BrinkHouse ANH TK Stunt Build [RT-Mod]

[BrinkHouse]

I guess the thread should be called a RE-build, instead of a build, as I picked up the set of RT-mod armor from TB5K (TK #55321) second hand. Most of the kit is assembled apart from some small elements such as TD, snaps needing installed, etc. he was shorter and a slightly larger build than I am, so some resizing/modifying of certain pieces will be necessary. Luckily it's mostly put together with e6000 and snaps so hopefully that won't be a nightmare! I'm super excited to get started on this, just seeing it on my living room floor makes me so happy!

 

This is my absolute first time doing any of this and so while I've spent many a night reading over the build threads here, there is still a LOT I'm unsure about. I'd love your guys' experience and guidance.

 

Here is a quick to do list after talking with TB5K and trying on the armor as is. I'll start posting more photos tomorrow with some specific questions I have. 

 

Things I'm Not Worried About:

 

• left shoulder bell needs snap 

 

• biceps need hooks

 

• trim belt to proper length and restitch

 

• install snaps on new belt (kit came with a khaki toned belt with snaps already aligned to ab plate, but he also included a new white belt which I'm thinking I'll use but it needs trimmed/snaps)

 

• replace elastic straps on hand armor with Velcro (is this acceptable?)

 

•build TD from kit (all the parts are there, just needs assembling)

 

Things I Am Worried About:

 

• trim kindey/ab plate. [it's currently too big around for me, and I probably need to take off a few inches to fit my narrow frame. Is it as straight forward as disconnecting the two sides and taking off some material from front and back, or should all the material be removed from the kidney, for example?]

 

• thighs, forearms and biceps all need slight trimming, the thighs are the worst offenders. 

 

• currently the back piece has no connection to the kidney plate, need to figure that out. 

 

• need to assess how the cod and butt connect as well as how those connect to the kidney and ab plates

 

• need to adjust the front and back plate spacing [they are sitting slightly off my body. Maybe adjustable via shoulder straps, need to investigate tomorrow.]

 

• wondering if chest plate needs more secure connection to ab plate [currently just two elastic snaps holding it down to ab plate]

 

Photos will come tomorrow, wrote this on my iPad and apparently this forum hates that idea.

Edited December 30, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[BrinkHouse]

Here are some photos!

 

Wanted to show you guys some of the fitment issues. With most of the main pieces on, it seems like once I take in the ab/kidney section that will really resolve a lot of the other issues, like the butt piece not being tight enough on the sides and the gaps in the chest piece/back piece.

 

One thing I'm really curious about before I cut anything is just exactly how tight should the armor fit? Particularly curious for thighs and forearms but also for ab/kidney section. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...Stay tuned.

[BrinkHouse]

Gloves are done. Hand plates had elastic straps, and I supplemented by gluing some velcro strips so that they'll stay in position on the glove. 

 

 

 

 

edit: Thanks to Jasons tip, I'll be sourcing some latex guards instead, as these are too large. 

Edited December 29, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

You're kind of in a good place. RT-Mod is meant for bigger troopers and it's much easier to take away than to add to. It appears that the armor was put together using the overlap method. You're going to want to take that a part and use the butt method with cover strips.  Plenty of tutorials and build threads here to explain that. As far as the torso section, I recommend you taking some material off equally from the kidney. Those hand guards are enormous. Look in the for sale section and get you some latex hand guards to use on the chemical gloves, save the plastic ones for a backup set of nylon gloves. 

[BrinkHouse]

Thanks so much for the tips, Jason! Looks like I've got a bit more work ahead of me than expected.

[BrinkHouse]

[inserts everything into freezer]

[BrinkHouse]

 

Got all the pieces split apart and glue residue removed. My fingernails hurt but everything looks good and is pretty much ready to be trimmed. Will need to procure cover strip material, should I reach out to Rob directly or is there another resource for picking that up? 

 

 

I did manage to possibly ruin my knee armor pack trying to remove the rivets. Didn't realize the drill was superheating the rivet and subsequently melting the plastic. Was able to salvage the second hole but the first one got massacred. Salvageable or should I look for a replacement?

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[BrinkHouse]

*Saved for later*

Edited December 30, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

For what it's worth, I think you've definitely made the right choice in how to proceed. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you have questions, or feel stuck in any way. I'd recommend reaching out to Rob, on an effort to ensure that your cover strip material will have the best chance at a good color match for your armor.

[BrinkHouse]

For what it's worth, I think you've definitely made the right choice in how to proceed. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you have questions, or feel stuck in any way. I'd recommend reaching out to Rob, on an effort to ensure that your cover strip material will have the best chance at a good color match for your armor.

 

Just finished reading your build thread, very helpful. I was envious that you didn't have to do much trimming to get your armor to fit. Turned out awesome!  

[BrinkHouse]

Thermal Detonator:

 

 

I started by cutting the caps down to width, unfortunately didn't photograph that step. Just used a dremel and carefully followed my pencil line. 

