Ricks AM Armor

[Rystan]

And just like that, my shins are here!

 

 

Now that looks like a fine right and left shin!  Mine should be here by Friday.

 

He sent just the right, not both, correct?

[Manzilla]

He sent both to me

[fuumantroop[TK]]

Sent both to me as well. Now I have some extra cover strip material

[Starfox2010]

Yea he sent both from the pic. Dont think ill be so nervouse to work on the left shin now.

[chrskmbr]

Thanks alot for showing an AM build! I have been looking at these, and It's great to see them on people before the trimming it done. great to get an idea of how much extra space there is with AM. Already been in contact with the AM makers, and looking forward to placing my order in December. I'll keep watching here to see any problems you may encounter along the way. Good luck!

[Starfox2010]

No problem,  you're going to need to create a topic yourself when you get your armor  that way people could catch your mistakes befor they happen like me a couple of posts up regarding my thigh's. Everyone on here helps a lot, only thing about the A.M. 2.0 is that we are all rookies on a updated armor so its a bit difficult.  But lucky for you all of us should be able to give you pointers where we got stuck.

[Starfox2010]

Ok, Just a little update.

 

I pretty much got both the biceps complete, just gluing one last cover strip.

(sorry for crappy pic)

Still working on the darn forearms, i'm going crazy working on them.  I noticed on another topic that a fellow trooper had his wrist side too wide, I had the same space, on top of the cover strips still not looking good.  I'll probably wait untill the end to work on them, they have been an ego buster for sure.

 

Got the Should straps trimmed.  Should I trim closer to the bumps?

 

 

I trimmed the bottom return edge and glued the cover strip to the inside of the left shin. 

I'm going to try and complete it and see how it turns out before I do the right one (I have 2 left shins to practice on)

 

 

So I also decided to work on the chest and back.  Should I trim more off the back where I marked the line?

 

Here is the other side

 

Should I trim more off the top as well?

 

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Now this is something I haven't understood with AM's back plate sculpt.

 

 

The issue I see here is they made the curve part much too long.  Screen-used back plates had a shoulder curve that ended about 2/3 down the length of the 0 II box detail, and then had a good amount of straight plastic below it.  AM's back plate has a shoulder curve that doesn't quite end.  It just smoothly curves around and wraps around the sides.  I believe AM's back plate is accepted for base approval, but must be replaced for EIB or Centurion.  I'm not sure it can be modified much more than the cut line you've made.

 

Have you seen any other AM back plate modifications around?  Does that seem where people most often cut their back plates?

[Rystan]

Re: the plastic shoulder straps trimming, I would say it's pretty good.  If you look at the blue-ray version of the screen capture image from the same scene Ron posted :

 

 

There's clearly some sort of lip around the bumps.

 

Also, if you zoom way in on the guy in the bottom right, there's not a very big gap between the chest and back.

 

 

It looks to me that the gap between the chest and back is about the width of the molded ridge on the shoulder bell...but don't take my word alone.  And you might want to hold off on trimming it further until you've got more of the armor on or at least have the back plate sitting where you want it to be.

[Starfox2010]

Now this is something I haven't understood with AM's back plate sculpt.

The issue I see here is they made the curve part much too long.  Screen-used back plates had a shoulder curve that ended about 2/3 down the length of the 0 II box detail, and then had a good amount of straight plastic below it.  AM's back plate has a shoulder curve that doesn't quite end.  It just smoothly curves around and wraps around the sides.  I believe AM's back plate is accepted for base approval, but must be replaced for EIB or Centurion.  I'm not sure it can be modified much more than the cut line you've made.

 

Have you seen any other AM back plate modifications around?  Does that seem where people most often cut their back plates?

seen PandaTrooper's  and Storm_knight1's they trimmed there's different from each other. ill just trim to where I stated and go from there,  it's a little frightening trimming even after you seen quite a few, still hesitant.  

 

MightyTank did state that the back plate wasn't approved yet but is working on updating it as well.

[Starfox2010]

Ok As a little update,  I finished my left ankle and the left thigh is almost done.  I decided to do the velcro version right now, gona give the bra hooks a try on Monday since I have to borrow the sowing machine . 

 

What do you guys think?

 

Front Side

 

Backside (took the pic myself so...)

 

The velcro

 

Does it look acceptable to start on the right shin? (Wasn't nervous doing this one since I have 3 left shins to work with )

 

 

Oh I'm also going to see how the ab buttons look.  Wish there were spray paint versions of the paints (or I had an airbrush),  but they look good. 

