Ab and Kidney Rivets, and Kidney Notch Questions

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

Working on my Sandtrooper armor (AM 2.0 kit), and have a couple of questions that I can't seem to find a definitive answer on...or one that I understand, anyway. lol

 

Question 1: Using the Billgram for rivet placement, I measured down 22mm from the top of the ab section, then spaced out per the diagram (52mm & 53mm). That leaves a longer portion towards the cod than in the Billgram pic. (Arrows pointing left in the below photo). For comparison, I measured the center of the ab plate, then spaced the rivets 52mm up and 53mm down from there (arrows pointing right in the photo). Which marks should I be going with?

 

 

Question 2: I don't need to shim or trim the kidney or butt plate, so I just need to cut the kidney notch (marked by blue tape). My question is, do I need to trim the sides of the butt plate back to meet where the notch is, or leave as is, with the butt plate forming the bottom of a square?

 

 

Thanks in advance for all help and advice!

[magni[TK]]

Hmmm, I always remembered 20mm down and 10mm in from edge. From the arrows it looks like the left bottom would end up over your belt line and thats no good. What would it look like if you measured up from crease 22mm and centered middle one? And for your notch question it is no longer required. It's covered by belt anyway.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Quick question for you, Chris... can I ask who the maker of this armor is?

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

AM 2.0 kit.

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

Ok...I'm stupid. Probably should have read the CRL first. Both the Stormtrooper and Sandtrooper CRLs say the rivets should be spaced evenly.

 

Even though it's not required, I still kinda want to add the notch since it was present on the original armor. So I'm still wondering if I need to trim back the sides of the butt armor, though. Seeing some pics of original and members' armor, it looks like the sides on mine are very long.

[magni[TK]]

Your sides did look long. That's an answer Tony or Sly should answer. I would say do the notch and lose 22mm off sides of butt plate. But wait for more opinions to be safe.

[Locitus[Admin]]

Unless you need the extra width on the butt because you have a large rear, it's safe to cut it down to match the kidney.

 

You'll also want to cut off some of the bottom piece that goes between your legs. It's clearly too long.

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

Resurrecting this instead of starting a new thread to ask another related question...

 

Are the elastic straps from kidney to torso 1”/25mm as mentioned here, or 1.25”/32mm as in this Billgram:

 

 

Edited April 10, 2018 by Bootlegger137
Pic issue

[wook1138[TK]]

Hey Chris.  I believe the interior strapping was typically 1" on the screen used examples (maybe someone with more "know" will chime in).  But really, you can use whatever you want as the strapping will not affect approval at any level.  And, of course, if you are using the bracket system (which was used in the original suits but is not required) you will want to make sure the elastic width matches the brackets. 

 

With the Sandtrooper, an upper level (L2) requirement is that the screws for the bracket system are visible from the outside of the armor - but you don't have to actually use this method for interior strapping. You can use whatever black elastics or nylon webbing you want - with snaps, rivets, or the brackets.

 

Hope that helps!

[Locitus[Admin]]

It's 25 mm wide black elastic.

[Bootlegger137[501st]]

4 minutes ago, Locitus said:

It's 25 mm wide black elastic.

Thanks guys. I was going to trust what was written in the post as opposed to the Billgram, thinking the post would be updated more easily than the drawing.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

3 hours ago, Bootlegger137 said:

Resurrecting this instead of starting a new thread to ask another related question...

 

Are the elastic straps from kidney to torso 1”/25mm as mentioned here, or 1.25”/32mm as in this Billgram:

 

 

Not sure if I would depend on a rivet alone to hold your elastic in place, Chris.  Even though there is a washer, it's still a tiny one.  You may want to think about doing snaps on the sides.

[GilFran007]

I used AP's method of using an ABS strip across all 3 rivets, per each side, to keep everything squared away nicely:

 

[Sn4k3]

Not sure if I would depend on a rivet alone to hold your elastic in place, Chris.  Even though there is a washer, it's still a tiny one.  You may want to think about doing snaps on the sides.

Is this a level 3 armor?

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[magni[TK]]

5 hours ago, Sn4k3 said:

Is this a level 3 armor?

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As it's a interior strapping recommendation. It wouldn't affect a Centurion application. As long as you have snaps and rivets in the right spots outside. How you strap it together on the inside is up to you and isn't judged.

IMO I recommend using the double snap method. A little insurance never hurts.

[Sn4k3]

As it's a interior strapping recommendation. It wouldn't affect a Centurion application. As long as you have snaps and rivets in the right spots outside. How you strap it together on the inside is up to you and isn't judged.
IMO I recommend using the double snap method. A little insurance never hurts.

I not familiar with the double snap method

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[magni[TK]]

14 minutes ago, Sn4k3 said:

I not familiar with the double snap method

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It's image Joseph provided above^^^^^^^