New members first build

[BrianD]

So I had to add some shims to my kidney plate to close up the gap to the ab plate. I made some ABS paste, glued a backing plate on and added some plastic from a sign I purchased at the local hardware store. I will paint the inside when it is finished since the blue writing didn't want to come off very easily. I think I may have used too much paste but it should sand out and polish up, just may take a little more work. What grit do you all recommend I use to sand down the ABS paste? I was thinking of starting with 400 wet/dry and stepping it down to 600 and finishing with 1000. Will thei work?

I also purchased a fan kit and a power supply for my helmet. Still trying to figure out the best placement for the fans. I have also finally started on the leg armor as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

[bobafret[TK]]

On your cover strips check out reference and build photos for the proper place to end those. Basically with the front of the shin go from top to bottom. Back of shin you stop the cover strip at the top below the detail ridge. On the thighs, the cover strip goes all the way to the top, but it stops at the bottom by the knee before that ridge detail at the bottom of the thigh.

 

Also check cover strip sizes - they shouldn't all be the same. Ideally it's 15mm on all arm pieces, 20mm on thighs and front of shins, and 25mm on back of shins. Shins should close from the outside in - so your left shin should have cover strip glued to the left side (as you are looking at the back) and close over onto the right. Right shin should have cover strip glued to right side and close over onto the left. That way the seams are not visible from the outside, they are to the inside of the legs. Hope that makes sense.

 

I put my fans inside the chin of my bucket, in the space behind the aerators basically.

[BrianD]

Thanks Dave. I made the cover strips wider on the legs so that they fit my shins and thighs. The 20mm would have been too small so I used wider cover strips. I didn't notice the cover strip stopped short at the bottom of the thigh, thank you! I will trim it back. What is the best way to remove E6000? I did know about the closing of the shins. It makes sense, you wouldn;t want to be able to see the velcro easily. I will have to check to make sure I put the cover strips on correct because in all honesty I wasn;t thinking about that last night when I did these, I was more concerned with the shape of the parts and what was going to make them fit better. Hopefully they end up being the same.

As for the fans, do you find it better to have both blowing in or would you recommend one to blow in and one to blow hot air out? 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Cover strip coverage areas  .

 

[bobafret[TK]]

E6000 pretty much pulls apart. You can freeze parts if they are particularly stuck but normally patience and strength does the trick. E6000 on surfaces just rubs off like rubber cement.<br><br>

I can only fit one fan in my AP bucket I would face both in. Will draw air through mouth and neck. Leave some gap in lenses to allow air flow and minimize fogging

[m3tal_man84]

When u did your helmet, what was the yellow tape you used called when you did the black outlines?

 

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[BrianD]

It was just a fine line masking tape I got at the hobby shop where I bought my paint. Don't remember the brand name but I can check to see if I still have the package.

 

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[BrianD]

OK, so I need some advice. For the shins and thighs I had to separate the 2 halves by about 1/4-1/2 inch and cover the gap with a cover strip so that they would fit me. The shins is no problem since there is a cover strip that runs the entire length on both the front and the back but what about the thighs? Since the cover strip stops short at the bottom there will be a noticable gap. How do I fix this?

The first pic shows what I mean in regards to the 1/2 inch gap hidden by the cover strip. The 2nd pic shows what the gap is going to look like on the lower part of my left thigh armor.

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Well , my first suggestion would have been to connect the front normally, without the gap, then added shims to the rear. That said, you can create a shim/seam in the front lower, however the current setup makes the front return edge appear unusually wide. If you're just shooting for 501st basic you could go with door "B", if you're shooting for EIB or higher go with "A".

 

Let us know if we can be of assistance.

[BrianD]

Well , my first suggestion would have been to connect the front normally, without the gap, then added shims to the rear. That said, you can create a shim/seam in the front lower, however the current setup makes the front return edge appear unusually wide. If you're just shooting for 501st basic you could go with door "B", if you're shooting for EIB or higher go with "A".

 

Let us know if we can be of assistance.

I would like higher than a basic approval if possible. EIB or Centurion is the ultimate goal. The pics of the pieces that are already glued are the shins so that shouldn't be an issue, They won't be seen. I haven't glued the other half of the thighs yet so I could butt them up properly as you suggest. Would it be an issue if I were to use a bit larger cover strip in the rear and make a small shim to cover the gap in the rear only? It would be easier and probably cleaner than a shim that runs the entire length of the thigh. Just a thought... I'm here to learn so I will follow any recommendations or suggestions for a solid, proper build.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I would like higher than a basic approval if possible. EIB or Centurion is the ultimate goal. The pics of the pieces that are already glued are the shins so that shouldn't be an issue, They won't be seen. I haven't glued the other half of the thighs yet so I could butt them up properly as you suggest. Would it be an issue if I were to use a bit larger cover strip in the rear and make a small shim to cover the gap in the rear only? It would be easier and probably cleaner than a shim that runs the entire length of the thigh. Just a thought... I'm here to learn so I will follow any recommendations or suggestions for a solid, proper build.

