Uxorious' first build - the road to 501st

[Uxorious[TK]]

Ok, Tnx.

I followed my plan with the forearm - removed the return edge at the wrist and took away about half at the elbow. I sanded them and they are perfect. Next move will be adjusting for size by cutting the butt connection I guess.

I’m am quite scared about this. It has to be enough room to get your hand through it, but cut away enough to make it look good and not to big.

The movies I see on YouTube only show how to cut and how to assemble, but nothing shows how to find the right measurements. I feel it’s very hard using tape and “testing”, coz the tape doesn’t really hold and give me confidence in the result. I’m afraid to cut to much and have a hard time squeezing through, and I am afraid to have a piece that looks way to big.




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[Frank75139[501st]]

Ok, Tnx.

I followed my plan with the forearm - removed the return edge at the wrist and took away about half at the elbow. I sanded them and they are perfect. Next move will be adjusting for size by cutting the butt connection I guess.

I’m am quite scared about this. It has to be enough room to get your hand through it, but cut away enough to make it look good and not to big.

The movies I see on YouTube only show how to cut and how to assemble, but nothing shows how to find the right measurements. I feel it’s very hard using tape and “testing”, coz the tape doesn’t really hold and give me confidence in the result. I’m afraid to cut to much and have a hard time squeezing through, and I am afraid to have a piece that looks way to big.




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I had the same issues as you with the fear. I started with the bicep and just cut it big and kept going smaller in little increments. After two biceps I had a decent hang of it until I got to thighs and shins. That’s just hard to do with one person cause it’s hard to bend and tape/measure (in my opinion). First bicep took forever second a bit faster and forearms I had down pat. Some pieces your gonna have to use a lot of tape.


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[imperialbrewer[TK]]

Ok, Tnx.

I followed my plan with the forearm - removed the return edge at the wrist and took away about half at the elbow. I sanded them and they are perfect. Next move will be adjusting for size by cutting the butt connection I guess.

I’m am quite scared about this. It has to be enough room to get your hand through it, but cut away enough to make it look good and not to big.

The movies I see on YouTube only show how to cut and how to assemble, but nothing shows how to find the right measurements. I feel it’s very hard using tape and “testing”, coz the tape doesn’t really hold and give me confidence in the result. I’m afraid to cut to much and have a hard time squeezing through, and I am afraid to have a piece that looks way to big.

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I totally feel your anxiety, and I have been there too. Just take your time, take cuts off in small increments, and cut with intention and slowly. I relied heavily on this forum and RWA creation’ Facebook group for guidance and feedback. And now just about a month later, I finally have my TK designation!

Remarkably, most of the fitting is just intuition. Make sure you have a bout a finger’s gap between your body and your armor — loose enough to be somewhat comfortable. The old adage “measure twice, cut once” applies here — take your time measuring and remeasuring as well as “dry-fitting” with tape to get an idea for how much you’ll have to trim off. And ALWAYS measure with your under armor on.

If I can ever be of assistance, just ask!


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[Uxorious[TK]]

So I am thinking how to cut the butt connections and one side has a return edge the other is flat. The return edge side would be the front I guess.

 

As I have tried to demonstrate in the photo I am thinking I will cut on the front / return edge side first making this about 8 cm on each side, that will make the cover strip cover most - with only 0,5 mm of the return edge showing on each side of the cover strip.

 

The rest of what I need to cut, I guess I will take from the back / flat side.

 

I am of course scared to take away to much, making it to small - but I think I can do this.

 

The red scrambled part in the photo is the part of the front I want to cut away to make a nice fit for the cover strip. Of course with a bit better lines

 

Does this look and sound like a good plan?

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 30, 2018 by Uxorious

[TheSwede[TK]]

Return edge faces front as you say but try and cover all of the edge if possible and I don’t get the 4cm on each side? (Maybe I’m stupid) if your cover strip is let’s say the Canon width of 15 then you cut 7,5mm on each side of the return. Or 8 and use a 16mm coverstrip and so on but try and avoid bigger than 20 on front of arms, unless you have to than that’s fine to

[Uxorious[TK]]

Yeah, I wrote the wrong numbers. It is a 15cm cover strip and i made 8 cm on each side so only 0,5 cm return edge shows. 

That was the plan, but it turned out even less then that though.

 

Right now i feel really bad about this forearm. The cutting is much harder then i expected.

I am having a har time getting stright lines - even when  using a metal ruler. 

The armor bends some and then i use the ruler to cut - it wont match the other side good. 

Also - I am really really unsure about my messurements. It doesnt matter how many times i messure when  i dont know if my number is correct. 

Also I wanted to cut more from the wrist side, making this more narrow, and almost nothing at the elbow side. 

When i test fitted it after i could still take more of the front, but i felt I could not take more from the elbow. 

 

Guess i now have to wait and see how it turns out when glue is dry. 

Mentaly i felt prepared for what i should do, but as i tried to do it my house of cards fell. 

Now i am in a negative place again, felling overwhelmed. 

 

Ill be releaved if i didnt ruin this forearm.

Ill be happy if i get this functional and approved....

Edited January 30, 2018 by Uxorious

[Uxorious[TK]]

Phew... tested now that the glue is dry, and its not a failure (at this point).

 

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Fredrick

[Uxorious[TK]]

Thank you Tony. Today I am at work but only thinking about coming home to my forearm armor.

The second one is all cut and I will glue it tonight. Spirit is rising again!

 

Was afraid a while that i would have to cut my thumb of to make it fit




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Edited February 1, 2018 by Uxorious

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Good news. Take it slow,  enjoy the ride. Btw is that electrical tape you'e using to hold the sections together?

[imperialbrewer[TK]]

@ukswrath — I totally understand your paranoia and fear of not being able to cut the straight lines. I’ve got a bit of a tremor condition, so that poses a challenge. A few things that have helped me out:

• Don’t stress out about being perfectly straight if it’s going to be hidden by a coverstrip. Just get them reasonably straight so there’s not sweeping gaps between the two halves of armor.

• If you don’t own one, get one of those flexible, transparent plastic rulers/straightedge — preferably something that is about a half meter or thereabouts (in America, I have one that’s a “two foot” ruler, which is roughly a half meter). Use that flexible ruler/straightedge — held in place with clamps — to mark your lines.

• When it comes to trimming armor, I prefer using lexan style scissors — I use both a curved and straight scissors. To me they’re much easier to manage than using a shop knife. You can make your trims slow and deliberate and still get a pretty clean edge that doesn’t take long to sand down to a smooth edge. I just use a flexible bit of 220 grit sandpaper to go back over my trimmed edges to make them smooth and clean.

• On some pieces — particularly those that have level surfaces and require an even trim/cut (like the ends of the thermal detonators) — you can just prop up your pencil in place up at the appropriate height, and just turn whatever it is you’re marking without moving the pencil. I did this for the thermal detonator and some of the other armor pieces, making it really easy to ensure a level surface or straight line.

• I have used shop knives and exacto knives on my trimming, too, but generally just for taking off really small snippets. I don’t trust myself with making longer cuts.

• If you’re trimming your cover strips make sure you clamp down the ABS plastic and your metal straight edge on top of it securely to your work surface. You don’t want the ABS or your straight edge moving at all when you’re marking, scoring, and cutting your coverstrips. And as others may have mentioned or you’ve probably seen in videos, the first two or three passes with your shop knife should be pretty light, and SLOWLY increases in pressure/depth with each pass of the blade. You really only need to get down to about half the depth of the ABS before you can bend and snap your coverstrips off.

Hope this helps a little! If you have any questions, I’d love to help as well. I just finished my first build about a week ago and learned a LOT from the process.


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[imperialbrewer[TK]]

One other thing comes to mind that I thought I’d share — don’t be too paranoid about screwing something up, because in the end it’s just plastic. It’s not that hard to make up a solution of ABS paste, fill in your blunder, and sand/polish it back down to a level surface. ABS paste is just a mixture of PURE acetone and ABS scraps mixed together in an air-tight jar (I use small canning jars). It takes a few hours for the acetone to melt the ABS into a paste — you want it about the consistency of white school glue, maybe even slightly more liquidy because it dries/cures so rapidly. I had to do a HUGE shimming job on the backs of my thighs (filling a 40mm gap) — and though it took around 60-80 hours of filling/sanding/buffing, it looks pretty damn good for an amateur.

You can do it! Just take your time, measure three or four times first, make your cuts slow and deliberate, and enjoy the process. Stressing out about it makes it a chore. Instead keep your eyes on the “prize” and persevere.

You’ve got this, trooper!


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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Sounds like we have a possible Attache in the making 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

2 hours ago, imperialbrewer said:

@ukswrath — I totally understand your paranoia and fear of not being able to cut the straight lines. I’ve got a bit of a tremor condition, so that poses a challenge. A few things that have helped me out:

• Don’t stress out about being perfectly straight if it’s going to be hidden by a coverstrip. Just get them reasonably straight so there’s not sweeping gaps between the two halves of armor.

• If you don’t own one, get one of those flexible, transparent plastic rulers/straightedge — preferably something that is about a half meter or thereabouts (in America, I have one that’s a “two foot” ruler, which is roughly a half meter). Use that flexible ruler/straightedge — held in place with clamps — to mark your lines.

• When it comes to trimming armor, I prefer using lexan style scissors — I use both a curved and straight scissors. To me they’re much easier to manage than using a shop knife. You can make your trims slow and deliberate and still get a pretty clean edge that doesn’t take long to sand down to a smooth edge. I just use a flexible bit of 220 grit sandpaper to go back over my trimmed edges to make them smooth and clean.

• On some pieces — particularly those that have level surfaces and require an even trim/cut (like the ends of the thermal detonators) — you can just prop up your pencil in place up at the appropriate height, and just turn whatever it is you’re marking without moving the pencil. I did this for the thermal detonator and some of the other armor pieces, making it really easy to ensure a level surface or straight line.

• I have used shop knives and exacto knives on my trimming, too, but generally just for taking off really small snippets. I don’t trust myself with making longer cuts.

• If you’re trimming your cover strips make sure you clamp down the ABS plastic and your metal straight edge on top of it securely to your work surface. You don’t want the ABS or your straight edge moving at all when you’re marking, scoring, and cutting your coverstrips. And as others may have mentioned or you’ve probably seen in videos, the first two or three passes with your shop knife should be pretty light, and SLOWLY increases in pressure/depth with each pass of the blade. You really only need to get down to about half the depth of the ABS before you can bend and snap your coverstrips off.

Hope this helps a little! If you have any questions, I’d love to help as well. I just finished my first build about a week ago and learned a LOT from the process.


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I had "sweeping gaps" in a few spots and it still turned out fine.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

7 minutes ago, Harbinger said:

I had "sweeping gaps" in a few spots and it still turned out fine.

Yea I have yet to see minor imperfections that can't be easily fixed. With the exception of kidney shims that need more work, almost everything else is gravy. 

[Uxorious[TK]]

17 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Good news. Take it slow,  enjoy the ride. Btw is that electrical tape you'e using to hold the sections together?

 

Yes. 

[Uxorious[TK]]

So I have been looking at Pencap510's Thigh Garter System for holding the thigh pieces up, instead of connecting them to the chest.

Looks like that belt works well for most, but I see a lot of people use suspenders also.

 

People who use suspenders, how are they connected and used to hold things up?

 

Is there a belt the thighs are attatched to that also has susspenders holding them up?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I use suspenders on by belt/thigh setup, I found that the belt continually wanted to dig in and pull down but with the addition of the suspenders seems to stay in the right spot.

 

I use a normal set of suspenders you find in men's stores, I removed the clips as they aren't that strong and just loop the elastic straps around the belt, they are still adjustable this way too.

 

 

 

[Frank75139[501st]]

So I have been looking at Pencap510's Thigh Garter System for holding the thigh pieces up, instead of connecting them to the chest.
Looks like that belt works well for most, but I see a lot of people use suspenders also.
 
People who use suspenders, how are they connected and used to hold things up?
 
Is there a belt the thighs are attatched to that also has susspenders holding them up?

I have the belt system and I’ve got issues with it not holding that well. Just assumed it was me because nobody else had any issues. It’s a well made set certainly worth the money and he was very helpful in figuring out what was causing some issues. Just don’t feel they are 100%. I use them in conjunction with a secondary strapping system just in case. Maybe it’s my snap placement, my belly, my thighs... who knows. I do know I’ve had the snaps in 3 different spots and none seemed better then the other. I think the suspenders might help but I’ve already got suspenders on my cod so that might be suspender overload.


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[Harbinger[IPM]]

I have the belt system, no suspenders. Considering adding a pair for reasons outlined above.

[Uxorious[TK]]

Tnx guys.

Does anyone know if the Anovos bucket is Centurion approved out of the box, or does it take modifications?


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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Since Anovos has been making changes we'll have to see the helmet first to determine. If you want to post photos we'd be happy to take a look.

[imperialbrewer[TK]]

I use a belt and suspenders and they work great. The suspenders are clipped to both the belt and the thigh elastic straps to keep them in position — works awesome. I also glued black elastic over the metal parts so they wouldn’t be seen as easily and blend in with my under armor.


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[Uxorious[TK]]

I am guessing i have to clean up the teeth?


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[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Fredrik,

You’re correct. If you’re aiming for EIB and Centurion, the teeth paint will have to be cleaned up a little. (CRL quote, “Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area”)

You might be able to gently remove some of the excess, depending on what paint Anovos used, with a wooden toothpick. Hopefully some other members with Anovos lids could expand a little on that.

Also, for L2/L3, the mesh on the front of the mic tips would have to changed for something a little more accurate as the Anovos mesh is very fine. Here’s what I mean;



Best wishes,

Dan


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Edited February 18, 2018 by CableGuy