Brattie's AP Build and Journey to The 501st

[TD42115[501st]]

I have a thought, when the armor was strapped the bells were kept close to the bridges for centurion. but if we were to modify the length of the biceps / shoulder strapping(minimize overlap) it may alleviate the pull on the bridges.. 

 

I have also seen some attach the bottom of the bridges to the chest/back strap to solve this issue..  

Edited September 16, 2016 by TD42115

[Brattie[TK]]

yeah.. I keep going back in my head to Scott's AP set and the tin under the bridges.. was a solid connection and wow can he move around when trooping.

[Knockerbot[501st]]

If you go sandy itll be just as bad. I cant move my neck at all, so much so that my black pauldron has a white streak on it. They take up a lot of space.<br><br>

But youll solve all the other shoulder problems. Just not the helmet resting proble.

[Brattie[TK]]

I have a few ideas to fix the issue. I am considering figuring out a way to mount a hard connection to the bridges for the shoulder bells.. this would take away the need for the straps and prevent movement. I have seen another utilize a Tin like metal on theirs and it seemed to work well for them.

 

I will be looking at a similar metal rigid support for my bridges before I continue with any Heavy Weapons modifications.

 

Also I'm scouting in a new direction for my 3rd build but this build is planned to be a very slow process. Hopefully I'll have some Birthday money come my way in a couple months.

[ComradeDave[TK]]

Also use elastic strips for your bells more range of motion. I never have to worry about my helmet touching my bridges because of my giraffe neck lol

[sylverbard[TK]]

I still dont understand but that's OK. My shoulders are held on with nylon and glue biceps glued to that. Forearms glued to them. All goes on like hockey pass and I've got lots of motion. Elastic would just ...fall.

[Brattie[TK]]

 

best way to describe it.

 

Under my bridges is a strap that connects the back and front armor together. It's made of thick strap material. This item has snaps on it to also connect the strap for my bells.

Due to the weight of the bells, it gets pulled out from under the bridges by between half and one inch. It looks horrible.

 

Currently to counter the pull of the bells I have a black elastic that runs from the center of each of the bridge straps and thus keeps them from being pulled out. However this causes 2 things..

1) something sitting on the back of my neck

2) the armor to not sit down all the way.

 

The black strap from side to side to hold the bridge straps in while under the load of the bells was only a temporary fix for Fan Expo.

 

I am researching a way to utilize a Solid metal / or metal like item that has a little bend to it but will not flex sideways like normal strapping.

This would ensure that it doesn't slip out from under the bridges and not be visible.

 

So I'm going to find some type of metal and figure out how to connect it all.

 

Another person i know used a tin like material.. this is being considered.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Brattie

[68Brick[TK]]

What if you glued the strap to your shoulder bridge? ... With the exception of where your snaps are, and where the shoulder bridge goes over the front&back plate and the strap goes under. I currently run this set up with the addition of Ind. Velcro (between the bridge and strap) so that I can remove the straps from the shoulder bridges if I want. It's successful.

[Brattie[TK]]

Did you glue the velcro or sew it to the strap?

 

Sent from my STV100-3 using Tapatalk

[Knockerbot[501st]]

I say replace the bridges with white elastic and throw brown paint on the whole thing lol

[68Brick[TK]]

I e6000'd the Velcro to the abs shoulder strap/bridge, and e6000'd the Velcro to the shoulder snap strap. The strap would probably be best sewn, but the glue is working well for me. I have limited access to a sewing machine.

[TKZombie[TK]]

From looking at your photos from FANEXPO I'd say your connection point where the shoulder bell attaches to the under side of the shoulder strap is in the wrong spot. I'd try moving the connection forward right in front of the chest plate. This closes the amount of black undersuit gap in the front and pushes in to the back and I think might help with your shoulder issue popping up to. I have no other attachment to the shoulders other than the single elastic strap and snap. 

 

This is where I have mine on my TK and TD. Right against the chest and on the inner side. Never had a issue you've described. 

