I need some help, and a butt kicker! Royal Oak, MI area

[rzill[TK]]

My name is Ron, and I live in Royal Oak, MI.  I bought my ATA armor quite a while ago, and some personal setbacks, but mainly my incompetence has halted my build.  I get very frustrated with some parts, and I just stop.  I have the arms, most of the legs, and body complete, but stuck on the snaps and strapping.  If there is someone in the Royal Oak area to personally give me a hand, I would greatly appreciate it.  Video tutorials only go so far with my limited ability - I need an experienced, hands on helper and someone to kick my rear in gear when I get frustrated.  I WANT TO FINISH MY ARMOR AND BEGIN TO UNQUESTIONABLY TROOP AND FOLLOW ORDERS!  I am a teacher, and have two weeks off at Christmas, so I have all those 14 days to dedicate to this.  I SERIOUSLY want to finish this soon!!!  I can host you, or bring my gear to you for assistance.  In return, I can take you and/or your family out to dinner, or make some of my awesome marinated lamb burgers and home made German potato salad! 

[Steaditrooper[TK]]

Ron, If I lived closer I'd be there. C'mon peeps, help a trooper out! Snaps and strapping are an integral part of your armour. Do you have a preference of snaps or Velcro? Elastic or nylon webbing? Both have their merits. My TK is mostly elastic, screen accurate, brackets. Different strokes for different folks. Don't be too discouraged. What threads have you looked at? Have you seen the options you have for this? I would like to help but live in Toronto. What can I do to help?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hello and welcome aboard, have you tried reaching out to your local garrison for help, many do build days which could be helpful for you. http://www.greatlakesgarrison.com/forum/

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Have you signed up at the Great Lakes Garrison site?  http://www.greatlakesgarrison.com/  I would definitely try there first and see if anyone lives in the Royal Oak/Warren (maybe even Sterling hts.) area that can help.  You should also get in touch with Kyle, (Zarlon)  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/profile/20903-zarlon/ who is the Imperial Attache for the GLG.  He lives in SE MI. and may be able to steer you in the right direction.  (Tell him Joseph sent you).

Hang in there, and don't give up!

[rzill[TK]]

Sean, thank you    I've been getting different responses on the Anovos Facebook page about nylon/elastic.  Some say do one, some the other, some say a combination.  I actually have a local trooper who reached out to me, and I'll let him cast the deciding vote.  I'm leaning toward nylon - seems like elastic would wilt too quickly.  And to gmrhodes13, thank you as well!  I will look into a build party, although, I can't imagine with the new film coming out and the holidays, that there will be much of that.  But, who knows?

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

6 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Hello and welcome aboard, have you tried reaching out to your local garrison for help, many do build days which could be helpful for you. http://www.greatlakesgarrison.com/forum/

Great minds, as they say.. lol.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

1 minute ago, rzill said:

Sean, thank you    I've been getting different responses on the Anovos Facebook page about nylon/elastic.  Some say do one, some the other, some say a combination.  I actually have a local trooper who reached out to me, and I'll let him cast the deciding vote.  I'm leaning toward nylon - seems like elastic would wilt too quickly.  And to gmrhodes13, thank you as well!  I will look into a build party, although, I can't imagine with the new film coming out and the holidays, that there will be much of that.  But, who knows?

Nylon is the most widely used method of strapping, but some areas will require elastic.  I have a thread here that will help with the various kinds needed:  https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/31404-supply-list-for-your-tk-build/

Here is a diagram that may help as well:

 

 

[rzill[TK]]

Another question - one thing that's held me back is completing the thighs.  I have ATA armor, and whether I cut it incorrectly, or the thighs are too narrow, I may have to go with a wider cover strip on the back to make it fit.  Is this ok for approval in the 501st?  I mean, it's either going wider than 25mm, or ordering new thighs.  As for the size, I don't have big thighs, quite the opposite.  However, when I trimmed the ridges (is that the correct terminology?) where the cover strips go on the thighs to the correct width of 25mm, it left me with a very narrow thigh in which to fit my chicken legs.  I'm going to have to make wider cover strips, and I do know to put some support strips on the inside since the edges of the armor won't be close.

[mrcosmo1[TK]]

Hi Ron. Welcome to armor building. I am in Huntington Woods. I would be happy to help. I’ll send you a PM.


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[Tolo[TK]]

Hello and welcome aboard. Have fun with your build


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[magni[TK]]

Welcome to the FISD Ron! Looks like you're getting some local help now. 

Keep chipping away and you'll get there!

Good Luck Future Trooper!

[rzill[TK]]

I had some helpful tips about the thigh issue, but another concern is the gap below the cover strip. Is this a problem? Can I glue some of the leftover plastic in this space to cover that gap? How does this work when the thighs are simply too narrow like this?

[magni[TK]]

You might need to do the crescent cut for mobility during final fitting. So I'd build as normal and wait. Worse case you don't need cut and can fill in and cover with some abs paste.