Maxsteele's New NE Armor Build

[BobbyFromBUF]

Sometimes hardware stores will know what you mean if you say "sex screws". I had the same problem when I was building my Iron Man armor....

 

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[mandoman]

Just wanted to drop in and say that your armor is looking awesome, and your documented progress is going to be a huge help! I have a set of NE armor I got almost a year ago, just been too afraid of messing it up, so after reading this thread I think I might be ready to tackle this.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Just wanted to drop in and say that your armor is looking awesome, and your documented progress is going to be a huge help! I have a set of NE armor I got almost a year ago, just been too afraid of messing it up, so after reading this thread I think I might be ready to tackle this.

 

Thanks Chris!  I had a real hard time getting over my anxiety in this build.  It has been an uphill battle for me personally from the start.  Everyone on these forums has helped me out and pushed me to get to the point I am right now.  If you need any help along the way, please don't hesitate to send me a PM and ask any questions you want.  

 

Also, make sure you start your own build thread and document your progress.  It's not only to show your progress, but you can get some great suggestions and tips from people here before you make permanent changes.

Edited May 7, 2014 by maxsteele

[TK5144[TK]]

Just wanted to drop in and say that your armor is looking awesome, and your documented progress is going to be a huge help! I have a set of NE armor I got almost a year ago, just been too afraid of messing it up, so after reading this thread I think I might be ready to tackle this.

 

Chris - you should get yourself in gear!  get to work on that armor!

[maxsteele[TK]]

Anyone heard of heat bending the rivet covers on a belt?  It's a pretty solid piece without any flexibility, and I'm thinking I will need a curve to it in order for it to stay on the belt.  I haven't tried gluing it down yet, but I just have a feeling it's not going to stay properly without some type of heat shaping.

[SCTrooper[TK]]

The butt plate should just hang in place without too much tension on the crotch snap.  I just clamped the rivet covers while the glue was drying, e6000 will give it some flex. 

[maxsteele[TK]]

The butt plate should just hang in place without too much tension on the crotch snap. I just clamped the rivet covers while the glue was drying, e6000 will give it some flex.

 

And normally I'd agree with you on the butt plate, but the way the NE crotch tab is molded, it doesn't wrap underneath and meet with the cod piece. It angles down so when any kind of strap is placed there, it pulls the butt plate out and down, making the sides flare and causing more of a gap between the top of the butt and the bottom of the kidney.

 

I'm thinking it would be better fitting to bend the crotch tab so the place where the strap will get attached is lined up with where it will attach to the cod. Then there will be no pulling at all and it will sit properly with the strap attached.

 

Did you leave the crotch tab on your NE butt plate how it's shaped? If so, you didn't run into this issue at all?

 

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[SCTrooper[TK]]

And normally I'd agree with you on the butt plate, but the way the NE crotch tab is molded, it doesn't wrap underneath and meet with the cod piece. It angles down so when any kind of strap is placed there, it pulls the butt plate out and down, making the sides flare and causing more of a gap between the top of the butt and the bottom of the kidney.

 

I'm thinking it would be better fitting to bend the crotch tab so the place where the strap will get attached is lined up with where it will attach to the cod. Then there will be no pulling at all and it will sit properly with the strap attached.

 

Did you leave the crotch tab on your NE butt plate how it's shaped? If so, you didn't run into this issue at all?

 

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I used a heat gun to make the butt plate line up with the cod piece.  This will also help with the butt piece hitting the top of the thighs, between the legs.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Working on the elastic length for the chest and back connections.

 

It seems my kidney likes to float down on my back from walking.  My belt is cinched tight.  That's just how it's going to be.  Probably that way for everyone.  I taped down the bottom of the chest to my ab where I wanted it to be, and then I swung around the back plate.  It's difficult to do this with one person, because the back piece wants to float off of your back.  That piece will get pulled in by the strapping that runs from the bottom of the back to the top of the ab, which when it's all put together, will prevent the ab from sliding down, since everything will be strapped in.

