Trimmed and Untrimmed

[Derek]

hello all,

 

I'm such a noob for asking this, and I know I skimmed over some info on this before, but I have since forgotten. what is the actually difference between trimmed and untrimmed armor? If I buy my first set of armor that is already trimmed, does that mean its already cut down to fit someone else or a specific body type? Also, what are the advantages/disadvantages of buying armor trimmed or untrimmed?

 

Thanks,

 

Derek

[bluehickey]

The difference is that trimmed armor comes with the excess plastic already cut off of each individual armor piece so you can get straight to gluing and assembling. Untrimmed armor means that YOU have to remove the extra plastic yourself before you can begin. The advantage of untrimmed armor is that it can be a more screen accurate set of armor.

 

Untrimmed:

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photos updated gmrhodes13 2021

[Terry19D]

I may be off of my descriptions, but this is what I've taken the terms trimmed and untrimmed.

 

First off, it depends on the kit's definition of trimmed. It could mean that all of the pieces are cut down to a certain size, but often what it means is that all of the extra plastic that is attached to the pieces when they come out of the molds has been removed, leaving the edges fairly clean and ready for measuring/assembly.

 

That leads to the differences between trimmed and untrimmed. Trimmed armor can have flanges built into the pieces (often the arms & legs) so that all you have to do is match them up, glue/Velcro, and they are together. Untrimmed, in addition to usually needing some cleanup before assembly, needs to be cut to the builder's size. Some armor that comes untrimmed, such as AP, also has suggested cut lines molded into them to speed up trimming & assembly. Those lines are not accurate for all wearers, though, so a builder may need to ignore them. Other types of armor are untrimmed and require careful measuring in order to fit all the pieces together properly. AP, TE2, and TM for sure are also armor types that take advantage of using screen-accurate fitting strips on the arms & legs. Not all types may be able to do this, or at least not without some difficulty.

 

Hopefully I came somewhat close to defining the terms for understanding.

[Derek]

Thanks to you both!! You guys have helped me out a bunch!