Altair's MTK ANH Stunt Build

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Love all the attention to detail.

[Altair]

Got the ammo pack attached to the right thigh this afternoon

I had a wine bottle cooler that was about the right size and clamped on the ammo pack. I used pieces of wood in between the boxes so the bend in the plastic was not so sharp between the ammo boxes.



I applied heat using a heat gun, being careful not to melt the plastic. Here is the result.



To attach the ammo pack I used 7mm double capped rivets. Simply drill a hole, slot it through, put the other cap on, and smack it with a hammer



I positioned the rivets in the upper corners and fastened to the ridge on the bottom of the thigh





The middle box lines up with the cover strip



To finish off I painted the rivet heads white

[Sly11[Admin]]

I see a future Centurion application in the making. Looking sweeeet.

 

 

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[Tusken RTT]

Looks fantastic!  It looks like the thigh posterior's were meeting;  is there a big gap in the middle we cant see why you went with the 35 mm coverstrips in back? 

[Altair]

Yeah, there was about an inch at the top.

 

 

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[Altair]

Small update, I've added strapping to the thighs. I made loops out of 50mm high density elastic and put the snap/velcro combo on the end



These then hang of a belt



Now for some split rivets, just what every Centurion needs

A single split rivet on the lower tab (cod) of the ab armour



Three 8mm split rivets down the left side of the ab armour, equally spaced and about 10mm from the edge



Then the same for the left side of the kidney plate

[Tusken RTT]

Well done, looking great!

[Sly11[Admin]]

Don't forget to paint those white when your done

 

 

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[Altair]

Yep, except the cod rivet

[R4ZORBL4DE]

Looking REAL good !

[Altair]

Tonight I added a single male snap on the top right corner of the ab plate (for centurion)



Then I decided to start gluing in some snap plates



Here is the back assembly



All snapped in

[Tusken RTT]

Very heavy duty- nice! 

[starsaber25[Admin]]

John your build is completely awesome!  You are doing an awesome job.  This is probably going to be a quick centurion pass just from looking at your photos here. 

[toybiz[TK]]

Looking great...appears very sturdy. Clean details. One question. How flexible or rigid are the straps?

[Altair]

Thanks guys.

 

@toybiz - There is a bit of flex as the straps are elastic and there are other TK builds in our garrison that utilise the same method. I'm not sure how much flex is needed but figure if there is an issue I can make up some single snap straps later on and don't have to replace the snap plates

 

 

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[Altair]

Almost there! Just a few little things to finish off.

Han hooks are now glued into the biceps



I made up some straps with 50mm elastic and velcro ends to connect the forearms and biceps





Also made some white 50mm wide elastic straps for the shoulders



Painted up my AB buttons with humbrol grey (#5) and french blue (#14). I was going to use a stencil and make these neat... but decided to go with sloppy freehand to get a more accurate look



And now a quick test fit!



Note: I still have to glue in my shoulder straps, finish the shoulder strap snapping, also add straps to the shoulder bells, etc
 

[toybiz[TK]]

Nice..almost there.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Those are some serious connecting straps. Love the detailing. 

[Altair]

Finally finished my strapping on the arms

I ended up putting in an elastic strap to connect the shoulder bell and bicep. This will prevent the bicep popping out the end of the shoulder bell, not that I have this problem.



To connect the top shoulder bell strap to the shoulder straps, I cut a plate from elastic and sewed on nylon webbing to thicken/strengthen it for the snaps



Then I sewed this onto the shoulder straps




Before gluing on my plastic shoulder straps, I made up some spacers to sit underneath the straps. This will give a better bond to the armor instead of just gluing on the ridge



The spaces have a wedge shape to them so they sit more flush



To keep the straps down in the back I made some white elastic bands






Now time to finish off the belt! To ensure the belt is secure and prevent minimal sagging, I put some female snaps on my belt that sit under the ammo packs



And installed the male snaps on the ab armour plate



I also connected the holster to the belt using chicago screws




A few more finishing touches! I painted the heads of the rivets white



Things left to do:
- Glue shoulder straps to chest plate
- Glue 3 x square buttons on belt
- Glue 2 x button panels to AB plate
- Enclose drop boxes with velcro/magnets
- Trim/sand ends of cover strips

I will be finished this weekend and ready to submit for approval

[Sly11[Admin]]

This has been a remarkable build John, very clean, most impressed. Can't wait to troop with you.

 

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

This is by far the most meticulous build tutorial I have ever seen.   

 

This is like a military grade build, loving it! 

 

John I will say your cover strip retaining elastic is a bit wide though. It should be around 1/8" - 3/16". Though it won't effect EIB I'm sure Steve will mention something about it as you go for Centurion. Just an FYI.

 

Edit: here's a pic.

 

Again, great job  

 

Edited April 9, 2015 by ukswrath

[Altair]

Thanks Tony. I checked and my elastic loops are 5/16" so will have to make up some new ones using thinner elastic. Easy fix

[Altair]

Home stretch now!

Buttons glued on..



Shoulder straps glued on.. I found it easy to put the backs of two chairs together and hang the chest/back pieces to get the alignment right



Done I did have a little CA glue run under the tape on the left strap (right side in pic), its not overly noticeable



On to closing in the drop boxes, I initially thought of using magnets to accomplish this.... I embedded magnets inside an ABS sandwich





The magnets work against the chicago screw



Whilst this did work to enclose the drop boxes (and I was going to put in another magnet and strip of metal at the bottom for a stronger close) I felt that simple velcro would be better

So I whipped up a spacer



And glued on some velcro



I think the velcro is better as it doesn't just come apart, you have to tear it apart

[Altair]

Belt buttons glued on and the ends of my cover strips have been trimmed/sanded! Quick clean up with novus and I'll be ready to take some pics for approval

 

Also picked up some thinner elastic - 1/8" wide - to redo my bands for the back of the shoulder straps

[Altair]

A few more upgrades!

I've installed an Aker amp + ICOMM + mp3 player in the chest armour with velcro.



Also I got an awesome fan bracket from Echo

Fits perfectly in the MTK bucket and the fans make one hell of a difference! So good!