 

Primered

 

Painted (might do a second coat of the gray)

[Starfox2010]

Update:

 

I posted a seperate topic about the kidney and ab join ( Link here).  Im still worried about it since my hip area fits right on the dot  and the top has a big gap, I can put my hands inside.

 

completed both my shins (with velcro)

 

finished trimming my right thigh and had to adjust my left so those are curing right now.

 

gluing the snaps to the butt and kidney pieces.

 

Ordered my TD Clips, Neck Seal and holster and holding off on the belt until I figure out how to do the ab piece.

 

When I have time i'm also working on my E-11 build.

 

since my magnets are being used, I thought id work on the sewing and snaps for the chest, back and shoulder bells (shoulder bell strapps dont have the snaps on one end to adjust JIK).  what do you guys think? 

I think I have to do something about the back plate at the top, however the shoulder straps cover it good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the help.

 

[fuumantroop[TK]]

Looking good bro!

[Starfox2010]

Thanks.  I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. 

[zeroskillz]

Your armor's looking great! I'm getting ready to start the chest and back, and looking at what you've done is a big help.

 

Also, just wanted to add, heating with a hair dryer isn't so bad--it takes longer than a heat gun so it's harder to mess it up. I did a little heating on my forearms to ease the pressure before glueing and it worked fairly well.

[Starfox2010]

Thanks Ted,

 

Ill try your method if what im doing now doesnt work.  biggest pain in the butt.

[Starfox2010]

Update:

 

What do you guys think so far?

I'm still "iffy"about the ab and kidney fitting.  If someone from my garrison is willing, I want to see what they think of it.  I don't want to add the split rivets just to find out that I need to cut more for the sides.

 

I'm holding my thighs up and hiding the inside of the forearms.  Also my biceps are being held up by the elastic on the shoulder bells.

 

I did the cod split rivet and added the two snaps in the butt plate.  Also added the elastics to connect the butt and kidney plate (gona add the strapping brackets some other time).

 

Also, here's my ab plate

 

 

Ok I'm starting to work on:

 

Knee Plate

my knee plate, think im gona glue the center

 

 

Thigh ammo belt

 

Lastly,  I'm also working on my blaster.  Here's a preview:

[fuumantroop[TK]]

Nice! Your way ahead of my build trying to cut my kidney plate tonight hopefully and attach my sniper plate and my thigh belt

[fuumantroop[TK]]

Nice! Your way ahead of my build trying to cut my kidney plate tonight hopefully and attach my sniper plate and my thigh belt

[Starfox2010]

Thanks.

 

Yea the thigh belt kind of throws me off, I cant really align the center box to the cover strip, it's going to be that gap in between.  I did use a hair dryer to kind of bend the belt, i'm going to do it a little more before I test glue it and eventually add the rivets.

[Rystan]

Update:

 

What do you guys think so far?

I'm still "iffy"about the ab and kidney fitting.  If someone from my garrison is willing, I want to see what they think of it.  I don't want to add the split rivets just to find out that I need to cut more for the sides.

 

I'm holding my thighs up and hiding the inside of the forearms.  Also my biceps are being held up by the elastic on the shoulder bells.

 

 

 

 

Also, here's my ab plate

 

 

 

Looking good, Rick!  Can't wait until I can start wearing my armor without the support of masking tape.  

 

Couple things I see:

1) Can't tell if the shoulder bells are connected to the shoulder bridge yet or not, but you might want to shorten up the strap.  The top of the shoulder bell should almost be touching the chest/back armor.  (See the ANH screen caps from a previous post.)

2) The forearms are pretty far down the arm too.  (And the left one is rotated around to the front pretty noticeably too)  You'll probably want to run a strap between the biceps and the forearms on the inside of the elbow.  I recall reading somewhere that the forearm and the bicep should look like they're almost touching even when the elbow is bent as well.  Having some sort of strap to hinge on the front/inside would help there.

3) I'm not sure if you're going for EIB/Centurion, but for Centurion, you'll likely have trouble with the abdomen buttons going the separate painted button route.  I think the ab buttons plate to use (assuming there's no other issues with the AM ab plate for Centurion) is the one with the molded buttons, like below

 

 

 

Those items are all minor and "fixable" if I'm correct, but regardless, it's looking awesome and I'm definitely jealous of the progress!

