themaninthesuitcase Anovos ANH Stunt Build

[kman[TK]]

You should fully charge it and leave it running to see...

I'm thinking of running 2 off a 9v battery (x2 as I have 4 (2 front pointing up 2 back pointing down for maximum airflow))

Running 2 fans off a 9 volt battery, you're going to suck the batteries dry very quickly.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

The battery is 3350 mA and the fans quote 0.14A on them. If my maths is right that's in the 10-12 hour region.

[AWOL]

Running 2 fans off a 9 volt battery, you're going to suck the batteries dry very quickly.

They're only 5v fans with 600mAh rechargables, will test them and see how they go...

I also have the Anker astro pro 2 but I'd like to avoid wires going from my chest into my bucket...

It's a fluid build and I'll see what works best...

I like to have multiple options...

 

the force? oh I'll use the force, bring me a hammer...

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I finished up the hovi tip update last night:

 

After 4 coats of the matt white they looked like this (still not glued back together, just placed)

 

 

For the mesh I used a sieve from, I think, Poundland. I applied a layer of tape to each side and drew around a 2p. I cut them out with some kitchen scissors, after telling the wife if this killed them I'd buy some more.

 

 

With the tape on it was actually rather stiff. To bend them to shape I used an AA battery and pushed them over the end until it was as good as it was going to get. They are still slightly domed rather than flat but it will have to do.

 

 

They were pushed in from the rear, using the battery to help align things. This scratched the paint a bit so this was touched up after they were super glued in place.

 

When I went to screw them back on 1 came apart. They are made of 3 parts, 2 black plastic parts that might have been injection moulded and a resin part that was clearly moulded from a SLS 3D printed master.

 

 

A couple of drops of super glue had it back together.

 

 

Back on the bucket and ready for Centurion approval, just waiting on the gloves really.

[welshchris77[TK]]

Hovi tips looking good Chris, good luck with Centurion 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I had an epiphany this evening: aka an I'm an idiot moment. I have LOTS of foam...

 

So I cut some of the left over bits from the leg armour in half to make it 1/2" thick cut it to 2" square and bingo, no vibration noise!

 

 

 

I also had to re-glue one the switches back on. This was the one I'd not roughed up the plastic on before gluing so this time gave it a quick rub with the 180 to give the glue something to grip to.

 

 

Primitive but functional.

 

 

The battery is held in with velcro in the chin. It's a bit long but there's not really anywhere else to put it. I will look into a new battery that doesn't need to be turned on and maybe I can find one a cm or so shorter. The green gaff tape is there as it sticks to the battery better than the velcro and also means I can write my name on it in case I misplace it at a troop.

 

Despite the fans pointing directly at the mic it doesn't pick them up at all, so I am really happy with the Wireless Trooping Systems setup. I probably only need 1 fan running but having two gives me some options. They aren't the quietest fans ever but in a busy hall you wouldn't hear them, I might not hear you though however. This is all just held in with friction so easy enough to remove if I decide I don't like it.

 

edit: just found a short USB right angle adapter I'll try but will take a while to get here.

Edited May 16, 2016 by themaninthesuitcase

[jonhaag[501st]]

Any chance you could share the dimensions of the plastic that your fan setup is mounted to? I've got a big sheet of ABS I'm going to cut a mount out of quite similar to your setup.

[kman[TK]]

Just a thought: For the switches, you might want to find a small piece of scrap plastic (not Anovos plastic, just pretty much some trash plastic the right size and strength) and make a little 90 degree "L" bracket with a proper mounting hole for you to actually mount the switch into, then you'll have a much larger (and flat) surface area you can E6000 the switch (or rivet if you're feeling confident) to the larger bracket. It'll just be a lot more secure than a dab of glue like that.

 

Just a thought I had while looking at it. I mounted my switch directly into the main bracket, but yours is too deep to do that, I think. An L-bracket would let you mount that switch as it's intended to be mounted, though.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Any chance you could share the dimensions of the plastic that your fan setup is mounted to? I've got a big sheet of ABS I'm going to cut a mount out of quite similar to your setup.

The end bits are 50mm sqares, the strips are 1.5" wide (yay for mixed units!). I can't tell you the length though. I basically cut long strips of paper and then glued them together to get the shape than transfered that to the ABS.

 

Just a thought: For the switches, you might want to find a small piece of scrap plastic (not Anovos plastic, just pretty much some trash plastic the right size and strength) and make a little 90 degree "L" bracket with a proper mounting hole for you to actually mount the switch into, then you'll have a much larger (and flat) surface area you can E6000 the switch (or rivet if you're feeling confident) to the larger bracket. It'll just be a lot more secure than a dab of glue like that.

