NE AHN Stunt, First Build

[mercury26]

Ok a few updates,I have been finishing up my snap plates over the last couple days.  In addition, I am getting re-acquainted with the work that needs to be done.   I am running a couple things in parallel to get this done over the next few weeks.

 

Here is the Ab plate, I did the split rivets on one side though not completely happy as I could not get them to all lay flat.  I will work on that over time.  I am about to put the externally exposed snap on the right side top.  I have marked two locations, #1 and #2.  #2 seems the correct place based on the built in "shims" of the NE armor.  I need the shims, because I am a big guy (6'3", 225lb).  If #2 looks incorrect, then please let me know.

 

 

Edited July 29, 2014 by mercury26

[mercury26]

Now with the additional pics:

 

 

 

[mercury26]

I am also working on the helmet in parallel, I noted some areas that I was looking to trim before I start gluing.

 

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Hey ya Chuck, thanks for the pics!

 

For the snap placement, The Centurion builds I've seen have placed the snap as you have it marked for #2.  However, they had the built-in shim material cut away as well.  I'm really not sure on this one.  I'd look for other opinions on that one before putting the snap in.

 

If you are going to go for Centurion, two issues that there may be is the rivet placement and the bottom of the kidney.

 

For rivet placement, your bottom rivet is in the cod area rather than the ab area.  

 

With the kidney side, there is a square to be cut out.  You can see it as part of the extra shim area, but I'm not sure if you'd cut all the way over to it with the extra, or cut it to where it would be without the extra on the sides.  Here's a pic to show a screen-used rivet placement and square notch cut:

 

 

I assembled an ATA helmet, which is 2-piece, so I can't really give much feedback on how the NE helmet is assembled.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Hey Chuck. Coming along nicely.... Here's a good thread http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/26886-split-rivet-placement/ that discusses the split rivets that Ron mentioned. Unfortunately the lower rivet shouldn't be in the 'cod' area.

 

Helmet - can you line up where your ears go, then just make sure the cut line you drew is under them. That is most important. And the bottom of the helmet (opening) - I wouldn't worry about that until it was all screwed/riveted together. You might need extra material later.

[mercury26]

I see what you are saying on the rivet.  I will move it later, as I am on a time crunch to get the costume done for my daughter's b-day party. I will make a list of things to modify after completion.  Another item is the cutting the kidney plate, I would like to do the same with cod to make everything flow together.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Yeah, you'll be fine with how the kidney / ab is for base approval right now.

 

The rivets and the snap aren't needed until Centurion.  The square cut on the kidney is for EIB, so that should be something to look at first.  Getting that in place will also help to get the rivets realigned when you get to that point.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Hey Chuck..  Just wanted to chime in and say that with a 4 week deadline for this, based on what it looks like you've got done already, you are in good shape - it is indeed doable!!

 

You've got this man, and if you're ever in doubt of that, remember why you're doing it, take a deep breath and work smartly towards your goal! 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Hey Chuck, I was looking back at Centurion builds, and I noticed Anthony (Redforce) had left the built-in shim material on his NE kit, and he installed the snap where you have your #1 marked:

 

[mercury26]

OK, here are some quick weekend progress pics.  I am going to do a test fit tonight and have my wife snap some pics. I will post the pics.  

 

Helment assembled pre-ears (thanks to DVH for the build guide, very helpful):

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2014 by mercury26

[mercury26]

Lots and lots of snap plates, though I have a good system going. I make the snap plate and then bore out a backing plate to the plate can glue down flat (I believe some others use the same technique).  I am going to do this a torso test fit tonight and take some pics.  If this goes well, then I will move on the limbs.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

You have extra flashing on the ends of the butt plate that you shouldn't need to have there:

 

Before:

 

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

You don't show it, but if you haven't already, there's extra on the ends of the chest plate to cut off as well:

 

Edited August 4, 2014 by maxsteele

[mercury26]

Thanks, I trimmed the butt plate and chest plate.  I was hoping to test fit tonight, but some of the snap plates need some more time to cure.  Might move on to trimming cover strips or working on ears on the helmet.

[mercury26]

OK, I did some test fitting tonight and had the wife take some pics.  Here is my assessment:

 

• Ab/Cod/Butt Plate need to be pulled up a bit more
• Back plate needs to come down more, thinking longer shoulder straps
• Add straps: Butt Plate-to-Back Plate, Chest Plate-to-Ab Plate
• Trim cod (possibly) a bit more, help fit in area. 

