FodiChan's 5'6 Female ATA Works Centurion(hopefully?) Build

[FodiChan[TK]]

Yeah, the bib is for Heroes only. So no worries there. The neck seals that I have seen, including my own, have a little bit of fabric that extends out from the base. This is mainly so that skin doesn't show when tilting or turning your head. If your shirt has a high collar then you probably wont need it. Here is a link to the thread I used to make my neck seal. They are easier then they look to make. I made mine in maybe two hours.
 
https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/8402-howto-create-a-neckseal/
 
Things are looking great. Keep it up. 

Thanks, James!

I followed the same tutorial; the seal part went great but the fabric was kicking my butt. Here is what I came up with. I tried Velcro but it was really stiff on the back of my neck and it was freaking me out, so I used some plastic snaps I had and a piece of 3 inch black elastic. The elastic allows my head to bend more comfortably and the snaps are really simple to work with. I am hoping adding snaps will not affect approval, but if it doesn't work I have enough material to try again.

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[Kaar121[501st]]

That looks very similar to mine. Nice job. I checked both Stunt and Hero CRLs and neither one specifies how the neck seal closes. So I think you are okay. I am curious to see how the snaps look when closed, and how easy/difficult it is to put on.

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

I got my neck seal from Geeky Pinks, and it uses a hidden zipper which I'm told is the same in the movie.

 

Your seal came out great!

[FodiChan[TK]]

Here is what it looks like when it is closed. It sits flush against my neck when I'm wearing it. It is very easy to put on, I can close it from the rear.


I started working on my belt but my sewing machine just broke down. Uggghhhhhh!!

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[FodiChan[TK]]

Yuck, that seal looks pretty gross up close! I used some fleece I had laying around since I didn't want to run back to the fabric store. Most of it will be trimmed off anyway. The snaps need to be worked on too, I ended up leaving fingerprints in the paint.

 

 

Just fixed the sewing machine as well. The spool I was using was too tall and it was causing the thread to pop out of the tension spring....so now I'm using a bobbin for both top and bottom lol

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by FodiChan

[FodiChan[TK]]

Belt is finally finished. I was following the canvas belt tutorial by firebladejedi but i didn't like the look of the raw canvas edge.

It took a couple attempts but here is what I did:

I took two pieces of elastic and sewed a larger piece of canvas to the top (straight stitch)

Then, I sandwiched the elastic side together and tucked in the canvas edge into the middle and used a zigzag stitch to hold everything together.

My first attempt came out at 3.5 inches, but the CRL says it should be up to 3.25 inches, so I had to start over. This attempt barely hits 3.25 and is less in a couple places. The belt is unfinished until I can properly fit it to my armor.

Next step: hot water bath for kidney, butt and chest pieces. I need the sides to be closer to my body so I can get a more accurate trim. I feel there is too much space between my body and the armor to leave it. I would like a more tailored fit.



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[FodiChan[TK]]

Working on strapping/padding/fitting and TBH this part kind of sucks

My kidney wants to overlap the ab in the front and I think I can resolve that with foam padding.

Thighs still need to be strapped.

I'm going to remove all of the return edge on the neck because it was digging in pretty hard--hence the very red neck!


Also did some work on the thermal detonator over the weekend, and ordered a holster and blaster, both of which should be here this weekend.


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[TK 71627[TK]]

Yeah, the bib is for Heroes only. So no worries there. The neck seals that I have seen, including my own, have a little bit of fabric that extends out from the base. This is mainly so that skin doesn't show when tilting or turning your head. If your shirt has a high collar then you probably wont need it. Here is a link to the thread I used to make my neck seal. They are easier then they look to make. I made mine in maybe two hours.
 
https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/8402-howto-create-a-neckseal/
 
Things are looking great. Keep it up. 

Ty, just what I NEEDED !


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[TK 71627[TK]]

Ty, just what I NEEDED !


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Ty


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[lucnak[TK]]

Regarding your kidney and ab connection, have you strapped that yet? I created a tab system to line up the kdiney and ab and then my belt holds it all closed. Let me know if you want photos...I have seen a few folks doing this as well. It's possible you might just need to trim down the kidney. Maybe a side photo would help?