 

Just a thought I had while looking at it. I mounted my switch directly into the main bracket, but yours is too deep to do that, I think. An L-bracket would let you mount that switch as it's intended to be mounted, though.

If I come accross something suitable I will but once I rough up the surface the hot glue is actually pretty strong. It required some decent effort to pull it off the switch that came off.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Someone on the FB group was asking how I wired my fans so I drew a schematic:

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Got news from Imperial Supply Depot that my new gloves are ready so those are now paid for. Probably won't be here in time for my first troop on Saturday but oh well. Should be good to go for centurion next week though which is nice.

 

I also got a helmet bag today which I should have done a long time ago.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Gloves from ISD came today. I went with the silicone option rather than latex as theres a chance one of my daughters has a latex allergy and also it's becoming more common so I wouldn't want to give someone at a troop a reaction.

 

 

The gloves are a nice thin material compared to my Black HD Marigold brand ones so I might actually be able to feel what I'm holding, like say an E-11. The silicone has a few small holes from air bubbles during casting but nothing too alarming.

 

These where the last parts I was waiting on for my Centurion application. However I've still got to address the shoulder bell gap. The elastic is the correct length, or at least pretty close to it. The issue is my shoulder doesn't fit into the bell properly so they all need to be heat formed to flare them out a touch. As I am trooping tomorrow I won't be doing that until either Sunday or Monday. I'll need to take some elastic off too allow for this so I'll have to check how much I've got left.

 

Once all that's done I should be okay to go for Centurion which will be a nice achievement if I can get it.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

First things first:

 

 

Once again thank you to everyone who made this possible.

 

After the troop I had a few sore spots, and after a chat with one Mr Haggis I've started some extra trimming.

 

For the biceps and fore arms I've reduced down the returns a lot. I've left a bit as I prefer the look with a bit of return. This wasn't a huge problem area but I'm hoping this will give me a bit more are movement. That said it's loosening up a bit with use, I could do the shoulder poppers my self for example which I couldn't do when I first suited up.

 

The biggest issue was a rub on the top of my left knee from the front of the thigh. I've started fixing this in a few ways.

• Removed the foam from the back of the thigh. This isn't really needed the foam in the shin stops the sniper plate hooking.
• Reduced the return at the bottom of the thighs. This was about 7-8mm it's now more like 3-4mm. Still enough to give the illusion of thickness but less to dig into my knee.
• Trimmed the top of the rear of the thigh.

The last one is the big one and should mean the thigh twists less and can go up a bit higher. This was what I spoke to Bill about who said not worry about the squared off back, the originals didn't have them.

 

Working off images like below, and the shape of my big fat bottom I've started to trim away at the top.

 

 

 

I think I can go a bit further still. It's easy to take off but a pain to put it back. The shape is a bit odd and is based on removing the minimum needed to get a good fit. It's already considerably better. Twist is reduced and it's being pushed down less. I suspect I'll remove a bit more but time ran out this evening so I might wait to troop it again before I cut again.

 

 

Once the final position is nailed down I'll round off any remaining points like one the left thigh.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

This evening it was time for my first post troop repair.

 

Previously I'd tried to fix a crack on the rim of the bucket with some ABS paste. This has simply cracked again

 

 

To fix it I was going to use some acetone to "glue" on some scrap ABS but the position made this pretty impossible, even with some thin scrap.

 

I decided to try a fix suggested at the troop which is to super glue some fabric on.

 

I think the ideal would have been some t-shirt but I don't have anything suitable to cut up at the moment. What the wife found was some thin white cotton from a nativity costume.

 

 

To apply it I dropped a few drops of super glue on the crack and then pressed on the fabric. I then tried to saturate the fabric with more super glue. As the fabric was pretty thin I did a second layer to try get more strength through layering. The fabric over lapped into the hole so this was trimmed with scissors.

 

 

The patches were cut to be larger than the crack to stop the crack running any further and thicken up this thin area.

 

I did also consider soaking the fabric in acetone rather than superglue but I was worried the thinness of the material here would warp or melt through. I'm still toying with the idea of sanding/filing back the out side and applying paste to melt and fill the crack too now it's reinforced from the rear.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

More repairs today 

 

On my 2nd troop (I know, I know only 2 but child care is an issue) I cracked my right shin at the top at some point.

 

Poormans fibre glass to the rescue!  Same as I did on the bucket but now with added Billgram:

 

 

I of course forgot to T the crack with a knife (again) but only after 2 layers of T-shirt and glue.  This is a very thick reenforcement and the crack isn't moving at all any more. I also have glue covered fingers so am struggling to unlock my iPhone   

 

 

I'll leave this to go off completely and then sand back the repair as the little bits of fabric rise up and make little spikes that won't do the under suit any favours.

