Helotech SDS Hero build

[Helotech[TK]]

The same is being done for the bottom of thighs.

 

Left and right bicep are the next pieces. to be worked on. They were cover strip attachment on bock and glued on front. I had a tough time cutting apart the front piece to add covers strips.

 

I also removed the logo's from my undersuit. The one on the back of the neck would have been covered by my neck seal, but it was easy to do. Goo Gone is your friend!

I thought these logo's were painted on, but they were actually some sort of fine metallic sticker. Came off really easy and only left a fine outline of the lettering and logo.

[Helotech[TK]]

And final bonus shot of my other completed armor

 

 

Stay tuned for more!

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, keep it up

[Sly11[Admin]]

Lol Han Solo action figure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Helotech[TK]]

Thanks.

I took a look at some further screen shots and it seems like the little elastics on the shoulders don’t need to be over the back armor shoulder tabs. They can ride forward and simply hold the shoulder cover pieces to the white elastic strap underneath.

Hopefully more pics tonight.

[Helotech[TK]]

Oh happy days!

 

There is nothing like coming home from work and seeing the a box that contains armor parts!

 

The final replacement (for SDS parts) components for my armor arrived from ATA.

Excellent and very quick service. Thanks to them.

I ordered bran new designed Hero ear pieces, a thigh ammo belt, and two plain ABS sheets to used as inside cover strips for extra support.

Now I just have to learn how to trim brand new components from the sheets. Haven't done that yet.

 

Heading on vacation for the next 5 days, so no updates for a while.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Tyerell is the best

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great news, almost there

[Helotech[TK]]

Is that his name? Couldn't find it anywhere.

 

The thigh ammo pack or ear pieces don't have any cut or trim lines. I've just been searching for about an hour and can't find any references on how much to trim on the thigh piece.

1. Should I just trim where the ABS starts to round over from the flat where the ammo packs are?
2. Is the Ammo strip the correct length, or will it need to be shortened? I guess I can compare this to my current one.
3. Looking for hole attachment hole location measurements
4. Also looking for the radius of the bottom edge.

 

A comparison between the SDS and ATA. The ATA ammo pouches are more squat and wider.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Top/bottom - cut within 1/8" of the boxes.

Length - Take a look at some Centurion application.

Radius - free hand or tin can

[Helotech[TK]]

Check

Check, and

Check

[Helotech[TK]]

Well, after a 5 day hiatus in I am back at it.

Even though I had fun on vacation, is it bad when I say I would have much rather been working on my armor instead of hanging with family?

 

Sniper knee installed. I'll have to see how it measures up for the proper top edge alignment for centurion.

 

Thigh ammo pack is installed.

I originally trimmed it to just under 16", but then it was further trimmed to about 14" to better match the thigh profile.

 

 

 

It is still clamped at the front as I dolloped some glue in there to keep it from sagging.

I went for the slightly angled up option.

I used single cap rivets for installation which still need to be painted.

 

I've also filled and sanded the tops of both thighs and calves where the armor pieces join. Once again, this was a purely esthetic things for me.

There still might be small touchups I want to do as the ABS paste had tiny bubbles in it. This is where my OCD is showing it's ugly face and delaying the build...

 

 

I basically used wet sanding (to about 3000 grit) then finished with Tamiya model polishing compounds. These are used in model building to achieve very smooth finishes in plastic. 

 

I've installed the 3" elastic to front of thighs that will be part of the suspension belt system. They are still about 2' long until I get a final fit done.

 

All cover strips are now done. I will be adding interior strips once I get my Basic approval done.

 

Next big step was addressing the shoulder bell fitment over the bicep. The bells were flared out too much. I used excellent instructions by justjoseph (THANKS!) and a pot of boiling water to reshape the bells. They may need additional tweaking after I do another fitment check.

 

Flared bell bottoms (HA!) on left pieces.

 

After some heat and tweaking. I'm not sure if the bells are supposed to tightly hug the biceps?

 

Left (heat treated) compared to original right.

 

Right side on the bicep before heating.

 

Better pics once I can get it all put on.

 

The bell to shoulder straps are also glued on.

 

 

That's all for tonight. Getting there bit by bit...

[Helotech[TK]]

One further questions I may have forgotten to ask.

 

One of the snaps on the Ab is weak, and the belt easily pops off. Is there a way to remedy this?

Does this mean I didn't hammer the male and female portions together tight enough through the Ab armor?

Should I remove and install a new male snap?

 

Cheers

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Have you curved the belt at all, a little heat and some strips as wood for clamps can help to make the belt sit better. 

 

 

If you have curved the belt and it's still popping off then I would suggest changing the snap, they can normally come apart easily with a squeeze of pliers

 

[Helotech[TK]]

Belt was slightly curved from SBS, but not as much as in your ref pic.

I'll give that a go and replace the snap.

Thanks for the advice.

[Helotech[TK]]

I finally had time for suiting up and pictures, but first, some more build pics:

 

Initial belt curve:

 

After some time in the hot tub...

 

I'm still having issues with the belt snaps not holding. I replaced one male snap on the Ab. Next step is replacing the female snaps on the belt.

 

Bell elastics glued on. After test fitting the whole armor, I will have to add snaps on the inside bottom of the bells, as well as a strap to the top of the biceps to keep the biceps from sliding down.

 

Sniper knee. Hopefully this will pass for centurion when I get there. This is the best I could line up the top of the sniper plat and calf edges.

 

I added little Velcro tabs to the top of the boots. These attach to pile Velcro on the inside of the front and rear calf.

 

 

The initial bracket straps were kind of short, preventing the chest armour from hanging over the Ab enough. If I moved the wrong way then the chest would ride up and end up on the top edge of the Ab. I then need to readjust it to let the chest fall back into proper position.

 

Original strapping 1 1/4" long.

 

 

I took these off and made new ones than end up about 2" long. They work better, but I still get the occasional chest "ride-up" situation.

 

 

Now me in the initial "Post-major-modification-armour-fitting"

The biceps have slipped down because there is no strapping to hold it to the bells. I thought of doing the big ABS hanger hook, but will probably do a simply strap and snap from the bicep to the inside of the bell. The fitment of the bells are better after the hot water bath, but for the life of me I can't get them closer to the chest plate. I'm not sure if the trimming done by SDS took too much of the front and back of the bell?

I may be able to bend the bell into more of a curve, but there  may not be enough material to wrap around the bicep and meet the chest armour.

 

I also shortened left and right white elastic shoulder straps by about 3/4". This tightened the fitment of the armour to back and chest, and raised the Ab / cod up slightly. I find the top of the thighs hit the Ab slightly when I walk. I can manually lift the cod up another inch or so, but to have it permanent I may have to use a better strapping system. Possibly suspenders like what was originally installed. I could then cinch the armour tighter.

 

I have not made a loop in the thigh black strap to fit over the belt I am wearing. The long elastic is simply wrapped around the belt for now. Is the thigh to cod gap ok?

 

 

The thigh ammo belt rivets still need paint.

 

 

I forgot to measure the side gap after I added an additional snap inside to tighten it.

 

 

Does the chest / ab armour overlap at the corner look ok? Seems excessive or weird to me.

The drop boxes line up perfectly with the belt edges. It is just off kilter here.

 

The armour is now fitting better, and the left and right gaps are a little uneven. Sigh….I'm still debating snugging up the left as well.

 

I do find it hard to bend my arms completely. It is very difficult to raise them to put on my helmet by myself.

I also have to walk very carefully to keep everything lined up and prevent waddling and clicking / snapping of armour. LOL

 

Summary:

• Install bell to bicep straps
• Buy thicker white elastic string for shoulder strapping. I have double looped thin elastic to hold ribbed shoulder to white elastic strap underneath.
• Fix the belt snaps so they don't pop off Ab
• Paint thigh rivet
• Possibly Install interior strapping from Ab to kidney that will go over my shoulders to help raise the cod.
• Bring TD to Centurion level. It is a little too long, and proper TD clips need installing.
• I still have to trim, paint and install the new Hero ear pieces. I will have to look through threads on how to properly do this so there is a tight fit with little open seam between ears and helmet.
• I have ordered helmet paint stencils from Trooper Bay. Once they arrive I will get my helmet finished for Centurion. The helmet electronics are about 50% done.
• The biggest (and hopefully only) issue that will keep me from Centurion will be those pesky bells. 

But the big question?

 

Is this good enough for basic approval?

 

Even if approved I'm not sure if I'm comfortable wearing this for extended periods for trooping. If I stand still I look good, but after moving arms or walking, the armour starts to shift around, and the pieces snap against each other.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work on the updates, all looking pretty good but one thing though the shin rear cover strips should stop below the top ridge you have them going all the way up.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by gmrhodes13
photo updated

[Helotech[TK]]

Doh! Thought it was just above the bottom. Easy fix.

Thanks!

[CableGuy[TK]]

You’re heading well towards basic. :-)

With your list of Centurion amends, don’t forget the ab to kidney gap (at the sides). For EIB;
Any gap between the abdomen and kidney armor is no more than 1/2" (12.5mm) wide

For Centurion they will be looking for no gap. To achieve this, you’d need a shim that is blended in for no visible seam.

Keep yo the good work. :-)

[Helotech[TK]]

Thanks Dan.

I'm holding off on the shim for now. Still slowly losing weight (this armour was a good incentive). 

Once I hit about 170 I'll see how the armor fits.

 

More updates.

I trimmed the back of both calves. Thanks for the reminder gm.

Before.

And after on both

 

I added the strapping for the bell to bicep.

 

 

The SDS TD is too long at about 197mm. The end caps were both cut off.

 

 

It took me a while to figure out how to remove the ring of grey ABS from inside the cap. I originally thought they were glued on, hence the cutting. I later found out they were simply press fitted (very tightly mind you...) into place. I f I knew this I would have simply used the hot bath sooner. Anyways....

 

I placed the cap in hot water and tried to pry out the grey ring, but it wouldn't budge. So, I screwed  two screws into the ring, and then used pliers grasping the screws to pull out the ring.

 

The original screw holes will be covered by the new clips (to be made) and screws I am using.

 

 

Left, new screws. Original screws on the right.

 

The end caps are reinstalled with just a dab of E6000. After cutting the caps off they don't overlap the pipe by more than 2 or 3mm, so some help is needed to keep them on.

The TD is now 185mm.

 

[lucnak[TK]]

Looking good, Dave! Think you should be fine for basic approval!

[Helotech[TK]]

Thanks Luc!

 

Once I get the TD finished I will submit for Basic. I maybe should have done it before I tore it apart LOL.

 

So to confirm, I submit my application for pre-approval through the ANH TK Forum thread here, then notify the GRL of my Garrison that I have been approved?

For some reason the application process seems a little confusing.

 

I just got notified my Trooperbay items (helmet stencils, Blaster rear ring) have shipped. That will be another step towards Centurion.

 

So, items left to do from the previous list:

• Buy thicker white elastic string for shoulder strapping. I have thin double looped thin elastic to hold ribbed shoulder to white elastic strap underneath.
• Fix the belt snaps so they don't pop off Ab. I have bent the ABS belt, and replaced one male snap on the Ab, but the snaps still fail after a bit or won't even hold. I'll replace both female snaps on the belt and see if that helps. 
• Possibly Install interior strapping to help raise the cod.
• Finish bringing TD to Centurion 
• I still have to trim, paint and install the new Hero ear pieces. I will have to look through threads on how to properly do this so there is a tight fit with little open seam between ears and helmet. The ATS ear pieces, while excellent quality, don't have very good trim lines.
• Finish helmet electronics. Not required but I wanna get it done.
• The biggest (and hopefully only) issue that will keep me from Centurion will be those pesky bells,...
• Next biggest Centurion hold back is the Ab / Kidney opening. I'll leave this to last as I want to hold off filling in the left side holes, adding shims and redoing all that stuff

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Your biceps were actually only a touch too low but your forearms were a little too high up the arm. You can wear those lower to lessen the large gap between your hand plate and the bottom of the forearm but overall looking very good for basic approval.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Helotech[TK]]

Thanks for the help.

 

I'm trying to find a tricky balance. The SDS armour comes pre-assembled, and therefore pre-trimmed. I have yet to find length measurements for other makers armour pieces so I can compare to mine.

I think the bells are trimmed to narrow, and therefore won't wrap around my arm to meet the chest plate. I'd love to  get the measurement of the bell bottom edge length from someone....

 

To try and minimize the bell to shoulder gap, my attachment strap is short as per uswraths measurements. The bells sit right at the shoulder strips. This raised them up. Then the elastic strap at the bottom of the bells wouldn't stay seated around the bicep. 

I was attempting to minimize the bicep / forearm gap as stated in several builds, and they are actually about 1" apart. I can easily lengthen this.

 

This is the issue: I have checked several posts, builds and the CRL. I agree that my hand to lower forearm gap is a bit excessive, but many posts stated that the bicep to forearm gap is more critical.

 

I'll post more pics after some other minor changes. Working on the TD right now

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

7 hours ago, Helotech said:

So to confirm, I submit my application for pre-approval through the ANH TK Forum thread here, then notify the GRL of my Garrison that I have been approved?

For some reason the application process seems a little confusing.

 

You don't have to use the pre approval forum here for 501st approval its just a nice way to iron out any issues before you submit your application to your GML.

 

The application is done in two parts, you need to fill in the 501st online application and supply 5 sets of ID numbers, you pick 5 in case some are taken while your application is being reviewed, link here https://www.501st.com/members/join_form.php 

 

You then send high quality images to your GML (garrison membership liaison) check on your garrison forum as some GML's prefer them sent in different ways.

 

Once the GML gives you the OK the process then goes back to the 501st to finalise the application and issue your TKID (set of number you picked) once you have this set of numbers it is with you for life, you will then be notified from the 501st.

 

Hope that explains it a little better.