West Point ANOVOS ANH Build

[TrekkinTrooper[TK]]

Congrats.. You realize you will never hit target practice again 'pew pew!'

 

 

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[illusionz_09[TK]]

Looking good. Congrats!

[wreakHavoc309[TK]]

Thanks for all the comments and support guys!! I really appreciate all the helpful advice and tips that you all have given me on my journey to approval! Now that I'm approved, the next step for me is EIB.

 

Right now, I'm trying to set things up for when I finally go on summer leave so I can get to work on fixing some parts of the armor. I've been trying to get a new pair of shins but I haven't heard from any of the guys I contacted, so I'm probably going to have to cut mine apart and rebuild them. They look good on the outside as they are, but I assembled them incorrectly, right inner with left inner and right outer with left outer... So that's on the list of things to do.

 

Otherwise, from what I've been told, I just need to change out the screws on the detonator for EIB. So I'll need to get the right screws for that. I also plan on fixing the hovi mic tips, probably going to make new mesh pieces for that myself, as well as paint the interior white as I don't think ANOVOS did that...

 

In other news though, so I have something to actually show as an update, I picked up a pair of nomex flight gloves. To anyone out there who has an ANOVOS kit, I'd strongly recommend getting some nomex gloves to troop with instead of the gloves the kit comes with. The included gloves are accurate, but once they fill with sweat (which they do very easily) they're really no fun. Get a nomex pair. I got mine off eBay for $9 shipped and everything. They're very comfortable, here's how they look:

 

So, if you need good gloves, get some of those. I'm actually going to get some to go with my Mandalorian merc too as it is.

 

And also, if you have an extra pair of TK shins that you'd be willing to see, or know where to get some in general, I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know. I'm too afraid I'm going to mess up these if I have to redo them. Thanks.

 

 

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[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

You could have gotten those at the PX too but probably not as cheap. I love mine

[kman[TK]]

As to screws, fortunately for us, others have already done the legwork.   The correct screw types are A and E, on this little chart:

 

 

Here's the simplest way to handle the screw changes needed:

 

1) Take the flat slotted panhead screws out of your helmet, and paint the heads black. They're practically a perfect match for the screws that SHOULD be used on the TD. (There has been some speculation about that, actually) Use them instead of the asinine wood screws Anovos provided for the TD. DONE!

 

(sort of like this, but slotted instead of Phillips, and with a flatter top like the first graphic showed): https://www.boltdepot.com/Machine_screws_Phillips_pan_head.aspx)

 

2) Then, go to a Home Depot (or other hardware source) and get some #6/32 slotted flat head screws (they only carry 1.5" and 2", at my local HD, so my plan is just to cut them to length, otherwise, if you find the right ones, just buy the same length as the ones you just removed) to replace the screws you just stole from the helmet. (Note: You may need to buy the matching #6 nuts as well if you don't have any already).  Paint the heads white, like the old ones were.

(like this: https://www.boltdepot.com/Machine_screws_Slotted_flat_head.aspx)

 

DONE!

Edited May 10, 2016 by kman

[wreakHavoc309[TK]]

Awesome stuff kman! Thanks for sharing this info. This is going to make things a whole lot easier. Much appreciated!

 

And Jason, I haven't seen any of the nomex gloves at the PX actually... They just have these cheap Chinese shooting gloves from what I've seen. Way too short and too expensive. Though I do know the nomex gloves are popular among the Sandhurst teams in the brigade. Either way, I got them now.

 

Next question for the gloves is how to attach the armor. I'm not sure how many people keep the elastic strap around the hand to hold the plate on, but I was wondering if it might be just as effective to sew Velcro directly to the glove and cut out the elastic for the hand plates altogether. Anyone done this before?

 

 

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[kman[TK]]

Yes, you can velcro the armor directly to the gloves if you want to dedicate the gloves to this setup, or some people just add a second elastic loop in front, to the existing setup, to keep things centered better.

 

Bear in mind if you sew velcro to the glove you'll probably pad out the velcro in the hand place, somehow, to bring it lower, since it's at a higher level than the glove and won't reach.

 

It's best to keep the handplate removable, however you go about it. If you switch to the more-accurate latex handplates, you can just glue them directly to the glove, since they flex (and the plastic doesn't).

Edited May 10, 2016 by kman

[wreakHavoc309[TK]]

Okay, so, TEE Leave (term end exams) is a thing and I managed to get about 36 hours leave to go back home. Now home, I have access to my family's workshop. Got back at 2345, so there wasn't too much I could do last night, other than change out the screws on the thermal detonator canister. Found the right sized pan headed screws, painted black, let the paint dry overnight, and then screwed them to the detonator in the morning. I know it's a small thing, but it looks much better now:

 

 

Alright, so that takes care of that. Belt is now up to EIB standard.

