KMan's Anovos TK Adventure Build

[welshchris77[TK]]

Toothpicks are your friend for applying abs paste 

[kman[TK]]

Just an idea here but if you cut some circles the same diameter at the rivet covers and glued them together with abs paste until you have the right thickness, then sand the edge smooth and glue(abs paste them to a square off cut, when fully dry (a few days to fully cure) countersink a hole in the back with a bench drill or carefully dremel a recess out for the new rivet.

or better still make some of the circles the same shape as a 'washer' before glueing them except the very top one and also pre drill a hole in the square off cut before gluing it all together which will create your recess.

If that makes sense?

 

I think I follow you. But I think I'll probably say "screw it!" and go with David's suggestion to buy a set from ATA, LOL!

 

I might give one brief try at the DIY method with a hot coin in the gazmosis thread that Sentry linked, but if that doesn't turn out fairly well fairly quickly, I don't think I have the patience to try much more than that. Or sand perfectly smooth circles.

 

Toothpicks are your friend for applying abs paste 

For detail work, I'd imagine. For most work, I still like my coffee stir stick!

[kman[TK]]

Small update from last night:

 

(Also read as "THE END OF THE SHIN CONTROVERSY!")

 

The shin matter has finally been settled to everyone's satisfaction, including my own. TrooperMaster was dead right, as usual.

 

That having been settled, last night I was finally able to attach the sniper knee plate (to the CORRECT leg this time!).

 

And on the other leg, I attached what is hopefully the last inner cover strip I'll ever need to attach. (until I build my next set of armor, that is, heh-heh!)

 

So here are the final shin armors, laid out correctly:

 

 

Note the exterior (side) curve is more gradual and symmetrical, top to bottom. The inner (side) curve is a little higher on the top, and tapers in sooner. The lowest part of the lower ankle guard is on the inside.

 

Once that glue cures, I can deal with the back closure, finally.

 

Just to revisit the button plate issue for a moment, here are the two intact buttons, after cutting them the f&%k off the belt with a Dremel cutting wheel. See how full they are with SOLID epoxy?!? Yeesh! And that's AFTER cutting out a bunch! Small wonder the third plate pretty much crumbled.

 

 

I shot off an email to Anovos, seeking replacements (paid or free, I don't care). I'll give them some time to respond, but otherwise I'm not going to bother with any of this for now. 99.9% of the armor can be completed without the button covers, which literally can be glued on as a dead final step, so I'll let the issue percolate for a while and move on to more important things.

 

Finally: I was cutting while extremely tired (as usual) and managed to nick my finger. So I put an Imperial Bandage on my boo-boo. Seemed appropriate.

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by kman

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I am petrified of removing the belt now. I've seen 1 or 2 success storied and 4-5+ where there's been issues.

 

I think I'll use a dremel to grind of the rivets a small amount at at time and use a damp cloth to keep the heat down. In theory I could apply this to the caps too once I get that far. What do you think?

[kman[TK]]

I am petrified of removing the belt now. I've seen 1 or 2 success storied and 4-5+ where there's been issues.

 

I think I'll use a dremel to grind of the rivets a small amount at at time and use a damp cloth to keep the heat down. In theory I could apply this to the caps too once I get that far. What do you think?

You could do that. Heat wasn't the issue, I'm quite sure. I was pulling at the rivet with pliers, after cutting more material away from it, when mine crumbled.

 

I really think that cutting out the discs from behind, with a dremel cutting wheel, is the way to go. (use a razor/exacto knife to cut away the cloth part first, of course) Put on cover plates like I did, and the belt is ready to attach to the new one, no problem, and very high likelihood of success for anyone.

 

Then take your time working the rivets out. Go slower than I did on that part, because there's really no rush. You can literally complete every single other thing in the entire armor, other than the button covers, without any further delay.

Edited February 23, 2016 by kman

[DBoz]

You could do that. Heat wasn't the issue, I'm quite sure. I was pulling at the rivet with pliers, after cutting more material away from it, when mine crumbled.

 

I really think that cutting out the discs from behind, with a dremel cutting wheel, is the way to go. (use a razor/exacto knife to cut away the cloth part first, of course) Put on cover plates like I did, and the belt is ready to attach to the new one, no problem, and very high likelihood of success for anyone.

