Lorelei's 5'4" ATA ANH-S Centurion-Hopeful Build

[Rat[TK]]

Well my friends, I would like it if you would refer to me as Daniel or Danny even, Dan is some other dude aka [mention=31976]CableGuy[/mention] 

Well eventually I'll really honestly get it straightened out.

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[A.J. Hamler[TK]]

Three layers of ABS for your hinge?  What/where is the third layer?   You'd mentioned that you liked my hinge closure, but I only have two total ABS layers the rivets have to go through on each side of the armor seam, plus one layer of webbing.

 

 

Those two ABS strips are glued directly to the top of the webbing only, and the webbing is plain on the underside.  The hinge, in turn, is riveted webbing-side-down to the armor, one strip on each side of the armor seam.  Here's a closeup of the attached hinge, and you can see that I had plenty of rivet to bend over.

 

 

Hope this helps.

[TheLorelei[TK]]

54 minutes ago, A.J. Hamler said:

Hope this helps.

Lovely to have more detail, thanks A.J.! I was planning on reinforcing the ab before attaching elastic similar to yours, so the third layer would be between the elastic and the ab/kidney, glued only to the ab/kidney. I'm contemplating slimmer reinforcements (nylon webbing? ABS scraps that came from already vac-formed pieces so they're considerably thinner?) to avoid it being a full 6mm of ABS, but I'd worry about the rivet holes sans backup. Ounce of prevention, etc.

[A.J. Hamler[TK]]

Ah, gotcha.  And, yeah, the vac-formed pieces are considerably thinner -- depending on where they came from on the armor, they can be quite thin, but still nice and strong.

 

One tip, though, that I found out the hard way.  I wish I hadn't attached both sides of that hinge when I did.  I still had snaps and straps to do for the torso (Ab, Butt, Kidney, Back, Shoulder straps...), and doing them AFTER attaching the two halves of the "clamshell" has been a pain.  Wish I had attached only one side, and drilled the other side to get it ready but not actually attach it till later.  Would have been a lot easier finishing all the snaps and straps without that clamshell flopping all over the place.

 

Live and learn.

[phil]

great idea on the neck seal

[TheLorelei[TK]]

4 hours ago, phil said:

great idea on the neck seal

Hey thanks, Phil! I didn't take terribly many photos of the process because it required more hands than I had to begin with, but I can certainly go into more detail if you'd like. Just let me know.

[TheLorelei[TK]]

17 hours ago, A.J. Hamler said:

Ah, gotcha.  And, yeah, the vac-formed pieces are considerably thinner -- depending on where they came from on the armor, they can be quite thin, but still nice and strong.

 

One tip, though, that I found out the hard way.  I wish I hadn't attached both sides of that hinge when I did.  I still had snaps and straps to do for the torso (Ab, Butt, Kidney, Back, Shoulder straps...), and doing them AFTER attaching the two halves of the "clamshell" has been a pain.  Wish I had attached only one side, and drilled the other side to get it ready but not actually attach it till later.  Would have been a lot easier finishing all the snaps and straps without that clamshell flopping all over the place.

 

Live and learn.

Yeah!

 

And oh, really?... that's quite good to know, thank you. Makes sense. I'll wait to attach it until my belt snaps are in and my codpiece reattached for sure!

[phil]

3 minutes ago, TheLorelei said:

Hey thanks, Phil! I didn't take terribly many photos of the process because it required more hands than I had to begin with, but I can certainly go into more detail if you'd like. Just let me know.

sure thing plz

[shashachu[TK]]

How close are the chest and back tabs to each other (area in rectangle)? I've been staring at your photos for a while trying to figure out what to do with your chest plate positioning, and I'm wondering if actually it might help to drop your whole chest plate a touch:

 

 

Then it should 'hang' from your shoulders a big more vertically, and I think that will help it sit against your ab plate more closely. Does that make sense?

 

And actually looking back at this post in October, the chest plate seems to sit a bit more snugly against the ab in that fitting; do you recall what you did back then? 

 

 

[TheLorelei[TK]]

On 12/19/2018 at 12:57 PM, phil said:

sure thing plz

Working on it. It'll be a bit, so if you have any specific questions until I get it all written up, fire away

 

22 hours ago, shashachu said:

How close are the chest and back tabs to each other (area in rectangle)?

...

Then it should 'hang' from your shoulders a big more vertically, and I think that will help it sit against your ab plate more closely. Does that make sense?

 

And actually looking back at this post in October, the chest plate seems to sit a bit more snugly against the ab in that fitting; do you recall what you did back then?

First, thanks for the input Sha Sha! Always good to hear from a fellow shorter female TK when it comes to fitting issues.

