Reaper's ANH -Stunt- build, ATA (Hopefully to centurion level)

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So my back is giving me a lot of trouble.
Too much gap between it and the kidney. Also doesn’t stay close to my body.
I’m gonna have to give it some serious water baths, and probably redo most of the straps to fix it unfortunately.

From what I can tell I’m basically going to have to reform it to be almost straight, removing all curve from it vertically.




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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Mixed up some ABS paste and am starting out on the thigh behind the ammo belt to get a feel for it before I do anymore.
As you can see a little accidentally touched the cover strip and it ate off the shine before I could wipe it off.



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[Frank75139[501st]]

You’ll never notice when you wear it


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[Jared[TK]]

I found it helpful to apply tape to the front side and put the paste on through the back. Peel off the tape after its set up and it’s pretty smooth to clean up


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[CableGuy[TK]]

So my back is giving me a lot of trouble.
Too much gap between it and the kidney. Also doesn’t stay close to my body.
I’m gonna have to give it some serious water baths, and probably redo most of the straps to fix it unfortunately.

From what I can tell I’m basically going to have to reform it to be almost straight, removing all curve from it vertically.




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Hi John,

Just seen your query about the back plate.

Do you have anymore pictures? I don’t know how tall you are but, I’m wondering if your torso armour is at least a couple of inches too low.
Here’s a shot comparing your back plate with Harrison Ford himself. If he straightened his arm, I looks like his torso armour would be an inch or so higher than his elbow. It looks like yours might be in line with your elbow:



That couple of inches could really help your back plate reach your shoulders.

The crotch area should be, well, erm, cupping, you know... ;-)

Feel free to post up any more pics if you have them. :-)

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

I found it helpful to apply tape to the front side and put the paste on through the back. Peel off the tape after its set up and it’s pretty smooth to clean

That actually sounds like it will make it way easier, thanks for the advice!



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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Hi John,

Just seen your query about the back plate.

Do you have anymore pictures? I don’t know how tall you are but, I’m wondering if your torso armour is at least a couple of inches too low.
Here’s a shot comparing your back plate with Harrison Ford himself. If he straightened his arm, I looks like his torso armour would be an inch or so higher than his elbow. It looks like yours might be in line with your elbow:



That couple of inches could really help your back plate reach your shoulders.

The crotch area should be, well, erm, cupping, you know... ;-)

Feel free to post up any more pics if you have them. :-)

So I’ve done a bit more adjusting and it’s a bit better but still won’t get higher levels of approval in my opinion.



In these pictures my chest is as high as it will go without... talking in a higher voice.
I’m hoping I can find a better way to fix this than shimming the back piece about an inch or so. Basically same premise as when people shim the ab to kidney.



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[CableGuy[TK]]

Hiya.

 

Looks like an improvement straight away.

 

Don’t be put off aiming for L2/L3 because of it. I’ve seen similar gaps pass Centurion. The CRL doesn’t technically specify a gap - it aims to keep any overlap of the parts to a minimum. (“Back plate shall have no, or minimal overlap of the kidney plate” - no mention of gap between the two).

 

Getting the parts nice and close is ideal and is recommended but, sometimes, especially with taller troopers, that’s just not possible.

 

You might also find that the two parts are reluctant to sit close as they appear to be different shapes. The corners of the back plate appear to be sitting on the kidney, however the middle of the back plate then curves up to 1cm or so in the middle. Perhaps some other ATA builders could guide us on whether they had similar issues, or had to reshape the curvature of the back plate?

 

Keep up the great work.

 

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Got my thigh garters made today.

Took some trial and error on my part using a sewing machine. (Haven’t touched one since middle school)

But using justjosephs63 style with Velcro I finally finished them up.

And I’m pretty happy with how my thighs are sitting with them.

For the belt I used some leftover 2” nylon and wrapped that in some denim material to be a little less likely to slip.

Not the prettiest thing ever, but it gets the job done, and it’s completely covered by the armor.

 

 

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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

You might also find that the two parts are reluctant to sit close as they appear to be different shapes. The corners of the back plate appear to be sitting on the kidney, however the middle of the back plate then curves up to 1cm or so in the middle. Perhaps some other ATA builders could guide us on whether they had similar issues, or had to reshape the curvature of the back plate?
 

I have looked at a lot of EIB and centurion ATA builds. From what I can tell they all have that curve that you see in mine. Unfortunately mine does seem a bit more extreme. My biggest problem with reshaping the back is I’m also skinny so it limits the directions I’m able to bend the material without looking even wonky’er due to being 6’ 150lbs.
On another strange armor question. My shins. The right shin on the outside piece it sticks down almost 2” more than the other. The left shin doesn’t do it, so I think it should just be trimmed. Just wanted to check if this was supposed to be this way?




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[CableGuy[TK]]

Okay. Based on what you’ve said about other EIB and Centurion ATA applications, I’d be tempted to leave it as is for now and carry on working on the rest. Then review it again when your arms and legs are on and see how it looks as a package.

 

Regarding the shins, the outer side is usually a little longer than the inside:

 

 

There is no need for return edge on the bottom of the shins so you could always trim it if you wanted to.

 

Have you tried them as they are with your boots on? :-)

 

[Jared[TK]]

I have an ATA kit, and have the exact thing on the shins
I have had no issues with basic approval and just made EIB

The only issue I have, is the left side is very tight and becomes uncomfortable on a long troop. I plan on widening the opening more with a hot water bath and/or heat gun.

The entire left side of the ATA kit is considerably smaller than the right.
Forearms, biceps, calves etc....



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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

The only issue I have, is the left side is very tight and becomes uncomfortable on a long troop. I plan on widening the opening more with a hot water bath and/or heat gun.

That makes a lot of sense. I will just leave it long for now and probably do the same then.

 
There is no need for return edge on the bottom of the shins so you could always trim it if you wanted to.
 
Have you tried them as they are with your boots on? :-)
 

Not with my boots yet. I have them ordered and on the way. But still waiting for them to show up. Which is why I haven’t finished trimming the backs of the shins yet.




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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Made my belt today. I filled the inside of the belt with a random material I found at the fabric store. (Can’t remember what it’s called) It’s like half felt and plastic. It’s pretty stiff while still being easy to sew.
Unfortunately I was a few inches short so I added a double layer of the white denim in the middle to get the extra length. Then I sewed the denim around the middle of the belt.

After that I wrapped it completely around and pinned it in place, before sewing along the black marks.

After that I cut the denim to leave about 1/2” extra. I ironed that over so it was easier to sew, then sewed that over itself so there won’t be any frayed edges showing.

Lastly I flipped back to the front side and sewed the last edge to the edge I just sewed wrapping it all up nicely.

It isn’t perfect but I’m happy with it. Still need to do the Velcro and rivet the ABS front to it. But that will be another day.


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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

More with the belt while I wait for E6000 to dry on the main body.

Ive looked around the centurion forums and decided to remove all return edge from the top and bottom. I also shortened the ends about 12mm.




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[lucnak[TK]]

I didn't have your back plate to kidney gap issue with my ATA, though I am shorter than you. Making the back to chest straps longer doesn't resolve the issue?

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

I didn't have your back plate to kidney gap issue with my ATA, though I am shorter than you. Making the back to chest straps longer doesn't resolve the issue?

I tried that, but unfortunately if I make the chest to shoulder straps longer the back gets so low and it looks even worse.
So I’m gonna leave it alone for now and see how it looks when the build is done. Maybe when the whole thing is together I’ll see a different way to get the gap smaller.


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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Boots arrived today! Picked these up off the ol interwebs for about $30. Saved a couple bucks and I just need to paint them.

Unfortunately having them showed me that I cut both of my shins WAY to small. Luckily my right will only need a few mm and can easily be covered by the cover strip.

Not so lucky with the left. It’s beyond too small. So I’m going to have to shim it back out.
So I’m just wondering now if I need to shim both sides, or if I could just put the shim on the inside or outside and only have one seam to deal with?
Here is about how much I will need to shim it out. (Maybe 2-3mm less)

Also pretty sure I’m going to have to redo the sniper knee now as well. The shins have turned into my Achilles’ tendon.
Any advice is appreciated as I’m trying to avoid making this into a bigger problem than it already is.


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[CableGuy[TK]]

Boots arrived today! Picked these up off the ol interwebs for about $30. Saved a couple bucks and I just need to paint them.

Unfortunately having them showed me that I cut both of my shins WAY to small. Luckily my right will only need a few mm and can easily be covered by the cover strip.

Not so lucky with the left. It’s beyond too small. So I’m going to have to shim it back out.
So I’m just wondering now if I need to shim both sides, or if I could just put the shim on the inside or outside and only have one seam to deal with?
Here is about how much I will need to shim it out. (Maybe 2-3mm less)

Also pretty sure I’m going to have to redo the sniper knee now as well. The shins have turned into my Achilles’ tendon.
Any advice is appreciated as I’m trying to avoid making this into a bigger problem than it already is.


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Before you take measures, can you show a picture of you with the shins on, then with the boots and shins, and just the fit of the boots.

You look like a nice slim fit so it seems odd that you’d have to shim them. (Unless they supply them very small)

You might find that the opening of those boots is just very large. :-)


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[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

Thats a whole lotta shim for a shin!  It appears the front of the shin is already assembled.  Like CableGuy said.  Try on, give us some more pictures.  Even give the back a bit of a squeeze to see how much room you have while trying them.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Thats a whole lotta shim for a shin!  It appears the front of the shin is already assembled.  Like CableGuy said.  Try on, give us some more pictures.  Even give the back a bit of a squeeze to see how much room you have while trying them.

Hope these help show what’s going on.
Here is just the boot on. As you said CableGuy these boots are on the larger opening side of things.

Here are a couple with just the shin on ( I only did the left because it’s the far worse one)

As you can see these are already sitting pretty tight around my ankle with nothing else on.

And here is with the boot on. The inside half fits pretty tight but is formed pretty well with the shape of the boot.

But the outside is much too short. Although I do think now I can go with a triangle shim, wider at the bottom and tapering up. Unless that would make it look out of balance?

As always any input is appreciated.



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[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi John,

 

I think the boots might be a little wide at the top, however it also looks like there is very little room for adjustment on the ATA shins. Even without your boots, it looks like they’re a tight squeeze.

 

Based on the raised edges that ATA have on the backs, it doesn’t look like you could have left much more than you did.

 

 

Here’s a couple of other ATA builds from the EIB applications and they both appear to have “scooped” the rears. Perhaps they had similar issues? Calling[mention=27198]lucnak[/mention] (he’s one of these examples and an Imperial Attaché.

 

 

 

They both have a nice slim build, like you, so it should be achievable.

 

Might be worth having a quick look at Lucnak’s build thread to see how he did the shins and what boots he has.

 

Stick with it mate. We’ll get you there somehow. :-)

 

Dan

 

[Ensi[TK]]

Kind of in the same boat as you with the shin. The entire left side of the ATA kit is cursed 

[lucnak[TK]]

I didn't have issues with the shins, though the left one can feel a little tight at times. I did use larger cover strips for my legs though, so that may have helped mitigate some of the issue.For info, I have TK Boots. I cut out the backs for mobility when bending the legs, not for fitting the shin on my actual leg.

 

Can you close the shin when you push the top of the boots inwards?

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Can you close the shin when you push the top of the boots inwards?

I cannot. It closes until about the bottom 5in
And even then that causes the boot to bulge out which to me means it needs more room than that.




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