11B30B4’s ROTK Build

[darthcue[TK]]

I can't see properly on your pic but did you fill the round hole behind the right hand shoulder? That is supposed to be there.

He’s going to make a new hole


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[Dragon_a[TK]]

31 minutes ago, darthcue said:

He’s going to make a new hole


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Ah.  That's what i couldn't see properly on the pic. All good. 

[11b30b4[TK]]

Dragon_a, yes I filled it in and yes I know it's supposed to be there. I will be adding the hole on the left back in but at a slightly more left and lower location. If I move the two shoulder strap connectors then the hole would look all wrong. I am basically doing what Yosh did with his ROTK build.

 

Regardless, thank you for point this out to me. When I was building my Mandalorian armor I though I was all squared away until someone pointed out that my knee armor and shoulder bells were inverted. Thankful that someone who knew what they were talking about decided to help me out but pissed that I had to repaint these parts due to the orientation of the graphics on them. So as you can see, I welcome all information and suggestions.

Edited May 10, 2018 by 11b30b4

[11b30b4[TK]]

Hey guys, I got some more work done.

 

First, the three straps on the abdomen worked out great. These straps hold the abdomen in place like a girdle.

 

 

Next I cut the mounting boxes for the shoulder straps off the chest and back plates. I sanded the rough edges of the boxes and re-attached the chest boxes with PC-7 leaving space on the inside for the shoulder straps. I also cut down the collar opening about ¾” (in the center) and tapered to the corners where it meets the boxes. I also took some off the sides to match the new profile with the boxes lowered.

 

 

Lastly, after removing the two shoulder boxes on the back plate I used E6000 to attach two strips of HIPS on the inside of each shoulder. Each of these pieced were heated and shaped before gluing. Next, I cut two rectangles of HIPS to fill the hole where the boxes were removed. I heated them and shaped them then glued them in place with E6000.

 

 

Tonight, I hope to fill in gaps with bondo and sand all the edges on the inside of the back plate. I then plan on re-attaching the back plate boxes with PC-7. I will be gluing a piece of HIPS on the inside to close off the hole cutout on the back plate as well.

 

Going forward, I will be test fitting the back plate and chest along with the abdomen. If all that looks good, I will work on the groin and posterior plates. Then I will address the strapping and how the shoulder bells and legs will attach. One thing that I notice was that my undersuit is all mesh on the back and this mesh is visible along my back neck line and on the sides of the back armor. I do not know if this intentional or if I am just bigger than the armor in these areas? If I need to, I can add some breathable black material to the undersuit but would like to hear from you guys before I do that.

 

That’s the update so far. Thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Hello everyone,

 

So Monday my boots and gloves arrived from IB. The boots look and feel good so I think they were a good purchase. The quality looks good and they fit as I hoped they would.

 

 

I understand that companies like IB are there to support our affliction of fandom cosplay so I hesitate to be critical but I feel that I must also be honest. The gloves were poorly constructed. In the picture below I wanted to see how they looked with the hand armor. Putting the gloves on I noticed that the single stitch that holds the 1.75” elastic wrist to the glove was already coming undone (red line and arrow). Further, on both gloves the stitching completely missed stitching the glove to the elastic in several areas. On the left glove the seam on one side of the glove also had poor stitching and large areas of my hand could be seen through the seam. These are not major issues to me because I can sew so I re-stitched everything; however, I can see this as an issue for someone who orders these Anthology Trooper Gloves at $69.90 plus shipping and does not know how to sew. I do not know if I got a bad pair or if this is indicative of IB quality? I hope I do not run into issues with the boots but they look to be good and quality made.

 

 

Ok back to the armor. After the E6000 had cured, I sanded the inside edges of the HIPS but I was concerned that the edges may wear holes into my undersuit so I applied some PC-7 to the edges. This will accomplish two things. First I smoothed out the PC-7 and I will be sanding it smoother once it cures to provide a smooth surface. Additionally, the PC-7 will permanently bond the HIPS to the back plate.

 

 

On the outside of the back plate, I applied a layer of fiberglass resin to filling the gaps around the added HIPS. Once that cured, I applied some more PC-7 rather than bondo to fill in any small areas. The PC-7 is stronger than bondo and will not crack like bondo can. I am hoping all this will make these sections of the back plate semi rigid and once painted, will not crack the paint if there is any flexing. I will sand all this down and apply the shoulder boxes once the PC-7 has cured.