 

I got a good estimate that the gap between the back shoulder pieces and the front shoulder pieces should be about 10mm for my body.  Unfortunately, I can't really test that at all without making straps.  The enclosure is too small for me to put my head through.

 

I think what I need to do is have an anchor for the back piece.  I need to put the snap plates into the top of the kidney, and strap the kidney to the back.  Then I'll have that resistance pulling the back down and the kidney up when I'm fitting the back to the chest.  I just need to get the line-up horizontally correct with the back and the kidney.  That will require studying builds and eyeballing it.

 

Once that is complete and the back and kidney are connected, I'll be able to get more of an idea as I pull on the top of the back to see where it should go in relation to the chest shoulders.  

 

I always have one person to help - my wife.  While she is completely supportive of everything I'm doing, she gets frustrated pretty quick when I ask her to help me with fittings.  I think it's because she doesn't really know how it should all come together, so she's hesitant to assist.  I think once I have all of the prep squared away and it's just figuring out the gap between the chest and back shoulder tabs, she'll be able to hold and measure the gap.  Then I'll be able to make the shoulder straps.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Time to boil some ABS!

 

 

 

I don't have a heat gun, so I'm using the boil trick for my thigh pack.  The ABS is thick and very resistant to bending, so I have to give it some type of heat in order to bend it around my thigh.

 

I have placed it in the pot and I'm bringing the water up to a boil.  I would burn the hell out of myself if I put this in the pot after it was boiling.

 

After this comes up to a boil for a couple of minutes, I'll take it out with some tongs and bend it around a paint can.  I'll secure it somehow (possibly with tape?) and let it harden again.  That should give me the bend I need to get it attached to the thigh.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I kept the thigh pack in the water until bubbles just started coming up to the surface of the water.  When I took it out, it already had some bend to it from how it had to sit in the pot.  The ABS itself was still very solid and it wasn't soft or anything.  No worry about finger prints in the ABS or losing definition on the boxes.

 

I took the ABS out with tongs, then I taped it around a paint can.  There is still resistance to keeping this shape.  After it fully cools, I'll take it off the paint can and see how it is.  If it's not bent enough, I'll heat up some more water and let it boil for a few minutes longer.

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Here's the fit of the thigh pack around my right thigh.  I think I have the placement right:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll need to study some other build threads to make sure I get this where it should be, and where to drill the holes on the sides.  I think I have it tight enough to where I'll be able to put some glue on the inside to keep it from floating up / down once it's fastened into position.  I know that the rivets should punch through the molded ridge at the bottom of the thigh.  I need to find out how high up on the pack I need to put the hole, and that will determine where I put both holes.

[Pencap510]

Good work on the boil bend- I'm looking it up right now - but I believe that the center ammo pack should be lined up with the cover strip-<br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[maxsteele[TK]]

Good work on the boil bend- I'm looking it up right now - but I believe that the center ammo pack should be lined up with the cover strip-<br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I've looked at a bunch of builds and pack attachment tutorials, and it looks like that is all preference.  Some people purposefully line it up so there are 2 rectangles on one side of the thigh and 3 on the other.

[Pencap510]

Ahh- I'm looking right now to see if I'm just making it up in my mind lol<br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pencap510]

I must be losing my mind. Good call lol- seems like our builds are at the same place <br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JLight[TK]]

Yeah 3 boxes on the inside of thigh and 2 on the outside.

 

 

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[maxsteele[TK]]

Here's the final test fit of my chest and back before I make the lengths of elastic.  I used the elastic from my kidney / butt plate to connect the kidney to the back.  It looks like they're the proper length and in the right position.  