 

My CO also recommended I trim down some of my returns so I'll be doing that before my next troop too.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

This evening I had to re-do the crack repair. I used some scissors to trim off the excess and it sent a crack down the fabric. In hind sight I should have sanded it off but there was a lot of excess to remove so I didn't.

 

To fix it this time I used a burr on a Dremel to grind back the T-shirt and super glue where it cracked. That stuff is HARD, took a good 15 minutes to get most of the spit area removed. I didn't remove all of it as I didn't want to go through into the ABS. I also left the bits that didn't break to help reinforce the area, but I did smooth.

 

Once the area was cleaned up I glued on a piece of ABS scrap under the crack and about 5mm each side. I left this to set.

 

Second attempt crack repair by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

Once the glue was dry I used a sanding drum to remove the excess and smoothed the edges. This seems to have done the trick as the crack isn't moving now. You can see where I left the repair a little proud of the cracked edge by where the black marks from my under suit still are as I couldn't sand there. This should stop the crack opening as the repair comes out past the crack.

 

I'll have to keep an eye on it but hopefully it will hold for a while.

 

I also trimmed back my butt plate as recommended by my CO and smoothed all the edges on the whole armour as he also recommended I do that.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Seeing as it's soon going to be time for me to start trooping again I'm fixing some of the niggles from last year.
 
This evening I finally trimmed down the helmet ear screws.  I used M3.5 brass screws that only come in 25mm long, and when I put the bucket on would jab me in the head.
 
To fix this I used a sharpie to mark all the screws after the nut and then 1 at a time removed them and trimmed them down with a hacksaw.
 

Amount of screw removed by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr
 
I didn't need to remove much but it's made a huge difference and I no longer catch on them when putting on the helmet.  If I could have got them 20mm long would have been about perfect.
 

Trimmed screws holding visor by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

Looks much tidier too.  The good thing about the brass screws is they cut and filed smooth easily and also leave a nice uniform finish.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Great thread, Chris. So glad you mentioned the  on switch on the smallest Anker power pack. I'd ordered a similar one without realising. 

As soon as I saw your comments I changed my order for the next size up which doesn't have to be switched on. :-)

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

1 hour ago, CableGuy said:

Great thread, Chris. So glad you mentioned the  on switch on the smallest Anker power pack. I'd ordered a similar one without realising. 

As soon as I saw your comments I changed my order for the next size up which doesn't have to be switched on. :-)

 

I think the newer model doesn't have it now.  If a bigger battery is going to fit that's a good solution but I don't have the space.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

 

Was doing my preseason check last night so I had time for any repairs/changes, and noticed my helmet is starting to yellow. Womp womp.  Nothing to serious yet, mostly on 1 corner of the dome and the ear pucks but it's noticeable.  I suspect the Yaxley troop last year was to blame for most of the damage.

 

I do have some changes to make for this year though.  I've lost some weight so I need to tweak the fit a bit, and finally add the cuts to the legs for more movement and add a tether to stop them twisting.

[kman[TK]]

Safe to assume you're familiar with Retr0bright to remove yellowing and restore that OEM creamy white goodness?

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Yes I am. I don’t think it’s worth the hassle just yet but much more and it will be.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

So after 2 years I thought it would be nice to walk in comfort. In order to achieve that I finally added the half moons to the back of the knee on my suit.

 

I first started with some reference.  Specifically this image: 

 

Reference by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

To actually make the change I put some blue masking tape, feel free to other colours, and drew on a line as best as I could to match the reference.

 

Marking up the half moon mod by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

This done I got out my trusty HPI curved scissors and started cutting.  This was just as scary as I remembered, if not more so as it would be a nightmare going back.

 

2nd leg cut by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

After cutting all the shins and thighs I ran some 240 grit over all the edges to remove any sharp edges or nicks from the mod.

 

Rear knee half moon mod by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

 

Whilst stairs are still a little bit of an issue, I'd need to shorten either the thigh, shin or maybe both to get much more flex, I can walk around much more comfortably now.

 

Whilst I was at it I also added some elastic tethers to stop the shins twisting inwards.  I don't have any photos but this is essentially about 2-3" of elastic with a female snap on it, attached to the pull on the boot with a keyring.  Then theres the male snap about half way up the shin on the cover strip side just above the bra hook.  The elastic is ever so slightly tensioned so it pulls on the shin.  Theory is the snap is slightly off set to one side, so the tension in the elastic holds it from turning which would stretch it more.  Will need to see how well it works in practice but it seemed okay for the 10 mins I tried earlier.  

 

If anyone's interested I'll try get some photos of the setup.

Edited April 23, 2018 by themaninthesuitcase

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Found this diagram by Ross (of RWA) which is where I got the boot idea from.

 

Boot straps by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr