EASY’s AM ARMOR ANH STUNT BUILD

[Pretzel]

Nicely done on the bucket so far! 

[CrookKnight[TK]]

Great detailed account of your build.


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[Easy[TK]]

9 hours ago, CrookKnight said:

Great detailed account of your build.


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Thanks. I’m hoping this build goes well enough to meet centurion standards and will benefit future builders. Detail is very important to new guys like me. This will chronicle the build through it’s entirety. My goal is to be submitted and approved before the August FanExpo in Toronto this year. 

 

At at some point I’d like to get together with a member from my area and demonstrate that help is not just in these forum pages but available with accomplished builders in hands on situations. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

4 hours ago, Easy said:

Thanks. I’m hoping this build goes well enough to meet centurion standards and will benefit future builders. Detail is very important to new guys like me. This will chronicle the build through it’s entirety. My goal is to be submitted and approved before the August FanExpo in Toronto this year. 

 

At at some point I’d like to get together with a member from my area and demonstrate that help is not just in these forum pages but available with accomplished builders in hands on situations. 

I like it 

[ABS80]

The ears are too thick (common mistake by many) especially the hook shape area and from front view the ear have a weird angle, you need to sand the circle section flush all around so ear sit nice straight as much as possible, from what I see you left more material on top section of the circle.

Edited January 9, 2019 by ABS80

[Easy[TK]]

From this point on I will be editing the posts each time I have the next step in the build ready to post. This will keep all of the build process in one section so it’s easier to follow. 

Some of the replies will show after the build post but may have been posted before the build is complete, and might seem pointless so I’ll try to respond accordingly to minimize confusion to future readers. 

 

Ok, time to start on the leg armour. I’ll be starting on the thighs. The shins are going to get some special work done so I’ll do a whole section on them after. 

Here we go…

 

These are the AM thigh pieces un touched as they came. They are huge. 

 

Look at the width of the back. I like that they don’t have vac-formed ridges to fight. This will allow any amount of trimming to customize right to my leg because the cut won’t have to follow the edge line or cross over a raised area. 

 

The front has the raised area and it’s huge. Hat. Will do here is find the right amount to trim off…an even strip in line with the raised edge…and then do a rough fit to estimate the rear side cut. It may or may not be cut square with the edge, we’ll see.

 

Look at the girth on these. For all the bigger troopers out there this is the armour to buy. You can almost park a land-speeder in that. 

 

Here is the total raised front width. 100mm. I’ll find the right amount to trim off each so that the cover strip is centred on it.

 

I used a pencil to trace the inner corner of the return edges then scored along it a few medium passes. 

 

The pencil line really helps because, believe it or no, the inner corner disappears in light and shadow when you look at it. The defined line makes cutting simple.

 

Nice and neat, ready to sand smooth. 

 

You can can see the top return edge is gone as well. Because the thigh pieces are huge…around and tall…I might have to trim the top for movement, spacing or both. When they are how I want them I can use my heat gun to soften the top edge and ‘curl’ it inward slightly to give it some depth…up to 1/8”.

 

With a quick test fit and a couple pencil marks I estimated the fron raised edge should be 30mm left on each side. I taped the halves together on those marks. It’s a nice straight line top to bottom. 

 

Another quick fit and I estimated the rear areas to mark, taped them and tried it on. It fit really nice. You can see how the back will not be right in line with the edge. Much more is coming off the bottom then the top. Again this is a rough estimate of the back. 

 

Here is where I notice something I didn’t like. The outer cover strips for thighs should be 20mm. I used some ABS from the bicep trimming to mock up a strip. Then I drew lines to see how it would look with a 60mm raised area. YUCK! I’m tall but not terribly wide so I really don’t need that much area to cover my thigh. 

 

The raised area is 60mm so I drew lines at 20mm spacing. 

 

With the mock shim clamped on I can see that 10mm on each side isn’t too bad. I could cut 40mm off one to leave 20mm…

 

and 20mm off the other to leave 20mm for a total of 40mm. 

 

I used the mock strip to mark down the inside because it’s easier to use the strip as a pencil guide and just slide it down the channel. Before I cut these I’m going to try marking and setting the front at 30mm. With any luck I can eliminate all or most of the raised area beyond the cover strip edges. 

 

Marking the left thigh with the mock strip on the inside. 

 

Sliding it along the inner ridge makes a perfect line all the way along. 

 

Ready to trim. 

 

With the both sides trimmed to 20mm I put them together by overlapping them. Don’t panic, this is for test fitting. I taped the back sides the way they were lined up before and pulled them back on for a fitting  they felt great like this so the next step is to mark the rear cut lines to as close to the center of the hamstring as I can and trim them. I’ll trim 10mm off each raised edge on the front and a cover strip will cover all of it and have clean butt joints on the back. 

 

Victor Matts at AM contacted me before shipping and asked if I’d like the knee ammo/battery belt bent to roughly the correct shape. It’s so close to perfect that I’ll only need a slight adjustment. That’s customer care folks. 

 

So back down I go the next day and cut 10mm off each raised edge on he right thigh. This is how it looks just taped together. That’s gorgeous. Below are the strips I cut off.

 

Here I have the mock cover strip taps on so,I can see how well the fit is. It’s going to look perfect, the raised edge with a strip on top really adds character.

 

This is a 20mm trimmed edge from one of the previous cuts. I trimmed another 2-3mm off so it will sit flat in the channel. I like using the trimmed pieces as inner support strips because they fit so nicely. The channel is the same depth as the thickness of the strip so I’ll have no raised edge inside to rub my leg when trooping.

 

Ok everybody flip…good job on this pic, no?

This is the inner strip trimmed to 17mm. You can see the deflection below the tape measure, it goes to 18mm even farther along. I’m not overly picky about the inside as it’s not going to be seen all that much, but when it is seen it will show the human touch as opposed to precise machining…my personal taste. 

 

Here’s why I really like using trimmed off material on the pieces they came from. They have the natural shape and curvature of it. Setting these in place is easier than strongarming flat pieces in and less stressful on the armour. That’s exactly what adding strength should do. 

 

A bead of E6000…I found white E6000…and a pile of clamps to set the inner strip in. 

 

A view of the outside. All clamps are in place to apply the force in the right places.

 

Close up. If the gluing process shifts the strip outward, or if it’s too far out and causes a gap between the halves, it can be sanded or trimmed to fit. 

 

Next day. The first inner strip is set so I glued the outer and inner halves together. It’s a bit awkward trying to mate them with the glue on and secure them in place. A couple clamps to start with, then I used tape to keep them set once aligned and lots of magnets to clamp them evenly mated while drying. 

 

I trimmed the left thigh raised sections to 10mm each. The inner strip on the left leg outer half is glued and setting up now too. Tomorrow I’ll repeat the process and mate the inner half. 

 

Ok back from work, down to the building table and off with clamps and magnets…OMG it shifted. The two halves were about 1/4” offset. Damn it. Pulled it apart, cleaned off all the glue and redid it…double and triple checking just to be sure. Since the strip was ready on the other one…and a new batch of magnets came…I  glued and set it too. 

 

Voila. Thigh Armor that fit me perfectly…I tried them on. 

 

From the back you can see how straight the butt jointed seams line up. Odd angle cover strips would look awful so take the time to line everything up with pencil marks before cutting up the armour. It pays off in the end. 

 

Heres a trick that I found many people already knew. E6000 can be safely rubbed off or loosened enough to remove by rubbing with bare hands if you scrape at it with some scrap ABS. Remove any excess glue before laying the cover strips on. 

 

The rear cover strip goes on very nicely. The surface is flat and clean and requires only single magnets to keep it flat while curing. 

 

The front cover strip has the pronounced arc. The strip lays on it nicely but just to be sure I doubled the magnets at each spot to add clamping force. I don’t want it lifting at all. 

Tomorrow they will be completed and ready for final sizing and edging.

 

It’s tomorrow…today…and here they are. I got nice legs. All set for trimming, sizing and edging later. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Easy

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Normally there is no need to remove all of the return edge on the bottom of the thighs, many like the appearance it gives, you can see in the image below as screen used with return edge still attached.

 

 

Ideally we try to keep the front coverstips as close to standard size, in this case 20mm with a minimum of distance between that and the raised sections and add any additional coverstip size to the back, just depends how wide that strip would thenhave to be, if too big then divide between the front and back.

 

 

 

 

[Easy[TK]]

25 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Normally there is no need to remove all of the return edge on the bottom of the thighs, many like the appearance it gives, you can see in the image below as screen used with return edge still attached.

 

Ideally we try to keep the front coverstips as close to standard size, in this case 20mm with a minimum of distance between that and the raised sections and add any additional coverstip size to the back, just depends how wide that strip would thenhave to be, if too big then divide between the front and back.

 

 

 

After a couple discussions I decided to trim off all the return edges on the lower ends but on the shin pieces I’ll definitely have some return edge remaining. I like the heavier look. It’s not really seen at the bottom unless someone is laying down to look. Hoping to avoid some armour bites as well.

[magni[TK]]

You'll be amazed how looked over your armor gets at troops. Not everyday people see a TK up close. 

 

You're doing a good job so far but I have to agree with Glen on his recommendation. Atleast to your left thigh if you haven't cut it off. Honestly I don't recall seeing anyone do this. Keep in mind also that that return edge keeps bottom stiff. The ammo pack covers up right side so that one isn't seen. 

 

Return edges aren't required for approval. Some spots you don't want them some spots you do. The edge is there just to give some thickness and help sell it's armor. Even though one shot and we're done.

 

Looking foward to seeing you progress in making the best suit you'll ever wear!

[Easy[TK]]

2 hours ago, magni said:

Return edges aren't required for approval. Some spots you don't want them some spots you do. The edge is there just to give some thickness and help sell it's armor. Even though one shot and we're done.

 

Looking foward to seeing you progress in making the best suit you'll ever wear!

I like the idea of the strength but I’ve seen many pictures of the return edges broken with large chunks missing. I’m toying with an idea to make a laminated trim piece that will replace the return edge, perhaps two layers of the material I’m trimming off. A 1/4” high 2 layer laminated piece would give it a look of thicker armour and be much stronger than the natural return edge. It would require some cutting, bending and gluing but I think the results would be worth it. My only real question is the order of the steps from start to finish. I’m leaning toward one layer at a time with overlapping seams on the layers. I didn’t destroy the return edges that I removed so I may start by using those. 

[phil]

do you do the cover strips and inner strips the same size on the joints ?

 

as in 20mm inner 20mm outer etc etc

 

cheers

[Frank75139[501st]]

do you do the cover strips and inner strips the same size on the joints ?
 
as in 20mm inner 20mm outer etc etc
 
cheers

Size of inner strips don’t matter. Mine were cuts from trimming so they were off sized and crooked cuts.


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[Easy[TK]]

19 hours ago, phil said:

do you do the cover strips and inner strips the same size on the joints ?

 

as in 20mm inner 20mm outer etc etc

 

cheers

I will with the front strips only because the raised area will be 20mm, so that’s all that will fit on the inner channel. I will probably use the 40mm sections I cut off the outer thigh shell front as an inside strip on the rear of the thighs. It’s for strength so the more surface area the more grabbing power. Generally I don’t worry about the inner size as long as it’s not too small. 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Easy

[Easy[TK]]

The shins are a special bit of the armour. Just read enough posts in any media and you’ll know what a pain they can be while trooping. They shift up and down, left and right and the worst is that they won’t always stay shut in the back. I’m going to try to build all of that out of mine. It’s m fortunate that I’m building an AM kit and there’s plenty of room to cut and re-cut until it’s right. 

 

First step is to identify the pieces that belong together. I did this earlier and marked them. 

 

This is the AM shin. Huge. I’m not going to come close to filling it out so I’m pretty comfortable trimming the front to the 25mm width to match the cover strip width. 