 

Then take your time working the rivets out. Go slower than I did on that part, because there's really no rush. You can literally complete every single other thing in the entire armor, other than the button covers, without any further delay.

Wow. I got really lucky with my belt. Sorry you guys didn't.

 

As for using a dremel, be very careful. Those rivets will heat up fast and melt the belt plastic. I tried this on one of mine and got some melting on the belt. I stopped before it got too bad.

[kman[TK]]

Wow. I got really lucky with my belt. Sorry you guys didn't.

 

As for using a dremel, be very careful. Those rivets will heat up fast and melt the belt plastic. I tried this on one of mine and got some melting on the belt. I stopped before it got too bad.

For the record, I wasn't using the dremel on the actual rivets, but rather cutting away the epoxy ROCK that was holding the rivets in place.

 

Yes, though, be careful with heat. I only did a little at a time. It's all small, so I needed to pull the dremel away anyway to see how the progress was going.

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Wow. I got really lucky with my belt. Sorry you guys didn't.

 

As for using a dremel, be very careful. Those rivets will heat up fast and melt the belt plastic. I tried this on one of mine and got some melting on the belt. I stopped before it got too bad.

in some ways melting out the rivet would give a nice neat hole rather than a huge tear. I just hope I'm one of the small amount of glue people.

[kman[TK]]

in some ways melting out the rivet would give a nice neat hole rather than a huge tear. I just hope I'm one of the small amount of glue people.

I think the concern about heat is re melting the button cover, not so much the easily hidden belt back.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I think the concern about heat is re melting the button cover, not so much the easily hidden belt back.

Definitely this. I've removed one belt cover for someone, and it wasn't difficult. Exacto knife under the edges, and a bit of leverage, and it came right off. Of course, I then had to take the Deemel and attach a sanding wheel to get rid of that epoxy mess... Eeek, what a pain that stuff is. Looking good though, Kalani! Keep at it.

[kman[TK]]

Ok, a late night update, and I go collapse.

 

Tonight was mostly about the belt, now that the plate has been freed from the Anovos belt prison.

 

First I copied over the main snaps, which was simple enough.  Find the centerpoint of the belt and mark it.  Here's the TKittell belt along the Anovos belt:

 

 

Measure the distance between the Anovos snaps, and make the same measurement on the TKittell belt.  I used a leather punch to punch to holes that seemed to be dead on for the size of the center post of my Tandy Line 24 snaps.  I tested on a piece of scrap ABS first, to make sure the hole was nice and snug, and it was.  Punch the holes, and set the snaps.  Very simple, and no issues.

 

 

At this point, my wife was about to turn in, so I enlisted her help taking test fit photos.  I finally have my shoes AND my soft goods, my shin armor is all built, and all inner cover strips are glued in, so I'm truly ready to start wrapping up the build.  Here's some shots showing where I am:

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the main strapping that I have yet to do is everything on the side: There is none.  The main clamshell in these shots is held together by the belt, so things aren't quite aligned in these shots, and there is unevenness that velcro positioning and tweaking will fix, especially once the side straps are in place to hold things together and force them to align.  Things like the left/right side spacing and the back plate to kidney plate connections, but adjustments like that won't stop me from completing the rest of the strapping. 

 

The Anovos thigh strapping is working for now, but I suspect moving over to movie-accurate thigh loop system is in my future.  And obviously, the shins can finally be closed in back, now that I have shoes!

 

One major adjustment needed is tightening the chest plate to the ab plate further, and I need to bend the back plate's top "arms" up a bit, to better follow the contours of my back, since they currently curve in at practically a 90 degree angle (which seems terrible for anyone!).

 

And then there's my helmet, which still needs work.  I'm probably going to take it apart and paint the inside with black plasti-dip.  I need to clean up the flashing around the eyes, some, and the lens positioning.  I'll probably repaint the frown to give it the proper corners.  And last, I need to tear out the Anovos rigging and install my USGI helmet pads.  And then I need FANS, because wow is that thing hot!

 

But it's extremely exciting to see a real trooper coming together!

 

Test fitting accomplished, back to the belt.  I again marked the centerpoint on the belt front, between the two new buttons, on the side facing away from the body. My spacing, despite being copied from my Anovos belt, seems to have come in a little tighter than ukswrath: His measured 13 1/4", while mine was 13" exactly. [EDIT: Note, this measurement proved to be incorrect. I should have gone with Ukswrath's measurement, because the belt was just a bit too tight, trying to stretch across the middle to those two buttons. I ended up punching two more holes and moving the snaps out about 1/8" each. It should be ok since there's so little strain in that direction, but I wish I'd taken better account for the belt's curve when doing this the first time!]

 

 

The next step is getting the belt snaps attached to the armor itself, in front.  I copied ukswrath's placement measurements, and brought them in 1/4" to account for the different button spacing (1/8" on each side).  I carefully marked the hole positions, centerpunched where I would drill, and drilled the hole. 

 

 

Terrifying!  A 1/8" drill bit was perfect, btw.  It's too tight initially, but a flashing removal tool removed the flashing, and made the whole just a smidge bigger, which gave a perfect tight fit for the post.

 

 

After I test fitted the belt itself on just the protruding posts, though, the swearing started.  It was tight.  Really tight.  And this is just on the snap posts, which only connect on the outer edges of the installed snaps instead of the actual centers.  I decided it needed to move in about 1/8", so I drilled another hole (sigh) right next to the first one, along the same line (just one side).  I decided I probably don't need to worry about the strength of the plastic in this situation, because all of the stress is pulling towards the middle, away from the other hole.

 

(sorry for the sideways pic, forgot to rotate it!)

 

Fortunately, the snap body itself completely hides the unused hole.  Phew!  I installed both snaps into the ab plate.  Now, a test fitting the belt shows that it's tight, but they do snap on fine, and frankly it should loosen a bit with use over time, as the belt breaks in, so this should be good. 

 

 

I set the button plate on the ab plate, as well, to also test how that looks, and it seems fine.  I think it's centered well enough with the button plate.  It's a tad to the left of ideal (edge of the tape with the arrow shows the centerline), per the screenshots ukswrath posted, but I can probably tweak that slightly when I install it, because we're talking maybe 1/2" at best.

 

 

Tomorrow I need to do some research to find out how to connect the plastic belt ammo pack, or whatever that front plate is.  I think just regular pop rivets?  That'll be simple, if so.  Although I'm considering whether Chicago screws might be a good idea, too, so the plate is removable if I want?  I'd still need to set the other side in glue, under the button covers (which I'll surely have someday, eek!), but if I use E6000 on those it'll still be removable if I really want to, without needing to resort to a drill.

 

Before I can finish the side strapping, though, I need to resolve my quandry over the side shims.  While my attachment method definitely worked out, as I look at more shim builds, I'm starting to want to simplify and strengthen it: Take off the kidney plate edge return entirely, and use a nice strip of scrap as a full-length connecting plate, to really make that connection SOLID.  None of the spacing will change, just the way the shim connects to the rest of the kidney plate.  Opinions?

Edited March 21, 2016 by kman

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I'll probably go for something easier to remove then rivets too, then E-6000 on the covers.  

[kman[TK]]

I'll probably go for something easier to remove then rivets too, then E-6000 on the covers.  

 

Not sure I follow?

[ScaryGuy[TK]]

Looking good so far, nice work! A lot of extra work adding shims, and the shin and belt issues. You're getting a lot of extra unwanted armor building experience.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

[kman[TK]]

Looking good so far, nice work! A lot of extra work adding shims, and the shin and belt issues. You're getting a lot of extra unwanted armor building experience.

 

Unwanted, yet hopefully invaluable learning experience.  As long as it all works out in the end, I'm a happy trooper!

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

Not sure I follow?

I'll use Chicago screws I think, if I need to remove them I'll be able too. Then I'll glue on the covers with E6000 which is also removable.

[kman[TK]]

I'll use Chicago screws I think, if I need to remove them I'll be able too. Then I'll glue on the covers with E6000 which is also removable.

 

Yes, exactly!

[kman[TK]]

Ok, busy night... and yet, in some ways, we went backwards. At least it was a purposeful, conscious decision!

 

First I laid out the straps that I'll need to use to close the rest of this armor up, trying to decide what work on first.

 

 

I decided to first do the crotch strap. I measured per ukswrath's instructions, and drilled the hole to install the split rivet in the cod piece, for the crotch strap. Test fit of the rivet seems to work fine. I used the hot nail technique to pierce the elastic band that will go onto this rivet. (I need to pick up a sacrificial soldering iron for this sort of stuff, because I use mine too much for actual soldering to want to coat them in nasty melty plastic)

 

 

I'll do the other two snaps, in the butt plate, another night, so now, onto the next task.

 

Staring at the shims where I would be mounting the velcro or rivets, I came to a decision, though. As I mentioned in a prior post, above, I haven't been entirely happy with my side shims. I suspect they'd have passed basic acceptance, but I want better. And more importantly, stronger. The smallish lip holding it together did not inspire confidence for me, especially for a part that's going be pulled on to close the whole thing up..

 

So I decided to go for it tonight, and just replace the shims. I'll hang onto them for possible future use, but meanwhile, I tore 'em off and made new ones.

 

These new shims were a little bit taller, too. Not quite as perfectly flat this time, but flat enough, and more importantly, long enough that I could bend a return edge along the bottom edge as well. The prior ones were a smidge too short to do a bottom return in addition to the top.

 

So I tore off the old shims, cleared off the glue, and cut off the return edge on each side.

 

 

Then I cut some new shims from some more scrap. It was slightly wonky stock, as I mentioned, but I was able to flatten it tolerably well by "ironing" it with a pan of boiling water. I figure it's the right temp to soften the plastic for bending, so it should be good to this, too, right? I set the plastic on a magazine on the kitchen counter, and put a piece of foil over it for protection from the pot, and just set the pot right on top. It didn't have a huge effect, but it seemed to help some. And the pieces didn't need much anyway. Then I did true hot water softening of the ends, and used some welder's pliers (sheet metal bending pliers) to tweak the edge right over and make a nice return edge at the top and bottom.

 

 

Then I cut still more scrap into joining plates. These plates will nestle inside the full length of the shims, and give a MUCH larger glue area to bond the two together.

 

 

The downside is two full days of gluing. Right now, the E6000 is curing, with the inner plates clamped into place. Tomorrow I'll glue the new shims onto those strips, then I'll be back where I was when I woke up this morning (*sigh*), but MUCH stronger. I'll get to re-drill those 3 rivet holes into the new left shim, too. Yay.

 

 

That accomplished, I messed around with some small stuff.

 

I measured my thermal detonator. 7.5" Exactly what the CRL calls for.

 

 

BUT, I want to take 1/4" off to better match the screen-used TD:

 

(borrowed pic from ukswrath of screen-used Thermal Detonator with measurements)

 

... especially looking at how the clips overlap (or not) with the control panel.

 

 

I'll do that another day, though. But say, that reminds me: Does anyone know offhand what size nuts and bolts I should use for this? My kit did not seem to come with the screws, but I know there are more accurate options than the Anovos screws anyways, so I'll just buy the right ones. I want to use nuts and bolts, as well, not the sharp screws that were to have been provided.

 

Next I wanted to work on the belt, but turns out I can't find my rivet gun (argh!), and the Chicago screws I had been thinking of using (stolen from the holster) are a bit too long for this job. I'll see if I can make it to the leather shop this weekend and see what else they have to offer in that regard, else I'll either borrow a friend's rivet gun or buy a cheapie from Harbor Freight.

 

So instead, next up: The right side male snap. Another simple and quick one. I measured 20mm x 20mm in from the corner, drilled the hole, and installed the snap. Easy. Note that I tested the fit in the included strap first, since Anovos apparently included two different size snaps that are NOT compatible. So test first! No problems with fit, though, I chose correctly.

 

 

That's it for tonight.

 

Once the shims are in tomorrow, and the holes are redrilled the day after, I can finally install the rest of the side straps (split rivets on the left, more velcro pads on the right) and close up this armor properly for the first time. That should be interesting!

 

Tomorrow, other than gluing shims, I think I'll work on the TD (miter saw to cut off 1/4", then I can chamfer the corners with a dremel, clean up the control panel, and start assembling it).

 

Then I have two big tasks on hand: Straighten out the back plate shoulder straps a bit with hot water, and work on getting the shins closed up. I may need hot water for that, too, but first I need to spend some time getting the fitting right to make sure I don't need to trim any off first. Then I can finally mount the back strip and attach the velcro.

 

And then there's the sanding. So much sanding I want to do. General smoothing of all the interior bits, because we're getting close now, despite the to-do list that somehow keeps getting longer the closer I get to the finish line...

 

Off to dream of rebels and star destroyers.

Edited March 21, 2016 by kman

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

I'll do that another day, though. But say, that reminds me: Does anyone know offhand what size nuts and bolts I should use for this? My kit did not seem to come with the screws, but I know there are more accurate options than the Anovos screws anyways, so I'll just buy the right ones. I want to use nuts and bolts, as well, not the sharp screws that were to have been provided.

The included ones are nasty little self tappers. I'm ordering some pan head machine screws, washers and nylocs this evening. I'm not 100% sure on the head size though ukswrath used #6 which looks to be a 6.9mm head. M3 is 6, M4 is 8 so I'll probably go for M4.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Looking forward to seeing how your shims turn out. Are you planning on using ABS paste to "erase" the seems from the outside? 

[kman[TK]]

Looking forward to seeing how your shims turn out. Are you planning on using ABS paste to "erase" the seems from the outside?

Eventually, yes. I may or may not bother for my initial basic 501st application, since it's not required there. (only in the interests of time... it's definitely on my to-do list)

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

[ukswrath[Staff]]

NICE!!! 

[kman[TK]]

I suppose I should post last night's progress update. (It's either that, or deal with that stack of work that's due by the end of the day)

 

As usual, excellent forward progress, combined with obnoxious backwards progress.

 

I started on the Thermal Detonator, first. I sawed off 1/4" as planned, using my old miter saw.

 

 

Naturally, my POS old miter box delivered a fairly wonky cut (I really wish I had a chop saw!), so I cleaned up the end with the OTHER disc on my belt sander, to get a nice final end.

 

 

Then I chamfered the ends a bit, by hand (meaning, I sort of eyeballed it as I rotated the pipe over the belt sander at an angle, by hand). Doesn't need to be perfect since it's just to get the cap on easier, and the cap is covering it anyway.

 

 

I used my dremel and a sanding block to get clean up the control panel's edges, since there was some return edge-looking stuff on the underside. Much nicer now, so it should lay nice and flat.

 

 

I popped the end caps back on (MUCH easier now with the chamfered edges) and laid it out. I'm VERY happy with how mine is going to look, compared to the screen-used original. Check out this control panel lineup!

 

(borrowed pic from ukswrath of screen-used Thermal Detonator with measurements)

 

Mine is a little shorter, overall about 7", compared to 7.25" on the original. CRL's call for "approx" 7.5", so if they're ok with 1/4" over, I'm sure they're ok with 1/4" under, especially since everything is lining up so well. If not, I guess I'm buying more pipe!

 

I marked the edges of where the CP hits with tape so I could see where to sand. This pipe REALLY shows scratches, so I wanted to keep all the sanding well hidden.

 

 

I used E6000 to glue the control panel on, taped it in place well so it doesn't move while curing, and stuck it under a bin with some stuff in it to provide "clamping" since none of my clamps are big enough to go around it, and I didn't want to risk scratchs with my bigger tools.

 

Point of interest: I bought two bags of screws (nuts & bolts, actually... wood screws are a terrible idea here): 1/2" long #4, and 1/2" long #6. I couldn't get black slotted panheads nuts, so I'll have to make do with combo head panhead nuts. (which I'll paint black)

 

I tried both screws. Frankly, the #4 screws look closest in size, compared to the screen-used TD. But the screw holes Anovos drilled in the bracket are so big, it just barely stays out from sliding THROUGH the hole (in the photo below, you can actually see the hole behind the screw head!). So I'm going to go with the #6 screws. Pan head bolts, to be technical about it. I have #6 nylock nuts, too, it'll stay nice and tight and won't loosen or rattle.

 

 

Tonight, once the glue is cured, I'll drill the holes and put it all together.

 

Next post: Shimming part 2, which went fine, and then we'll get to where I went wrong...

Edited March 21, 2016 by kman