Artshot's ANH Stunt Build (AM 2.0)

[Artshot]

Surely it's 11 dimples on the left forearm and 12 on the right ?

I just looked through a lot of centurion submissions for confirmation, whilst I have seen a few 11 & 11 dimpled forearm builds, I never saw any with 12 dimples on the left.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Artshot

[Sly11[Admin]]

11 on left,12 on right, also the longest edge is the elbow edge (bottom) otherwise if you have it at the top it is harder to bend your arm

 

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Yea don't know what I was thinking at that moment 

[Artshot]

After my minor panic attack , I went and looked through a lot of centurion and Expert Infantry submissions, after a few hours of reading I totally forgot why I was there.

This weekend I attempt to figure out strapping and possibly reduce the return edges on my main torso pieces, especially where the butt joins the kidney and upper back, I figure 5mm should be fine.

[Artshot]

After prepping a sheet of 2mm Plasticard for my mass production of snaps, measuring, drilling and countersinking holes for a more flush fit, I got bored and with the aid of a roll of tape and some dislocation of limbs, I did a test fit of my main torso parts.

 

Non of the parts have been trimmed for fit, but I am happy that I will not need to shim the waist, I was less happy with the cowboy gait I had to adopt as the untrimmed cod & butt was playing havoc.

 

However, enough of that, here's some photos.

 

 

I need to pay attention when I centre my upper chest as it looks a bit over to one side, it also needs to come down a bit, or I risk decapitation.

 

 

I taped the butt to the kidney to simulate the snaps, I can see that I need to move the outer snaps closer to the edge to try and reduce the separation, my upper back has not been taped or sized, it's definitely too high up at the moment, but without the cod and butt being trimmed the main body is a bit low, hopefully they will meet in the middle.

 

 

 

As you can see by the cod, it's not trimmed so it pushed out and increases the side gap, this will disappear when I trim the cod and butt and pull the pieces together better.

 

 

I managed to get a photo of my shoulders before trimming, there's quite an overlap and also a bit of a difference in width, I am thinking that I will trim both at a point where there nearest the same width across, is that right ?

 

As I return to snap making, I am left with a couple of questions.

 

1) Is there a preferred distance between the front and back upper chest and upper back, or is it just a case of best fit in conjunction with the covering shoulder bridges ?

 

2) As I plan on cutting the 22mm x 22mm kidney notch, will I need to trim the butt to the reduced notch, 22mm back from it's original kidney edge ?, I have looked through a few builds but cannot tell one way or the other, and for the life of me I cannot find the reference photo I know I have seen.

 

As always, any and all comments are welcome, only by my mistakes being pointed out can I learn to not make them.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

1) A good rule of thumb to follow, the shoulder strap covers will have 4-5 ribs on the chest and a equal amount of ribs on the back would even out the area. Cut accordingly.

 

2) Cut the 22mm notch, do NOT cut the posterior to accommodate.

[Artshot]

Hey Tony

Thanks for the reply, I have reduced the width of my shoulder strap covers already, just been waiting to decide on how much to fill on the inside for better gluing, four or five at the front sounds good to me.

 

I could not find anything to say what to do about the butt piece, I will leave it alone as it has a return edge which I wanted to keep.

 

I think my next stage is to trim the cod and butt correctly, that way I figure I will see exactly how high the rest sits and be able to trim the shoulders better.

 

I also noticed my thighs might be too long when I had a test fit with them, hopefully this will also sort it's self out, i really don't want to trim the top of my thighs.

[Artshot]

Okay, so while taking a break from making snaps, oh the fun that is, I starting looking at how to trim my cod and butt (never thought I would ever utter that phrase).

 

I hit a bit of a snag when looking through builds and submission photos, in that not a lot of details were clear to me about positioning of snaps and where to cut, so before I do something that ABS paste will not be able to fix, may I present a few photos and a few questions.

 

What would be the recommended position to trim the cod at ?

 

 

Is this a correct position to trim the butt ?

 

 

Now I realise that everybody is there own unique shape, trust me, after staring at a lot of cod and butt photos this afternoon, I realise this (another phrase I thought I would never utter), but I thought it better to ask if in doubt, which I am.