 

The ankles are to be trimmed completely. It’s easier to mark the inside and follow the cut line. 

 

Here isthe left leg trimmed and sanded smooth. 

 

The top return edge edge will stay as is for now. 

 

Here is the right leg inner half trimmed down the length of the shin and the inner strip glued and clamped. Again I used the strip I trimmed off the shin as the inner strip for support. The outer half is trimmed as well, the trimmed strip is laying there too. 

 

Here’s the two halves together to check the joint before gluing. Nice and straight, even lines all the way. 

 

Glued, taped, clamped and secures with magnets. You can’t tell from this angle but the mage nets are 3 on the outside and two inside. This is a tougher piece to set because of its shape. I took great care to line it up and clamp it in the position I want it to set up in. I clamped the Back seam to hold it steady in the position that it will

be in when I wear it. The main idea here is to only ever stress it when putting it on. It should fit most naturally when closed on your leg. 

 

With the glue dried I measured the length to use for the outer cover. 

 

37cm should do it.

 

I measured the other leg and it’s the same so I cut two 37cm x 25mm strips. Notice the offset on the top ridge. 

 

A quick check to see how it sits before gluing.

 

Now with the glue on and clamped with magnets. 

 

Here is a special magnet. The very top edge doesn’t follow the shin curve so this broken earth magnet pulls it into the correct

position. 

 

Front cover strip on and looks good. Notice the offset of the crown. That’s normal. Many kits have one or both like this. 

 

I pulled the shon on and made a mark where it fit me best. Using that mark I set it with clamps and found the center line up the back and marked the halves for cutting. Here the first cut is done and clamped on to mark the second half. You can see the marks at the top and bottom edges if you zoom in on those areas.

 

Both cuts done. Using the cut off pieces I can mark the left shin for cutting once I put the front of it together. Securing it in the back will be done once both are built to this stage. I’m not using Velcro or bra hooks. I’m setting up a magnetic latching systemthats a variation of a build by Cricket.

 

Left inner strip glued in. 

 

Here’s wheee the fun begins. This is the start of the shin magnetic latch closure. This is essentially the inner strip but will only be glued to the inside shin piece. It’s marked for 5 evenly spaced magnets down the center line of the strip. These are to be drilled to fit the magnets in. 

 

Part of the system is the magnetic button covers. I’m making these from scratch. The magnets are 12mm x 3mm rare earth magnets, so super strong. I’m using the cover strip ABS pieces supplied by AM with the kit. 

 

I centered a pair of magnets on the prepared button piece. I cut this a bit larger than needed so it can be sanded down to size when it cools. 

 

This is a tool that came with a faucet kit I bought for the kitchen sink. It just happens to be the perfect size to press the button covers. 

 

Using the two magnets makes center ing it a snap. 

 

I apply heat until it starts to soften…

 

apply enough pressure to push it flat to the table. 

 

This is what it came out like. 

 

See how the magnet sits flush in the button. That’s what I’m looking for. 

 

I used the button to mark out the next four. I cut them out and made each one individually. 

 

Using the inner strip I marked and cut a matching outer cover strip. I marked where the outer magnets will be glued. I’ll make another full set like this for the other leg. 

 

See how the magnets fit nicely into the holes. That’s important for easy use and secure latching. 

 

Maybe I should have put this up earlier…this is the stepped drill bit I use to make the holes. 

 

Using the hole strip I marked the area to be cut out on the shin. 

 

This is where the magnets will latch when done. The cover strip will completely hide the holes and the magnets will be glued to it where the cut-outs are. The inner strip (hole strip) will house the magnets, slightly recessed, so the outer magnets will actually sit in a slight depression to lock the back solidly. 

 

With the back closed I put the hole strip on and blackened the spots where magnets will join…with a sharpie. I cut out all of the black with the dermel.

 

I fit the hole strip inside and glued it in with E6000. I used a small stack of the 12mm magnets to check the holes and ground off any spots that didn’t allow them to pass right through. 