 

Next I placed the caps and hooks on and made pencil marks where the holes should be drilled. Also drilled a hole underneath the cover plate to allow air out when both caps go on. 

 

 

 

Then I installed the hooks, the kit came with hardware but you could pick this stuff up at HD. just 4) 6-32 x 1" flat head machine screws with rubber seat washers and nuts. 

 

 

With the hooks on, I placed the cover plate on and made some new pencil lines to make realigning it easy once the glue was on. 

 

 

Glued on the cover plate and tightly wrapped it with tape to dry. 

 

 

Glued on the end caps and done! 

 

 

I thought about starting on the belt next but I think I should wait to do that until the ab section is resized, so I guess that will be next. Scary! 

Edited December 30, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

You're all over it Andrew. Definitely have to resize the kidney and abdomen before proceeding to the belt.<br><br><br>

Also, you'll definitely want to remove the difference from both of those parts, on each side. I'd advise you to take off a little at a time until you get the right look. Cut smaller, equal amounts from each of the four edges involved until it looks right with the chest and back plates. If you take too much off, the proportions between the two parts will look wrong. Slow and steady.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Oh! Almost forgot... You can fix that knee ammo pack quite cheaply and easily. Just pick up some acetone, and keep all of the scrap ABS that you're trimming. Use them to make some ABS paste and fill those holes. I'd sand the area down to smooth it out, cover the outside of the holes (the visible area while wearing it) with painter's tape, and fill the holes from the back. That should help with a smoother surface on the visible side. Then, get some high grit sandpaper, and wet sand it smooth. Proceed as if it were new after it is done.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Glad you got it a part. Even though you have much more work to do, you'll be happy that you did. You might end up having enough material from your cuts to make those into cover strips in itself. I would contact Rob anyways as it NEVER hurts to have extra ABS sheets. Also, keep all your shavings and scraps for potential ABS paste 

[BrinkHouse]

You guys are awesome! 

 

Got the ab and kidney cut and fit last night, will post a little blurb with photos soon. 

 

Today I'm working on the strapping between back/kidney, kidney/butt and chest/ab plates. Also doing the closures for the sides of the ab section. Photos to come!

[BrinkHouse]

Oh! Almost forgot... You can fix that knee ammo pack quite cheaply and easily. Just pick up some acetone, and keep all of the scrap ABS that you're trimming. Use them to make some ABS paste and fill those holes. I'd sand the area down to smooth it out, cover the outside of the holes (the visible area while wearing it) with painter's tape, and fill the holes from the back. That should help with a smoother surface on the visible side. Then, get some high grit sandpaper, and wet sand it smooth. Proceed as if it were new after it is done.

 

Can't wait to give this a try. 

[BrinkHouse]

Trimming Kidney and Ab Pieces:

 

My first cuts and some of the most important to get right. No pressure, right? I started out by taping the two pieces together to find the right fit and marked approximately my center line with a pencil (half way from my stomach to back). Then I took my straight edge and drew the actual line with a fine point sharpie.

 

 

Once I had marked all four lines, I refit the armor and aligned the lines together, just to double check it was correct. They were, and they leave a very small amount of extra material in the event that I have an extra large lunch one day and don't want to feel like I'm wearing a corset.   Since I'll be doing a velcro closure, it leaves me a little bit of flexibility in order to get the tightness just right from troop to troop.  Happy with the fit, I carefully cut down my straight edge with a razor blade a few times to score the plastic. I was then able to bend the cutoff back.

 

 

I ran my razor blade down the center carefully to separate the two pieces. Will need some sanding but ultimately came out pretty well! Taped back into place, I drew a curve that would match the ab to the kidney a little better, I thought it looked sloppy to have the ab be so much taller at the joint. 

 

 

 

Then with sharp scissors I cut out the curve. This still needs some finessing and sanding but I'm pretty happy with it. 

 

 

The mid section had velcro suspenders installed, which I really dig. They can be removed easily but hold really well during use. I put them on in order to get a feel for how things were fitting. Taped on the butt piece and cod piece, and attached the belt (which is currently built but will be redone at correct length and with white belt instead of canvas) and overall, I was really happy to see things lining up and feeling good! 

 

 

 

 

Then I threw on the chest and back armor because I was curious about how they were going to sit with the ab and kidney plate as far as gaps. Pretty damn good! 

 

 

 

I did a little happy dance at this point. 

 

QUESTION: Because I trimmed the width of the kidney plate down, should I do the same for the butt piece so they line up at the sides? With the belt on it sort of hides that the butt is a little wider but I'd rather have it be right. Thanks!

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Yes, you can trim your butt plate down too. Leave yourself material to recreate the return edge. I don't think it's a big deal and won't prevent approval, but you should have left some room for your ab plate too. Don't forget to add the kidney plate notches!

[BrinkHouse]

Yes, you can trim your butt plate down too. Leave yourself material to recreate the return edge. I don't think it's a big deal and won't prevent approval, but you should have left some room for your ab plate too. Don't forget to add the kidney plate notches!

