AM 2.0 HWT & ANH Stunt build

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

Hello all!  I recently posted up a "hello" thread that I was going to start a build thread so here it is!

 

I'm from Tulsa OK so I've been hanging out with the local guys from the Oklahoma Garrison and have been on a couple troops as a handler.  I originally bought an Anovos kit about a year ago but I got discouraged with the size of the parts and decided to buy an AM 2.0 kit instead.  I'm 5'7" and 230lbs so the Anovos kit was going to have to be shimmed quite a bit to fit around my legs and I just didn't want to deal with that.

 

Big Brown Box day was fun!  Parts were packed very nicely with lots of padding.

 

 

The AM kit came with extra parts to do both hero and stunt versions as well as sandy parts.  I gave the sandy parts away to a friend but I kept the second belt.  The plan is to build up my kit initially as a Heavy Weapons Trooper and then build a second belt with drop boxes and holster so I can go as a regular ANH stunt TK when I don't want to carry extra HWT stuff.

 

 

 

On to construction! 

 

I own a 3d printer and thought I would first try to make some snap plates for my internal strapping system.  After some trial and error, I printed off a few.  I snapped in some Tandy snaps and glued them in place with e6000 and so far they look like they should work fine.  I did have to use some washers to make the posts on the snaps shorter so that I could crush them without deforming them so maybe I will edit the file to add in a disc or try to find some line 24 snaps with shorter posts.  (Edit:  I later found that I just needed a better anvil and set tool to fully set the posts of the snaps)

 

 

 

 

 

I have shared the files for my snap plates here if anyone else wants to give them a go: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2784727 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986
New images, added information

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

I also test assembled the helmet.  It looks like a nice pull and is very similar to my Anovos helmet.  In general the AM kit has much thicker plastic so hopefully there will be much less chances of cracks like with the Anovos kit.  

 

I drilled all the dimples that were laid out on the AM bucket and screwed it together but the ears don't seem to fit right.  I think I can just dunk them in some boiling water and reshape them a little to pull into the sides of the helmet tighter but I'm not sure.  Can I just re-drill the holes somehow to make them fit better?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986

[WhyItMatterz]

I wouldn't recommend putting them in boiling water as it could seriously deform the plastic. 

[Triple D[TK]]

In order to get the ears to fit right on the AM you have to just sand them down a little. The dimples are just a guide. I've built several AM kits for people and they inside dimples don't add up to the ear sometimes. Just trim and sand as needed. There is plenty of ear to work with there. Good luck. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Nice job on the snap plates.

 

Assuming you have the same 5/16” Tandy snaps I do, you can still mount them on ~2mm plastic, just use the hammer/anvil/setting tool method. Takes some practice but I was able to get them on no problem.

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

So I finally got around to getting more work done.  I haven't gone back to the helmet yet but I instead worked on the torso.  I finished gluing in more snap plates and made some elastic straps to hold it all together.  Then I modified some suspenders to have snaps so that I can wear the ab/kidney/butt like a pair of shorts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I added the crotch strap.  In retrospect I should have gone ahead and put in the two male snaps on the cod for EIB/Centurion but this will do for now.

 

 

It passes the first test fit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986
images

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

(edit: condensed this post with the one above)

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986

[magni[TK]]

You're getting there! 

Clever use of snaps on the suspenders!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I use snaps on my FOTK braces, great minds  

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

After further testing I will call the Ab/butt/kidney section done-ish.  It seems to work well and will be a base to fit the rest of the body around. 

 

On to the next sections

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986

[Frank75139[501st]]

I like the idea of suspenders, seems like it might be comfortable wearing them and less stress on the shoulders. Is that why you did it?


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[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

Yes,  The suspenders will support the weight of the ab/kidney/butt/thighs better on my shoulders and they will be easy to put on like a pair of shorts.  An added bonus is that I can adjust the height of the whole assembly easily by just adjusting the straps of the suspenders.  

Edited January 24, 2018 by Alibi1986

[Frank75139[501st]]

Yes,  The suspenders will support the weight of the ab/kidney/butt/thighs better on my shoulders and they will be easy to put on like a pair of shorts.  An added bonus is that I can adjust the height of the whole assembly easily by just adjusting the straps of the suspenders.  

So are you putting them on like pants with the thighs connected? Then shins and on to the upper half?


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[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

That's the plan.  I may or may not leave the thighs connected when I get to that point depending on how well it works.  One of the guys in my local 501st garrision did their armor similarly so I'm just copying what looks like a good idea.  

[Frank75139[501st]]

That's the plan.  I may or may not leave the thighs connected when I get to that point depending on how well it works.  One of the guys in my local 501st garrision did their armor similarly so I'm just copying what looks like a good idea.  

I like the suspender idea and I’m having issues keeping my thighs up so I’m thinking this might clear it all up. I’m gonna keep watching and probably steal the idea.


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[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

Cool.  Hopefully I'll get to the thighs soon.  I've also seen people do a belt around their waist that they run straps to that hold up their thighs.  I'm just kind of winging it for now and reading other build threads as I start work on another section.  

[Frank75139[501st]]

Tried the belt around the waist garter system. It kinda worked but it wasn’t what I expected.


