Haso's ANH Stunt TK Build - AP Armour

[Haso[TK]]

Hi all,

 

Time I got off my butt and posted a build thread on here.  I actually received my BBB about two weeks ago from Mark at AP and have started with the rough trimming, and some finer trimming, of some parts.

 

I'll back track a bit though and start at the beginning...

 

I ordered my AP armour back in mid-November 2015, and was lucky enough to get on the brand new upgraded armour batch.  In the meantime, I signed up to my local garrison - Terror Australis - and attended one armour party and two Beer 'n Bucket sessions (Not sure if the BnB sessions are detachment-wide or not, they're basically a get-together of mainly new recruits and some full members at a pub, and you bring along your bucket if you have one.  I'm sure there's equivalent events everywhere).

 

Fast forward to mid-February, I've met several full members and fellow noobs, and have just received my BBB in the post...

 

 

 

Having gathered the main bits of tooling I'd need to do this, I started with the rough trimming of all the main parts: torso, arms and legs.  Surprisingly my bucket came fully trimmed - thanks Mark because I wasn't expecting that!  

 

I've got a fair few photos of progress to post up, but I'll do this over the next few posts to bring you all up to speed over the next few days.

 

I'll also go further into all the other parts I've received, ordered and yet to order, but in summary:

 

I have:

TK Boots

Undersuit

Black rubber gloves and cotton inner gloves

Leather Holster (from AP which I'm converting to the natural leather straps version)

 

Building:

E-11...this is a PVC pipe build which I've just started and will post a separate thread on

 

Ordered:

Torso screen-accurate metal bracket fastenings & elastic

Centurion level rivets

 

To order (all from Trooperbay):

Canvas belt

Darker helmet lenses

Helmet s-trim

Latex hand guards

...and a neck seal from Darman

 

...then off course, I've still to order helmet fans, voice & amp modules etc....

 

I'm also aiming for Centurion level with this.  It's a big journey, wish me luck!!

 

much more to come...

 

Kris

[PGHtrooper21]

Good Luck!!!!

 

Andy

[scouter477]

Good luck, and shoot straight

[Kamikazebam]

Good luck man. I just put in my order for an AP kit. Looking forward to your build!

[spyder918]

Good luck bud!  I just ordered mine too and look forward to your build!

[Haso[TK]]

Thanks everyone for the good wishes.  And for those who've ordered the AP kit - great choice, you can't go wrong with it.  It'll nice to see some fellow AP threads amongst the sea of Anovos builds here! 

 

I do have photos and updates to post of my progress and assorted mumblings thus far and will endeavor to get these posts up over the next few days/week so that they're caught up to where I'm at now..

[Sentry71[TK]]

Looking forward to your progress!

[Pyrates[TK]]

Oober stoked to watch it happen - have an epic time!

[Haso[TK]]

Ok, I'm just going to summarise some of my progress so far, and put up a a few more posts till it's caught up to where I'm at.

 

Helmet (the most recent work I've done):

I've painted/detailed it fully, apart from the rank stripe on the ear piece.  Also painted the inside with Plastidip - handy thing I discovered was that blu-tac is good for plugging the teeth if you seal the gaps totally - it maximises coverage inside as there's no tape there. Used Mark's (AP's) decals for the helmet (I managed to get that air bubble out from the tear in the first pic). Some photos:

 

 

Where I applied the decals, I gave the area a fine spray with water mixed with a minute amount of dishwashing detergent, then wiped the area so that it wasn't wet, but allowed the decal to slid into position, from where I could press it down and push out any air/water bubbles.

 

 

Below, the Plastidip process.  The way I did it was to apply around 10 coats THINLY, which avoided any runs in the helmet.  Resist the temptation to do any more than a light mist for the first couple of coats, just keep going back to it every 30 minutes with another thin coat:

 

For the frown mesh, I cut up black flywire.  I made a template of one half of the frown and cut out four patterns, glueing two together with a THIN bead of e-6000 around the outer edge (below pics).  I'll then attach them inside the helmet (not sure how yet):

 

So this is where I'm at for the helmet.  I've done pretty much all trimming for the rest of the armour, and am almost ready for fitting/final trim, I'll post up more updates for specific areas over the next few days.

 

Kris

[Pyrates[TK]]

Stellar progress Kris - brilliant work with that Blu-Tac stuff (are you referring to the stuff you put on the back side of posters?) I'm going to have to do that!

[Haso[TK]]

Thanks Pyrates, yes, it's the stuff you use to stick posters on the wall that I used to block out the teeth to paint the helmet inside.  If I remember correct, you didn't have a great experience with the decals so I was nervous to give it a try - but I found a tutorial from Trooperbay where he mentioned the water/detergent trick and I gotta say that it made it easy to position, the challenge was pushing air/water out.

 

I've also ordered darker lenses and s-trim from Trooperbay as well so once they arrive I should be able to finish the bucket.

[Pyrates[TK]]

Thanks Pyrates, yes, it's the stuff you use to stick posters on the wall that I used to block out the teeth to paint the helmet inside. If I remember correct, you didn't have a great experience with the decals so I was nervous to give it a try - but I found a tutorial from Trooperbay where he mentioned the water/detergent trick and I gotta say that it made it easy to position, the challenge was pushing air/water out.

 

I've also ordered darker lenses and s-trim from Trooperbay as well so once they arrive I should be able to finish the bucket.

I have started to try and paint but I cheated and got decal spray from TB in case I botch or if my paint job isn't good enough- I have to at least try for the experience

 

Awesome tip again my friend and thanks!

[Haso[TK]]

Hey all, modest progress today, I just did some work on the frown mesh.

 

I was going to put in the mesh I was prepping in the earlier post but wasn't happy with it.  I didn't like the size of the mesh pattern and thought it was too big for my taste.  I wanted a smaller mesh pattern.  Some limited research online seems to suggest that there mightn't have been any mesh or covering behind the frown at all!

 

So I was trying to think if I had anything on hand, either material or mesh, that I could use as I still wanted to hide my mug from being seen through the teeth.

 

Rummaging through stuff at home, I came across the thin mesh you find in computer drive bay covers, like this:

 

 

There's a thin mesh behind these covers, so I pulled out two from a computer tower that still functions as a secondary computer, so that I could layer them together.  I used gaffer tape around all edges to tape them together - especially the ends as they tend to fray.  Pics of this step below:

Was tempted to glue it into the bucket for a clean look, but practicality has won out - I used gaffer tape to fix it over the frown (below).  This way it can be removed easier if necessary, to either replace it, or if needed to do fix ups to the helmet.  Plus I can always glue in place if I decide I want to...

....and the result below - I like the look of this finer mesh heaps better...

 

....and in other news, here's some shoulder bells with strapping started.  I'm following the video tutes of TK 1636 for these.  I'm using E-6000 for all my gluing, including these shoulder straps - forgot to burn the edges to prevent fraying so that blue tape is my reminder!:

 

 

And below, the bicep hooks I'll use to hold them in place over the biceps - here's the link to where I got this how-to (although instead of using a cigarette lighter to heat the plastic, I just boiled it): 

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/tutorials/article/37-howto-create-a-bicep-strap-hook/

 

 

I'll keep posting updates of where I'm up to (mostly all rough trimming and sanding done) to catch ya'll up on my progress.

 

Kris

[Pyrates[TK]]

That's some stellar work! Very nice job

[Haso[TK]]

I'm a klutz...have asked the mods to move this thread to the build thread sub-forum.....late nights.

 

Oh, it already is moved...lol

Edited March 4, 2016 by Haso

[Haso[TK]]

Today I started gluing the inner cover strips for thighs and shins.  Using E-6000 so it's going to be slow progress.  I basically got the front inner strips glued in for both shins and both thighs.  That's pretty much the limit of spring clamps I've got.  Tomorrow I'll go buy more so I can try to double my output:

 

Also, thermal detonator complete.  For this, the end caps aren't glued on, they can be pulled on and off, and are joined together on the inside with a length of 6mm elastic.  This way I can use it for storage (tools, repairs etc).  Wouldn't put valuables in it as it could be pulled off:

 

 

Drop boxes:

Also started putting these together, and again, am making them usable for storage (of cards, some cash etc).  Did this by gluing some 1/2 inch white elastic at the bottoms to join inner and outer drop boxes to form a hinge, and at the top, it'll join with velcro:

A small piece of elastic at the top allows me to pull them apart.  This won't be noticeable when it's being worn:

 

Have also been experimenting with the bucket's internal lining.  I've velcroed a cross pattern across the top of the bucket to accept a hard hat inner liner, which I also applied plastidip to.

 

Now this is where the trial and error begins.  The hard hat liner/velcro arrangement itself works, but it creates a bobble head effect as the bucket still sways around, and also touches my nose, when wearing it.  I needed a way to reduce the wobble of the bucket when moving, and the solution is to place small pads between the bucket and lining.

 

 

Now those black pads are just some home-made jobbies to see how feasible this arrangement is.  Made out of some soft cushion filling stuff and gaffer tape.  They are not attached to the bucket itself, but velcro'd to the hard hat liner.  And it works beautifully, it completely stops the bobble head effect, but also gets the bucket off my nose - the helmet now sits around my head with no contact which should also improve breathability and airflow in it.

 

I want to improve the look of the pads and I've got some military style ones on order, but want them to fit with the look I'm going for in the bucket - almost like this particular trooper has made some mods to the bucket in the field for practicality.

 

I only need the darker lenses on their way from Trooper Bay, a couple of helmet fans/switches from a local supplier, and the helmet pads I've ordered, to be able to finish off the bucket.

 

Ok, that's it for now, my focus is now shifting towards inner and outer strips on the legs and arms, which is what I'm aiming to tackle this week...

 

Kris

[Pyrates[TK]]

Absolutely deadly work with that liner mate and awesome progress with your build!

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Looking great! You might want to consider going with a hardhat liner that has the built in sweatband though. There's a bit of cushion there and helps reduce any wobble. 

[Pyrates[TK]]

Looking great! You might want to consider going with a hardhat liner that has the built in sweatband though. There's a bit of cushion there and helps reduce any wobble.

You can buy attachable sweat bands for the hard hat liner as well

 

http://m.staples.com/Sweat-Bands/cat_CL167015

[Haso[TK]]

Thanks for the tip on the hard hat liner. Yeah I been doing a bit of adjusting etc and may either swap out the liner completely or get a sweat band. Have also started gluing inner strips on thighs and shins (front ones only) this week.

 

 

Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

[Haso[TK]]

Looking at attaching the sniper knee plate but it looks like I'm going to have some difficulty.  If I align the front of the plate to be centre down the front, and align the inner side to match the angle of the shin, then the sniper plate is way out of alignment along the outer shin slope.

 

Anyone else with AP have this, and how are you guys fitting the sniper plate so that it is centred and level in front, and aligns with the shin slope on either side?

 

It looks as though the angle of the outer side of the shin is totally different to the corresponding angle of the sniper knee plate.  I don't want to do anything fancy to this, and assume there's an accepted way to settle on how it should best look?

Edited March 12, 2016 by Haso

[Haso[TK]]

...It looks as though I've made some headway on the sniper plate and have just dry clamped and taped it onto the shin for now.  I'm thinking I'll leave it now for a week or two as is in order to slowly bend it closer to the shape it'll go on.  But basically I've got the plate centred as close as can be, and following the ridge lines for both sides as close as, also.  Will post some pics up tomorrow of how I've got the sniper plate positioned, ready for your feedback, before I glue it into place.

 

For gluing the sniper plate, I'm thinking, from studying it for the last several hours, that I'll glue the actual plate first.  When dried, I'll proceed with the inner shin's side, then when that's dried, the outer shin's side.  I want the plate and inner side glued and dried before I pull the outer side into place for glueing.

 

In the meantime, I've pretty much finished, apart from one or two, all front cover strips for legs and arms.  I've spent the past week doing inner and outer cover strips for all front parts.  I did 20mm for shins and thighs (and will do the same for backs), and 16mm for forearms & biceps (and will do same for back).  I'm an average height/weight (180cm/80 kg) so didn't feel I needed to deviate from the normally accepted widths for cover strips.  Not really much to say/show here, this part has all come together without any major hiccups.  I've used e6000 for all my gluing.  Must say though that the e6000 is slow, but great for a beginner.  I ended up pulling the inner cover strip off one thigh, a day after I glued it, because I wasn't happy with the join.  I just took it apart, cleaned up the join, then reapplied glue - easy as!

 

We've got an armour party in early April so will get some help fitting and trimming back of arms/legs then.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Haso

[Pyrates[TK]]

Hey mate - the sniper knee plate is a wee bit off kilter on mine too. I spent 45 min trying to dry fit it mine after hearing about this to see if I could help but I'm going to have to do the same as you.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Pyrates

[Haso[TK]]

Yeah I'll get some pics up today with a description of my plan of attack.

 

Sent from my HUAWEI G510-0251 using Tapatalk

[Haso[TK]]

Hey all,

 

Some pics of my 'Dry Fitted' sniper plate below.  Any tips, feedback etc welcome here.  As I'm going for Centurion I need to glue this and I'll be using E-6000:

 

 

Ummm, just noticed my daughter has photo bombed the next pic (she's not part of the armour)!

 

 

Below I'm pointing to where I'll need to pull the sniper plate down a little more when gluing to the shin:

 

 

...and some progress with my drop boxes (This was the first time I've ever riveted anything, lol!)

 

 

...and dry fitted to the canvas belt.  I overlaid the ammo belt when measuring the length of elastic to hang these so they should be virtually touching the ammo belt when I attach it to the canvas.

 

 

More updates coming soon, most of my arm and leg cover strips done.

 

Kris