Coming along, but need to step it up to complete in two weeks.  I am hoping to get started on the limbs and finish the helmet over the next coming days (into the weekend).

 

 

 

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Woo hoo for test fits!  I still remember my first test fit when I looked in the mirror and thought, 'Wow, I'm turning this pile of plastic into a Stormtrooper!'

 

Alright, critique time!

 

Here's where it becomes a size and placement game.  Your chest plate is much too low.  The neck line should be up at your neck.  Here's what my chest looks like.  I also cut away the return edge around my neck line.  

 

 

 

It's not strangling me, it's just up where my neck is.  You'll notice that the curved tabs on each side are up on my shoulders and nestle down onto the front of my shoulder:

 

 

 

 

As you've already discovered, your back plate is too far up.  I'm thinking this may just be a matter of how you're hanging the pieces right now.  If you bring the chest plate up, that will bring your back plate down, and you may not have to correct anything with your elastic straps connecting the chest and back.  Here's a side shot so you can see where the curve of the top of the back meets and follows the curve on the back of my shoulder:

 

 

 

And here's a rear shot so you can see where the top edge of the back plate is sitting on my back.  

 

 

 

I had to cut off those pointy ends on the tabs of the back plate and do a smooth transition with sanding.  The inside return edge wasn't as important as the outside, and when you have the shoulder bells up against the chest / back tabs, they do a good job of hiding any trimming that needs to happen for comfort.

 

Alright, I'm going to get a bit graphic in my next part, as I'm going to be talking about the cod area.  

 

I positioned my cod so the rounded cup part is fit just like a jock strap cup.  It's right up snug against my boys, but not going up past them so the edge is digging in.  Once I found the good spot for my ab, that in turn determined the spot that my kidney would sit at on my lower back, which then put my back plate in the right spot, which then let me fit the chest plate in the right spot.  

 

I did not make my chest-to-back straps until I had my ab / kidney / back 100% in-place and strapped in.  That then allowed me to see what I was working with on placement of my chest, where I wanted the bottom of the chest to be in relation to the ab, and then determine how long the straps would be.  The bottom of the back plate needs to be touching the top of the kidney, and getting those straps in place first will give you a much better time at getting the chest plate in place where you want it.

 

Your current shoulder straps may be fine if you're able to bring that ab plate up, which brings the kidney up, get the back plate down, and then you know how you're going to place your chest.  But I repeat that you should get your back strapped to your kidney before you move on to chest placement.

 

One other thing - make sure you're wearing your neck seal when you work on chest placement.  The gap between your neck and the chest plate will increase when you're wearing the neck seal.

Edited August 5, 2014 by maxsteele

[mercury26]

Sounds good, I will glue some snap plates on the back plate and kidney plate tonight.  I can do another test fit tomorrow.  Thanks for the critique, always helpful.  I am getting excited to actually be wearing some armor.

[mercury26]

OK, making progress.  I have all the straps in the torso part of the armor, seems to be fitting and sitting much better.  I will upload some pics tomorrow.  I started working on the thighs and legs, right now the thighs have cover strips gluing over night.  I finished the Thermal Detonator, happy to finish something small.  With that being said, I am working on the helmet.  I have to agree that ears suck!  I am trimming, but I cannot get them to lay flat.  I am wondering if I should trim a bit of the bottom outlined in blue.  Any thoughts?  I hate to keep Dremel sanding to the point of no return.

 

 

 

 

[mercury26]

OK, I made progress on the helmet (right) ear (see below).  Looks OK, would like to get it tighter fit against the helmet.   I finished the TD canister (some pics below) and started gluing cover strips on the legs.  I also started on the arms and hoping to start putting cover strips on them tonight. Last thing I am working on is the elastic straps on the torso, need to shorten the shoulder straps (back to chest) and lengthen chest-to-ab straps.  I think that will center everything nicely, will take some pics tonight (if I can).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Take a tape measure to that thermal detonator.  I'm finding out my NE TD wasn't quite up to measurements out of the box.

 

You want the gap between the end-cap and the control panel to be 1/2", with the total end-cap to end-cap length between 7 1/4" and 7 1/2".  Control panel should be around 4 3/4", end-caps should be about 3/4".

 

Cover strips are looking good.

[mercury26]

I measured the TD, was 7 1/2" on the nose with the end caps (OK, well I had a 1/16" over the required measurement).  I can take a pic with the tape measure tomorrow.  I think the control panel is a bit small throwing off the visual dimensions.

