Harbinger's first build - ANH Stunt (ANOVOS) [Centurion Approved!]

[Harbinger[IPM]]

More updates!

 

Belt re-assembled (except holster, you'll see why):

 

 

Removed the upper mounting holes on the holster as well as in the process of stretching it out so my E-11 will fit:

 

Hand guards glued to rubber gloves:

 

Shoulder elastic glued:

 

Chest-to-back and shoulder straps/snaps cut and sewn:

Edited November 14, 2017 by Harbinger

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Finished glueing the shoulder bells:

 

Finished glueing the thighs:

 

Replaced the snaps on Pencap's garter system (no offense, I just had leftover Tandy snaps and wanted everything the same!):

 

Hoping Tony or someone else can chime in... my shoulder strap covers don't seem to want to sit correctly in back when lined up with the chest. Any suggestions? Are the retainer elastic and weight of the armor supposed to fix this? Here's how they look right now (held on with tape):

[TheSwede[TK]]

The white elastic should fix that, as seen on the trooper on the right. A tight knot should do the trick

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Realized my straps were backwards when I went to glue them, that may be a factor as well!

 

Learned a lot with this build as I seem to be moving at a pretty good clip now. The end is in sight!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

43 minutes ago, Harbinger said:

Realized my straps were backwards when I went to glue them, that may be a factor as well!

 

Learned a lot with this build as I seem to be moving at a pretty good clip now. The end is in sight!

Yes they are aren't they, no worries. Although, how they rest shouldn't make much difference, at least with the Anovos armor. The white Centurion level elastic as Daniel mentioned should do the trick of holding them in place. Note: Gluing the elastic knot to the underside of the back plate will also help keep the elastic aligned and prevent sprouting legs and walking away.  

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Removed the remainder of the return edge on the eyes of the helmet:

 

Arm strapping (and han hooks) completed:

 

Did a test fit of all parts last night (ignore the inside-out holster and neck seal!):

 

New (nicer) boots arrived five minutes after getting un-suited:

 

Was able to do a test run in armor at the Battlefront II launch last night - will need to cut another 1/4" or so off the thighs and re-position the garter snaps, and trim down the left forearm 1/8" or so. Have not yet had time to resolve the shoulder strap issue or rivet the ammo pack on (white duct tape for now).

[Harbinger[IPM]]

HOW TO: Install single cap (rapid) rivets (my version):

 

Step 1: Build what I'll refer to as a 'thigh armor rivet installing sled'. It'll look something like this (I made mine out of scrap wood):

 

The thigh piece slips over the sled, with the rivet located above the anvil (which I made a recessed area for to keep it from moving around). Set the sled legs on some pavers, cinderblocks or something else substantial to give enough clearance for your thigh ammo, and then install rivets:

 

I probably over-thought this, but FYI if anyone else had a problem with these.

 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

In other news, I was also able to get my thighs re-trimmed (will do another test fit tomorrow) and fixed my forearm. Also noticed a little battle damage from the test run troop last night which I'll need to address (sand and polish).

 

Joseph's replacement split rivets arrived today (again, measure twice cut once) so I was able to install my cod-to-posterior strap:

(I realize it's upside down, now... will have to fix.)

 

Since I was able to sort out the thigh ammo installation I also painted all the rivets that needed it (may need another coat):

Edited November 15, 2017 by Harbinger

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Got the shoulder cover straps installed. Knock on wood, but so far they seem to be doing the trick:

 

Another question... did another test fit today, thighs seem to fit much better but they seem to be causing the posterior plate to ride up the kidney:

 

What is the correct solution, cutting down the thighs in the back or cutting down the posterior? Or do I cut the bottom of the kidney? Film reference seems to show the bottom of the belt/kidney plate should be a lot closer, I have nearly 2" between the belt and kidney/posterior seam.

 

(And if I trim the kidney, will lack of a return edge look bad? Not super confident in my return edge making skills.)

Edited November 15, 2017 by Harbinger

[ukswrath[Staff]]

12 hours ago, Harbinger said:

HOW TO: Install single cap (rapid) rivets (my version):

 

Step 1: Build what I'll refer to as a 'thigh armor rivet installing sled'. It'll look something like this (I made mine out of scrap wood):

 

The thigh piece slips over the sled, with the rivet located above the anvil (which I made a recessed area for to keep it from moving around). Set the sled legs on some pavers, cinderblocks or something else substantial to give enough clearance for your thigh ammo, and then install rivets:

 

I probably over-thought this, but FYI if anyone else had a problem with these.

 

Where there's a will there's away. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Currently re-doing my thighs (they're a bit tight) and kidney plate, then hopefully no more tweaks to fitment.

 

Note to self for the next kit: trim thighs for height first.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Trimmed down my kidney plate by an inch or so and formed a new return edge/cutouts:

Will need to do a little bit more clean-up on the return edge but not bad for my first try, I think.

 

Glued some velcro to the top of my TKboots to keep the shins from riding up:

 

Picked up some (ssh, non-CRL!) binders at Disneyland and took off the logos/etc (may look for a more screen-accurate mounting solution):

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Did a test fit with the trimmed kidney and fixed thighs and everything seems to fit now. My posterior plate seems prone to popping out, I assume replacing the velcro/elastic with nylon and snaps or film-accurate brackets would keep it from flexing?

Edited November 19, 2017 by Harbinger

[QuartZ]

On 11/7/2017 at 10:15 AM, Harbinger said:

I wasn't a fan of the bright white against the noticeably off-white Anovos plastic, so I used a tea bath to stain the belt - came out a bit darker than I'd hoped but still an improvement, I think(?):

 

I'd love to know more a out your tea bath process for your belt. Is this a Kittle belt? I myself am torn on what to do about the belt color. I think the Anovos belt has a good color and I too think the white canvas is too bright/cool in tone compared to the nice off-white/warm tone of the Anovos armor. Your result with the bath looks excellent in my opinion! Can you tell us how you did it and what you used to achieve that tone and even color?

 

Thank you in advance,

-Dana

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Yes, it's a TKittle belt.

 

For the process, I boiled a pot of water, turned off the heat added 5 large bags of black tea and let them steep. Let the water sit for a few minutes to cool (the cooler, the longer it takes to set color, but the less shrinkage to the belt). Then dipped the belt in and swirled it around for a minute, pulled it out and rinsed it in a 2:1 mix of cold water and vinegar (helps to set the color). Make sure your pot is large enough to submerge the entire belt at once with ample room to avoid uneven color absorption. I then let it air dry overnight.

 

A couple notes: The belt will shrink a bit, so it won't line up with the notched corners perfectly and you'll lose maybe 1/4" in overall length. If I were to do it again, I'd only steep for ~30-45 seconds as it came out a tad darker than I'd have liked.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

TK-92802 reporting for duty!

 

 

Need to address a few issues now: 1). velcro/glue ammo back in proper position on thigh (done!) 2.) thighs are not the same length, need to trim the right and shim the left for equal amounts of black showing 3.) my posterior plate likes to flare out and ride up the kidney plate, some MrNoStripes brackets should solve the problem, hopefully... then off to EIB and Centurion!

Edited November 23, 2017 by Harbinger

[TheSwede[TK]]

Congratz on approval Trooper

[68Brick[TK]]

Congrats on your approval Trooper. 

 

I would recommend that you double up the number of snaps on your shoulder straps for your chest and back plate connects. 2 minimum (4 total per strap) to avoid any trooping malfunctions. The more redundant attachment connectors the better. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

I used the heavy duty SS Tandy snaps and they seem pretty durable so far (held up for 2 hours at the Battlefront II launch), but if it seems to be an issue later I'll look into it.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

If you use quality snaps you shouldn't have an issue with single snaps IMHO

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Did another troop and this Velcro thing just isn't working... at least for the back/kidney/posterior assembly.

 

Going to go with snaps or a set of brackets from MrNoStripes... just need to figure out if these return edges are thick enough first.

Edited November 26, 2017 by Harbinger

[Harbinger[IPM]]

New snap plates/straps are under way in preperation for my EIB submission:

 

For those wondering, I use a hobby iron to heat up my snap plates and bend them to fit the contours of whatever I'm gluing them to.

 

 

Also am nearly finished with my thighs. All that's left is a bit more sanding/polishing on the left thigh, I had to add about 1/2" to the top due to overzealous trimming:

Edited November 30, 2017 by Harbinger

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Awesome!

[magni[TK]]

That's looking good!

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Let's make snaps!

 

... and done!