 

Excellent! Here on the FISD we encourage everyone to build their armor with Centurion in mind  .

 

Larger cover strips in the rear, not recommended however, maybe you can give us an idea on how large is large. In the mean time I would encourage you to take a look at the Centurion applications to see how some of our larger troopers Centurions did theirs.

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/72-request-centurion-status/

[BrianD]

My original plan was 25mm (1 inch) cover strips on the front and 30-32mm (1.25 inch) in the rears. I will look through some more of the threads from the link you provided. Thank you.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

My original plan was 25mm (1 inch) cover strips on the front and 30-32mm (1.25 inch) in the rears. I will look through some more of the threads from the link you provided. Thank you.

 

Yea that's a little thick but not a deal breaker as long as everything else around it looks uniform, though I would definitely look for an alternative solution. 

[BrianD]

I have another question. The only thigh piece that fits too tight is my right thigh. My left thigh is actually a little large so it will need to be trimmed. Now, being that the side I need to have the gap in will be covered by the ammo belt attached to the bottom of the right thigh is this even anything to have to worry about? Many of the pics I have seen in the build threads as well as in the pic referrence for the costume requirements here on whitearmor show that the back of the thighs are trimmed and rounded up above the lines of the bottom of the thigh pieces and all the way up to the bottom of the cover strip. Is there any reason I couldn't just follow this method?

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I have another question. The only thigh piece that fits too tight is my right thigh. My left thigh is actually a little large so it will need to be trimmed. Now, being that the side I need to have the gap in will be covered by the ammo belt attached to the bottom of the right thigh is this even anything to have to worry about? Many of the pics I have seen in the build threads as well as in the pic referrence for the costume requirements here on whitearmor show that the back of the thighs are trimmed and rounded up above the lines of the bottom of the thigh pieces and all the way up to the bottom of the cover strip. Is there any reason I couldn't just follow this method?

 

For the front at minimum I'd install a piece of cover strip on the inside helping to conceal the gap even though it can't been seen with the ammo belt installed. This will also give the weakened area some strength. You'll be double covered  .

 

It's perfectly acceptable to trim the rear lower return edge for mobility. If I may add if you're going to do that do it with both legs so that they're uniform. 

 

Hope this helps

[BrianD]

OK, so it turns out that the thigh that needed the gap was actually the left not the right so I needed to add a shim to cover that gap in the armor below the cover strip. Here are a few pictures of where I am now. I got the shins all figured out and put the cover strips on properly. I still need to trim them at the bottoms and possibly at the top in the rear so I can bend my leg. As for the thighs, I got all the cover strips on and the shim started, The rears will be trimmed/rounded out at the bottoms so I can walk and then I will add an additional strip of plastic on the inside to reinforce the seam. Also got the shims on my kidney plate. They will need to be painted since the only plastic I could find locally was a slightly different color. Any suggestions of the best color matched spray paint that I could use to paint my kidney plate?

 

 

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work so far

[BrianD]

OK! So my shim turned out way better that I expected. I'm getting the hang of the paste so I may redo my kidney shims too. I also added an inner strip to help reinforce one of the thighs.

 

 

 

[BrianD]

BTW... that is only finished with 1000g sand paper. I have not polished it yet. I think it will be completely un-noticable once it is shined up a bit.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Right on! there ya go 

[BrianD]

I got the backs of the thighs trimmed at the bottoms so I can bend my legs and walk. Still need to add the ammo pack and finalize the fitting. I read that it has to be attached with a solid head rivet. Can someone post a picture or a link to the proper hardware for this? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good. On the right thigh, rear, the cover strip should stop at the top of the lower return edge.

 

Double cap rivets http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34902-centurion-level-rivet-sets-for-sale/

[BrianD]

Thank you again Tony. I will trim it back once I make my final fitting adjustments just in case I need to round it out a bit more for my legs. Also, thanks for the link! Very helpful. 

[BrianD]

So I think I found a solution for the missing button on the ab plate. I used some playdoh and made an imprint from the existing buttons and then filled it with ABS paste. Trimmed and sanded the edges and top and came up with this. Still needs to be attached and maybe a little more paste to even it out but once it is painted it should be totally unnoticeable. Do you guys think this will work?

 

 

 

 

[Novak Dimon[TK]]

Great idea! Just a little sanding and you have a perfect button!