linkwtf Posted October 1, 2015 Report Posted October 1, 2015 Ok guys here goes nothing!!! Got my brown box, and I think I have done enough research to at least get started. Im hoping you guys can keep me from messing this stuff up. Quote
Darth Havoc[TK] Posted October 1, 2015 Report Posted October 1, 2015 Ahhhhhhhhh. Great day when the big brown box shows up. The AM 2.0 kit is a great kit and is pretty easy to work with. The first cut is the hardest but once you do it, all that nervousness will fade. Most like I did, start with the forearms or biceps as they are pretty easy. Research the CRL for what you need to do for each armor piece as the CRL is what you must follow for approval. Ask questions and the peeps here will help you out. Good luck and looking forward to watch your build Quote
linkwtf Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) Ok first issue... I started with the forearms, but I remember seeing that the left forearm should have a curve near the bottom, but these both seem pretty straight to me? Am I crazy? also how do I cut these to fit? Also they seem to have 2 differnt curves at the top? is that correct? Edited October 1, 2015 by linkwtf Quote
UT Trooper[TK] Posted October 1, 2015 Report Posted October 1, 2015 Anthony - my brown box of AM just came in yesterday as well! Might be the same run. I'll try to post up any tricks or tips from my build. I just started on the helmet tonight. Quote
gazmosis[501st] Posted October 1, 2015 Report Posted October 1, 2015 The elbow side of the forearms are kind of left to creative interpretation. You can cut the left on the match the right one, you can take that little bit of return edge out of the one with the curve for more comfort against your skin. Just make sure to line up the elbow sides when joining the halves. Don't sweat the wrist side too much as you can hone that when you ara done to make it perfectly even as seen here: Quote
linkwtf Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Posted October 1, 2015 Thanks for the tips... I scared myself out of the next step... I took off all the return edges off the forearm pieces and sanded them down, but could not make the cut to fit them... I am having a hard time visualizing how it needs to be done... If any of you could link me a walk through that would be amazing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Mcott65[TK] Posted October 1, 2015 Report Posted October 1, 2015 To work out how much you can cut use some painters tape and close the two halves together butt joint the flat edge and overlap the raised side so that top of the raised area is about 15mm the width of the cover strip. <br> Now slide your hand in and see how it fits if all is good that is how much you can cut if it's to loose ovelap the other side till you are happy mark up and trim. Hope that helps. Quote
linkwtf Posted October 1, 2015 Author Report Posted October 1, 2015 Thanks, if any of you guys are in the Oklahoma City area with the star garrison and want to help a rookie please let me know Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
linkwtf Posted October 2, 2015 Author Report Posted October 2, 2015 ok guys, confidence level shot way up after knocking out my first forearm. Ignore the tape, also edges and ends are not trimmed. I do have some questions about fitting. 1st: do you taper the cuts to fit your forearm? or just keep the cuts straight so that they butt up evenly? Whats the trick for fitting? although these are starting to get snug on my forearm they still seem to slide if i have my hands down by my side, pictures below showing the gap by the wrist. Very little gap by the forearm Thank you for all your help!!! Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted October 2, 2015 Report Posted October 2, 2015 Make them snug enough that you can get your hand through the wrist opening with a glove on. Easier than putting on the glove afterwards unless you're doing rubber gloves with latex handguards. Quote
Steve Britt[TK] Posted October 4, 2015 Report Posted October 4, 2015 Hey Anthony I have the same kit as you and started working on mine today. I also noticed the different curves at the top, did you figure out why that is? Quote
linkwtf Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Posted October 7, 2015 does one of these shoulder bells look off to you guys? also I lost a lot of confidence when I got to the thighs... this AM armor is huge... I am 6' but had to take off 2 inches off the top to make them work for me... I think they look terrible... what do you guys think? Can you all think of anything to make these a little better? Quote
LoveMonkey[501st] Posted October 7, 2015 Report Posted October 7, 2015 It's hard to see on the thighs until I can see what the look like on you. They might be fine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Khazid[TK] Posted October 7, 2015 Report Posted October 7, 2015 Once you get the fronts trimmed and aligned, have a helper work on alinging the back so you don't get the church bell effect. For my build, that meant trimming on a bias (more at the bottom than the top) to get a proper fit. Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted October 8, 2015 Report Posted October 8, 2015 I'm 5'5" and I trimmed 2 inches off the top of my AM thighs. You shouldn't have had to trim any off and if so, not 2". Can you take a picture of them on you and with your ab piece on too if you have that area completed. Quote
TakoTuesday[501st] Posted October 9, 2015 Report Posted October 9, 2015 I'm about the same size as Airborne and only had to trim 1-1/2" from my thighs... Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted October 9, 2015 Report Posted October 9, 2015 Actually, I think I cut 1-3/4" and the last 1/4" was used as a return edge. Quote
linkwtf Posted October 12, 2015 Author Report Posted October 12, 2015 Got the finishing strips going on the thighs ... reading yalls comments make me really feel like i messed up lol ... ill take a pic with one on soon... without trimming them they went down past my knees and made it impossible to bend at the knee... thats why i trimmed so much off... Started on the helmet, a few nights ago i glued the cap and back together... held the seam together with blue tape and magnets, Tonight i started screwing everything together i noticed the cap had a "ghetto lean" not really sure why hopefully you guys can help me figure out what I keep messing up lol... obvious difference on the cap. the side showing the cap and back seam... looks perfect to me a really awkward angle showing the back seam... Alas i am not messing up everything... the biceps look correct. Quote
linkwtf Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) Ok guys here is the thigh piece on me... what do u guys think... too short? Edited October 13, 2015 by linkwtf Quote
linkwtf Posted October 13, 2015 Author Report Posted October 13, 2015 Apparently there was a disturbance in the force last night because as I sat down to work on the helmet i noticed that the Cap was a lot more even. Also i was able to put both ears back on with little struggle. take a look at the ear gaps here guys.... I am pretty happy with it, I know most people struggle with it, but i seem to struggle with everything else... i'm going to chalk these up to a win. And here are the teeth... I cut the out lines with a hobby knife, and then rolled up a piece of sand paper and essentially "flossed" the helmet with it... What do you guys think? Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted October 13, 2015 Report Posted October 13, 2015 Teeth look good, just square it up a little bit more. You can see you have a bit more to go on these close ups. Make that last tooth not so round. Can you try on that thigh with your compression pants and standing up? Have someone take the picture for you. Kind of hard to tell with the picture you provided. Quote
Scarlet Trooper[501st] Posted October 13, 2015 Report Posted October 13, 2015 If you want to file the teeth more I recommend getting a set of hobby files. You can find them at any hardware store or hobby store. They worked wonders for my helmet! Quote
linkwtf Posted October 14, 2015 Author Report Posted October 14, 2015 Thanks for the advice I actually owned a set that I forgot all about ... Does anyone have a tip for getting the lenses attached? Still working on getting someone to take a pic is me with the thighs on... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted October 15, 2015 Report Posted October 15, 2015 Check out this trooperbay video https://trooperbay.com/dark-green-lens-install/ Quote
linkwtf Posted October 15, 2015 Author Report Posted October 15, 2015 Check out this trooperbay video https://trooperbay.com/dark-green-lens-install/ Sorry I should have been a little more specific... The lenses that came with my AM 2.0 armor kit are thick bubble lenses, I've read people talk about building up the eye area to create more surface area but I haven't found a tutorial on how to get it done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
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