Engineering Trooper's ANH Stunt Build (RT Mod)

[magni[TK]]

That's easy. Just make some abs paste out of pure acetone and some scrap abs cut into tiny pc's. Get a glass (Important) container with a lid. Put some acetone and scrap in jar and swish it around every once in awhile. It should be the consistency of melted ice cream. Put tape over outside of armor and with popsicle stick fill holes from backside. After it dries you should be able to sand and polish outside of armor. You can do it. I had to fix a couple of rivets myself when I went Centurion. You got this Jim! We'll laugh about this year's later!

 

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[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Thanks, appreciate the advice to fix it, kinda like Bondoing my old 76 Nova!<br><br>

Just so I get it right this time, if I understood Christine's post for the rivets, I need to move the bottom one to about 20 mm from bottom edge, and estimate the middle distance for the middle one? Want to get it right this time, don't want my armour to be Swiss cheese!

[magni[TK]]

Yes that is correct. When you showed me the photo I figured you would see the orientation. I should have made sure you understood it completely. Did you follow measurements on photo exactly to end up to high? It's an easy fix though. I did my fix in one night. It dries fast.

[Cricket[TK]]

Use this pic of screen used armor as your reference, paying attention to keep your rivets in between of the red line guides:

A wise quote from Locitus (Mathias) about this kind of thing:

"All measurements should be considered approximate. Look at reference pictures (not other peoples builds!) and try to do achieve the same look.

 

The problem we (the staff) always run into is that when we don't provide measurements, people either ask for them, or go crazy and way out of proportion. But if we do provide measurements, people take them way too seriously, as if it was the absolute truth and anything that is off by even a fraction needs to be crucified and burned."

 

Hope this helps!

BTW, ABS paste is your friend.    It's saved me more times than I can count!

Edited February 21, 2017 by Cricket

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

So Tony (Ukswrath) mentioned that I need to shorten my calf armour. Any ideas on how to do that, and if so, can I still make Centurion , as I would assume that the edges have to be trimmed off?

[magni[TK]]

Just follow the contour of the bottom and take off even levels all the way around. Don't take too much at once. Best is trim some and try it on and see how it's riding. If still too much take a another level and try again. And that won't stop you from going Centurion.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you Jim but it looks like you're in good hands. 

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback! Going to work on the updates over the next few days. May ask for some confirmation before cutting return edges and such.<br><br>

Will work with one of my future compadres from the Canadian garrison on the calf trimming. <br><br>

More updates to come (and probably more questions!)

[68Brick[TK]]

Keep the pics and questions coming! Great Progress Trooper!

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Update:

So I removed all of the rivets last night.

 

It was very kind of Joseph to send another set via Post Express so I can get new replacement parts quickly, as 5 of 6 were destroyed in the  removal process.

 

I measured and marked new potential hole positions, shown in the attached photo.  May seem a bit off on the one side but that is because the plastic wanted to pucker up, hard to keep flat.

 

I also added some marked photos of where I thought I needed to remove return edges on my forearms based on Joseph's feedback, and a question on the same as to how to cut the closing strips to fit the mismatched end of the forearms.

 

See attached.  Will probably work on pasting up the holes tonight, but want to get confirmation on the other parts before cutting/drilling new holes.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Engineering trooper

[ukswrath[Staff]]

None of the forearm return edge is required, remove as needed. Cover strips can stop flat at the end of the armor or you can taper it as seen here....

 

 

As for the rivets, start the lower rivet measuring up from the ab crease as seen here...

 

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Thanks Tony will remeasure.

 

Did the ABS plastic paste.

 

One lesson learned:  Double check you taped the right hole!!   Had to remove some paste, as can be seen in the pictures.

 

See pix with paste and hole filling.

 

Any idea of how long it is until the paste sets? 

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Set time varies. Check it on the inside with a toothpick

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Latest work:

 

1. Applied the ABS paste, but seemed to pucker a bit on the outfacing side of the armour, so had to add paste on that side to get a good surface.  Luckily the first pasting made for a good base.  Pictures attached.

 

2.  Based on Joseph's and Tony's feedback, trimmed the cover strips on my forearms at top, bottom.  See attached.  Note: pictures seem like the strip is going past end of the armour, but that is just a trick of the light in my shop. 

 

3.  Reversed the Chicago screws on my belt

 

4. Remeasured my proposed holes for redoing the rivets, based on Tony's latest post.  See attached, think I got it pretty close this time!