 

From the way the back and chest lay on my body, there is no gap necessary between the shoulder tabs.  That means I'm going to have pretty short white elastic for my shoulders.  Here are pics showing the fit.  If no one sees any issues with them, I'm going to make the white elastic pieces, which are only going to be approximately 2 1/2 inches in length.  I hope the snaps don't dig into my shoulders too much.  It seems on most builds that people have longer elastic for their shoulders, but not mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could also move my snap plates back further from the edges on the chest and back shoulder tabs.  That would give me a longer piece of elastic to drape over my shoulders, and have the snaps further apart.  Since it's e6000, it's nothing to pry them up and move them further.

 

 

 Thoughts?

Edited May 10, 2014 by maxsteele

[BobbyFromBUF]

Nice! Wow, if my back and chest were that close together it wouldn't fit over my big head, haha...

 

Looking good. Don't forget to reinforce the elastic with something. When it stretches the snaps can pop right through. I found that out the hard way. I have been adding small pieces of nylon webbing to each snap to prevent that...

 

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[maxsteele[TK]]

Nice! Wow, if my back and chest were that close together it wouldn't fit over my big head, haha...

 

Looking good. Don't forget to reinforce the elastic with something. When it stretches the snaps can pop right through. I found that out the hard way. I have been adding small pieces of nylon webbing to each snap to prevent that...

 

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Oh, it doesn't fit over my head at all that close together either.    Fortunately, there are snaps on both sides, so I can have one shoulder snapped, then get the back and chest plate situated and snap the other shoulder in place.

 

I've been doubling my elastic, and burning holes for the snaps with a soldering gun.  That's seemed to be pretty good reinforcement with my black no-roll elastic.  I'm hoping it's just as good with the white elastic I have.  I've seen others talking about this and they've said that just doubling the elastic has made it strong enough so it doesn't pop through.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

From my research, I don't think it matters from a look point of view, but is the chest too close to your neck that it will end up slicing your throat up?

[maxsteele[TK]]

From my research, I don't think it matters from a look point of view, but is the chest too close to your neck that it will end up slicing your throat up?

 

I'm... not sure.  I took the return edge off from the neck on the chest piece.  I could have it a little lower.  I thought it was supposed to be up against my neck, but I could be mistaken.  There certainly is room for me to have it sit a little lower and not be against my neck.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

You should fit the chest and back with your neckseal on. Apart from that the fit looks great.

I know it's certainely too late but you could also glue the shoulder bridges directely to the Back plate and put snaps only at the front. I personnaly never use the snaps on my back plate, they're kind of useless in the end.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Thanks Germain!  I forgot about wearing my neckseal when doing the chest / back fitting.  I'll do that tonight.

 

It is by no means too late to do the shoulder bridge gluing.  I can just pop off the snap plates on the back plate and glue my shoulder elastic directly to the back plate (Horray e6000!).  That would also make adjustments easier because I could just un-glue the straps and re-glue them further back or forward on the back plate to make the length longer / shorter.  I might just do that if only to have less snaps sitting on my shoulders.

 

Also, going that route I won't need to have the elastic completely doubled the whole length.  I'll only double-fold where the snaps fit in, and have a single strip going over my shoulders and glued to the back plate.

Edited May 10, 2014 by maxsteele

[JLight[TK]]

You can always have one half of the straps glued on and the other end utilize the snaps. That way it allows the armor to be broken down for transportation, but if you have too much slack, you could rip up the glued end and tighten it and re glue. No need to have all ends of the straps be held with snaps. I learned that about halfway through.

 

 

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Max, that was what I was referring to earlier in your build when you asked about length of elastics and possibly wasting snaps. Any elastic you use doesn't have to have snaps on both ends. Glue one end and put snaps on the other. I think that will work great for your shoulders and give you the flexibility to make the elastic whatever lengths you would like and not dig into your shoulders.

 

You are looking really good by the way! I have a significant gap between where my chest and back plate meet because I am much taller and needed to close the gap from back to kidney. I am glad you are doing this build thread because it is helping many ppl out! And I am also seeing you provide input to other troopers on their build threads. Just awesome!

 

 

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