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[TheSwede[TK]]

16 hours ago, Alibi1986 said:

Cool.  Hopefully I'll get to the thighs soon.  I've also seen people do a belt around their waist that they run straps to that hold up their thighs.  I'm just kind of winging it for now and reading other build threads as I start work on another section.  

That`s the screen accurate way of doing it and it works great (in my opinion) just make a loop on the elastic, glue to the thigh - done But there are a other options too that also works great, only a matter of preference. I just like to do it as they did for the movie

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

So I have finally gotten back to working on my armor after getting some other shenanigans and small projects out of the way.  However, I have slightly changed plans.  I was originally going to build this a standard TK and then change it to a heavy weapons trooper but it looks like I will be better off to just build it as a HWT instead of having to figure out how to remove the holster holes from the belt.

 

Can I get this thread moved or do I just start over in the HWT section? 

 

(Edit:  I have started to edit the older posts so if this seems weird to see after I already mentioned this above then that is why.  I also have removed my uploaded images and went to sharing IMG links from Imgur as I seem to have trouble resizing images and uploading to this site from my phone.) 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work Eric, wow those are some industrial strength looking snap mounts you have there. 

 

Regarding the HWT build section we can certainly more you there if that's what you;d like to do.

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

6 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Nice work Eric, wow those are some industrial strength looking snap mounts you have there. 

 

Regarding the HWT build section we can certainly more you there if that's what you;d like to do.

Please do, I have more pictures I need to upload anyway 

 

The snap plates certainly makes building straps simple!  

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

(So... I actually have the armor done-ish and wearable at the time of this post but I was trying to get it finished in a mad dash for a big convention so I didn't post here.  The posts here will be in the order that I completed each section and I'll pick up where I'm at currently when I get all these uploaded.)

 

The next section I worked on were the hand plates.  After marking them Left and Right, I glued on some of my snap plates, assembled some straps with the help of a soldering iron to punch holes in the elastic, and then tried them on.  Using two straps for each hand really holds them in place well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

I did some work on the arms at this point but I will show photos starting from the feet and up.  I have Totally Killer TK boots so I wore those to fit the shins.  I first glued the front inner cover strip and then glued on the back flap that will eventually close with velcro.  Lots of clamps and magnets are my friend.

 

I used this thread to help me identify which parts went where: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/28321-sure-fire-am-20-shin-identification/  

 

 

After the inside and back was done I did the front cover strip.

 

 

 

At the same time I started working on the thighs.  These were tricky since I didn't have help to measure but I got them eventually. I did inner and outer strips on the thighs as well for strength.

 

I used this video to help me size the thighs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPj5DIWHJbI  

 

 

 

After the thighs were assembled I had to trim some off the tops so that I could move my legs without the tops hitting my hips.  I trimmed them in small increments until they fit juuuuuuust right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Alibi1986

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

After a while I got the legs mostly done.

 

 

And at an armor party (where I didn't get any pictures) I got the arms assembled.  This picture shows the state that my armor was in at this point.

 

 

Not too shabby!  I tried it on but those pesky thighs had to be held up so it was time to make some sort of garter system.

 

 

So after a trip to Wal-Mart for a flexible belt, suspenders, and 1" elastic I came up with this.  The belt goes around my waist, the suspenders keeps it from drooping down (have no hips to keep it up on its own), and the 1" elastic positions the thighs at the right height on my legs.  Nifty!

 

 

 

Success!

 

 

 

 

 

[Eric Ostendorf[TK]]

At this point I found that it was time to re-shape some parts.  I did not trust myself to use a heat gun so I went the hot water bath route.  I used leather gloves encased in rubber gloves (left over from my Anovos kit that I ended up selling because it just didn't fit) to keep from getting burned as I heated up parts in a pan of boiling water.  A disposable aluminum turkey pan worked great for me

 

 

And the parts I reshaped:

-Both biceps -- as assembled the AM biceps were very rectangular and scraped my arms pretty bad.  I trimmed a bunch of return edge before boiling and reshaping into more of an oval but I ended up removing more of the return edge later

-Top strap attachment points of the back O | | plate to get it to lay flatter on my back

-belt - it sat very flat and I needed more roundness to it to go over my belly

-sniper knee and knee ammo packs

-both forearms to round them out a bit more

 

 

 

....and snap plate installation after cooling off

 

 

While the glue was setting I made some tiny scraps to fit into the bridge straps.  I had to heat these up a little too to fit my body better but I just used a lighter for that since they were small enough to control the heat on.  These were super easy to trim down on a belt sander at the armor party BTW.

 

 

Waiting intensifies.

 

 

While those parts were sitting I worked on the belt.  I used cap rivets to attach it to my Kittle belt and snaps to attach the belt to the ab plate.  You can see it here in my pile of parts in progress shot from the night that I got it together.

 

The straps holding the chest and back plate together are just velcro E6000'd onto the armor and onto elastic so that I can adjust the fit.  This is meant to be temporary until I perfect the fit, at which point I will glue the straps directly to the armor.  On the other hand, this is holding up just fine so I may just leave it till it fails. 

 

Also while I was waiting on the snap plates to glue I trimmed and glued on the ab buttons.