LTM's AM TK ANH build

[shashachu[TK]]

Depending on how wide the plastic is, the belt might be a touch too high; the plastic should just touch or slightly overlap the ab button plate. I don't think a larger overlap is necessarily a problem, though.

 

Also, having the snap under the ammo pack is actually kind of a pain because it makes it hard to snap the belt to the ab since the line 24 snaps are pretty hard to snap. I ended up putting a little box of abs inside the ammo pack so that I had something to push against when I snapped the belt on.

[LTM[TK]]

4 minutes ago, shashachu said:

Depending on how wide the plastic is, the belt might be a touch too high; the plastic should just touch or slightly overlap the ab button plate. I don't think a larger overlap is necessarily a problem, though.

 

Also, having the snap under the ammo pack is actually kind of a pain because it makes it hard to snap the belt to the ab since the line 24 snaps are pretty hard to snap. I ended up putting a little box of abs inside the ammo pack so that I had something to push against when I snapped the belt on.

Should I trim some more of the plastic on the side of the belt (right now at 5mm) before joining to the fabric? Will the holster/blaster cause the belt to want to rise during a troop?

[LTM[TK]]

Rivets and strapping on left side.

Snaps are temporary, once I can use the sewing machine they will be rebuilt. Good enough for fitting for now.

While I was at it I used e6000 on the shoulder snaps a couple of days ago and have the elastic material ready to start fitting the top of the torso.

Working on the eye bridges in the mask. First coat of plasti dip is on, have to keep it thin so I don't fill up the screw holes.

Edited June 1, 2018 by LTM

[shashachu[TK]]

11 hours ago, LTM said:

Should I trim some more of the plastic on the side of the belt (right now at 5mm) before joining to the fabric? Will the holster/blaster cause the belt to want to rise during a troop?

It's hard for me to say for sure; I'm inclined to tell you to leave it because overtrimming is hard to fix. But maybe you can try just laying the plastic belt on top while the canvas belt is snapped in and see what it looks like? Or just wait to see if others chime in with opinions.

 

I added a couple thin strips of Velcro onto my belt and the front of the ab to keep the belt in place, so I haven't had an issue with it shifting around.

[LTM[TK]]

Looking at the AM 1.0 build by Tony, followed the measurements but maybe something has changed with the armor. Once I laid on the plastic belt it covered the blue button, so when I add the holster/gun this possibly would go up further. Easy solution is to add another button to the belt and see how it fits, looks like I need to drop at least 1/4 inch

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

1 hour ago, LTM said:

Easy solution is to add another button to the belt and see how it fits, looks like I need to drop at least 1/4 inch

Even easier solution just use velcro to hold it in place

[LTM[TK]]

Adding the snap plates in preparation for first fitting. I can get how all the pieces go together but struggling on the back. I now understand that the back piece actually sits out a little bit, so the bottom return has a shape to it. The bottom corners seem to want to push out (ride on the outside of the kidney. Is this a place to do a hot water bath and try to pull the corners up (trying to make any necessary adjustments before snap plates and fitting).

Looks like center return need to be bent up?

How the ends like to push down

[shashachu[TK]]

Can you do a test fit (using blue tape etc) to get a better idea of how close the back sits to the kidney? If they're not right up against each other, you probably don't have to worry about the slight overlap. Or maybe you can trim a bit of the back return edge right at the corner.

[LTM[TK]]

Something done each day...

Eye guards are complete, two coats of plasti-dip and ready to have teeth cut out. Then to assemble the helmet.

[LTM[TK]]

Working on the right side clasp, I want to stop the up/down movement and keep a positive "lock".

Simple slide

Installed

[LTM[TK]]

Moved the snaps on the belt to sit it below the buttons. Testing the snap rivets, I am not sure if I am correct as it seems to be very proud of the surface and will scratch the armor?

Testing on scrap pieces, front appears to be ok

On the back, I did one with a washer and one without.

Nothing fancy on the tool, no quick jerks on the handle. The rivets are aluminum 1/8th shank.

Edited June 7, 2018 by LTM

[LTM[TK]]

Started the initial fitting of the torso, hoping I can get some feedback.

Belt now sits where I want it, finally figured out the rivet issue.

 

Will the back straps be pushed down by the plastic bridges?

I have the back piece taped to the kidney, should there be this much gap at the back of the arm or does that mean I need to cut some of the material over the shoulder?

 

[LTM[TK]]

Gap on the left side was too much, so I moved the snap so that the button is underneath the ammo space.

Holster is attached, Chicago screws were used. Figured out the rivet issue, will wait for covers until after final fitting (in case I need to move anything).

Edited June 8, 2018 by LTM

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

11 minutes ago, LTM said:

Figured out the rivet issue

What was the rivet issue?

