AM 2.0 Armor Build in Ohio

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Lastly being a little shorter in the thighs I'm going to have to do some severe cutting to get the thighs to fit:

 

Is it OK to just sand the top after cutting, or is it necessary to bend the ABS back in?? Let me know what you think. Does any one know how to bend it in? Is this the best place to cut for size on thigh? Thread link? Help!! 

 

Thanks for reading and helping every one, just in case I haven't said anything yet. 

 

It's not required to have a return edge. I'm actually getting rid of mine so I can have that tiny bit of extra room to pull my thighs up a tad. Matter of fact, none of the guys I trooped with this last weekend had thigh return edges either. 

[rduda]

I got my sealing armor in the mail today, I'll cut a little at a time to see where it starts to fit, I the mean time I'll see if there is any good video on the iron, then I'll practice on some scraps to see what I can do, if it works good I'll do a little edge but otherwise I'll keep is smooth if it can pass muster. If I can't find a video maybe I'll make one to post of my experiment!

[rduda]

Playing with snaps on the chest and back plates.

 

Side View, is this about right?? Should I have some more space between the top shoulders?

 

Trimmed and sanded the shoulder straps.

 

Boy this is hard with only 2 hands!

Edited March 17, 2016 by rduda

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

If you haven't already done so, get the back plate and the kidney strapped together. That way those pieces are fitting correctly so all you have to worry about is the correct way to get it to join the chest plate. You'll probably need to trim some of the shoulder from both parts if they are still touching. Good thing of having AM2.0 is they give you plenty of space so there's more cutting but less need to add plastic. 

[Superbee[TK]]

It really helps to take off all the return edges you don't need during your build you need to lose all the return at your wrist on your forearms . Also your drop boxes should be just touching or just a couple millimeters below your belt they look like they're hanging long . And as stated before get all your connections between back chest done now before you trim anything across the shoulders . And I'm a cat guy , those little guys are cute. Keep up the good work .

[cjdesign[TK]]

I would remove the return edges on the wrist. You will get bit, scratched and chaffed unless you remove them completely.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Looking at the one photo, I would trim the bicep some too. 

[Superbee[TK]]

It's nice to see more people building AM armor, for me it was a perfect fit love when the team comes together .

[rduda]

Thank you all for the help, I need it... The boxes off the belt are low, I trimmed the belt extra and left the boxes hanging, that's on the todo list. I'll start the snaps next for connecting the kidney plates and butt, what is the proper distance or space for between the shoulder (chest and back plate)? How do you determine how much to cut?

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I don't think there's a determined spacing requirment, it's more so making it fit you properly then trimming what's not necessary. I've seen guys with long shoulder elastic and some with very small amount. Don't matter really as long as the chest and back are fitting properly and for TKs, the abs shoulder bridges cover them up all the way. 

[rduda]

Look! Something came in the mail today!!

 

What could it be?

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll182/richardjduda/IMG_0632_zpsols1luio.jpg

 

YEAAA!!! MY TK Boots are in!

 

Fits Great and Look more Awesome than I thought they would be, Great Product!!!

 

One more Step Closer!!

 

 

Imperial note: Little Wookie Stuffed Bears make great companions for your force sensitive cats.

 

Got the curage to do some major cuts this weekend, I got short fat legs and and had to take a  good chunk off the thigh armor.

 

First cut was a little short, need another 1/4"

 

Used a drummel and it was fast and easy, the rough edges were just melted bits from the heat of the drill and popped off and sanded nice and clean, and I think I took off the right amount all the way around, those photos to come later, stay tuned!!

[rduda]

Remember the Death Stars!!!

[rduda]

I decided to add some shims onto the side of the kidney plates, so I have about an inch of glued plate now drying underneath both sides of the kidney plates leaving about two 2 1/2 inches on both sides extended. Though sometime soon I hope to remove the shims should I attach the snaps the same way I would a final set of armor with in regulations or with the shims can I be a little bit simpler? And fix once I take the shims off???

[TD42115[501st]]

Richard, nice progress, AM 2.0 kit starting to look like a trooper   

Edited May 15, 2016 by TD42115

[rduda]

Here are my shims on the Kidney plate, Seems like I'll need to trim them down some, but at least there on now. Do you think this will hold or do you think I should make an overlap on the inside?

 

Made 14 snaps, only messed up 2 of them, not a bad margin of error so far.

 

Only enough claps to glue on 2 snaps at a time…

 

Mean-while, trooper cat Boo isn't happy to give up the chair so I can load my entry into the forums, don't worry he's not hissing, just yeowning, I bore him.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

For the shims you want a piece acting as the extention flush with the end of the kidney and a insider back used to connect the two parts. Then you fill in the seam with ABS paste, sand, and smooth. 

[rduda]

For the shims you want a piece acting as the extention flush with the end of the kidney and a insider back used to connect the two parts. Then you fill in the seam with ABS paste, sand, and smooth. 

Where can you get ABS past?

[rduda]

Woo, been a long summer, but with the pass of the pro football hall of fame game fall is here!!! Well soon. And I've added a lot of snaps and cuts to berthed summer (told yea this would've a long build). But I finally ordered the last of my supplies! Within about 2 to 3 days I got my latest TrooperBay order, new world record for the post office California to Ohio, I was surprised to say the least! Neck seal, white rubber hand guards, and a few conector type parts blue paint holster and head sock, I'm so happy all that's left is attaching the large parts and I'll be ready to troop this October!!!! More than enough time for Rouge One.

Edited August 20, 2016 by rduda

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Where can you get ABS past?

Hi, You will have to make the ABS paste yourself. Take some offcuts of your abs that youve trimmed off your kit, and put in a jar, then add a fair few drops of acetone. It will melt the ABS into a paste.

 

Marc

 

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

[rduda]

[rduda]

ABS Paste, no real formula, so I took a handful of ABS strips and cut them into tiny pieces and put them in a glass jar with 2 or 3 teaspoons of Acetone (which I guess is a type of paint thinner). Waited about hour and mixed a little. Came out nice and white still, some chunks but I work through that… here are my shims on kidney plates not sanded yet, want the plastic to dry good. Thanks CTID for the help!

 

 

 

I cut to manny teeth out in the beginning so now the paste has it's second job.

 

 

 

 

Holster went together nice and easy, but I noticed how much weight the Blaster is tugging at your belt… now I know why I see most trooper carrying there blaster.

 

Edited August 21, 2016 by rduda

[Troopacoola[TK]]

ABS Paste, no real formula, so I took a handful of ABS strips and cut them into tiny pieces and put them in a glass jar with 2 or 3 teaspoons of Acetone (which I guess is a type of paint thinner). Waited about hour and mixed a little. Came out nice and white still, some chunks but I work through that… here are my shims on kidney plates not sanded yet, want the plastic to dry good. Thanks CTID for the help!

 

 

 

I cut to manny teeth out in the beginning so now the paste has it's second job.

 

 

 

 

Holster went together nice and easy, but I noticed how much weight the Blaster is tugging at your belt… now I know why I see most trooper carrying there blaster.

 

Looking good!

 

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

[rduda]

Kitten helping sanding

 

 

 

First round sanding kidney plate , bad lighting. looks better in sunlight, but no polish yet.

 

 

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

First coat looks good. Getting the air bubbles out of the abs paste is a PITA. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Jason. You might want to turn the pictures over your cat is getting a head rush lol