 

I also noticed that there is quite a bit of return edge around the cod and butt, I am thinking that by reducing it down to say about 5mm it will help the flexibility greatly and therefore allow everything to sit more comfortable.

 

Oh, and as a bonus, my belt arrived today, just need to figure out which one to use, as far as I can see it's all about the covers, one will make the covers look flat to the surface, the other will make them look like there sitting in a square indent, is one more correct than the other ?

 

 

Anyway, as usual, any and all comments are appreciated........back to the snaps.....sigh

Edited November 14, 2015 by Artshot

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

Looks great Art. Well done so far

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Don't use the belt with the square indents. For the cod, I recommend starting with A. Complete your torso strapping system minus the cod to butt strap and see how it fits. If you need to remove more, you'll have that option. 

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

I have the same kit. For the cod I cut mine along your a line. If there is too much you can keep trimming it so it is not uncomfortable. For the butt plate (insert any joke here) I did the same as your marking. Cut that tab off and put the snaps where you have them marked. I originally had my snaps on the tab and it is not right and hurts like hell. Hope this helps.

[Artshot]

Thanks for all the advice, my main concern was either not cutting enough, so that I walk like a cowboy or placing the snaps in the wrong location on the butt, as far as I can tell there supposed to be tucked under and not visible from the back, I think I will need to trim the return edge down a bit to make that easier.

I also think I should build from the shoulders down and not the cod/butt upwards.

I apologise if any of the above sounded slightly weird

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

It's ok, my wife tells me all the time I have my head up my butt. 

[Artshot]

Well, I finished making my snap plates, oh what fun that was, especially since I decided to slightly indent the area for the back of the snap to help it lie flush with the surface, I will also be covering the back of the snaps with a small square of tape.

 

 

Now that I have ran out of delaying tactics, it's time to start assembling the main torso, however I have a few questions for anybody still reading this thread (Hello, if your reading).

 

I have taped the butt and kidney pieces together in what I think is there correct position, before I start to mark where I am going to glue the plates.

 

Question 1) Is there a recommended gap between the butt & kidney pieces ?, I was planning on trying to get them as close together as I can when I strap them together.

 

 

 

As you can see, since the pieces were pre-trimmed out of the box, there is a slight difference in how they fit together, one side has a bigger difference than the other.

 

Question 2) Should I trim the sides to make them even ?, my worry is that since I would be trimming the sides that join with the cod, I don't want to make the fit anymore snug than it already is, I can just get them together without shimming, I am going for no visible gap with my build.

 

Also, since the belt will cover the actual area where they come together, am I just overthinking a nothing problem ?

 

As everybody does, my next step was a test fit, now with trimmed cod & butt, so much more comfortable than before.

 

 

 

I realise the tape had decided to let go, no big problem as the fit was fine before that happened.

 

There's a few things I noticed when I saw the photos, first there's a very sharp corner to the edge of the butt, from other builds I can see that this area normally gets trimmed to a slight curve, going to have to do that.

 

Also when I attached the rear upper back to the kidney, it made the shoulders not fit over or close to my shoulders, the back bulged out from my body, creating a very visible gap, the chest did this also.

 

 

Question 3) Should the upper back be attached against the kidney piece or should there be a gap ?, I have seen both, but my preference has always been no gap or minimal.

 

I will be trimming the bottom "spur" off the back, to give it a better shape and fit, as seen in other builds.

 

Question 4) Once I begin trimming the shoulder supports, am I right in thinking this will improve the fit of the upper back and chest and bring them closer to my body ?

 

I am also going to reduce the width of the return edges to make the pieces a bit more uniform and flexible, possible tapering the ends to almost no return.

 

 

My other thought was to try and bend them slightly with boiling water, but I feel that's going too far.

 

Whilst I realise the shoulder bridges cover these points, I really don't want to trim too much, so that the gap over my shoulders looks too large, although again I cannot find a definitive size of gap and it looks just like a fit for comfort issue.

 

Thank you if your still reading, any & all input or advice is always welcome.

[Kredal[TK]]

I'm still reading, and you're at the point now that I started running into the final fit and look problems. They were all addressed when I submitted for EIB and Centurion, so I can help.  (:

 

First, on the fitting all of the back pieces together: You want a minimal gap between everything.  Just enough so that you can still bend and move at least a little bit.  Shouldn't be a problem if you're doing straps inside... You may want to bring down the return edges just a little bit (leave some so your armor looks more solid than a sheet of plastic).

