First build- ANH Stunt

[Sly11[Admin]]

I would leave reducing the sides until you have done everything else. Kit up and have some full side shots taken and post them up so we can see how it all looks. .

Be mindful that the but plate sides should align with the kidney plate.

[LTM[TK]]

Have you already cut the 22mm notch in the kidney?

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

4 hours ago, LTM said:

Have you already cut the 22mm notch in the kidney?

 

For the record this is no longer a requirement at any level . Just making sure everyone knows. 

 

CRL - OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): Cut-out notches at the bottom of right and left sides of the Kidney Armor are optional.

 

 

[Acidedge[TK]]

So its been a few days since I posted. Life has been busy this week and I haven't been able to get a lot accomplished. I did managed to get the strapping put together for the torso, and I'm waiting for the E-6000 to dry (which it probably is already) on the shoulders so I can do a fitting and look at the sides/butt plate. With school having started this past Monday as well it been slower going, but I will keep working on the kit as I can. (also been distracted this weekend trying to catch up on celebration panel videos)

 

As of right now I'm undecided on the notch for the sides of the kidney plate. I did order the set of split rivets from joseph, so I'll be able get those done when they come in. I removed almost all of the tab between the legs of the butt plate, left just enough room on it for the two male snaps and got those on. The butt plate is a little loose on me, but I also don't have much padding in that area, so I'm hoping when I get to put on the elastic strap between the legs i can use that to pull the butt plate in closer to me just a bit. 

 

For the torso strapping I'm using the strapping method, using Line 24 snaps from Tandy. Man these things are strong at first. I'm using the placement diagram from Joeseph's snap setting 101 thread, and so far so good. I started using elastics for all of the straps, but I've found I'm not able to get the right spacing on them, making them either to tight or to loose leaving overlaps and gaps, so I switched most of them to nylon strapping. Setting the snaps is still a bit of a challenge, but I'm getting better at them. Yes I've gone through the tutorial thread, watched lots of YouTube videos on them, and they still don't always look the best, but they are holding so that must mean i'm doing something right. 

 

I ended up taking off about 1/2 an in from the shoulder tabs on the front and back plates, just enough so I would have some of a gap between them. I'll make the elastic shoulder straps after work tomorrow and do the fitting then so everyone can see the progress and give feedback. Sorry no pics tonight, as I just finished writing 2 papers for school after work, tired and have to be back up for work in 7 1/2 hours. "And there was much rejoicing in the land.... yay."

 

I'll get the fitting pics up tomorrow evening. Thanks again to everyone for the tips and pointers.  

[Acidedge[TK]]

What a busy couple of weeks. Finally got to get some work done today. I was able to get the shoulder strapping all done.  

 

after fitting and taking the pics I got the centurion rivets and the snap on the ab plate put in, and painted the rivets. I’m thinking about trimming a little on the outsides of the butt plate so it’s not such a sharp angle. Thoughts?

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

On 4/28/2019 at 2:14 AM, Acidedge said:

I’m thinking about trimming a little on the outsides of the butt plate so it’s not such a sharp angle. Thoughts?

I would do the same

[Pretzel]

Trim Away!

[Digz Graavz[TK]]

Absolutely.  Armor bite in other places is bad enough!

[Acidedge[TK]]

Sorry it’s been a while since posting, been a very busy couple of months. 

 

All the pieces are tentatively done, just have some adjustments to make.

 

here is my fix list so far:

adjust sniper knee plate (needs to come out more so it doesn’t get caught under the thigh)

better snaps on belt

re align drop boxes

redo straps on shoulders and shoulder bells (currently all elastic and it’s stretching too much, but plus shoulder bells are hard to attach)

touch up paint on ab buttons and bucket

trim butt plate sides (remove 90° angle on end)

possibly readjust ears on bucket

reglue latex hand guards (peeling right off the gloves...any input here would be great)

remove more return edge on biceps and reshape rounder

try to fix back plate so it lines up better with kidney beans plate and no overlap (need advice here too)

anything else you guys see please let me know.

 

 

[ABS80]

Shoulder bells look huge! so are the biceps,  you can also reduce return edge on sides of back plate

Edited June 17, 2019 by ABS80

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Mark. As ABS80 so tactfully put it  the shoulder bells could stand to be trimmed down a tad. I also suggest maybe lowering the biceps so that there's little to no gap between them and the forearms. 

 

 

[Acidedge[TK]]

So it’s been a busy couple of months and finally getting back to finishing this thing. Any tips I could get on trimming down the shoulder bells? Ie how much and where? I’m in the process of changing the attachments of the bells to the shoulder straps, so it’s a great time to get them right once and for all.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 10:30 AM, Acidedge said:

Any tips I could get on trimming down the shoulder bells? Ie how much and where? I’m in the process of changing the attachments of the bells to the shoulder straps, so it’s a great time to get them right once and for all.

I personally would tighten the upper strapping to remove any open space between the tops and the shoulder covers. Also, removing the majority of lower return edge will help them on the lower end.