 

I marked the magnets on the ‘north’ sides and laid them in the buttons. 

 

A decent dab of E6000 in each one then push the magnets in. 

 

All sitting in the glue.

 

A magnet is used to draw it in better…

 

Then I stack them for some real pull to seat them right in. 

 

I fit the outer cover strip on to check for any adjustments that might be needed.

 

Everything lined up perfectly.

 

E6000, clamps and magnets. I’ll be able to glue the magnets inside on the cover strip later today.

 

I cut the holes for the left leg.

 

Then alligned and glued in the hole strip. 

 

Left leg buttons made with the magnets setting in the glue. 

 

Here is the right shin return edge trimmed to fit my leg. I still might trim the back for mobility. 

 

This is a link to a clip that shows how well the magnets work. 

 

I glued the sniper plate on. Had to heat and slightly reshape the rear tips to make a better mating surface for gluing. 

 

The ammo belt is on and glued in the front. 

 

White paint onand drying. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Easy

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

27 minutes ago, Easy said:

The shins are a special bit of the armour. Just read enough posts in any media and you’ll know what a pain they can be while trooping. They shift up and down, left and right and the worst is that they won’t always stay shut in the back.

 

Perhaps in some cases but I don't have any issues what so ever, I have Velcro on the rear attachments and they don't open unless you want them too, you just have to make sure when you put the calves together that the closure is nice and flat, I see a lot at angles and it's not surprise they open. Keep the shins from coming up I loop elastic through the loop on top of the boot, then attach snaps to the elastic and inside of the shins, stops them from moving around nicely  

[Easy[TK]]

8 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Perhaps in some cases but I don't have any issues what so ever, I have Velcro on the rear attachments and they don't open unless you want them too, you just have to make sure when you put the calves together that the closure is nice and flat, I see a lot at angles and it's not surprise they open. Keep the shins from coming up I loop elastic through the loop on top of the boot, then attach snaps to the elastic and inside of the shins, stops them from moving around nicely  

I have a stirup design that will keep the shins lined up and held down. I’ll be making the backs perfectly flat (as close to perfectly flat) and using magnets to close them. 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

1 minute ago, Easy said:

I have a stirup design that will keep the shins lined up and held down. I’ll be making the backs perfectly flat (as close to perfectly flat) and using magnets to close them. 

Can you do me a favor and post up (or PM me) some detailed pics of your stirrup design, Dave?  I would like to have some as reference photos for those who need them.  Thanks!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

8 hours ago, Easy said:

I have a stirup design that will keep the shins lined up and held down. I’ll be making the backs perfectly flat (as close to perfectly flat) and using magnets to close them. 

Glad to hear, just wasn’t sure what posts in any media you have been reading, they are not that hard to manage 

[Pretzel]

. Well done! Moving right along.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good so far Dave 

[Easy[TK]]

7 hours ago, justjoseph63 said:

Can you do me a favor and post up (or PM me) some detailed pics of your stirrup design, Dave?  I would like to have some as reference photos for those who need them.  Thanks!

I’m using pretty much the same set up as in Crickets build. Here’s the link. 

 

[Easy[TK]]

I will be editing the posts each time I have the next step in the build ready to post. This will keep all of that part of the build process in one section in the thread so it’s easier to follow. (Arm build section, thigh build section, shin build section etc.)

 

Some of the replies will show after the build post but may have been posted before the build is complete, and might seem pointless so I’ll try to respond accordingly to minimize confusion to future readers.

 

For those following this and haven’t seen new progress on the build, please have a look back at my posts as the continuation for those build sections are in the original posts not in new ones. 

 

Hope its helpful. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by Easy

[Easy[TK]]

Before:

Healthy return edges that need trimming. 

 

After:

Less than an hour with a pencil to trace out the cut and a Dremel with the pink grinding tip to take away the unwanted material. Still enough left to add some definition to the look. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Dave

[Easy[TK]]

Time to start on the body armour. I’m going to be securing all the pieces together with elastic loops and metal brackets. You can buy these as a kit but I’m making mine because I’d just rather do it myself. 