The chest and back tabs overlap by a bit with how I have it taped in the most recent pictures.

That does make sense, and I'll definitely try dropping the chest down a bit.

 

One bad thing that may have contributed to October's fitting was the fact that I had the chest sides taped, pulling it back against the ab. Comparison below, October on the left.

Ignoring that, though, the chest was much lower. The ab was lower, too, and the cod was shorter. Now, this was before I had the back strapping in. The length of the back and the alignment of the ab with the kidney (now in a fixed spot due to shoulders and butt) put the ab a little higher than in October's fitting, I think. Also the torso was bigger around since I hadn't trimmed it yet so the chest didn't have to come back in as far to sit flush.

 

Seems there were a lot of reasons. But shifting the chest down def seems worth a try!

 

20 hours ago, Bud Spaklur said:

I just strategically placed snaps on the inside of the ab and chest to make the chest sit further down. The brackets weren’t tight enough, so this seemed to work for me just fine:

Nice to see your snap plate positioning. Thanks!

Edited December 20, 2018 by TheLorelei
Clarity

[Rat[TK]]

Well be seeing your EI and Centurion applications soon enough I think. Awesome job Lorelei.

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[TheLorelei[TK]]

Aw thanks Rat 

 

You can't keep a good woman down. Despite my best intentions, I did a little more armor work day before yesterday. I put in kidney notches and trimmed the buttplate!

The left side looks so nice. Good thing, too, because it'll be completely hidden by the holster.  The right side is the side with the splice, and the 20mm trim line was so close to the seam that it snapped there instead...

So I'm gonna have to put a few mm back there. I haven't refinished the seam yet anyway so it's ok.

(Also, the kidney+ab themselves are different heights at each seam. What is with that??)

Buttplate trim time!

Been a minute since I was so scared to make a cut.

I think it looks great so far, though, and will look even better when I take the return edge off the lower area like so (faint pencil lines):

Ooh but also look! Butt snaps!! Doesn't it look just so... real??  My snap press continues to prove it was a great investment, by the way. Foolproof, perfect snap setting in seconds. Future readers from Garrison Carida, let me know when you want to borrow it.

 

I removed the edge snap plates from my kidney. The E6000 did eventually let them pop cleanly off, as advertised. Very pleased. And thanks to the trims I won't have to move the snap plates on the buttplate, as they're now on the edges where I would have moved them anyway.

 

Tonight I painted ab buttons, and did a little bucket work. No pics of the ab buttons because they're an absolute travesty. I tried a couple methods and am relying on the cleanup process to make them presentable.

I ended up doing one coat of cheesecloth and one coat of plain plastidip (with a little cloth in thin spots). After two days, I punched out the eye tape and lightly scored the plastidip around the eyes, gently pulling the scrap as I went. For me the edges don't matter much since they'll be covered by my lens/mesh mounting method. Say it with me - feel the relief wash over you - "It doesn't have to be perfect."

Then I kneaded up some epoxy putty (another plumbing aisle wonder) and laid plastic wrap over the eye because I don't want the putty to adhere yet. Those of you who attended higher tier art schools - or second grade art class - will recall the roll-the-clay-between-your-hands-to-make-a-snake method which I employed to get the putty around the eye. It's not pretty, but I'll be shaping it nicely after the second layer. I love how this stuff sands.

A few minutes later it was ready to pop off and mess around with, but I was cold and weary and ready for dinner. Tomorrow's another day.

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

Wow its a blinked and I missed how fast you have came along on this!  Your doing great work!

 

Great job at trimming everything down to fit you!

[TheLorelei[TK]]

On 12/21/2018 at 8:13 AM, StrmTRPR85 said:

Wow its a blinked and I missed how fast you have came along on this!  Your doing great work!

 

Great job at trimming everything down to fit you!

Thanks, Jeff! It's a lot of legwork, but a lot of fun, too. I definitely can't picture myself actually looking like a tk someday though. There's a strong link between me and the piles of white plastic, black elastic, and tools covering the floors of two rooms, but only a tenuous connection between those piles and actual tk armor. 

On another note, I just saw your USB fan sales thread. Tempting. May be PMing you later.

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

19 hours ago, TheLorelei said:

There's a strong link between me and the piles of white plastic, black elastic, and tools covering the floors of two rooms

My work space is still piles of white plastic, elastic and other various parts from my build and I was done about 6 months ago   Of course I always say I'll clean it up but here I am about to start another project.

