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

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

I would start with applying your cover strip to the back of your shin and then seeing how much you need to shim to fill in the gap.  Obviously the coverstrip will help hide anything that you wont need to shim.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Thanks for all the quick replies.
Without any alternative I have begun the shim on the shin. Here is my rough cut of the shim fit in place. I think I can take a few mm off it and still get a good fit. But overall it will be this size.



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[Jared[TK]]

I recommend just getting different boots from Imperial boots or tk boots


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[lucnak[TK]]

I'm concerned that your shim is going to break given the strain that the shins take when putting them on and taking them off. Not really sure what to recommend. I am thinking about it!

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

2 minutes ago, lucnak said:

I'm concerned that your shim is going to break given the strain that the shins take when putting them on and taking them off. Not really sure what to recommend. I am thinking about it!

maybe need to do something more than E6000 it?  It will need a lot of strength

 

_----_ 

 

Imagine the dashed line is the piece behind what you will be shimming.  This piece will need to be very large and also go to the edge of the shim piece.

 

Than either epoxy the behind piece (dashed line) inside the shin and sandwich to your shim piece.

 

It wont be easy but it is possible.  Perhaps others than have shimmed can chime in with more experience.

 

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

maybe need to do something more than E6000 it?  It will need a lot of strength
 
_----_ 
 
Imagine the dashed line is the piece behind what you will be shimming.  This piece will need to be very large and also go to the edge of the shim piece.
 
Than either epoxy the behind piece (dashed line) inside the shin and sandwich to your shim piece.
 

I like that idea a lot actually! And I also agree with lucnak that it will need to be very strong to keep from breaking due to the stress.
So this is the idea I put together.
Basically using a full back behind the shim. Then adding braces in a few spots that go around about half the shin to add extra strength.
The only part I haven’t decided yet is if I should use ABS for the brace or maybe find something a little stronger.



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[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

1 minute ago, REAPERofDAISYS said:

I like that idea a lot actually! And I also agree with lucnak that it will need to be very strong to keep from breaking due to the stress.
So this is the idea I put together.
Basically using a full back behind the shim. Then adding braces in a few spots that go around about half the shin to add extra strength.
The only part I haven’t decided yet is if I should use ABS for the brace or maybe find something a little stronger.



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I would use ABS for the shim backing, as you can put it in a hot water bath to give the backing the right shape to your shin.  I would hold off on the brace as it may not be necessary.  I think the more important aspect is to have the shim backing have the most contact with the shin as possible while still giving you the flexibility to open and close the shins to get your leg in.  You can always add the backing later if necessary.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

I would use ABS for the shim backing, as you can put it in a hot water bath to give the backing the right shape to your shin.  I would hold off on the brace as it may not be necessary.  I think the more important aspect is to have the shim backing have the most contact with the shin as possible while still giving you the flexibility to open and close the shins to get your leg in.  You can always add the backing later if necessary.

Good point.
Backing is drying. Appreciate the advice. I’m thinking the bottom might be the only part that may need a brace at all. Since it does extend much farther. But tomorrow I’ll get the shim on and after that I’ll have a pretty good idea how well it will hold.



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[CableGuy[TK]]

Fair play for trying why your trying. Luc’s right that they might become a weak point.
Failing that, you could just buy another set of shins. Perhaps some with a little more room and without the ridges on the back*. As long as the colour matches. :-)


*

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

17 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Failing that, you could just buy another set of shins

Very true, if we can't make it work you can either a) get new shins b) get new boots.

 

Obviously we will try to get you with the least expensive option which is to get your current shins setup correctly. 

 

It we need to get new shins I cannot recall if there is a thread that compared the different makers abs colors...

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

 

7 minutes ago, StrmTRPR85 said:

recall if there is a thread that compared the different makers abs colors

And here is that thread 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

1 hour ago, StrmTRPR85 said:

And here is that thread

It`s not ready yet though and you have to be an attachè to see it, it`s not a comparison thread yet, mearly collecting samples of plastic - it will come live when it`s done

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

1 hour ago, TheSwede said:

It`s not ready yet though and you have to be an attachè to see it, it`s not a comparison thread yet, mearly collecting samples of plastic - it will come live when it`s done

And I only searched from my phone sorry couldn't tell which section I was pulling up

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

New shins or boots will be a big bummer. Especially because that will probably mean I won’t get this done for a much longer time. But so far I’m thinking this will work. I played around with it today and it seemed to fit ok. And I have a couple ideas that I could use if I still have some fitting issues with the boots.
While I wait for some more of that to dry I did get the buttons placed (not glued yet)
Was wondering how these looked for size?



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[CableGuy[TK]]

Good on you. Might as well try what you can and see how it comes out. Your boots will loosen up a little after time too, making it easier to squeeze the shins around.

Regarding the buttons, you’ve cut the sizes nicely. Buttons are really neat. Original buttons may have been a tad smaller but it’s nothing that would affect clearance. :-)

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Made some more progress with the left shin.
I apparently didn’t put enough E6000 on the bottom edge so it wasn’t holding well. So I decided to use some super glue to secure it.

Other than that I did put most of the suit on to get an idea what needs work.
Right away I can tell the shoulders will need adjusting. I might tighten up the forearms a bit too.

The right shin was glued up at this point, so that is why it isn’t pictured.



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[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Finished the Thermal Detonator today.
Pretty happy with how it turned out. The screws were a beast to track down.
Sits centered on the belt nicely. Also with this finished I’m ready to cut the belt to length and sew the Velcro on.

Had to use some pan head screws and paint them. Everything is philips nowadays.

Also went ahead and threw some sticky back Velcro (the soft side) on the clips to prevent scraping the armor.




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[CableGuy[TK]]

Finished the Thermal Detonator today.
Pretty happy with how it turned out. The screws were a beast to track down.
Sits centered on the belt nicely. Also with this finished I’m ready to cut the belt to length and sew the Velcro on.

Had to use some pan head screws and paint them. Everything is philips nowadays.

Also went ahead and threw some sticky back Velcro (the soft side) on the clips to prevent scraping the armor.




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Nice work.

Knowing that you’re aiming for Centurion, you’ll want pan head slotted screws for L3. Yours appear to be dome head. Its not listed in the CRL but it’s likely to be raised.



Dan :-)

[TheSwede[TK]]

9 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Its not listed in the CRL but it’s likely to be raised.

It has been added to EIB and so it also applies to Centurion And Dan is correct, yours are dome head so you`ll need to replace those for EIB and Centurion even though you had a hard time finding them I´m sorry to say.

From CRL:

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

• Clips shall be attached with slotted, pan head style screws, and be black (two per clip).
• Thermal detonator belt clips are positioned with little to no gap between the clips and the end caps.

That beeing said I have some more suggestions to improve the overall look and as you said yourself, trimming down the forearms is a good decision and I wouldn`t stop there, all your limbs look like they could benefit from coming down a size and it looks as you have the room to do it and as a bonus you would be able to reduce the amount of flat edge showing on the pieces, you want as little as possible showing on front of thighs, shins and forearms and basicly none on the biceps, back of thighs, forearms and shins...The ATA armor is made with those "extra" flat edges that really shouldn`t be there so one just have to work with what one got making the best of it. And as you mentioned the shoulders I would suggest not only shortening the strapping but also switch them right to left, the back has that nice ANH swoop that will make the front look better, from CRL:

OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable):

• There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates.

I would also remove that last big bump in the back of the shoulder bridges as they are non-existing on the movie suits.

 

This might seem like alot but apart from the TD screws and the shoulder gap my recommended suggestions are optional

 

Keep it up trooper

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by TheSwede

[CableGuy[TK]]

It has been added to EIB and so it also applies to Centurion:salute:
 

Good spot. Thank you, Daniel. :-)

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

It has been added to EIB and so it also applies to Centurion:salute: And Dan is correct, yours are dome head so you`ll need to replace those for EIB and Centurion even though you had a hard time finding them I´m sorry to say.
From CRL:
OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

• Clips shall be attached with slotted, pan head style screws, and be black (two per clip).
• Thermal detonator belt clips are positioned with little to no gap between the clips and the end caps.

That beeing said I have some more suggestions to improve the overall look and as you said yourself, trimming down the forearms is a good decision and I wouldn`t stop there, all your limbs look like they could benefit from coming down a size and it looks as you have the room to do it and as a bonus you would be able to reduce the amount of flat edge showing on the pieces, you want as little as possible showing on front of thighs, shins and forearms and basicly none on the biceps, back of thighs, forearms and shins...The ATA armor is made with those "extra" flat edges that really shouldn`t be there so one just have to work with what one got making the best of it. And as you mentioned the shoulders I would suggest not only shortening the strapping but also switch them right to left, the back has that nice ANH swoop that will make the front look better, from CRL:
OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable):

• There should be a minimal gap between the shoulder armor and the chest/back plates.

I would also remove that last big bump on the shoulder bridges as they are non-existing on the movie suits.
 
This might seem like alot but apart from the TD screws and the shoulder gap my recommended suggestions are optional
 
Keep it up trooper:salute:
 

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I have a lot to do. Now is when I wish I didn’t build it so well. Gonna be a nightmare taking this apart.


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[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

3 minutes ago, REAPERofDAISYS said:

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I have a lot to do. Now is when I wish I didn’t build it so well. Gonna be a nightmare taking this apart.


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The last large bump isnt a hard stop its just a piece that is up to you if you want to remove or not.  One of the deployment officers can correct me but this bump should not impact your approval to centurion.

 

Your forearms do look large, is it easy or hard to slide arms in?  How much gap is there between your arm and the abs?  If you do trim them down, only remove the rear coverstrip and trim equal amounts on each side to reduce the size.

 

I would start with the shoulder gaps, TD screws, and maybe....maybe the forearms depending on the gap you have sliding them on.  The shoulder bump that is up to your preference   I still have my large bump, i'm still up in the air on cutting it or not....leaning towards cutting it.

[TheSwede[TK]]

8 minutes ago, StrmTRPR85 said:

One of the deployment officers can correct me but this bump should not impact your approval to centurion.

It doesen’t, that’s why I said optional And I wasen’t totally clear I meant the rear tab so I’ll edit that. 

@REAPERofDAISYS the more I think about it the more I feel that those flat sections may be a hard sell for L2/L3 but I think it’s best to let the DO:s chime in on that so you don’t have to work getting the coverstrips of and it wasen’t absolutely necessary (still think it will look much better though) so....calling @ukswrath and @justjoseph63

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

11 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

It doesen’t, that’s why I said optional

I gotcha boo

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

It doesen’t, that’s why I said optional And I wasen’t totally clear I meant the rear tab so I’ll edit that. 
[mention=32305]REAPERofDAISYS[/mention] the more I think about it the more I feel that those flat sections may be a hard sell for L2/L3 but I think it’s best to let the DO:s chime in on that so you don’t have to work getting the coverstrips of and it wasen’t absolutely necessary (still think it will look much better though) so....calling [mention=21566]ukswrath[/mention] and [mention=22112]justjoseph63[/mention]

If the rear tab is optional I’ll leave it for now. Always easy to remove later.
My concern with removing the flat parts is that I cannot do it with all the pieces.
For instance my thighs would be easy to remove and still have room. Pretty sure I can even get my forearms removed and still fit.
But there is no way I could make my biceps any smaller. And obviously with having to shim my shins I can make the smaller either.
So if I’m requested to remove all the flat section will not being able to do those pieces restrict me from L2 and L3?


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