. Mark any areas that make contact, then sand those areas. Then add some E6000 and clamp it all back down again. For the thigh ammo pack, round the bottom outside edges of the thigh pack (use a rattle can for template). Then clamp the centre and pull the sides as tight to the thigh. You want to drill your holes as high as you can on the ammo pack, making sure you hit the raised edge on the thigh. Use double cap rivets if you can find them, split rivets will also work and are Centurion approvable. Hope that helps.

For the teeth holes I use a miniature file set. Perfect width, straight lines. Bring your TD end caps with you to Home Depot. You’ll know when you’ve found the right pipe. Mine was black ABS pipe and I painted it grey.