 

19 hours ago, TheLorelei said:

On another note, I just saw your USB fan sales thread. Tempting. May be PMing you later

Sure thing PM me whenever you would like 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Lorelei looking back at your male snap plate placement. Something to keep in mind, the more space you have between snap mounts (between sections) generally leads to these sections overlapping one another just standing there or during troops. This is a very common concern we see at EIB and Centurion where overlapping is not allowed. IF... you should run into this problem later reducing this space will be your solution. Keep up the good work

[TheLorelei[TK]]

On 12/24/2018 at 12:10 PM, ukswrath said:

Lorelei looking back at your male snap plate placement. Something to keep in mind, the more space you have between snap mounts (between sections) generally leads to these sections overlapping one another just standing there or during troops.

Oof. Good to know, Tony. I thought maybe if they were right on either side of the seam that would cause problems of its own. Hopefully my armor will be so well shaped and fitted to me that it will have no desire to slide about, but if it does now I know how to fix it. Thanks!

 

Speaking of strapping, I finally got the sew-in snaps for the shoulder-nylon to shoulder-bell-elastic connection just now. I did NOT expect #10 snaps to be as ungodly huge as they are! Guess they'll keep flat well enough. Boy. I have yet to revisit the chestplate positioning issue so I can't sew them in just yet, but I think (peering into empty wallet with hand drawn moths comically fluttering out of it) I have actually purchased all I need for my TK now.

 

...minus further helmet electronics. Though I've already got a bunch of those. But that's a song for another time.  Merry belated Christmas, y'all, now go eat those leftover cookies!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

4 hours ago, TheLorelei said:

Oof. Good to know, Tony. I thought maybe if they were right on either side of the seam that would cause problems of its own. Hopefully my armor will be so well shaped and fitted to me that it will have no desire to slide about, but if it does now I know how to fix it. Thanks!

 

Speaking of strapping, I finally got the sew-in snaps for the shoulder-nylon to shoulder-bell-elastic connection just now. I did NOT expect #10 snaps to be as ungodly huge as they are! Guess they'll keep flat well enough. Boy. I have yet to revisit the chestplate positioning issue so I can't sew them in just yet, but I think (peering into empty wallet with hand drawn moths comically fluttering out of it) I have actually purchased all I need for my TK now.

 

...minus further helmet electronics. Though I've already got a bunch of those. But that's a song for another time.  Merry belated Christmas, y'all, now go eat those leftover cookies!

Yes the #10 are big but you'll never see them if installed correctly, so do forget to off set them 

 

Merry Christmas to you as well.

[TheLorelei[TK]]

18 hours ago, ukswrath said:

Yes the #10 are big but you'll never see them if installed correctly, so do forget to off set them 

 

Merry Christmas to you as well.

Wait wait wait, please - offset how? I've been digging around and can't find any specific sew-in snap placement. I figured I'd just put it in the middle of the (nylon) shoulder strap.

[Cricket[TK]]

 

14 minutes ago, TheLorelei said:

Wait wait wait, please - offset how? I've been digging around and can't find any specific sew-in snap placement. I figured I'd just put it in the middle of the (nylon) shoulder strap.

 

 

Oh, oh, oh!  I think I know this one!!!  (waving hand wildly)

Offsetting the snap in the white elastic is a good thing because it provides more stability/strength for the connection.  In the pic below, you're looking at the white elastic as seen from under the plastic shoulder strap from the back.  This is the right shoulder, BTW.

 

 

My elastics are more narrow than most TKs, and that's because I had to narrow the chest/neck and shoulder areas.  The wider elastic would have been visible if I'd gone with the usual stuff.  Anyhow, you want to keep your snaps in as close to the inside (towards your neck) as possible.  This will help prevent your elastics at the shoulders from sagging due to the pulling of the arms.

Did I get that right, Tony?     

[Cricket[TK]]

And taken from Tony's amazing build thread:

 

Screen used:

 

His own pic:

Edited December 27, 2018 by Cricket

[TheLorelei[TK]]

3 hours ago, Cricket said:

 

 

Ohh - thank you! Tony's is probably one of the build threads I should've printed out for easier consultation.  Out of curiosity, in your picture, what's the black material secured there for?

Edited December 27, 2018 by TheLorelei
Brevity

[Cricket[TK]]

That's the elastic that holds the shoulder bell to the shoulder strapping.  One half of the size 10 snap is sewn into the white elastic.  The other half of the snap is sewn into the black elastic strap.  The other end of the black elastic strap is glued directly into the shoulder bell.   Hope that helps!

Edited December 27, 2018 by Cricket

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looks like Cricket has got it covered, thanks Christine  

[Dielotski]

7 hours ago, Cricket said:

Oh, oh, oh!  I think I know this one!!!  (waving hand wildly)

Gotta love a Horshack reference.