 

Next up, the shins. Is the stuff I'm doing necessary for EIB, no. Honestly, this is just a personal thing, as I did my research and I assembled the shins wrong and so not being able to get a new pair, I've decided I'm redoing these. My perfectionist side is getting the best of me, so this was the next obstacle.

 

First off, I wouldn't recommend doing this. Just do it right the first time. Do research, then when you think you've done enough, you haven't, so do some more. That's what I'm kicking myself about. Anyway, I have to crack these apart. Slight issue is that I didn't use just a cover strip to fasten the parts together- I used strips on both sides and then on the inside I filled in the seam completely with ABS sludge... Pretty much an unbreakable seam...

 

To break this seam, I used a dremel and sanded down the inside seam, digging through the inner strip and the sludge. This was a pain and damaged the inner edges of the shin halves. Then I worked at breaking the outer cover strip off. I worked at this with a flat head screw driver. Since I used MEK to put the strip on, taking it off ruined the finish of the outside of the shin... Oops. I can see why E6000 is preferred as the one seam I did do with E6000 came clean off... It isn't as strong of a bond, but if you mess up, it's an easier and more forgiving fix...

 

 

So after an hour of work, I got both halves apart. Putting them together hasn't been easy, so I'm doing it in phases. I'm filling the inner seam with ABS sludge in the canal that the dremel dug. Once I get all of the inside, I'll glue the edges of the outside cover strip. Then I'll hit the sniper knee guard and the rear cover strip. Here's how it looks right now:

 

 

Now it's just waiting for the seam to firm up and then I'll get to the rest of assembling them. There's also the issue of the rear seam... I had to remove the Velcro strips, and the adhesive came off with them... So no more Velcro. I'm considering the elastic and hook method, but I'm also looking at a slot and tab system like what I have on my ab and kidney plates. If anyone has any recommended methods, comment and let me know.

 

And in the meantime I played around with some of the handguards and the elastic and Velcro that were included in the ANOVOS kit... I think I now have an idea for my next suit of armor... Here's a teaser:

 

 

 

 

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[mjrose927[TK]]

Can I ask how the velcro system has held up?  Did you get approved with the velcro system?  Did you troop only using the velcro system?  I like the idea of using the velcro system until I get approved and get a few troops under my belt before putting on more permanent solution.  Plus, this way I can just peel velcro off without worrying about having to peel off snap plates that are E6000 stuck on armor.  I know this way late reply to your post, but I am curious.    

[wreakHavoc309[TK]]

Can I ask how the velcro system has held up?  Did you get approved with the velcro system?  Did you troop only using the velcro system?  I like the idea of using the velcro system until I get approved and get a few troops under my belt before putting on more permanent solution.  Plus, this way I can just peel velcro off without worrying about having to peel off snap plates that are E6000 stuck on armor.  I know this way late reply to your post, but I am curious.    

 

Hey yeah the Velcro has held up just fine over the past few years. No issues whatsoever. No need to upgrade at all. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. And I was approved with it like that.

 

I’d go with the Velcro if you have it. If you want to upgrade later, you can, but the Velcro is great because of its adjustability. I don’t plan on making any alterations to my suit.

 

And now looking back it seams I never finished this thread... well, let’s see. I got approved, I fixed all the plates, I used a slot and tab system on the shin armor which has held up great... and in the past few years I got a TIE Pilot, Imperial Crewman and a Clone approved...

 

Here are just a few highlights from some past troops:

(Look Sir, they put my school in the painting!)

 

Guess I gotta finish up this thread. More later.

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[mjrose927[TK]]

On 3/4/2016 at 12:53 PM, wreakHavoc309 said:

 

Now, at first, I was skeptical about the Velcro system. I used Velcro on my Mandalorian armor and had some bad experiences, so I was considering ignoring the Velcro in place of snaps. However, the Velcro that ANOVOS has supplied isn't anything like what I'm used to. I was expecting the stuff to peal apart or slip pretty easily on me, but it doesn't. My only real concern is making sure that the adhesive backed loop part stays stuck to the armor. To better increase the adhesion, I made sure I scrubbed the armor to get rid of any dirt or oil that could prevent proper adhesion. I'd definitely recommend this if your are going to stick with the supplied adhesive Velcro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are the connecting straps on your torso armor just velcro, or is the velcro attached to elastic or webbing?  If attached, is it sewn on or how is velcro attached to straps?  Also, do you know what type of velcro is used?  Is it the industrial kind?

 

Thanks,

Michael

[wreakHavoc309[TK]]

On 4/23/2019 at 12:31 PM, mjrose927 said:

Are the connecting straps on your torso armor just velcro, or is the velcro attached to elastic or webbing?  If attached, is it sewn on or how is velcro attached to straps?  Also, do you know what type of velcro is used?  Is it the industrial kind?

 

Thanks,

Michael

The torso armor straps are comprised of some elastic webbing with two, 1.5" square hook-side (I think Industrial) velcro. The tabs are sewn on. The loop side is adhesive backed and mounts directly to the armor. Hope that helps!