BDWC

I was looking at the photo I posted and noted that the "belt line" did not look correct as the belt should just slightly overlap the ab button plate. So this looked a little high, and in turn put the intended separation line a little high. So I reattached the ammo belt to check, and it looks like I have more working room that I originally thought. [emoji847] The red pencil line looks to be about my maximim flat area option, but I think if I cut at the gray pencil line then I would have the best of both flexibility and flat area for rebonding with ABS backing strips, should that time come. Please chime in with any thoughts Thanks! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks! As you see from my pictures there is a VERY small gap that exists between the ab-to-cod moldline curve and I was thinking of splitting the difference there. That would give a flat-to-flat area for reconnections if needed. I think that the belt will cover it and, if anything, any "belt sag" would just be to the better for concealment. If the elastic stretches too much though and reveals the split, then there is the second snap provided by the Anovos thigh plate snaps. I'm still muddling over this before cutting

Thanks, I didn't think about attaching to the belt! But with ANH, I guess that I would have to E6000 a snaplate onto the inside of the belt so it doesn't show? Anywho, I'm pondering a set-up to add ABS strips to align and/or stiffen the connection (if need be) much like some folks have done on the kidney-to-ab connection. This would also allow for a base to bond or ABS paste the pieces back together. since this would be easier and more accurate before separating , this is the last thing I'm considering before making the cuts

Cod strapping placements and area marked for division areas that will be covered by the ammo belt (still deciding on exact cut-line above or below ab moldline to enable reattachment in the future, if need be) Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thank you Mario. I like the "overlapping method" used here as that would give stiffness as if it was solid under most circumstances. I believe if I used elastic strapping (instead of non-elastic nylon strapping as I use on my shoulders) that would give the flexibility when needed. Once I get started and experiment a little bit, I will post photos. Thanks again!!

Done, done, and done.....now going for comfort after maxing out the levels and now having had 2 hip replacements (Andrew, I'm guessing you're posting from your phone and cannot see the badges?)

I know this has been done, especially in the UK. However I have been unable to find any build threads that cover this. I plan to make the cut so that it will be covered by the ammo belt. Also planning on using 2" elastic straps with snaps. This will not only improve my flexibly in armor, but this way I can remove the cod for kilted trooping. Thanks in advance for any info or links to how others have done this ! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

36 so far, and just now realizing that there is a FISD thread for logging it all. Link to log thread Hoping to get back to more active trooping post-COVID and after second surgery

Just now getting this up, but here we go..... # Date Location Charity/Event 1 10/16/16 Newport News Park Out of Darkness Suicde Prevention 2 6/3/17 Baptist East Hospital March of Dimes 3 6/3/17 Calera Library Library 4 6/29/17 Greenville Library Library 5 9/23/17 USS Alabama , Mobile, AL St Jude 6 10/5/17 Cullman Wedding, Loft 212 Manna House 7 10/14/17 Eclectic Cotton Festival Children's hospital 8 10/27/17 ZooBoo Montgomery Zoo 9 10/31/17 Costume Contest At WCW Halloween 10 12/9/17 Maxwell AFB Toy drop 11 12/9/17 Christmas Light Festival Montgomery Zoo 12 12/14/17 Opelika Tiger AMC 13 TLJ Premiere 13 12/16/17 Maxwell AFB Toy drop 14 12/22/17 Opelika Tiger AMC 13 TLJ Premiere 15 12/24/17 Opelika Tiger AMC 13 TLJ Premiere 16 1/27/18 Mobile Alabama Pharoah Parade 17 2/3/18 Millbrook Revelers Mardi Gras Parade 18 3/10/18 Zoo Weekend Montgomery Zoo 19 3/17/18 Cramton Bowl River Region Con 20 4/14/18 Opelika Multiplex Good Grief Camp 21 5/24/18 Opelika Tiger AMC 13 SOLO Premiere 22 6/1/18 Calera Fairy Ball Calera Library 23 6/2/18 Baptist East Hospital March of Dimes 24 7/28/18 Riverwalk Stadium Biscuits Star Wars Night 25 10/6/18 Alabama Christian Academy Football Homecoming Game 26 10/13/18 ZooBoo Montgomery Zoo 27 10/20/18 Cramton Bowl Gump City Con 28 10/21/18 Cramton Bowl Gump City Con 29 10/27/18 Alabaster AmStar St. Judes 30 10/30/18 Eastchase Chic-Fil-A Halloween 31 2/17/19 Auburn, AL Donation by Premier Spirit Academy 32 3/23/19 Zoo Weekend Montgomery Zoo 33 5/4/2019 Prattville, AL Prattville Library 34 5/4/2019 Riverwalk Stadium Montgomery Biscuits game 35 6/1/2019 Baptist East Hospital March of Dimes 36 12/7/2019 Ramer, AL Ramer Christmas Parade 37 12/17/2022 Montgomery Zoo Christmas Lights Festival

