AM build: My first test fitting[*AM]

[bm459]

I made a little progress today and got all the upper body pieces trimmed. So, I decided to try a test fitting. I used tape to hold the pieces together, so this is very rough trail run.

 

Here are some pics:

 

 

I'm kind of ... I don't know... feeling 'meh' about this so far.

 

• I can see right away that my biceps are on sideways.
  
• My right shoulder bell is obviously falling forward; that should be an easy fix when I get proper strapping.
  
• I think the proportions are looking pretty decent, but the photos (from cellphone) aren't the best to judge that.
  
• I find the armor pinches around my neck a lot and I wonder if something needs to be trimmed better there.
  
• I think the abdomen piece needs to be pulled in tighter around my body. I hope the belt will remedy that.
  

 

The biggest problem I've got is that I feel like i can barely see out of my helmet. I can't look down at all. The chin is basically resting on the chest armor and my downward vision is terrible. I feel like I'm constantly stretching my neck to see out the lenses. Is this normal? Do I need to trim something to fix this?

 

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any feedback that I can get at this point. I'm going to try to get the lower body armor trimmed by the weekend. Things are going faster than I expected so I'm thinking I might be able to get this all together in time to use it as a Halloween costume this year!

[GosHawk[501st]]

Besides the things you already pointed out, I think it looks good.

 

The shoulder bells will sit better once you get an elastic band around them. I'm sure there is someone on here that can show you a good strapping system.

 

One thing I would suggest doing is pulling the chest piece down, it looks a bit to high to me. By doing that your bucket wont be resting on the chest piece.

 

As for the issue with you not being able to see out of the bucket.....welcome to the world of TKs, where peripheral vision has gone the way of the dodo. Nah but serious what type of padding do you have in there? If you have padding you might want to get some thinner foam and a chin strap will help to pull the helm down and keep your bucket from wobbling around.

[ELP]

Dan - I'd say so far so good.

 

And as great a site for information and feed back as this (or any internet sight for that matter) may be I'd say see if you can post pictures on your home garrison site and ask for feed back and/or some hands on guidance. Chances are there will be a bunch of people more than happy to lend a hand.

 

Canadian garrison Contacts: http://www.501st.ca/contact.html

Seems like the forums are closed to non-501 members but an e-mail to the GML might help, or wait for one of the Garrison Members sees this post and hopefully the wheels will be in motion.

 

I learned from first hand experiance that your first kit can be tough to put together if all you have is a mirror and the internet for feed back.

 

Don't get discouraged - it takes a lot of work and frankly a lot of tweaking to get everything just right ... I'm still not there.

 

Hope that helps!

[GosHawk[501st]]

HAH found the website I used for straps and other things....great site.

 

http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/snaps.html

[poisonfox]

You won't REALLY be done until you have your TK ID in hand and have done your first troop in it. Trust me, I found all sorts of things needing adjustment or redoing after my first troop. Something about the sweat, hours of moving around, and little kids/cougars grabbing your kit makes things kinda just...fall off. You'll get there! It's fun as hell!

[KevZone[TK]]

Other than what you mentioned it looks good so far (especially to be held together with tape!). Ditto on getting your local guys to help. That is a BIG plus. And I totally echo what Poisonfox said...I got my kit put together in June and have trooped in it about five times so far and EVERYTIME I come home with some adjustments I want to make. My first troop was in 100+ degree weather and my second troop was four hours long so I got quick feedback on what I wanted to change.

 

You'll also find out that the vision out of the helmet isn't your only challenge. Going up and down stairs is really fun and just getting your personal "suit up routine" down can be a challenge. Practice at home is one thing, but going out live makes you really focus on getting it right the first time.

 

Don't be discouraged, your first troop will be a real eye-opener and once you see the looks on kids faces and the comments people make about how cool you look, you'll be hooked!

[bm459]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply to my post. I'll keep posting stuff as I work on it.

 

...see if you can post pictures on your home garrison site and ask for feed back and/or some hands on guidance. Chances are there will be a bunch of people more than happy to lend a hand.

Ditto on getting your local guys to help. That is a BIG plus.

I've put out some feelers to my local garrison and I've already been given access to post in the non-501 area. It's a small garrison (Capital City Garrison, Ottawa, Canada) and so far they've been good to me in their forums :-)

 

 

HAH found the website I used for straps and other things....great site.

http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/snaps.html

Thanks. I think I came across that site during my research and it looks like a good one. I'm planning on using snaps mixed with a nice pair of suspenders that I picked up.

 

 

You won't REALLY be done until you have your TK ID in hand and have done your first troop in it.

I can't wait to apply for my TK ID. I remember feeling that I might not bother as the personal satisfaction of putting together my own suit might be enough... but now that I'm getting in to the whole thing... reading the sites and getting a feeling for the community ... it really seems like something I want to do.

 

 

Don't be discouraged, your first troop will be a real eye-opener and once you see the looks on kids faces and the comments people make about how cool you look, you'll be hooked!

Thanks :-) I can't wait to get the full suit on. I'm expecting my first full-on trooping experience to come on Halloween... if I can get my stuff together by then, that is. My daughter's real wants a Stormtrooper escort for her Princess Leia costume :-) So, you know I'm motivated.

[bm459]

Question: Does the ab plate fit in to the back plate, or does the back plate sit in the ab plate? I assumed the ab plate would go on top of the back plate, but in some of the screenshots I'm looking at, it looks like the back plate should float over the ab plate.

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Ideally, the ab and kidney plates should touch at your centerline with neither a gap nor overlap. The AM kidney plate is made extra large, and for many people will need to be trimmed.

[bm459]

Ideally, the ab and kidney plates should touch at your centerline with neither a gap nor overlap.

 

Thanks Brian. That makes more sense.