mlarsen's ANH TK Build (AP trimmed kit)

[mlarsen[TK]]

I made some progress over the last few days.

 

Installed some snaps and rivets, I still need to paint the rivets white on the chest plate.

 

Added buttons to chest plate:

 

Added a hook to the back of the bicep plates to keep the elastic in place.  I assume this is ok?  The shoulder bells seem big but we'll see what the final fit looks like.  Also need to clean up/trim those cover strips on the biceps.

 

Fits seems fairly good but a little off centered/rivets don't line up and would like this to look a little cleaner.  I may need to lower the back piece a little by making the elastic in the shoulders a bit longer.

 

Suggestions and feedback?

 

Edited August 20, 2019 by mlarsen

[mlarsen[TK]]

Also, I plan on using Chicago style screw posts to attach the canvas belt to ammo pack/drop boxes to elastic/holster to canvas belt.  Is there a recommend size on the Chicago screws?  1/4" or 3/16"?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You could try pulling the ab a little higher, may even out the sides.

 

Many use 1/4" Chicago screws. 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, I would suggest to trim a little more your small ab buttons .  as the reference photo bellow

 

[wook1138[TK]]

22 hours ago, mlarsen said:

Fits seems fairly good but a little off centered/rivets don't line up and would like this to look a little cleaner.  I may need to lower the back piece a little by making the elastic in the shoulders a bit longer.

If lowering your back piece does not do it, you could reinforce the seam by gluing a couple of pieces of nylon strapping to the back side - in between the riveted connections.  These pieces will resist rotating somewhat.

 

Also, when it comes to how your ab and kidney fit - you will want to test it with the belt before you get too carried away with fine tuning.  The belt holds it all together and can make a difference.

 

Looking great so far!

[mlarsen[TK]]

Thanks for the advice and I will trim up the small ab buttons a little more.

 

Here is my initial test fit.  I have long arms and I feel like there is too much black at the elbow but maybe it is ok.  I tried to lower the biceps as far as I could and center the forearm piece the best I could.  Still some fine tuning needed but I think I will save that until the belt is finished.

 

And the side rivets aligned better:

 

On to the belt and leg pieces next.

[wook1138[TK]]

I think the arms look fine.     Centering the forearm so that the black showing at the elbow is proportional to the black showing at the wrist (between handguard and forearm) is the important thing.  The best advice now is to attach the hand guards and see if you have need to move your forearms up a touch.

 

The right thigh can be a bit tricky.  The raised return edge along the front seam is curved a bit.  I had to glue the coverstrip to the bottom half - let it dry - and then do the upper half so I could bend the coverstrip enough to allow for the curvature.  Also, using inner coverstrips helped as well. 

 

And... you will likely want to do inner coverstrips on the shins as they receive more stress than other parts due to the dressing process. 

 

Keep up the great work!  You are flying through this.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, looking good. As a suggestion , for higher levels of accuracy the hovi tips the crl states:

 

• Correct 'Hovi mic' aerator tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white.

This is  if you would like to have a better look on your helmet. below the reference photo

 

 

 

cheers

[mlarsen[TK]]

4 minutes ago, wook1138 said:

I think the arms look fine.     Centering the forearm so that the black showing at the elbow is proportional to the black showing at the wrist (between handguard and forearm) is the important thing.  The best advice now is to attach the hand guards and see if you have need to move your forearms up a touch.

 

The right thigh can be a bit tricky.  The raised return edge along the front seam is curved a bit.  I had to glue the coverstrip to the bottom half - let it dry - and then do the upper half so I could bend the coverstrip enough to allow for the curvature.  Also, using inner coverstrips helped as well. 

 

And... you will likely want to do inner coverstrips on the shins as they receive more stress than other parts due to the dressing process. 

 

Keep up the great work!  You are flying through this.

Got it thanks for the advice! 

 

2 minutes ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi, looking good. As a suggestion , for higher levels of accuracy the hovi tips the crl states:

 

• Correct 'Hovi mic' aerator tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white.

This is  if you would like to have a better look on your helmet. below the reference photo

 

 

 

cheers

I still need to do that as well as remove a blue strip that is hidden under the ear piece and paint the screws/rivets white.

[Frank75139[501st]]

Have you thought about shortening your arms? Think about it, that might solve the problem. I think it looks good the way it’s going.