[Starfox2010]

Looking good, Rick!  Can't wait until I can start wearing my armor without the support of masking tape.  

 

Couple things I see:

1) Can't tell if the shoulder bells are connected to the shoulder bridge yet or not, but you might want to shorten up the strap.  The top of the shoulder bell should almost be touching the chest/back armor.  (See the ANH screen caps from a previous post.)

2) The forearms are pretty far down the arm too.  (And the left one is rotated around to the front pretty noticeably too)  You'll probably want to run a strap between the biceps and the forearms on the inside of the elbow.  I recall reading somewhere that the forearm and the bicep should look like they're almost touching even when the elbow is bent as well.  Having some sort of strap to hinge on the front/inside would help there.

3) I'm not sure if you're going for EIB/Centurion, but for Centurion, you'll likely have trouble with the abdomen buttons going the separate painted button route.  I think the ab buttons plate to use (assuming there's no other issues with the AM ab plate for Centurion) is the one with the molded buttons, like below

 

 

Those items are all minor and "fixable" if I'm correct, but regardless, it's looking awesome and I'm definitely jealous of the progress!

 

Hey Mike,

 

Yea on the forearms I mentioned im not done yet, I still cant close the back side for the life of me.  That's why I haven't connected them to the bicepts. Hopefully a member of my garrison can help me, hands on.

 

The shoulder bell allign depending on how I place the chest piece.  Scroll up to mid page and you could see that they should be good ( was a little too excited putting the armor on, I didn't think to ajust it right). 

 

I am going to try and go for IEB.  We can't go for Centurion untill TG updates the backplate (or we modify it somehow).

 

How is your build coming along?  Andrew and I are going back and fourth with each others build.  I'm hoping he finds a good way to do the thigh belt (next on my list). 

[Rystan]

Hey Mike,

 

Yea on the forearms I mentioned im not done yet, I still cant close the back side for the life of me.  That's why I haven't connected them to the bicepts. Hopefully a member of my garrison can help me, hands on.

 

The shoulder bell allign depending on how I place the chest piece.  Scroll up to mid page and you could see that they should be good ( was a little too excited putting the armor on, I didn't think to ajust it right). 

 

I am going to try and go for IEB.  We can't go for Centurion untill TG updates the backplate (or we modify it somehow).

 

How is your build coming along?  Andrew and I are going back and fourth with each others build.  I'm hoping he finds a good way to do the thigh belt (next on my list). 

 

Yeah, the forearms were a pain...as much as my original plan was to skip them until I got confidence on other parts, I ended up doing them first and had a few moments where I was ready to give up.   The final trick for getting mine to work involved bowing out the cuts along the seams to ease some of the pressure when the edges were pushed together...(Part 1: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28145-am-20-build-anh-stunt-by-rystan/page-8#entry358287 / Part 2: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28145-am-20-build-anh-stunt-by-rystan/page-8#entry358348)

 

I did notice the shoulder bells sitting better further up the page, just figured I'd mention in case it was something needing looking into as they were pretty far out in the recent photo.

 

I hear ya on the Centurion part, but I still haven't found a great explanation about what is wrong with the current back plate.  The AM armor has changed so much since the original AM armor it's hard to tell what to believe/trust about people's facts/opinions any more.  My biggest hurdle to go EIB or Centurion is going to be building the E-11.  I got my resin kit from DDay and everything is still sitting in a ziploc back untouched until I finish the main armor.

 

I'm going to be getting back into my build soon.  Real life could only get held at bay for so long while working on the build.  But I'm farther along than my build thread shows.  I had to sacrifice documenting the build in order to try and finish before Fan Expo Canada.  (which I ended up going to but sans armor).

[Starfox2010]

Yea, seen your post of success, even printed a copy.  Just a little scared, dont want to end up with nothing left to cut.  I posted a help topic on my garrison, hoping someone can help.  If no one is able to, I will eventually just do it and hope for the best.

 

 

Im thinking the backplate is still a little bit large?  That comparrison that PandaTrooper did with the ATA was a big difference.  Hoping we could at least modify it.

 

The blaster is another doozie,  seeing all these crazy spot on builds makes mine look like crap.  I'll keep at both, though.  I'm hoping to reach my deadline of Oct 24 (JIK something goes wrong ill have a week to fix before Halloween).

 

good look on completing yours.  Let me know when you're done with the knee plate.

[zeroskillz]

Your build is looking great bro! I'm hoping to get some strapping done tomorrow to get a feel for how it looks as well.