ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) 8. Chest & Shoulders cont... 8b. Strapping. Each trooper is unique in their size and and shape. This particular section though some of the measurements will be unique to the trooper whom this is being built for, the procedure and general guide can be used by anyone. NOTE: In this build the left shoulder strap is permanently fixed to the back and chest plates on the left side, and the back plate on the right side. The right side chest plate is the only section to have a snap connection. Canon reference photo. Start off with cutting two strips of 50mm (2") wide white elastic, approximately 170mm (6-1/2"). NOTE: The length of the elastic was determined at the time of fitment seen here. The overall gap between the front and back plates was approximately 80mm (3-1/8"). Approximately 35mm (1-3/8") will be used at each end to connect the strap to the back or front plate via glue or snap. Cut two sections from elastic. Fold one approximately 30mm (1-3/16") Hand sew or use sewing machine to secure the folded section as shown. Using the same hole punch that was used to make the snap holes for the strap mounts, center and punch a hole in the loop area. Install female snap. Insert the head side of the snap on the folded side of the elastic. Place the female portion on the other side and set. Edited July 28, 2015 by ukswrath 1 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Posted July 28, 2015 I could afford to trim some off the back, mine has a lot more return than the kidney. I have plenty of room where I glued my snaps that I can experiment. Then go for it. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) 8. Chest & Shoulders cont... 8c. Installing shoulder elastic snap. I'll be sewing in the female snap at approximately 89mm (3-1/2"), or (54mm (2-1/8") seen here in the following pictures. The offset is 35mm (1-3/8") Mark location and begin sewing in snap. Check with shoulder bell strap to confirm snap placement is correct. 8d. Glue straps to back plate and left front plate at approximately 35mm (1-3/8") Let dry. Edited July 28, 2015 by ukswrath 1 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) 8. Chest & Shoulders cont... 8e. Installing strap snap mounts. Top right mount - Center of snap to outer chest plate edge is 20mm (3/4") Lower left and right mounts at 110mm (4-3/8") After glue has dried attach right shoulder snap. apply glue to left side chest strap. Position approximately 35mm (1-3/8") from edge Let dry. 8f. Install shoulder cover retainers (elastic bands). Start by wrapping a 5" section of 1/8" of white elastic material around the cover strip and back plate. Tie in a knot. Slide over cover strip. Flip cover over and remove excess elastic from knot. Center large flat washer with 1/2" hole over knot and apply clamps. This will secure the knot while drying. Apply CA glue then use Zip Kicker to cure bonding the 1/8" elastic with the 2" shoulder elastic. Remove any rough edges. Edited July 28, 2015 by ukswrath 1 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Posted July 29, 2015 4. Ab cont.... 4m. Back to the Ab, kidney, side rivets and 22mm notch you all though I forgot about lol NOTE: It is not required to add the 22mm notch if your armor didn't come with it. At this point it is only being done to increase the accuracy of the build. In the beginning I knew there may be additional trimming needed in the final fitment and I was correct. Later I'll discuss where I had to shorten the posterior and kidney plated, but the point I wan to make is I needed to add cover strip material to the kidney and posterior to give the armor some rigidity in those areas lost in trimming. At that time I decided to reinforce the ab along the kidney lines to assist in the rigidity, as well as give the interior a more uniformed look. With that said, I measured and installed internal cover strips 30mm (1-3/8") in width and 165mm (6-1/2") in length at the ab to kidney seem edge. The split rivet holes were measured, drilled and talked about already so after the reinforcement material was added the holes were re-drilled and split rivets installed. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Posted July 29, 2015 13. Kidney After fitment trimming the 22mm notches were measured and cut out. 30mm reinforcement strip added. Right side Side rivet holes measured and drilled, left side. Install split rivets. 13a. Taking a break from the split rivets, measure and installed snap mounts. All mount were positioned 20mm from the edge of the kidney and to the edge of the webbing. Let dry Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) 4. Ab & 13. Kidney Side Rivets Holes drilled, rivets installed. Measure the distance from ab rivet center to kidney rivet center. It should be 20mm. Measure and cur 3/4" webbing to 60mm. Establish center of cut sections then measure out 10mm in each direction. Mark and punch holes with snap punch. Cauterize holes using a lighter or similar. This will assist holes from expanding. The reason I don't use the soldering iron technique is because I can't be precise with my measurements, but that's just me. Place webbing on rivets and add washer. Place head of rivet on a old shirt and place it on the concrete floor, something that will NOT budge. Using a punch and hammer drive a wedge in the split rivet. Finish crushing flat with the hammer. Split