[FodiChan[TK]]

Regarding your kidney and ab connection, have you strapped that yet? I created a tab system to line up the kdiney and ab and then my belt holds it all closed. Let me know if you want photos...I have seen a few folks doing this as well. It's possible you might just need to trim down the kidney. Maybe a side photo would help?

I'll grab a side shot when I decide to get my lazy rear out of bed!

I would love a photo of the tab system. I've come across it in a couple threads but the photos were all broken.

I have trimmed about as much as I dare from both ab and kidney. I don't want to ruin my proportions too much.

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[lucnak[TK]]

Here's a photo of both sides. I originally did two tabs on the left only due to the rivets but found having two tabs and a tight connection helps keep things lined up better. I had one large tab on the right and it would kind of slouch out near the top since I had not secured it up there.

 

[FodiChan[TK]]

Here's a photo of both sides. I originally did two tabs on the left only due to the rivets but found having two tabs and a tight connection helps keep things lined up better. I had one large tab on the right and it would kind of slouch out near the top since I had not secured it up there.
 

That is brilliant. I will have to give that a shot. Thank you!

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[Kaar121[501st]]

Hey, things are looking really good and coming along nicely. Just something I noticed is the cover strip on the top of the right thigh sticks out a little. If your GML is anything like mine, they may point that out too. The belt will help a lot with the ab and kidney lining up. The tab system is cool and I really like it but I was always afraid the thing will snap off or something. Paranoia.

 

This was my solution. You have probably seen it already. I used four of the large panels (one joins the back plate to the kidney plate) to hold the core body together.

 

[Cricket[TK]]

I love how we all have different versions of a tabbed system!  Whatever works, right?   

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41502-crickets-wtf-hero-build-even-more-tk-for-the-vertically-challenged/?do=findComment&comment=601645

 

[FodiChan[TK]]

Wow, got some great ideas to work with here. I'm goin to try the tab system out and will report back with results tomorrow.

I need to change a poopy diaper but after that I think I will work on the thigh ammo belt and attach the plastic waist belt to the canvas.

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[FodiChan[TK]]

Finished the thigh ammo pack. It's not as perfectly aligned as I wanted it to be but I didn't want to spend all day wrestling it.

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[Kaar121[501st]]

I see you broke out the band-aids. It is not truly a build unless you bleed for it.

[FodiChan[TK]]

I see you broke out the band-aids. It is not truly a build unless you bleed for it.

That would be my daughter begging for a Star Wars bandaid and scattering them everywhere, although I sustained some pretty bad injuries this weekend, including biting my tongue insanely hard and burning myself with the soldering iron :/

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[FodiChan[TK]]

The tab idea worked really well. My pieces line up great! I placed the split rivets in the ab and kidney earlier this evening.

The belt is completely done and the last of the strapping snaps are curing. It is getting close to the end and I am really excited to have a finished TK in the next couple of weeks.

Started the bucket last night as well and got my husband to help drill holes for temporary screws. Those pieces were difficult to line up. Ears will be trimmed tomorrow then onto the painting and lens fitting and padding and fans and...........


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[lucnak[TK]]

Looks great! Glad to hear the tabs worked out! Which style of the suggested tab systems did you end up using?

[FodiChan[TK]]

Looks great! Glad to hear the tabs worked out! Which style of the suggested tab systems did you end up using?

I went with yours, so thanks for that!!

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[lucnak[TK]]

Ooh! Wasn't a competition or anything. Hahah.  (but I suppose I won! :P)

[FodiChan[TK]]

So my tab system is mega fugly since I had to work around some existing straps and where I was going to place the rivets but it works and nobody knows except me and whoever looks at this post

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[FodiChan[TK]]

All right....so I have a few thoughts about this.

I feel that the shoulder bells are not fitting properly. Should I take a bit off the body side or just leave it? I was thinking of shortening the bell to shoulder strap as well.

I haven't padded everything yet but is moving around really this noisy? Haha.

The sniper knee wants to catch behind the thigh. Would padding in the shin fix this or should I try something else?

I feel I should trim a little bit in the back of the shims to assist with movement, especially since I am below the average trooper height. I didn't try stairs with this but I'll take any added mobility.

The tab system is working well. I just need to push the left kidney down a hair to get those rivets to line up properly.

Any thoughts or suggestions at this point?

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