 

Made progress on the helmet tonight and continuing to clue cover strips.  I am hoping to test fit legs in the next day or so.  

[mercury26]

I have been working every day on the build and made some goos progress.  First thing, I really love my dremel sander!  I have had it for a long time, but it has been a considerable help on trimming and (of course) sanding.  I should have introduced into my life sooner.    Anyways, I made a number of adjustments and completed the torso strapping.  Everything seems be sitting and aligned correctly.  I have been doing cover strips on the legs and getting them sized.  The shins are almost done, just need some velcro on the back.  The thighs need trimmed and then glued down.  I am using VaderDave's garter, I cinched things up a bit more after I took the pics. I am working on the arms this week.  I am working on getting the costume into wearable condition for my daughters birthday party next Sunday, a week from today.  

 

On also, I lost my screen for the Hovi Mic Tips.  I am trying to track them down at the house, or come up with an alternative.

 

Please provide comments and let me know if I missing anything. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

With your thighs and shins, get someone to press them down to match the shape of your legs.  Once in a good position, have them mark where the edges overlap so you can take the pieces off and then put them back to the way they wrapped around your legs.

 

Once you have that, you can measure across from the front cut line, make marks in the back at the top and bottom, and then you'll know how much extra to cut.  This way, the thighs and shins will taper, getting more narrow as they go from the top of your legs down to the bottom.  That will get rid of the barrel fit and contour to your body specifically.  

 

When you have the thighs cut in the back to fit, you should be able to bring them up higher toward your cod.

 

I would also suggest taking down the return edge at the top of the shins.  They're pretty big.  Here's my shin pieces and how I trimmed the return edge.  The shin piece on the left is untrimmed and measures about 10-15mm.  The shin piece on the right is trimmed down to a nice 5mm.

 

 

 

 

I also did the same thing with the thigh pieces.  Untrimmed on the left, trimmed on the right (this is the bottom of the thighs)

 

 

 

I would size the thighs and shins after trimming down the return edges.  I also completely removed the inside return edge of both my thighs because they were catching on the bottom of my cod and I had to cut them lower.  You may or may not have to deal with that.  I wouldn't worry about that at the moment.

 

I do have a concern with that gap between your back and kidney plate.  Are you able to bring the ab plate up at all?  The cod is what really limits you to how far up you can bring it.  You want the lower edge of the cod to come just underneath your 'boys'.    If there is any room for you to do that, bring up the ab plate.  That will let you bring up the kidney plate, and that will close the gap between your back and kidney.

 

How's the chest plate fitting up by your neck?  If there's some room to bring it closer, you can do that, which will help if you're able to bring the ab plate up more.  That will close the overhang of the chest plate and ab more.

 

I also trimmed down the return edge at the top of the ab and the top of the kidney.  If you're able to do that, it will let you close the gap between the kidney and ab more.  I would also get rid of the points that the bottom of the ab plate makes on each side.  Make it so it curves around and meets with the bottom of the kidney:

 

 

 

[mercury26]

Thanks for the suggestion on the shins, I will trim them down quite a bit.  Much more enjoyable now that I have the dremel sander going.    As for the torso,  I cannot bring the cod piece up any more and the chest plate is snug against my neck.  I am on the taller side, so I was thinking the back piece is result of my long torso on my 6'3" frame.  The other area is that shins seem awfully low.  I was thinking of raising them a bit with some elastic from the thigh to the shin, not sure if that is acceptable or now.

 

Completely agree on the Ab plate extra material, I was going to do that when I fix the left side rivets.

 

Thanks for the feedback much appreciated.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Hey Chuck. I'd make some further queries about your back/kidney gaps with either your local GML or the more senior guys here before you go too far. I'm not sure whether that big gap is approvable or not. Not sure how tall you are, but maybe that armor isn't right for you???

 

Also, just a little observation, youre right hand snap on the ab piece is actually on the 'shim' rather than on the ab. Can you see where the line is where the 'ab' ends? Hopefully you know what I mean. Will try post pics later if you're not sure.

 

Otherwise, progressing well!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Sith Lord

[maxsteele[TK]]

For the right hand snap, I've seen at least one other centurion build for ne that had the snap in the same spot.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/24319-tk-10666-requesting-anh-stunt-centurion-status-89-ne/

 

 

To go back to the back to kidney space, if you're not able to raise your ab plate up anymore, you could try dropping the back plate to make the gap smaller. Like Ian said, it can be an issue. I'm not sure how much it will affect base approval, which is why you should absolutely contact your local GML to have a look at it.