ATA Fit and Finishing Strips on arms

[tugle[TK]]

Couple questions I haven't found an answer to yet:

 

1.  ATA armor the biceps are a bit different, the left is much more round, while the right is a bit more oval, giving me a better fit on the right to the shape of my bicep than the left.  Has anyone else experienced this, and can I just try to bend out a bit using a heatgun to shape better?

 

2.  For finishing strips, does it look off to use a 7/8 in strip on the forarms, and 1 inch on the biceps?  1/8 seems like a small difference, and I could add padding to the forarms for a better fit and 1 in all around, but the biceps seem to need a 1 inch.

 

Or is it better to use 7/8 overall, but on the backside of the bicep use like a 1.25 inch strip?

 

 

Thanks for any input, and I am having a blast working on this!

[gazmosis[501st]]

All ATA armor has the one weird shaped bicep. You can re-shape it with a hair dryer or by immersing it in hot water.

As for the cover strips 5/8 or 15 mm is what you should be shooting for on both forearms and biceps

[gazmosis[501st]]

3/4 (20 mm) is for the leg fronts

[Coastertk]

As for the bicep shape, I ended up ordering another right bicep from Terrell. It was right around $30. I now rock two right biceps and couldn't be happier. You can try and reshape your original left, but just thought I would share with you my solution to the very same problem.

[Nacho[TK]]

I went with 5/8 on both biceps and forearms.

[tugle[TK]]

Yeah 5/8 is a bit small for my biceps, but might work for the for forearms - just don't want it to look strange with 5/8 for arms and then like 1 in for my biceps.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I could not do 15mm on both sides for the biceps. I did a 15mm on the 'outside' (the visible side) and a bigger strip (~30mm) on the inside.

 

I haven't finished cleaning up the ends, but this is what it looks like. Am I going to have issues going for the higher levels? I can't help it I've got some guns...

 

I really thought this was the way to deal with sizing...

 

[Zarlon[TK]]

Mine was really tight as well and I ended up going with the hot water to try and open it up a bit. I was too afraid of the heat gun!

 

In some cases you can put the larger strip on the inside and a smaller strip on the outside just barely covering the gap. I did that on my leg armor.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Zarlon

[DroidHunter]

Just remember, even though you have more 'flat space' does not mean you need a larger cover strip. You only need larger cover strips if you have a gap to fill.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Unfortunately, on one bicep I cut all the sides to 7.5 mm before realizing it was way too small, so I had a gap to fill. I needed it on that one, so I did it on the other to match. Is something like that enough to prevent me from reaching Centurion rank?

[JTninja[TK]]

If so, you could always contact ATA and get replacement parts. I just got a new kidney plate from him a few weeks ago

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I am looking into getting a new bicep, and probably going to get a second right one (I messed up the left). The rights just fit better 'out of the box'. I'll probably wait until I have most of it together - may use the existing bicep for basic approval.

 

However, if I can't find wide boots (10E) that are acceptable for EIB/Centurion, I may just not worry about it at all... 

[Chills[TK]]

Yeah, for the higher levels having a 30mm coverstrip isn't going to work out. If you have some big ole biceps you'll need to shim them. Then you can put on the appropriate size of coverstrip. 

 

For your boots, I suggest getting a larger size. I have 8.5E feet and I got a 9 from TKboots. They stretched a bit and are comfortable. Did a 2 mile parade in them after a month of owning them, and my feet were fine.

 

Now if you're not going to go for EIB or Centurion you have more leeway in your boots and biceps.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Thanks - I'm hoping to get a pair of Imperial Boots in a size or half-size larger (when Francois gets back). Caboots will do a wide boot, but I can't qualify for Centurion with those (and they are pricey!).