 

 

And that is it for this update, thanks for the interest.

Edited May 15, 2018 by 11b30b4
typo

[Big Deal]

1 hour ago, 11b30b4 said:

 

I understand that companies like IB are there to support our affliction of fandom cosplay so I hesitate to be critical but I feel that I must also be honest. The gloves were poorly constructed. In the picture below I wanted to see how they looked with the hand armor. Putting the gloves on I noticed that the single stitch that holds the 1.75” elastic wrist to the glove was already coming undone (red line and arrow). Further, on both gloves the stitching completely missed stitching the glove to the elastic in several areas. On the left glove the seam on one side of the glove also had poor stitching and large areas of my hand could be seen through the seam. These are not major issues to me because I can sew so I re-stitched everything; however, I can see this as an issue for someone who orders these Anthology Trooper Gloves at $69.90 plus shipping and does not know how to sew. I do not know if I got a bad pair or if this is indicative of IB quality? I hope I do not run into issues with the boots but they look to be good and quality made.

 

 

 

 

Mine arrived today and I already lost a zipper pull from one of the boots. I had tried them on, then was putting them away and when I pulled up the zipper, pop, off it came. I'll see what they offer to do if anything. I was disappointed with the gloves. I would have liked them to have been a little more form fitting. They seem a little loose to me, but I didn't notice any stitching errors. I'll look closer tonight.

[Big Deal]

Imperial Boots got back to me quickly and offered to pay to have the zipper replaced. This was a good option because between shipping, duties, wait times, etc. I would have just done that anyway. 

[11b30b4[TK]]

Big Deal, that is good news. They did come highly recommended so its not surprising that they would offer to make the zipper problem right. I am hopeful that our issues are isolated incidents and not the norm.

 

Ok quick update. So I sanded the back plate down and still had a sizable indention where I added the HIPS so I needed to add another layer of PC-7. Hopefully, tonight I will be able to add the back boxes and get a sense of how the groin and posterior will fit.

 

 

And a special NOTE…

So I had mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to build a more realistic E11. I grabbed the HFX for general trooping but I prefer something more “substantial” that has a moving charging handle and trigger among other things. I also wanted a more realistic scope that I could play with and consider adding a reticle inside at a later date. Well, LTM suggested Master Blaster for my upgraded E-11 and at the time that he suggested this, I was already considering Master Blaster. I had considered several options such as:

Build it from scratch with a PVC pipe.

Buy the airsoft sterling and make it RO compliant.

Buy a DoopyDo kit and make it RO compliant.

Buy a Master Blaster and make it RO compliant.

So, after LTMs suggestion, I contacted Raymond from Master Blaster and asked him if he would make a RO E11 or consider selling me an ANH E11 without the scope, rail, Hengstler, and power cylinders so I could make it RO compliant. Raymond responded to my question and we talked quite a bit. I learned that he is planning to stop making stuff and selling his business due to family and health reasons. So I opted to get a full ANH kit. This is a project I will be working on way down the road but I did not want to miss out on the opportunity to grab one of his E11 kits.

 

 

Along with the E11, I also contacted Bulldog Props in Japan and inquired about his resin M43s for anyone not familiar with his scopes, he makes a 1:1 (functional) resin kit for the M43 and M19 scopes.

 

I asked Bulldog Props is he could make a 1943 M43 for Rogue One and Solo E11s. His is now working on this kit and I hope to know something in the near future.  I am still not sure what I will do for Rogue One power cylinders and Hengstler at this time.

 

Well, that is it for my update, thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Ok guys,

This is how the Master Blaster E11 comes.

 

 

Ok so I sanded the back plate then applied the shoulder boxes with PC-7. Tonight I have an armor party so hopefully I can get some of the other parts sorted out.

 

 

And that is it for the update, thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Hello everyone,

 

Updates… I got a respectable amount of work accomplish over the weekend.

First, I attended an armor party on Thursday and had some help positioning some of the plates to get a feel for what needed to be trimmed.

 

 

 

 

So, I learned that the abdominal plate will need to be trimmed about 1” along the top and 1.5” on the sides. This should also help in allowing the chest and back plate to sit more flush to my body. This will also mean that I will lose the top ¾” side release buckle on the abdominal plate but that is not a real problem. Also noticed that the undersuit from Jim will need some adjustments (it’s a little baggy) and the mesh area along the back neck and sides of the back plate will need to be backed with some black material.

 

Ok so trimming… I needed to take 1” off the top of each thigh and about ¾” off each side along the back of the thigh. So I cut off the cover strip and re-attached it with PC-7 ¾” to the outside, side of the thigh. I cut off ¼” of inch to the inside side and presto. For the CRLs they will need to be closed with Velcro. I think some trimming will need to happen with the side hard plates but that will come once I get a better feel for how they fit.

 

 

So after some cutting, sanding and fitting, I used PC-7 to seal up all the front seams and add strapping to some strategic parts. I also wanted to reinforce areas where snaps would be used lake the large black area on the inside of the abdominal plate in this picture. Note the abdominal plate is upside down and the top 1” has not been cut off yet.

 

 

Once all the PC-7 was cured, I sanded all the seams down and added some bondo in areas that needed it.

 

 

Next, I tried on the arm plates and decided how they would all fit together.

 

 

I had planned on doing the same “J” cutout on the bicep armor that was used for the movie but decided against it. I opted for snaps and elastic so I made up some snap stud strips on styrene and adhered them to the inside of the armor with PC-7. I also attached the side plated to the back plate with PC-7, they will attach to the front plate with velcro or snaps then get cut down similar to what Yosh did with his side plates.

 

 

 

Lastly, I decided to hard mount the shoulder straps to the back plate. I drilled and glued in some nuts in the underside of the shoulder straps. These will be attached with small bolts from inside the back plate and will be removable. The straps will attach to the chest plate with some other method (possibly magnets).

 

 

So that is what I have accomplished. What I am planning to do is add an elastic suspender system to the abdominal armor that the chest plate, back plate, and shoulder bells all connect to. The bicep will attach to the shoulder bell with elastic. The groin and posterior plates will attach with the straps from the abdominal plate. The thighs will attach with straps and side release buckles from the abdominal plate like the screen used armor. I do not know if I will need some strapping for the forearms and shins at this time. I am holding off on adding any Velcro until the painting is done. I think the armor is coming along nicely and I hope I am staying on schedule.

Thanks for the interest.

[LTM[TK]]

Is that Brett's basement shop?

[11b30b4[TK]]

Yep, the first three pics are from his shop, that is where we do Thursday night Armor Parties. The rest are in my basement.

Edited May 21, 2018 by 11b30b4

[LTM[TK]]

1 minute ago, 11b30b4 said:

Yep, the first three pics are from his shop, that is where we do Thursday night Armor Parties. The rest are in my basement.

We will have to meet soon, it's a little bit of a drive up there but worth it.

Lou

[11b30b4[TK]]

LTM, I will be trooping in my Mando for the Solo premier at the Aurora Cineplex in Roswell on Thursday if you are coming to that troop. Check 501^st events for times. Otherwise, I am sure we will meet up at some point. I really want to check out your Master Blaster E11. The electronics look amazing. I looked at your TK build and that is where I saw the E11. Do you have a build thread for the E11?

 

Ok, just a short update today. I bolted on the shoulder straps to the back plate so see how they look. I still need to do a fair bit of filling with bondo but I think they came out nicely. Also in this picture you can see the side plates hard mounted to the back plate. I still need to fit them to the chest plate and cut them down some. I added the double snaps to the inside of the abdominal plate for the suspenders and the snaps that will hold the groin and posterior plates on. I think I may have mounted the snaps on the shoulder bells that will secure the biceps a little low but I can fix that once I try everything on and determine where they need to be.

 

 

And that’s the update. Thanks for the interest.

[LTM[TK]]

Cant make it up there, but like you said I am sure we will cross paths soon.

Here's the build thread:

One thing I really like about it is the real sterling stock. Gives it the right amount of heft without being too heavy for a long period of time.

[11b30b4[TK]]

LTM, that is a cool and complicated build. I think I may grab Blaster Masters light and sound pack and come up with something for the scope. I will look into getting the folding stock but 100 bucks is a bit more than I want to spend. I know there are aluminum reproductions available form War Machine for 80 bucks.

 

Ok so last night I started on the suspenders and discovered that the snaps (red circles) I hard mounted inside the abdominal plate protrude into my chest and back and are very uncomfortable.

 

 

So I think I may follow Yosh’s idea and mount the suspenders to the back plate and chest. Honest I do not really need them but they will held hold the chest and back plate together and not stress the armor shoulder straps. Also I do need something to mount the strapping for the shoulder bells so I guess I will still include them. The Abdominal armor stays in place just fine with the two straps on the back.

 

Also, I have cut down the top of the abdominal armor even more. Since my sternum kind of protrudes, the abdominal armor exasperates this and caused the chest plate to stand off my body more than I want. In this picture before I cut down the abdominal armor, the center is pushing on the chest plate where the red circle is. I had cut 1 inch off this area but I have no gone back and cut another 1.5 inches so hopefully the abdominal armor will sit just below the indention between the pectoral sections.

 

 

Well that is the update so far. Thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Hello guys,

Ok so last night I did a test fit of the abdominal plate with groin and posterior plates. Also not the “v” cut I did to the front top of the abdominal plate to hopefully allow the chest plate to sit closer to my body. The top edge of the posterior plate is not flat so the plate does not sit flush where it sits under the back of the abdominal armor. On the side picture you can see how the edges project up above where the back of the belt will be mounted. Is this correct or should I trip it to sit flush???

 

 

 

 

Also I removed the suspender snaps from the inside of the abdominal plate and added them to the inside of the chest and back plates.

 

 

Lastly, I removed the bottom snaps from the shoulder bells and moved them higher to allow for the overlap of the shoulder bells over the bicep armor.

 

 

I will not be doing any work tonight as I have a troop for the Solo premier but I hope to make some headway over the long weekend. As always thanks for the interest and I would appreciate some input about the posterior plate and should I cut it.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Ok time for an update,

First, after figuring out how I would attach the shoulder bells I test fit all the arm armor and discovered that my forearms are about ½” too long but due to the detail on the armor cutting off just ½” would not be possible so I took off about 1” from the back side.

 

 

Once they were cut and sanded I tried all the arm armor on. Please excuse any similarity to a Von Trapp family singer, its hot in my basement this time of year.

 

 

 

 

Ok, after that I wanted to test fit the thigh and chest/back plates.

 

 

 

 

BTW, if anyone is wondering, yes the fiberglass on the inside of the armor is rough and itches badly. I know some people have coated the inside of their armor with plasti-dip. My only issue with this idea is that my experience with plasti-dip is that it comes off and when it does, it does in large sections. So, I am considering a few other options. One idea I have is paint on flex-seal. I really do not need the coating to be rubber but it does need to be sufficiently thick enough to seal the fiberglass and flexible so any suggestions are welcome.

 

Ok, next I used PC-7 to adhere the leg ammo belt.

 

 

I also sealed up the font seams on the lower leg armor with PC-7. I had been holding off on this until I could determine if they needed to be cut down but without an additional set of hands its damn hard to hold the lower leg armor in place and tape them shut then mark where they need to be cut. Since the forearm cut-down went well, I figure I can put the armor on and mark them if they need to be cut.

 

 

 

Lastly, I removed the connector straps from the groin and posterior armor and added snaps. I discovered that I placed the snaps for the straps about 1.5” high inside the bottom lip of the abdominal armor and once the abdominal armor is tightened, it’s very hard to reach under the bottom lip and attach the straps. So I will make some straps that have snaps on both ends and snap them inside the abdominal armor then attach the groin and posterior plates.

 

 

So I still need to sort out how the shoulder straps will attach to the chest plate and how to make the straps lay flat on my shoulders. I am thinking Velcro but I am open to suggestions. I am also considering cutting out the bottom of the attachment points (the red squares in the picture below and then just using Velcro to attach the shoulder straps.

 

 

Also, I need to figure out how to attach the belts (front and back), the back plate cover strip, cutdown the side plates and finalize the helmet inserts. Once all this is done, it will be time to sand and fill then painting.

 

Thanks for the interest.

[cbrant]

This is a fantastic build so far!

[11b30b4[TK]]

Cbrant, thank you for the compliment.

 

Ok so last night I learned something new about my build. I thought my abdominal armor was relatively un-moving once it was tightened down with the two back straps. This is not the case and it has been moving up or down 1-2 inches every time I put the armor on. This means that when I mark something, then cut it (abdominal armor), the next time I put it on, I will probably get a different fit.

 

So, I think I may have been a bit premature in cutting down the abdominal armor but all is not lost. Based on how I put my armor on, it looks like I will have a 1 or more inch overlap from the chest plate in the center. Anyway, considering this issue, I need to find a way that will force all the armor to sit where it need to be when I put it on. While I stew over this, let move on…

 

Lower leg armor. Well I was correct, the lower legs are about 1” longer than they need to be. I determined this by bending my leg in a 90 degree angle and the armor prevents me from completing the bend. It is striking at the back side of my knee and on the top of foot. Looking down at the armor it looks like the flair of the leg armor (bell bottoms) is a bit extreme; however, when I look at these pictures, it look very normal and correct. Anyway, I did not want to rebuild all the detail at the top of the leg armor and feeling that the flair was too big, I decided to cut off 1 inch from the bottom of each leg. So here are some pictures before I cut the 1 inch off.

 

 

 

 

Ok, so once I cut the legs down and sanded them, I decided to put mostly everything on and see how it all fit together. At one point, I dropped the back plate cover strip and bent down to get it. This is the reason that both of my bicep armor came loose from the tape on the back side.

 

 

 

 

So that is the update at this time, thanks for the interest.

[Big Deal]

I've done some of my armor with plasti-dip and I've also done a few pieces with gaffers tape. Both seem to work pretty. well.

 

I'm expecting some overspray to help add another layer as well. 

[11b30b4[TK]]

Big Deal, Thank you for the input. If the flex- seal does not work out, I will look into other options.

 

Ok, Update…

First, I knew the bicep armor was tight but I realized that I would only have about ¼” overlap for the application of Velcro and that is when my arms are hanging down. If I bent my arm or raised it (flexing my bicep) it would really test the hold ability of the Velcro. So, I decided to add a ½” shim. In this picture I am using thick piece of HIPS as the shim and it is backed with a 1” wide piece of thinner HIPS. Everything is adhered together with PC-7. Once the PC-7 is cured, it will all get sanded flush. I will probably add another layer of PC-7 on the inside to make sure the HIPS is welded to the bicep armor and provides a smooth transition.

 

 

Next, the sniper knew came out great.

 

 

 

Next, I think the Velcro method will be the best method to properly hold the shoulder straps in place so I sewed some ½”x 1 ½” pieces of Velcro to the elastic shoulder straps that connect the back plate to the chest plate. Doing this in pieces rather than one big piece of Velcro insures that the elastic and still stretch.

 

 

Next, I added some hard Velcro to the bottom of the shoulder straps. I will probably use white Velcro here after everything is painted.

 

 

Lastly, I went ahead and cut out the underside of the shoulder strap boxes on the chest plate and added some PC-7 on a slope to provide a flat mounting surface for the Velcro (yellow circles). I also picked up some white liquid flex seal and painted a small area (red circle) in the center of the chest plate to test it out.

 

 

And that is the update, thanks for the interest.

[THMAustin]

1 hour ago, 11b30b4 said:

Big Deal, Thank you for the input. If the flex- seal does not work out, I will look into other options.

 

Ok, Update…

First, I knew the bicep armor was tight but I realized that I would only have about ¼” overlap for the application of Velcro and that is when my arms are hanging down. If I bent my arm or raised it (flexing my bicep) it would really test the hold ability of the Velcro. So, I decided to add a ½” shim. In this picture I am using thick piece of HIPS as the shim and it is backed with a 1” wide piece of thinner HIPS. Everything is adhered together with PC-7. Once the PC-7 is cured, it will all get sanded flush. I will probably add another layer of PC-7 on the inside to make sure the HIPS is welded to the bicep armor and provides a smooth transition.

 

 

Next, the sniper knew came out great.

 

 

 

Next, I think the Velcro method will be the best method to properly hold the shoulder straps in place so I sewed some ½”x 1 ½” pieces of Velcro to the elastic shoulder straps that connect the back plate to the chest plate. Doing this in pieces rather than one big piece of Velcro insures that the elastic and still stretch.

 

 

Next, I added some hard Velcro to the bottom of the shoulder straps. I will probably use white Velcro here after everything is painted.

 

 

Lastly, I went ahead and cut out the underside of the shoulder strap boxes on the chest plate and added some PC-7 on a slope to provide a flat mounting surface for the Velcro (yellow circles). I also picked up some white liquid flex seal and painted a small area (red circle) in the center of the chest plate to test it out.

 

 

And that is the update, thanks for the interest.

Great thread!  I used spray Flex-Seal in my Jimmi R1 TK last summer and it has worked well.  Definitely cuts down on the inching and for some pieces appears to strengthen the integrity.  I'm curious how you find the liquid application.

[11b30b4[TK]]

THMAustin, I have read that the Flex-Seal attacks dust and debris? Have you noticed this and/or had issues with this? I will update you on the liquid application below.

 

Update…

First, I ordered an orange RO pauldron from Kathy of Katarra8. Fast shipping, great price, fantastic quality, and great communication. I highly recommend her products.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/150178963/classic-star-wars-stormtrooper-shoulder?ref=shop_home_feat_3

Anyway, it was not until I posted a review of the pauldron to my FB group for my Mando Clan that I learned that Veeds is in Georgia and a member of my clan. The first RO pauldron I found online was a Veeds but I could not figure out how to order one so I went with Kathy.  Oh well, I am very pleased with the pauldron and if I ever need another one, I will check out my local Veeds pauldron.

 

 

 

 

Next, I started the belt. Marking where the boxes will mount and figuring out the snaps and Velcro. I ended up going with two front snaps under the two front boxes and the sides will be Velcro. I have not decided how I will attach the boxes, I am thinking I will use PC-7 and possibly a screw or a pop-rivet. I do not want anything to protrude on the back side of the belt and cause it to not mount flush.

 

 

I primed the boxes to observe any holes and imperfections. I found quite a bit of small holes mostly along the seam. I applied some glazing putty.

 

 

I sanded down the shoulder bells and biceps to 320 grit and found lots of pin holes so they got the glazing putty as well.

 

 

Lastly, I inspected the liquid Flex-Seal. I think this stuff is going to work great. The liquid is a little thicker than regular latex paint but is applied the same way. Once its cured, I do not know how easy it would be to get off. It feels like it bonded to the fiberglass pretty well so I would say that you would want to mask off areas that you do not want it to get on. I had read that it attacks dust and debris since it has a rubber feel or similar to cured silicone. Overall, I like the liquid application because I have more control of where it goes as opposed to spray paint version. I also have control on how thick the application is so I can keep it pretty thin and still have a layer between me and the fiberglass.

 

 

Ok so from here you should be able to tell that I only have a few things to get worked out then its on to serious sanding. I am happy with the progress. BTW, did we always have a build section in the Rogue One thread? I don’t know how I missed that…

Thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Update,

 

I have made progress with the belt. I marked where each box will be attached then drilled two holes for rivets in the belt and the back of the boxes. I had planned on using PC-7 to attach the boxes to the belt but realized that the boxes will not sit flush to the belt across the entire back of the boxes due to the belt bending around my torso. So I decided to attach the boxes along their center vertical axis with screws, bolts, or rivets. For screws, they would need to have aggressive threads to not strip out the holes and become ineffective due to weight being placed on the boxes or snagging of the boxes. Bolts would require me to cut access holes in the boxes to adhere the nuts inside the boxes. So rivets seemed the easiest method. I will not permanently attach the boxes until everything is painted. If the rivets fail then I will alter my plans and go with the bolts.

 

 

In this picture you can see one box mounted but I have not cut the rivets to demonstrate how they will be mounted. Also note that I needed to cut holes in the two front boxes to allow the recess of the snaps that attach the belt to the abdomen.

 

 

 

For the back belt and the Thermal Detonator (TD) (that’s is what I have heard it referred to but I honestly have no idea what it really is called) I decided to go with bolts so I could remove it if need when wearing a back pack. After I marked where the TD would mount on the belt, I cut a large hole in the center of the mounting face of the TD then I drilled the four mounting holes in the belt and then through the TD. I am using T-nuts with the spikes cut off as the nuts. I mixed up some PC-7 and mounted them on the inside of the TD.

 

 

I used small binder clips to hold the T-nuts in place while the PC-7 cured. Once cured, I removed the binder clips and noticed how far the T-nuts protrude from the mounting face of the TD.

 

 

Next, I cut off the T-nuts with a cut off disk on a dremel and sanded them flush. It was kind of a rush job so I did not do a clean of a job as I would like but it works. I cleaned out the threads of the T-nuts and tested bolts in each.

 

 

Then, I test fit the TD to the belt.

 

 

 

So, I still need to sand and fill the Td and back belt and that should be ready for paint. I still need to sort out the shoulder straps, chest and back plates. Do a lot of sanding and then its on to paint. Thanks for the interest.