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, a couple of adjustments and you should be right, appears you could probably drop your biceps a touch too  

[mlarsen[TK]]

Enough of the return edge removed on both forearms or should I try and remove more?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, mlarsen said:

nough of the return edge removed on both forearms or should I try and remove more?

Hi,

 

For Level 3 , It Looks like need to remove more, as per the CRL states:

 

• No return edge on the inside of the front of the forearm is allowed.

Cheers 

[mlarsen[TK]]

Spent some time last night working on the Thermal Detonator.  Are the end caps too big?  Should they be trimmed down some?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Matthew, looking good. here's a reference photo for TD to guide you.

 

 

Cheers, 

[mlarsen[TK]]

Also glued the shoulder straps on leaving about 4 ridges on the chest plate.

 

For the rear shin 25mm cover strips 1/2 of the cover strip should be glued onto the shin leaving the other half overlapped and not glued correct?  Should white velcro be put on the remaining 1/2 of the cover strip or just velcro on the shin pieces?

 

Also dry fitting the thigh pieces with little gap between thigh and armor  at  the knee looks good but doesn't allow me to walk up stairs etc.  Leaving the pieces as they came pre-trimmed is more comfortable but there is some gap between thigh and armor at knee  Is there a recommended gap there should be between the thigh/knee and armor?

Edited August 28, 2019 by mlarsen

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

21 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

For the rear shin 25mm cover strips 1/2 of the cover strip should be glued onto the shin leaving the other half overlapped and not glued correct?  Should white velcro be put on the remaining 1/2 of the cover strip or just velcro on the shin pieces?

 I found this Pic on internet, may be can guide you.

 

 

cheers  

[wook1138[TK]]

57 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

For the rear shin 25mm cover strips 1/2 of the cover strip should be glued onto the shin leaving the other half overlapped and not glued correct?  Should white velcro be put on the remaining 1/2 of the cover strip or just velcro on the shin pieces?

 

Also dry fitting the thigh pieces with little gap between thigh and armor  at  the knee looks good but doesn't allow me to walk up stairs etc.  Leaving the pieces as they came pre-trimmed is more comfortable but there is some gap between thigh and armor at knee  Is there a recommended gap there should be between the thigh/knee and armor?

For the shin question - yes, regarding the 25 mm coverstrip - it gets glued to the outer half of the shin (so the Velcro closure opens inward so fewer people will notice it) and the overlap part gets the soft side of the velcro.  The inner half of the shin gets the rough part of the velcro (half inch thick strip to match the velcro on the coverstrip).  I'll send a sketch in a bit.

 

It is not uncommon to have a bit of room around the knee - it is just the way the thigh fits.  If you try to trim it too much then the thigh piece wont fit in the middle part of your thigh.  If you find the part bangs up against your knee when walking, you can always add a bit of foam to the inside.

[wook1138[TK]]

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[wook1138[TK]]

Oh, and for the thighs... if you have enough room, you can try a tapered trim long the back seam.  This can make the knee opening a bit smaller but maintain enough room at the top.

[mlarsen[TK]]

3 hours ago, wook1138 said:

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Complete overlap of rear shins and connected with velcro (no velcro on coverstrip) is not allowed correct?

[wook1138[TK]]

47 minutes ago, mlarsen said:

Complete overlap of rear shins and connected with velcro (no velcro on coverstrip) is not allowed correct?

Honestly, I'm not sure.  You might get away with that for basic approval.  For upper level approval the CRL states "overlap construction is not allowed".  I would assume this applies to the back closure as well.   The closure might look weird if you were to overlap the shins.

[mlarsen[TK]]

Got it thanks, that is what I was thinking.  I like your suggested design for the shin closures.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

2 hours ago, mlarsen said:

Got it thanks, that is what I was thinking.  I like your suggested design for the shin closures.

Its the normal way of doing it, or use elastic and hooks  

 

 

 

[husky68[TK]]

To make my larger limbs fit in my AP kit I had to put in V gaps,  filling the gap with spare scraps and keeping cover strips within normal widths.  Currently battling with shins which I hope will not have to add a shim.

 

The reference image of TD shared above is a nice screen used one but if you check the CRL it does mention a length of 190.5mm and that image is 184mm.  It's a small difference and I would hope no one would call you out on it by breaking out a ruler on you.  I used that image as a guide and just adjusted the middle to make the length 190.5mm.  I've seen a reference image at 190.5mm but don't know where it is now.