 

That position keeps the shoulders tight to my chest and has very minimum gap in the front

 

Even on the back the gaps are small.

[Knockerbot[501st]]

Oh! Is there a chance these got switched? If you put left on right and right on left for the straps that connect the back and chest would that make a difference?

[Brattie[TK]]

Yeah.. by moving the button closer to the attachment point of the front armor that would provide the structure to prevent it from being pulled out.. however.. my larger chest requires the front armor to be lower than yours.. so then the attachment would be too far forward.

 

I'll have to find a more solid way of mounting them but as I don't wear my TK armor that often it's not a rush to fix.. I plan on taking my time..

[BritBulldog[TK]]

Thanks for posting this thread Angie, we're going to be building an AP kit for my girlfriend who's also fairly short This is going to be invaluable....

[zv288bot[TK]]

Hey Angie,

 

I myself am struggling with keeping that elastic under the plastic shoulder bridge as well. Frankly the should bells are what has kept me from submitting for centurion. Anyway, as I scour the Centurion posts for AP kits I came across this applicant who had a similar issue. Someone on his post posted a link of a guy that made them look way better. Haven't had to the time to do so myself yet but when I do, I'll be trying this out.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/37297-shoulder-bell-sizes/?hl=gaps

 

Cheers!

[zv288bot[TK]]

Sorry, make sure you scroll down to check out his work.

[Brattie[TK]]

Jorge,

 

Thanks. Yes I have seen his post before. I didn't use elastic from the back and front though. I used strapping which was more rigid to prevent this issue.

It just wasn't enough..

 

I have a few plans in mind.. as I'm a "bigger girl" up top than some others I plan on shifting the button towards the front more and I am considering attaching a thin metal to the strap.

What I'd like to see is even a fabric around the metal with the snaps through it, or the strap I have attached to the metal.. I don't know..

 

That's the part I'm just trying to work out in my head.. however funds right now are at a stand still as I'm still recovering from Fan Expo and other Troops last month. When I have time I will visit the stores and see about the metal.. I have a few ideas in mind for that as well.. Something thin with a little flex but workable. Ducting perhaps.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Paul,

 

I am not short, but there can be similar issues to AP gear with regards to sizing. Take your time. Mark is awesome with answering questions but sometimes it's best to call him if there are misunderstandings. His gear is good  but it's difficult to size for women due to our proportions upstairs so to speak.

 

I love my gear, I know I don't seem that interested in it lately, but I do love my gear and appreciate all the help I've had with it.. I just find some things very frustrating with it and until I work out all those kinks.. I just won't be satisfied.. that's me though and nothing to do with the build or the gear.

 

As I mentioned before I never planned on taking my gear to Fan Expo.. not my TK anyway. However it was requested for the march and stuff so away it went.

I am very structured in how I like to test gear. I expect it to look and feel the best it can before I do official troops. I expect it to be in good working order with limited chance for failures during an official Troop.. it's why I do unofficial walks in the park to work out kinks and trouble shoot problems.

 

Best advice I can give is to take your time and work through sizing it right and making it fit the best.

 

I haven't really seen it posted in too many places out there so I'll just come out and say it.. you are wearing a plastic spaceman outfit.. it's not designed for our curves or our shapes in comparison to the male form. It is different and over all it's not the most comfortable thing to wear. Most of us put that to the side as we are just so happy to be in our gear and doing what we do.. I know I do.. but it's very important to ensure you make it as comfortable as possible..

 

Anyway, I know many people that are building for different sizes and shapes and there is no one place for answers. Reach out to the local Garrison and speak to the different people.. Some less vertical individuals are Sand Troopers as well. So they may be able to lend good advise for someone under 5' 11.

 

I look forward to hearing and seeing your build progress.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Tricks that have been handed down to me along the way from those wiser than I am include things like:

 

Use small padding in the legs near the knees to help prevent twist during walking. This also takes some of the pressure off the harness system under the suit. Also use velcro in a few places on the lower legs.