 

5.  Need some feedback on what return edges to remove on the forearms.  Sorry, didn't post the other picture showing the facing that is by my hands, see attached.

 

 

So want to sand the glued holes next.  Any suggestions as to weight of sandpaper to use to minimize scratches? 

 

 

Next steps will be to redrill (once confirmed that hole positions are good), and put new rivets in (when they arrive with the inlaws next week.  Thanks again Joseph!).

 

 Also need to glue on the snap plates for  my belt, get that positioned and cut my shins to a shorter length.

 

Getting closer, but will take a bit more time...

 

 More lessons learned:

 

1.  Always use a new blade to cut plastic (might have mentioned this one already..) 

 

2.  Taping around parts helps to prevent cut marks if you have to cut pieces that are already glued

 

3.  To fill holes, you may have to apply the ABS glue on both sides, as even though the tape on the front was pretty tight, got some puckering, (and residue from tape ), so had to fill from front also.

 

4.   Found you can reconstitute your dried ABS glue by adding a little Acetone to it

 

 

Pictures:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fragarock[TK]]

Latest work:

 

1. Applied the ABS paste, but seemed to pucker a bit on the outfacing side of the armour, so had to add paste on that side to get a good surface. Luckily the first pasting made for a good base. Pictures attached.

 

2. Based on Joseph's and Tony's feedback, trimmed the cover strips on my forearms at top, bottom. See attached. Note: pictures seem like the strip is going past end of the armour, but that is just a trick of the light in my shop.

 

3. Reversed the Chicago screws on my belt

 

4. Remeasured my proposed holes for redoing the rivets, based on Tony's latest post. See attached, think I got it pretty close this time!

 

5. Need some feedback on what return edges to remove on the forearms. Sorry, didn't post the other picture showing the facing that is by my hands, see attached.

 

 

So want to sand the glued holes next. Any suggestions as to weight of sandpaper to use to minimize scratches?

 

 

Next steps will be to redrill (once confirmed that hole positions are good), and put new rivets in (when they arrive with the inlaws next week. Thanks again Joseph!).

 

Also need to glue on the snap plates for my belt, get that positioned and cut my shins to a shorter length.

 

Getting closer, but will take a bit more time...

 

More lessons learned:

 

1. Always use a new blade to cut plastic (might have mentioned this one already..)

 

2. Taping around parts helps to prevent cut marks if you have to cut pieces that are already glued

 

3. To fill holes, you may have to apply the ABS glue on both sides, as even though the tape on the front was pretty tight, got some puckering, (and residue from tape ), so had to fill from front also.

 

4. Found you can reconstitute your dried ABS glue by adding a little Acetone to it

 

 

Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the wrist end of your forearms look good. I wouldn't worry about trimming the return edge off of the dimpled area but you should remove those little bits on the sides or else they'll scratch your wrists.

 

I also had to fix my side rivets and used nothing lower than 800 grit to sand them. I went up to 2000 when sanding then hit it with novus polish. Much of the area gets covered with the belt anyways. Just try to keep the sanding around the patch areas only.

 

Not sure if someone commented on your thermal detonator already but I believe the clips should be placed so they're touching the end caps. Yours are aligned with the center control plate.

 

Don't sweat repairing things, we all have to do it. It's a learning process.

 

Keep on truckin'

 

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work Jim. There may have been a misunderstanding when trimming the forearm cover strip, it's not a deal breaker but when you tapered it you should have done so that it it travels from the top of one section to the top of the other. 

 

 

Another note, not sure if your cloth belt is too wide or the ammo belt is not wide enough but the ammo belt 45 degree taper is supposed mate with the outer edge of the cloth belt.

 

 

 Keep up the good work 

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Thanks for the input Tony, always appreciated!

 

So lined up the markings for my rivet holes, would appreciate input to confirm got it right this time!

 

Also, another lesson learned:  An emery board with different grit types works great for sanding down the ABS plastic.  Took a page out of my days working on my 76 Nova, used a heavy grit to take of the first layers, then moved more to finer grit.

 

Will polish after all holes are fixed.

 

 

Another thought for the rivets:  Think I may use one 2 inch strip of elastic for the rivets, that way the ab and kidney pieces will be fixed horizontally.

 

 

Here's a picture of the proposed rivet holes and the sanded off originals.. 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

That will work

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Latest update:

 

So I attended an Armour build party hosted by one of the Canadian Garrison's esteemed members (thanks Pickles!), and got a lot of feedback from our group on my build, ended up having a few things to change/update:

 

1. We cut my cod piece down by about 1 cm, seemed to help with spacing to my thighs which was an issue

 

2.  Worked on issue with my forearms being a bit low/close to hands.  Turns out I will need to add snaps/straps between the bells and triceps.  That will move the forearms up. 