 

I was wondering about that because none of my body armor has return edges, and only the bottoms of the thighs, biceps and shoulder bells, shins and tops of forearms have them...

 

Edit: Ok, I lied. Upon further inspection, the top edge of the ab has a slight return. Maybe I can heat the area where I cut the curve and try to extend that return all the way across. 

Edited December 31, 2015 by BrinkHouse

[BrinkHouse]

Kidney notches cut. I won't be applying for Centurion right away, as the previous owner had cut out the ab buttons and replaced with screw in style, which aren't allowed. For now I should be able to get EIB and maybe down the road I can fix that and any other small issues I'm not able to fix right now. 

 

 

[BrinkHouse]

Worked most of the day on making snaps and assembling the strapping for the body section of armor. Got everything done except I ran out of velcro for the kidney/ab side closure. Once I install that tomorrow I'll post photos of it all. 

 

Decided I'd start working on the belt. Because it had already been assembled using a khaki colored belt, I could use that belt to transfer the existing snap locations to the new white TKettle belt. Only one problem... 

 

 

When this belt was first built, the ends were not trimmed to the correct length, and so the two end snaps, which correspond to snaps on the ab plate (already installed) are not going to be covered if I trim the belt down to its correct length. I'd have to drill the snaps out on the ab plate and fill the holes with ABS paste, then drill new holes closer in to the center, within the cover of the ammo belt. The alternative here would be to leave it as is, which means that the plastic material which extends past the last ammo box is 3 1/8" on each side... Is that acceptable for EIB/Centurion? Didn't see a specific measurement required on the 501 requirements for either...

 

Not to mention the snaps that were installed were glued inside the button covers which would need to be cut off and relocated. Argh. 

 

 

[BrinkHouse]

Internal Strapping:

 

Here's a quick look at the finished strapping! Feels great to not be taping stuff together anymore.

 

 

Today I finished all the strapping for the shoulder bells, back, chest, kidney, ab, cod and butt pieces. I mainly used 1" knit elastic and heavy duty snaps. For connections which had critical spacing, like the back to kidney, I taped the pieces together and installed the strapping to maintain the spacing. Worked really well. One trick I used was to glue one whole side of male snaps onto the plastic, let that dry and then snap on the strapping with the other male snap piece attached and then glue/place it exactly where I wanted it on the mating armor piece. This worked really great for the back to kidney and kidney to butt pieces. 

 

 

The ab and kidney are held up with velcro'd suspenders, which work great. I love the heavy duty velcro approach because it allows for fine tuning of the armor over time, as well as if I want to replace the straps or suspenders. No biggie. 

 

 

I know a lot of people rivet the left side of the ab/kidney together, but I chose to use velcro straps on both sides. The "access" side, the side I'll use to get in/out uses 2" knit elastic with snaps on one side and velcro on the other. My main reasoning for velcro was again adjustability, I really like the idea of being able to easily modify and adjust things in the future without having to tear out webbing, rivets, etc. The other reason I went this route was because I left the ab and kidney armor just slightly larger than my actual size, and the velcro allows me to adjust the pieces in to compensate for that while also leaving opportunity for them to be expanded if necessary. With the velcro attached on both sides, the armor is held together really well. If I were using this stuff to do heavy movement or lots of physical activity, I may not have gone this route, but the fact that I'll mostly be standing around, posing, etc. leaves me feeling more than confident in the velcro. 

 

 

 

The shoulder straps use 1.5" elastic with double snaps to connect the front to back and velcro to hold the armor strips down to the strapping. The back piece snaps on and the armor strips have velcro which connect to the top of the back plate. I'm pretty sure the CRL calls for these to be free floating in the back, however, so that may change. If so I'll take the velcro off the back and add the white elastic band instead. 

 

 

 

Lastly, the shoulder bells got new strapping with snaps from the shoulder strap to the bell, and then continuing down to where they will snap onto the inner bicep. My hope is that these, along with the plastic hooks, will keep the bicep from ever sagging. 

 

 

 

 

While I wait for some feedback about the belt situation, I'm going to attempt to glue up the biceps and make the hooks, so that the entire upper body (sans forearms) is completed. I think I have enough extra ABS to make the cover strips... 

[BrinkHouse]

Bummer, the spare ABS plastic I have doesn't quite match the whiteness of the armor, so I'll have to wait until I hear back from Rob to order some cover strip material.

[BrinkHouse]

Just found these strips via Trooperbay, does anyone know how well they match the RT-Mod armor? 

 

https://trooperbay.com/abs-plastic-extension-strips.html

[Darth Aloha[Admin]]

Just found these strips via Trooperbay, does anyone know how well they match the RT-Mod armor?

 

https://trooperbay.com/abs-plastic-extension-strips.html

Yep. Pretty darn close in the lighting of my apartment at least. Trooperbay's plastic bicep and RT mod shin in the crappy photo.

 

 

-Eric

 

 

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