 

These are a couple of mock ups I did to get a feel for it. They are not bad really. There will be 15 short ones and 3 tall ones in a complete set. 

 

I made a jig for quick measuring. These are the tools to mark and cut the pieces. You nee regular pliers and needle-nose pliers to bend them to shape. 

 

I used a pair of needle-nose pliers to make a loop in each end. 

 

Regular pliers to bend each loop 90° and make sure the bends are as close to even as you can. 

 

Here is the template I made to help me keep them all pretty close to exactly the same size. This is a tall one. I marked the bend locations with a sharpie so that it will be 5/8” tall and 1 1/4” wide (approximately) when done.

 

As it happens my pliers are the perfect width to set in and bend around. 

 

First one done. 

 

On the template it’s a bit off the mark but it’s ok as long as a 1” elastic will fit in when done. Two more like this then the same process for the 15 short ones. 

 

Here’s the first one. I only used the big pliers to bend the loops to 90°. The rest was all done with the needle-nose pliers. 

 

Easy enough to do in very little time. 

 

Here they are ready for when I need them. I just found out I used all my 1” elastic so I’ve got some shopping to do. 

 

I decided to do a quick test fit of the ab/kidney plates. At 6’2”, 130lb the AM ARMOR fits nicely as is. Might require only minimal return edge trimming but this is in jeans and a t-shirt so I’m not going to need to cut or add gap filling plates to join them.  The AM 2.0 armour is amazingly easy to work with. 

 

Nice fit all around for just taping. 

 

Ok, change of plans. After looking at the screw heads and seeing how they would come together between the pieces I was not happy. A significant gap because they are round heads looked bad. I tried the flat heads with bevels and don’t like the strain it puts on the armour to set it in deep enough to look ok. Then I thought, “Chicago screws!” They’re nice and flat. The same reinforcement pieces will be fine too. 

 

They only need a slightly bigger hole than the screws so no biggie. I made a test piece from a trimmed edge to simulate the actual armour. 

 

Here the screws are tight and are the perfect size. Very discrete and white paint will make them disappear. 

 

Nice and neat inside as well. Nothing to snag the undersuit. 

 

I marked the center of both pieces…

 

clamped the reinforcement shim in…

 

and drilled the holes in the armour. 

 

The female half will be to the outside. It’s harder to screw in the male half on the inside but the finished look is nicer. 

 

A quick test fit to check the holes for alignment…

 

a smidge of E6000…

 

Then put the pieces together and screw the bracket down. Easy Peezy. Only 17 more to go. I’ll be making the 1” black elastic loops to put on the brackets later. I’ll either rivet or sew them. Not sure yet. 

 

Making the loops that will join the parts using the brackets. I sewed the first two by hand then gave up. Turns out E6000 will hold the electric strapping very well. Each strap for the short brackets is 3/4” long and glued with about 1/4” overlap. 

 

Heres one of the glued ones installed. 

 

The kidney and butt plates connected.

 

I installed the back plate in the middle only. The AM armour is not straight along the bottom edge. It has a beautifully sculpted contour that will have the corners hanging over the ab plate just slightly more than the center point low contour. Picture the ocean bird silhouette with the wings arched up and tips are the lowest point by a smidge. I have a couple specially made brackets for those corners. But now it’s sleep time. 

 

I made custom reinforcement shims to match the arch in the corners and glued them into the top of the ab plate. 

 

Here is a close up of the custom shim. 

 

I also made a couple custom brackets to compensate for both the curvature in the corners and for the return edge angle on the back plate. 

 

The back straps all on. 

 

Nice and neat on the outside. I did a quick fit to check the feel. I’ll need to trim some return edges for a comfortable fit but the length is really good. 

 

I marked the return edges for trimming. 

 

This looks a lot nicer. I also removed the entire neck return edge. 

 

I put a nice sculpt into the bottom return edge, just to add some character. 

Edited February 25, 2019 by Easy