    Also will need to move the snaps between the forearms and triceps in order to line up the cover strips

 

3.  Turns out my sniper plate was on wrong, up to high, so I took it off, we tried it on with a new lower position, and the clearance to the thigh was a lot better.  Regluing it tonight, see pix.

 

4.  Glued down my hand plates with a different type of glue to get better retention as they were coming up

 

5.  My shoulder elastic was being pulled out by the bells, so have a solution provided by Brattie (listed on her  build thread, page 58), adding metal strips to the shoulder straps to secure them and help keep the shoulder bells in line.

 

     I will also need to shorten the bell to shoulder straps quite a bit, doing that next couple of days

 

6.  Got a trick from the group to keep my calf armour straight:  Put Velcro on the inside of the calf piece and on the boot outside.  Keeps them straight, covered by the shin armour, so nothing to see!

 

7.  Did a fitting with my belt in the right position, seems to work so going to put on the snaps to get that lined up

 

8. Glued down my S trim as it seemed to come off without securing it down

 

9.  Got some acorn nuts to cover some of the bolts sticking out in my bucket (Thanks Brad, great idea!) 

 

10.  Added a center strap to pull my chest plate in a bit.  Will take some adjustment to the other straps, but overall gives a better fit 

 

11.  Solved the kidney/posterior plate issue by taking out one snap on each side and putting in a Velcroed web strap in its place to secure that portion.  We'll see how it works to keep the overlap from happening.

 

12.  As to the issues with the legs, after putting in some foam, seems to fit the thighs and calves a lot better

 

13.  Cut out the return edges on my forearms and softened up the cover strips to be more inline with the edges of the armour. 

 

14. Fixed my thermal detonator to move the clips out as required for EIB status.  

 

 

On issue that was discussed was mobility, as I still seemed to have issues with moving my legs.   The consensus was that I should cut out the backs of my thighs, as Brad did per the attached picture.  

 

I'd appreciate feedback on this with regards to EIB/Centurion as I know the rules are changing, but this is probably going to help with a my  overall mobility  and doing stairs. 

 

Anyway, rivets seem to be good, button plate is on and painted.   A few more tweaks and I think I am ready to submit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next picture is of Brad's thigh armour.  Want to make sure this is ok as asked above:

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Engineering trooper

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Cutting out the back of the thighs and shins is perfectly acceptable at all levels of approval.

 

[magni[TK]]

Sounds like you got a bunch done Jim! Did Andrea make you eat any pickles? Looking forward to your next update.

[andylah[TK]]

A lot of great progress made there mate. Life is so much easier when there are a few like minded brains looking at stuff

 

Like ukswrath has said it's fine to cut out the back of the thighs.

 

I need to do that but still haven't done it yet, it might be easier to leave uncut for approval and then adjust after troop, making your armour for comfortable is an ongoing maintenance task.

[Engineering trooper[TK]]

Ok, so round 2 (first posting crashed when internet went off, so here we go again!)

 

More progress, ready to fit tomorrow, here's what I got done:

 

1.  Built the metal strapping per Angie's recommendation.  Some duct strapping, 1/8 inch rivets, Velcro, and Voila!

 

2.  Finished strapping on the forearms, triceps and bells, got the alignment to cover strips, will see how it fits tomorrow 

 

3.  Reglued my one shoulder strap.  Got a great tip from Brad:  Fill the indents in the strap with spare ABS, will give more area to glue to the chest plate.

 

4.  Got the cod piece remounted, will see what leg room I get tomorrow

 

5.  Reglued sniper plate, seems to be better

 

6.  Started cutting closed cell foam (play mat type) to help adjust my thighs and calves.  Will see how it works tomorrow night.

 

7.  Per Brad's recommendation, got white cotton gloves to use under the rubber ones.  Saves the rubber ones from sweat and smell!

 

Will do the fitting tomorrow night, and probably get an idea of how much to cut out of the back of the thighs for better mobility.   Thanks to Tony for clarifying the rules regarding that part!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly, putting in my application tonight for my Stunt build...

Edited March 7, 2017 by Engineering trooper

[magni[TK]]

Way to go Jim! Can't wait to see pictures!

[68Brick[TK]]

Nice Job! Can't wait to see it all on!