 

Two piece under-suits are more comfortable but as the armor moves.. so does the suit.. I am also considering a one piece suit for my TK now.. I have to de-gear totally to use the bathroom anyway.. so I might as well go with the one piece.

 

TK armor takes loads of tweaking and it may never end. After numerous troops over a weekend or a very long one... you will lose weight (water) due to sweating so much and your gear will become loose.. expect that and be prepared for your gear to shift around a bit more.

 

So far I have utilized the following from my emergency kit:

• Safety Pins
• Scissors
• Tape
• Velcro (usually others)
• Soldering Iron

Over that period I have completed 10 official and 2 unofficial troops (not including walks in the park)

• 8 Troops in my Jawa
• 2 Troops in both Jawa and TK  (I had my TK for the whole Fan Expo but only wore it twice when needed)

Yes.. creating a troop tracker helps keep track of things.

 

Laterz all and thanks again.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Brattie

[ComradeDave[TK]]

I've had this problem too Angie, When I moved my snaps closer to the front of my elastic straps it helped a lot. You could try the other's advice and glue it or you could try moving your white elastic band that holds the bridges down closer to the chest.

 

look how far this trooper's is.

 

[BritBulldog[TK]]

Paul,

 

I am not short, but there can be similar issues to AP gear with regards to sizing. Take your time. Mark is awesome with answering questions but sometimes it's best to call him if there are misunderstandings. His gear is good  but it's difficult to size for women due to our proportions upstairs so to speak.

 

 

Sorry, I saw that you had a Jawa too so I figured you must be on the shorter side. We went with Mark's kit because from the research it seems his is better suited to trimming to shorter people - she's 5'4. It's great to know he's so helpful, he's been really good with the contact I've had with him so far. She also has a fairly large chest, so I imagine we'll be running into a lot of the issues you've been hitting. Thanks for the help!

[Brattie[TK]]

Glad to help Paul!

 

Not all Jawa's are short! Laughs

[sylverbard[TK]]

The white elastic around the bridge will help . Shoulder bells and biceps don't weigh much...it sounds more like the front to back strapping needs to be more secure all the way on the surface of the chest and back do it can't move outwards. You used webbing not elastic right? Glue it down as far as it goes without glueing to the bridge and slide the white elastic up almost flush. Tighten the elastic if its too loose.

[Brattie[TK]]

I agree with the idea.. I am going to reinforce the bridge first though.. then I could glue, or velcro the strap to the bridge and this would then relieve the issue with the bells.. thus enabling me to remove the other temporary strap I had in place to keep them tight together..

[Brattie[TK]]

Alright.. I have a heading..

 

I'm going to create a sandwich for my shoulder straps.. the white strap I have holding the front and back armor together under the bridge will have a message spine added to it..

 

The piece will go from the snaps on one side to the snaps on the other to prevent the horizontal pull from the bells.. I will cut a couple strips of Tin so they are 1/4 inch small per side of the strap to prevent metal cuts. (just in case)

Then I'll Rivet and glue the pieces to the strap.. this will stiffen it up so it shouldn't have sideways flex as much..

 

On top of that.. I can then add velcro to the top of the tin and velcro under the bridges to help support everything..

 

If it works.. I will have resolved the issue and my armor should sit down better after the removal of the black strap I have that currently goes behind my neck to hold the current straps inward.

 

Fingers crossed..

 

Items I will pick up include:

• 8 Longer rivets
• 16 Wide Rivet washers
• Tin (probably duct work)
• White velcro (already have)

Edited September 23, 2016 by Brattie

[Brattie[TK]]

You can see in this small picture that the strap I am talking about sticks out about half an inch..

 

This was rectified for Fan Expo via another black elastic that ran to each strap on each side of my head and pulled them inwards preventing this issue.

 

The flex in the strap allow it to be pulled out.. My theory is that if I remove a lot of that flex.. it will prevent it from becoming visible.

 

Fingers crossed

Edited September 23, 2016 by Brattie