rivets are finished. Edited July 29, 2015 by ukswrath 2 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) 13. Kidney cont... Install functional right side to ab strapping. Measure and install right side mount approximately 55mm (2-1/8") from kidney (ab side) and 15mm (5/8") from top edge. Let dry. Measure from kidney mount to previously install right side ab snap approximately 75mm (3"). Measure and cut 125mm (4-7/8") section of 3/4" black elastic. Starting at one end measure and punch a hole at 15mm using the snap punch tool. Install female snap. Measure next hole at 85mm (3/8"). Install second snap and recheck distance. Edited July 29, 2015 by ukswrath Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Posted August 1, 2015 13. Kidney cont... Measure and finish strapping from kidney to back and posterior. Kidney strapping finished 2 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Posted August 1, 2015 5. Posterior cont.... and final 5c. Fitment adjustments, install strap mounts and final pics. During the final fitment check it was recommended the posterior be cut back at the location where the connecting rivets to cod are located, the actual height of the posterior was reduced by 1/2" also and correct the angle of the ab side of the edge. First let measure and remove the original lower snap mounts. New location. First rivet at 15mm the second at 35mm. 5d. Measure and trim off 1/2" of upper edge. 5e. Install strap mounts. 20mm from edge of upper posterior to edge of webbing. Starting at 8mm from the forward facing edge. Double checking the kidney mount location to make sure it matches with the posterior. .. and measuring 20mm from the top edge. Install mounts Finished as seen in previous post. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Posted August 1, 2015 4. Ab& 8. Chest cont... Final strapping from ab to chest. Measure and install ab to chest mounts (ab side) Secure chest to ab at fitment marking using clamps. Secure chest to ab with clamps. Measure distance between ab and chest strap mounts. Make strapping. Finished Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 1, 2015 Author Report Posted August 1, 2015 (edited) 11. Belt cont... & final 11b. So I was made aware just after the belt was assembled this version AM belt may not fly at the Centurion level, BUMMER! Long story short it was replaced with one from ATA. Apparently the little (illustrated) indents are reminiscent of armors gone by. No bueno! Cont... tomorrow Edited August 1, 2015 by ukswrath Quote
Kredal[TK] Posted August 1, 2015 Report Posted August 1, 2015 I had a 50% chance of using the wrong belt to make Centurion? I chose... well! 1 Quote
MarxKnight91[TK] Posted August 1, 2015 Report Posted August 1, 2015 Well, now theres a definitive one stop manual for putting a kit together. Great work Tony! Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Posted August 2, 2015 (edited) 11b. Belt cont... & final So, continuing on... ATA belt After removing the return edge I was left with the final trimming. At each end remove outer edge until I had 48mm (1-4/3") remaining from edge to the last box. Trim the corners 45 degrees and find the center of the belt at all three mounting locations. 11d. Drill holes using 1/8" drill bit. 11e. Center on cloth belt using previous ammo pack measurements and rivet belts together. Note: Though not needed I use aluminum washers with the rivets to strengthen the attachment area. 11f. Trim river covers. 11g. Install rivet caps using E600 and large clamps. Finished. Edited August 2, 2015 by ukswrath 1 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Posted August 2, 2015 Final pictures (non-submission). Some you've already seen before. 2 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Posted August 2, 2015 (edited) Thank you all for your comments, correction suggestions & kudos. Next project, finish my dang TFA. Edited August 2, 2015 by ukswrath Quote
EJGreen Posted August 2, 2015 Report Posted August 2, 2015 Awesome job, Tony! Lots of valuable information contained within this thread! Quote
Ryth_[501st] Posted August 2, 2015 Report Posted August 2, 2015 Amazing work! This thread have been an inspiration and a lot of help on the way. Congratulations with job well done. Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 2, 2015 Author Report Posted August 2, 2015 Awesome job, Tony! Lots of valuable information contained within this thread! Amazing work! This thread have been an inspiration and a lot of help on the way. Congratulations with job well done. Thank you very much. Quote
Carlos_Centurion_Tk[501st] Posted August 3, 2015 Report Posted August 3, 2015 Words cannot express how amazing my mentor did on my armor !! i thank you very much Tony!! heres to our armor! Livin the dream!!! Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Posted August 3, 2015 You're very welcome my fellow trooper. Quote
russellr2d2[TK] Posted August 3, 2015 Report Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) Whew! All that measuring made me dizzy!!! Another great TK comes to life. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited August 3, 2015 by russellr2d2 Quote
Khazid[TK] Posted August 3, 2015 Report Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) Nice work Tony! Lots of solid pointers in this build. Edited August 3, 2015 by Khazid Quote
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