[LTM[TK]]

44 minutes ago, StrmTRPR85 said:

What was the rivet issue?

For me the 1/8th did not give enough material to make a good set. Once I switched to 1/4 there was plenty of material to compress. 

Also, when practicing make sure the practice pieces are of the same thickness (I just grabbed some extra plastic that was laying around), so the issues on the practice piece was not an indication of how it would work on the belt. Lesson learned...

 

[LTM[TK]]

Boxes! During research a few were noting that the boxes tended to move around and get "stuck", so I added some weight to the bottom (brad nails).

Now all I have to do is install the covers

[LTM[TK]]

TD done, clips by Tony

[Frank75139[501st]]

Interesting idea with the nails. I’ll have to remember that.


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[LTM[TK]]

Still plugging away...

Helmet

[Frank75139[501st]]

Still looking good!


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[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

Thats all you need Lou!  One thing a day at a time!

[DBGrip]

Started the initial fitting of the torso, hoping I can get some feedback.
Belt now sits where I want it, finally figured out the rivet issue.

 
Will the back straps be pushed down by the plastic bridges?



I have the back piece taped to the kidney, should there be this much gap at the back of the arm or does that mean I need to cut some of the material over the shoulder?

 

OK... figured it was fair to come back and look at yours. Yes, I'd remove more of the shoulder plastic from the chest plate. At the moment I have mine just a little past the collar bone towards the back. I haven't trimmed the back plate shoulder plastic yet but will. Will also make it thinner, width wise. Two things that really helped me with my fit, and getting it to feel "right". First is easy, make all your vertical straps and connect the pieces, rather than tape. I found it gave me a better feel for everything. The second, or I guess I should say "first" (as you kind of want to do it before figuring out your elastic lengths) is trim the returns on the bottom and sides. The angle of the bottom return, and those points on the side are what seems to be what keeps the plate poking out. Also the return at the back of the neck and shoulders. These were pretty nerve wracking, and it was the first time in my build I thought I had really messed up. But once I out it all on connected, it felt much better. I'm building with snaps, so my method of measuring the elastic was putting a female snap on one side of the elastic, then marking the other end with a silver sharpie where it touched the male snap. When doing this I stretched the elastic just a tiny bit (4-5mm) to simulate the weight of gravity of the adjoining piece. Shoulders are just elastic with adhesive velcro, which will become snaps later. I used Ukswrath's measurement (from the AM 1.0 guide) for the shoulder elastic, as a guide with a 1" by 2" velcro strip (hooks) where he had snaps. I then put at 2-2.5 strip of the fuzzy on all 4 shoulder points. This way I could easily adjust the points at the shoulder easily to level out the back, and raise and lower where the kidney and Ab meet, since back, kidney, and butt were all strapped together. Once every sat right I marked where the 1x2 hook velcro (same dimension as the future snaps in webbing) ended up on the armor. (I also used black elastic, and black fuzzy, but white hook, to make it easier to see where this points would end up. The black elastic also helped me see (through better contrast) where the front and back shoulders should be shortened two.

Sorry to be so wordy, but I hope it helps you understand my thought process..

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[lucnak[TK]]

I would suggest you keep some return edge when you can. It is more screen accurate to keep it on the back/kidney/butt, and the edge will prevent these pieces from sliding under each other. I would say most people have some of that gap at the back of the shoulders. Once you have the undersuit on, plus the shoulder bells, it becomes much less noticeable.

 

Here are some reference photos in case they are useful for you!

 

 

[DBGrip]

If you look at the photos lucnak posted you'll notice the returns on the shoulder bridges neck and sides are severely trimmed down from what comes on our AM 2.0 back plates. Also the the shoulder bridge plastic is much shorter. I found the neck return and the returns on the shoulders lifted the plate adding to that back gap you're concerned about. Also at our heights, removing those helped get the back closer to the kidney. That lower return is also exasperating because it's not a true return but a 45 degree angle. I ended up removing most of mine, but I guess if you're going for more exact screen accuracy you could leave a quarter inch on the bottom, get out the iron and bend it to 90 degrees, leaving enough room for brackets (if you want to put them in eventually, as that's the reason for that bottom return edge). I've found the kidney return is enough to keep the back from getting up under it, and just left about an 1/8th of an inch of the back plate return. Those side returns on our AM kits are huge, even 'pre-trimmed, and realized that's to accommodate the larger troopers the kit is designed to please. Those big pointy spikes on the corners just had to go, because they were creating a gap between kidney, and back that would be unacceptable at higher levels.

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[DBGrip]

I found the screen used suit photos to be helpful, but I think these galleries are possibly more so.

check out the trooper on the left.  Also it looks like your strap is wadded up under your shoulder, I know it's temporary for fitting, but it is also pushing your plate up adding to that back gap you are concerned with.