Desperate and frustrated

[jimbotron[TK]]

I become very frustrated here.  Many months ago I ordered my AP Armor and paid extra money to have it assembled as much as possible since my skills in building a costume are very raw. You all know the feeling when you receive that box and start pulling out the parts can't wait to get the costume on.  That happened right around New Years day.  Well the armor was an awesome and I have no complaints about it or the service I received.  Unfortunately, I ran into a slight problem.  Apparently even though AP armor has been known to fit people who are 6'4" and I am 6'2",  my torso is longer than the normal person so my chest and back do not fit properly.   I have made several attempts to contact different vendors to try to find a new torso and back that is much longer.  I have received little to no response.  I did get a reply to my initial emails weeks or months later (I know these are busy people) but then my immediate response to the replies went unanswered again. I am just trying to get a hold of someone to get the pieces I need.  I am even willing to buy a new set to build myself but need to make sure it will fit.  If anyone knows how to help me get this done I would greatly appreciate it. It's been almost 6 months and I still am NOT able to get my costume approved because of these pieces.  You all know this pain so please get me in the right direction.

 

Thanks,

Jimbotron (almost TK61224)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by jimbotron

[TheSwede[TK]]

Hey Jim, would you mind posting a pic on how it looks? Imgur is great for that and we can have a look to see how we best can help

[Frank75139[501st]]

Agreed there is a fountain of knowledge here before we buy new let’s try and fix it.


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[Pretzel]

Jim, 

 

I feel your frustration. Oh it sucks. believe me. 

 

First. Take a breath. Yeah, I am sure you have heard that plenty of times. But It is always needed. We are here to help. We will help the best we can. 

 

So, my Story. I bought an AP kit as well. I am 5'11'' and 210ish. Chunkish. Musclerish. lol So AP was NOT the right armor for my body type. I was excited and eager, and AP was the first to get back to me. So as an Eager recruit, I pulled the trigger. 

 

Over time, I purchased armor from RT-Mod. Armor made for my body type. Larger. Taller. Bigger. I recommend reaching out to RT-Mod. The spare parts are a VERY similar shade of white, if not exact same shade. 

 

If you get parts from RT-Mod and trim it yourself to your own body type to ensure it sits nicely, I always recommend new builders to start cutting it yourself with the help of local garrison mates. I noticed you are part of NER. Neighboring my garrison (Pennsylvania) Garrison Carida.  I would start posting on your local forums (if you haven't done so already). See if anyone will be hosting an armor party for you to bring your kit to. If you are not getting much luck from NER, I am willing to set up a time to meet in person.

 

If you do not wish to get spare parts, it is possible to salvage what you have and make corrections, but it is difficult for me to recommend changes without seeing it first hand. But you could shorten up the strapping from your Ab to the chest to make it overlap the ab plate. Can you provide photos of your strapping system? That would be helpful. 

 

Do not lose hope. Many of us will be providing some insight for you. 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Pretzel

[jimbotron[TK]]

20 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

Jim, 

 

I feel your frustration. Oh it sucks. believe me. 

 

First. Take a breath. Yeah, I am sure you have heard that plenty of times. But It is always needed. We are here to help. We will help the best we can. 

 

So, my Story. I bought an AP kit as well. I am 5'11'' and 210ish. Chunkish. Musclerish. lol So AP was NOT the right armor for my body type. I was excited and eager, and AP was the first to get back to me. So as an Eager recruit, I pulled the trigger. 

 

Over time, I purchased armor from RT-Mod. Armor made for my body type. Larger. Taller. Bigger. I recommend reaching out to RT-Mod. The spare parts are a VERY similar shade of white, if not exact same shade. 

 

If you get parts from RT-Mod and trim it yourself to your own body type to ensure it sits nicely, I always recommend new builders to start cutting it yourself with the help of local garrison mates. I noticed you are part of NER. Neighboring my garrison (Pennsylvania) Garrison Carida.  I would start posting on your local forums (if you haven't done so already). See if anyone will be hosting an armor party for you to bring your kit to. If you are not getting much luck from NER, I am willing to set up a time to meet in person.

 

If you do not wish to get spare parts, it is possible to salvage what you have and make corrections, but it is difficult for me to recommend changes without seeing it first hand. But you could shorten up the strapping from your Ab to the chest to make it overlap the ab plate. Can you provide photos of your strapping system? That would be helpful. 

 

Do not lose hope. Many of us will be providing some insight for you. 

Yes I reached out to RT mod and one other about the pieces and like I stated I got replies but they are months apart and seem to have ended with me sending these same pictures.  I may have to try to salvage something because I don't have a ton of disposable income at the moment.  Thanks. I will look at my straps and see if they can be fixed.

[lucnak[TK]]

I agree with Preston that RT-Mod or AM will likely be a better fit for you. To make this fit you, you will need to lengthen the chest to back elastic strap and tighten the chest to ab. You will also need to reposition the shoulder bridges to ensure that they meet the back plate. They could also use some reshaping as well to curve more as they are very straight right now.

[magni[TK]]

You could seperate cod and Ab and add a shim with belt hiding the seam also.

 

I have RT Mod and it can take time to get a response from Rob. He's a busy guy who travels a lot. But it's a great set if you end up having to go with a new kit.

 

You'll get there Trooper!

[wook1138[TK]]

Hey Jim, your frustration is very understandable, but all is not lost.

 

Yeah, I agree with what Luc said.  If you pulled the ABS shoulder bridges off and positioned them a little further up on your chest, that may give you a little more give for your chest to come down over your ab.  Hot water bathing your bridges so they curve down at the back and using elastic to secure should fix them.

 

Your right thigh should be a quick fix - it appears that it just needs to come up a little.  The back of your shins appear to be overlapping - only the coverstrip should overlap with the other side - but I can't be certain from the photo.

 

Lose any return edge on your shoulder bells and tighten the elastic that wraps around your bicep - this will bring your shoulder bell in a little.  Some bigger guys reshape the bells with a hot water bath so the fit around the biceps better.  The elastic (or nylon) from the bell to the shoulder strap needs to be shortened a bit too and brought forward a touch.  The AP bells are a bit small for bigger guys, but you can reduce some of the black in the area.

 

I've seen a few people not pull the cod/butt up enough.  It doesn't look like that is the issue here, but I just thought I would mention it.

 

And like Randy mentioned, there is the idea of adding shims.

 

These are all very doable things (the shims are a bit tougher but totally possible).  Many of these things you can do pretty quickly with some advice from other troopers here on FISD, but hopefully we can get you in contact with someone local to help out first hand. 

 

And, for the most part, your armour looks great!

Edited May 10, 2018 by wook1138

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Greg beat me to it.  I think with some mods you can get it to work, and would suggest you give them a go.  RT's wait list can be 9 months at times.

[jimbotron[TK]]

7 hours ago, lucnak said:

I agree with Preston that RT-Mod or AM will likely be a better fit for you. To make this fit you, you will need to lengthen the chest to back elastic strap and tighten the chest to ab. You will also need to reposition the shoulder bridges to ensure that they meet the back plate. They could also use some reshaping as well to curve more as they are very straight right now.

Yeah the shoulder bridges have already been fixed.

 

[jimbotron[TK]]

Thanks guys I am going to work on the elastic straps which may be the problem.  I did take care of most of the rest of the issue on the pictures already.  

[jimbotron[TK]]

So I have to completely redo the elastic and snaps. Went to a local craft store and they don't have the correct stuff. Anyone know where to get the right elastic and snaps?

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[shashachu[TK]]

I got mine on Amazon. Tandy Line 24 snaps are super high quality.

 

I also echo others that you might want to try splitting the ab and cod and shimming the space in between - it will be hidden by the belt.

[ABS80]

Jim

 

Just saw your thread and sent you a email, you can easily remove shoulder straps and reposition since I only use E6000 glue,  worst case I can make you a set of extra long shoulder straps.

 

BTW AP will not fit 6.4"  I have a few customers who are 6.2" and it fit nicely, remember no two 6.2" person have the same proprotion some have longer torso some longer legs, long neck  ect... so the fit will vary.

 

Mark (AP)

[ABS80]

Jim

 

For the thighs I would suggest you get a garter belt system so thighs are seperate from armor so when you walk it wont pull down on armor

 

Garter belt system ideal for thighs

 

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/29991-thigh-garter-system/

 

Mark (AP)

[jimbotron[TK]]

31 minutes ago, ABS80 said:

Jim

 

Just saw your thread and sent you a email, you can easily remove shoulder straps and reposition since I only use E6000 glue,  worst case I can make you a set of extra long shoulder straps.

 

BTW AP will not fit 6.4"  I have a few customers who are 6.2" and it fit nicely, remember no two 6.2" person have the same proprotion some have longer torso some longer legs, long neck  ect... so the fit will vary.

 

Mark (AP)

Yeah sorry didn't mean to misquote the sizing and I have no complaints about the armor.  The armor is awesome, its my body that needs work.  I don't have very much room to move the on the back and front plates.  I will just have to try to make a loner elastic piece and look into the shim idea.

[ABS80]

Hey Jim

 

No need to apologize, let me know if you need anything.

 

Mark (AP)

Edited May 11, 2018 by ABS80

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

Sounds like your on the right path to getting everything looking good on you.

 

I did the garter system for my thighs and it's great!