 

Next, cut off the corners on the sides of the butt plate, at about a 45 degree angle, that matches your thigh armor's slope.  For the back plate, cut off that entire spur under your armpit.

 

Here's Gazmosis' lines showing where I was supposed to cut:

 

 

And here's where I actually cut:

 

 

Don't cut down the joining edge of the kidney plate.. center up the butt plate as well as you can on it, and strap it together there.  You can see in the picture above that my butt plate is in about a quarter inch from the kidney plate.  No problem!

 

Taper the return edges of the shoulder parts of the back and chest plate down to no return edge (or a minimal one if you want)... It'll keep the edges from digging into your shoulders. (:

 

You shouldn't need to reshape the shoulders at all, since you'll have an elastic strap under them, and a plastic strap over them, nobody will be able to see the curve on them.

 

Upper back to kidney plate: minimal gap, but no overlap (My pictures have a tiny overlap because I'm leaning back with my arms out for the pictures. When I'm just standing there, no overlap.)

 

Hope that helps.  You're on the final stretch! You can do it!  (:

[Kredal[TK]]

Oh, you might as well cut off the bottom corners on the kidney plate while you're here.  22x22mm square.  It's just one step of getting closer to Centurion!

[Artshot]

Hey Josh

Thanks for the information and photos, I think I have read and re-read your build a lot of times....and yet I still managed to miss all the information I was looking for

 

I think now that I have entered into the "Cannot be covered with a cover strip" phase, everything is a little bit more daunting.

 

All of this, and I still have not made the helmet yet......

[Kredal[TK]]

Think of it this way: If there's no cover strip, there's no final gluing.  Everything from this point is being held on by straps.  You know how many times I recreated straps to get the fit right? A TON!  Snaps are (relatively) cheap, nylon and elastic straps are uber-cheap... Make a set, try it on.  If it hangs too low, cut off one end and put another snap on it.  Too tight? Make a new one, longer!  Keep iterating until you get it right. (:

[Artshot]

Well, I eventually began trying to figure out the strapping of my kit, I thought since I made all those snap plates, I should eventually start using them.

 

Firstly, here’s my shoulder bells & biceps, I still need to put in the elastic strap and make a strap hook.

 

 

Next, here’s the interior of my kidney armor and butt piece, there currently taped together as I wanted to line up the position of the snap plates better, I also made sure to leave enough space on the kidney armor to cut the kidney notch, I have thoughts on making a false piece to maintain the illusion of armor thickness.

 

 

And here’s the reason for my current headaches and occasional temper tantrum.

 

I trimmed down the sides of my armor to get rid of the surplus ABS and still maintain the illusion of thickness.

 

 

 

 

As you can see in the photos, there is still a spur along the side and bottom edge, I have used tape (ignore the random tape in other places) to show where I think I should still trim more off to try and get rid of the spur and even out the bottom return edge, this will hopefully help with my next problem.

 

My intention was to have the back piece fit against the kidney piece with no visible black, however the spur and the shape of the back plate are not making this easy.

 

Even if I trim as much as I can without actually removing any large areas of armor and changing its shape, I am going to run into problems when trying to bend my back.

 

After looking over a few builds and submission photos, I think the problem must lie with the overall shape of the back plate, they really do come in all shapes and sizes, I already had to file the bottom return to get a bulge out of it an level it off.

 

 

 

 

I taped my back plate to my kidney to simulate a gap of 5 mm or so, there is still going to be a little bit of the back plate spur dropping below the top edge of the kidney plate, which I think I will have to slightly round or they may scratch my kidney armor.

 

So, after all that rambling, what is a preferred gap between back pieces, either back to kidney or kidney to butt ? (my butt plate is currently against the kidney armor, but I am thinking that whatever I make the gap between back plate and kidney I will copy between kidney armor and butt plate)

 

Or am I driving myself mad over something that is not an issue, I have looked over multiple screenshots and as usual they wander from one thought to another.

 

Sometimes my nitpicking attention to tiny trivial detail can be my undoing or in the case of my armor, my delay.