..or ~ 1-7/8" (...which is not a thing ) I strongly believe that this is exactly a 2.0" wide elastic piece since it was originally made in the UK (English units) and because a 2" elastic is not quite 2" but slightly under, then once stretched longer becomes thinner in width. Once I get back home I will measure and post pictures of my two-year old 'stressed' straps and see if this hypothesis is valid. I'm SUPER curious now... You are really making me think hard today, LOL

Good catch there Swede!!! Oops my bad, I guess it WAS 2".....I honestly forgot the size, but it was the same as my elastic, so I guess it actually is 2" (I'm out of town for Christmas while writing this, so I can't go to my armor box and measure right now) Also, I did not especially like the idea of velcro-ing the bridges, but it was a suggestion from a centurion garrison-mate (who I will not name) and an experiment I needed to try during the time where I had troops more frequently and did not have enough time to sew up and fit new straps. I have since removed the 1/4"x 1" velcro pieces almost a year ago from the back plate, but left the "fuzzy" side pieces on the underside of the bridge pieces to reduce scratching up the back plate from all of the movement each time I stoop down. It is completely unseen as it sits in on one of the 'bump' recesses. And honestly, for the temporary fix this worked good enough at the time as #1) these were non-canon events, and #2) this was better than the bridges continually slipping out then returning UNDER my back plate, which was not only uncomfortable, but made me look like an idiot. All that said, Swede I want to thank you for actually reading my update and chiming in with your 100% correct suggestions and comments. And for the record, my personal pet peeve is the continual overuse of pauldrons.

Time again for me to make a forum appearance and update my build thread I really don't want to be one of those folks that make the build thread and then just leave it to time-out and die as one of the lonely unread threads that must now be deleted due to age and lack of interaction So...for others that have been trooping over a year, here are some more items that I'd like to add to pass along in case it can help another trooper: After 2 years of trooping at a rate of 15-20 troops per year, the elastic shoulder strap just do not hold up over time. Of course I could simply replace them with the original material I used, just not stretched out, and just do this on an 18 month repair cycle,...BUT, I wanted to try another route that a fellow centurion has done with success. I replaced my shoulder straps with canvas! The hardest part was finding 1.5" white canvas. I actually has to source this from a seatbelt manufacturer, LOL. Well, at least I know these will not stretch nor break! I hope that this will also aid in another issue I was having with the shoulder bridges popping out from under the 1/4" elastic on the back plate each time I bent over to talk to a child. With the stretch distance removed I hope that this is fixed as well. I initially tried velcro-ing the bridges to the back plate, but that only makes the plastic take the load and wound up cracking them, and with the worn-out elastic, the velcro simply pulled on the bridges until they cracked . Fortunately, this repair led me to reinforce and reshape my bridges, so this should not be an issue regardless. But, now with the canvas straps, I might try the bridge velcro hold-downs on the back plate again to see what happens, and report back here with the results. A major tip I can give for crack repair is to not to try to make it perfect. I tried so hard so many times to sand out the crack, repair it with ABS paste and spent all the extra time with the multi-stages of sanding all to find out this: Just fill the crack with superglue, and add a backer plate with ABS paste. once it's dry and cured, lightly final sand and buff the front side. I fount that the hairline that remains it no different than taking 10 times the effort for a full frontal ABS repair, but without th Meanwhile, using the voicechanger TrooperTalk and an Aker amp, a lot of experimenting went on with myself and a couple of other troopers to find the magic combination. We worked it out over at this thread: And if you checked out this update, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU, as I try to post my trooping experience and discoveries here as without the same help, wisdom, and brotherhood of the troopers before me, I would never have gotten this far in what is by far my favorite SW character costume to date!!!

Well whether or not TKs have "true" chatter, doesn't matter to me as much as the fact that during troops the background loop just really helps to fill in the time when fans are near but I really have nothing to say Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I had the same issue, and also used the "remove and locate by tracing onto painter's tape" ( It's amazing how so many troopers come up with the same ideas!!!) This healed to 'cheat' the angle over a bit. I also reinforced my shoulder bridges with an extra layer of scrap ABS glued to the underside. Make sure to hot bath and form the doubler piece to the same curve as the bridge before gluing as you won't be able to reform very much after the reinforcement. Also, I have run into the issue of the bridge jumping out of the 1/4" elastic, but this is because the elastic is over two year old with many, many troops. So I am going to change this out to canvas straps during the winter off troop season, just to give me more "mileage" out of the straps, to hold the back of the bridges in place (without Velcro) , and I am hoping that this will also maintain my shoulder bells slightly higher, too. But overall...YES, hot bath tweaks are your friend!!!

Congrats, trooper! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk