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

[Timberwoof[TK]]

1 hour ago, Harbinger said:

Yeah, Velcro on the front stopped the entire shin from rotating/riding up the boot, but whenever I needed to go up or down stairs the boots would flex and the rear portion would pop out and go over the shin (leading to plastic grinding against my ankle, oh so fun).

Stairs are manageable. 
When fursuiting at a new place, like a con hotel I haven't been to before, I like to wander around when it's not crowded and learn all the stairs. For every step up I step forward just enough to feel the edge with my toe, then up and step onto it. For steps down, I feel for it with my heel. And I'm not afraid of holding on to the railing for guidance. The TK helmet has really bad downward vision and tilting the head down doesn't work, so I'll be using that technique a lot. At least I can wear my glasses under my helmet so I can see elevator floor button numbers. In my fursuit I gave to get up really close or just ask for the floor. I'm hoping my fursuiting "skills" will help when trooping. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Some good tips there, I imagine it would.

 

Also... troop (and new shoe straps) successful!

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Time for some helmet upgrades:

Edited February 2, 2018 by Harbinger

[Harbinger[IPM]]

More progress on the helmet last night and today. I started by stripping out the factory-included liner, trim, lenses, mounting hardware etc. What was left was a plain white bucket:

 

After that came separating the helmet into its respective parts (the brow trim is glued on so I'll leave it be):

 

They left the protective film on the front part of the helmet that is obscured by the other half when assembled (I found it funny!):

 

After that came cleaning off all the glue/residue from the old hardhat liner and tape that held in the from mesh, then sanding the entire interior with 320 grit sandpaper (not pictured), followed by masking off all the areas I didn't want to get paint on. Then it was time for paint, I was able to hit it with one coat of Rustoleum LeakSeal before it got dark:

 

 

Tomorrow I'll give it another coat (or two) and start putting it back together. My USB lipstick charger should be here tomorrow too, so I'll be able to get the fans hooked up and test them out.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Harbinger

[Timberwoof[TK]]

I thought I recognized hat Anovos hardhat harness system! I (carefully) ripped mine out and got some helmet pads on Amazon. They are much more comfortable and now my helmet moves with my head instead of whatever way it wants to. Mine was as walpyjod as yours, and my helmet always wanted to turn to the right. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

More time to work on the helmet today - first thing I did was use a heat gun and a pointy-metal-thing/spare carpet spike from my speaker to enlarge the holes in the ears so the screws would sit flush when countersunk completely (the original Anovos screws were pan head):

 

I also picked up some cap nuts to completely eliminate any risk of exposed threads scratching up my face.

 

I then cut down the frown mesh, and cut up some craft foam so I could go with a sleeker install:

 

Lastly I re-assembled the helmet - still need to get the visor/lenses installed as well as the new helmet padding and fans:

[Harbinger[IPM]]

I received my Echo bracket and fans from Tony earlier this week (thanks again!), so yesterday I cut out a decal for it so I could complete my helmet redo:

 

The final product - lenses cut down and reinstalled along with padding, fan bracket and power supply:

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by Harbinger

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looks great 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Loving that nice fat decal, awesome!

[68Brick[TK]]

Beautiful looking bucket sir.

[TK 71627[TK]]

I REALLY like your BUCKET ....!!!


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[Harbinger[IPM]]

Thanks guys.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

A sneak peek of what's next...

 

Edited March 11, 2018 by Harbinger

[TheSwede[TK]]

Hero Promo Trooper 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Sorta. More like an all-in Hero. On pause at the moment...

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Un-paused (though helmet purchase TBD):

 

In case you didn't read the thread, I'm converting my stunt belt for use with the Hero suit, so I'll need a new belt for this one to stay Centurion accurate. I've gone ahead and ordered a new (slightly shorter) belt from Rob. For the rest, well...

 

Stunt Belt, Hero Belt & Belt Repair

 

I bought a used Anovos belt off of the Legion forums a few months ago for $60. The seller had bought it from someone else and ended up not needing it.

 

At some point someone had rebuilt it, but I wasn't a fan of how they had done so - they simply cut the plastic off of the canvas portion of the belt and then used a combination of glue and Velcro to attach it to the new one. Here's some pictures from the sale thread, for reference:

 

Here's the same belt, one I'd received it and dismantled it:

 

I'm going to be using the holster for my Hero belt, while the plastic bits are going to become Stunt Belt 2.0. There is too much glue on the canvas belt to re-use, sadly, even though the size is perfect. If anyone wants a 39" TKittell belt, it's yours (FREE!), just pay shipping.

 

One of the first things I've done is give the plastic portion a hot water bath as it seems to have warped at some point.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

I then drilled out the rivets and removed what remained of the original cloth belt:

 

I haven't removed the caps yet. I'm a little scared because my track record isn't so great - on the first belt I destroyed two of them and sliced my thumb open.

 

EDIT - Forgot to mention the holster! I had to measure and re-do the holes in the straps as it was mounted way  too close to the belt, as well as making it work for two or four mounting points (stunt vs. hero for you folks who don't read CRLs):

 

Old holes on the left. Strap is upside-down from original configuration. Top hole mounted to the holster, bottom hole was the hole used to mount to the canvas belt. There was zero gap between the two.

 

 

I ended trimming roughly 1/8" total length to ensure a 1" gap between the holster and belt. I then used cap rivets to re-attach them to the holster (it used chicago screws previously) as well as replacing the pop rivet used to hold the strap that keeps the blaster in with another rapid cap rivet.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Harbinger
Holster!

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Haven't had much time to troop or build armor (busy summer!), however I did work on my armor in anticipation of this weekend's 3-day Balloon Race troop.

 

PSA: When trimming your thighs, trim for height FIRST. Thighs are a cone. Cones work like this:

 

For future reference, I suggest trimming for width (circumference) first:

 

I did not do that, and so my thighs have always been just a little too tight. I can force them on, but they sit lower than I'd like and I have zero room for comfort (or weight gain). I finally addressed that over the past couple weeks, so with that in mind:

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by Harbinger

[CableGuy[TK]]

Good tip, Brien. :-)

Good to see you back.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Thanks Dan, feels good to troop again, haven’t trooped in three months. At least I had FISD to fill the gap!

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Not really an update, but I did get some new box bling:

 

On the left is a plaque one of our members made for the local troopers last year that I finally got around to putting on my Husky tote, and the right should be self explanatory... It's nice having friends with laser cutters.