 

I hope all of that makes sense, I tried to fill gaps with photos

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

When you are factoring in the bottom of the back plate fitting against the top of the kidney, realize that the back doesn't just go straight up when you wear it. The top of the back will be angled outwards. I hope that makes sense. Line the bottom of the back to kidney with that in mind and that curve will line up much better. 

[Artshot]

Hey Jason, thanks for the reply, I am still have a fight with my back plate.

 

This afternoon I did the final trimming of my backplate, the returns are now a regular distance all around and I managed to trim away some of the bottom "spur".

 

I also tried a test fit with the torso parts of my armor, which is a pain when just using tape, whilst the side that will be riveted will be fine, I definetly think I am going to have to fit snaps to the other side, or even a tongue and groove setup that I have seen on a few builds. especially as the joining edge wants to overlap.

 

So, after I eventually got everything taped in place with my cod and butt as snug as I could go without my voice changing frequency, I find that if my back plate is taped to the kidney return edge, then it falls short of my shoulders for the shoulder bridges as the shoulders of the back plate push it away from my body.

 

First question, is this a quirk of the AM 2 armor ?

 

Second question, is there any recommended length to leave the shoulders of the back plate ?, I know they get covered by the shoulder bridges, but I don't want them hanging on by there fingertips, so to speak.

 

Third question, currently my back plate shoulder pieces have a return on them, should I just trim that off so that they are as thin as the ABS ?, I think it will give a better fit and hopefully make back plate lie better on my back, I just don't want to trim something off that I cannot glue back.

 

I also discovered this afternoon that back plates are not very aerodynamic....

 

Any and all comments, help, wise words, pity or even prayers are gratefully welcome.

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Edited January 29, 2016 by Artshot

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

The length of the elastic shoulder straps varies. You want the back to contour to your shoulder blades as much as possible so you don't get that big gap around there. Then in the front it can vary how low  you want your chest to go over your ab plate. 

 

On the shoulder bells, I cut a lot of the return edge off the bottom. Maybe 1/4" or less return edge on mine. 

[Artshot]

Whilst it took me seven attempts to glue one of my forearms to a fit I was happy with and I was close to putting everything in a box and forgetting about it, after my fighting with my back plate this afternoon, I am remembering my forearms with a fondness now....sigh

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Other than having thick thighs and having to cave in and buy AM2.0 thighs, strapping was the hardest part for me. It's a lot of trial and error and you really need the help of someone that has patience so a significant other might be the right person lol. If you have someone nearby that's in your garrison, they should be able to help you out a lot. 

[Artshot]

After a lot of advice about my back plate and with stronger tape, I decided to do another tape fit.

 

My main concern was the spurs on either side at the bottom of the back plate where I wanted it to join with no or minimal gap to my kidney piece, so I went at the piece again and trimmed as much as I could whilst still leaving the illusion of a constant return edge width.

 

Here's my right side.

 

 

Here's my left side.

 

 

For these shots I only used a strip of tape to keep my back plate and kidney together as there are no snaps attached yet, sorry for the slight blurring and the strange angle of my back, I had to contort myself with my camera to get these photos.

 

I realise I could have used my belt to keep the sides together, but I wanted to see what was going on, as you can see the top of the abs has a habit of sliding behind the kidney and thus separating the lower edge, they do go together cleanly, but tend to twist, I will fashion some sort of tongue and groove fitting to stop this happening in future.

 

And finally, here's my back plate against the kidney piece.

 

 

After all the hassle I was having with this part of the build (following Ukswrath's advice, I pulled everything further north), I am happy it's sorted itself out and feel confident to start the strapping now.

 

Of course as soon as finished taping, I bent over and my butt fell off......I think I am going to add an additional two straps, or failing that, put a drop of E6000 inside the snap before I close it.

 

And finally, now that my kidney piece is in its happy place, the shoulder straps are near to were they need to be.....on my shoulders, and not on my back where they were earlier.

 

 

I will be removing some of the shoulder return and thinning the width before I attach the white elastic strap, thinning should give it more flex and will definetly make the area more comfortable.

 

And after my butt fell off, I think I definetly will be doubling up on the strap attachment points on my shoulders.

 

As always, any and all comments are welcome, and to those who have offered advice so far, thankyou and keep them coming.