Kidney Plate shimming - Help Needed

[Bullseye[TK]]

After a series of adjustments, here’s where we are. 
 

 

We’ll see how the ears go on. They were originally trimmed for my bucket as it was. The biggest issue is going is going to be getting the ears to cover the ABS paste fixes and trying to get them to lie flat on the cheeks. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Coming along, just watch the paint on the gums around the teeth. Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area.

 

Vocoder could use a little touch up as well

 

       

 

Also for getting really nice thin black lines you can use a permanent marker  

[Bullseye[TK]]

Thanks Glen. I took a toothpick to the teeth to make a more definitive gap between gums and teeth. Think it’s a little better. Let me know if there needs to be more taken off. 
 

as for the bucket itself, I managed to significantly lower the brow. 

 

before:

after:

The angle of the photo is a little off here. The brow sits lower in person but there is a little more gap between the face plate and the bucket top than before. 
 

here’s the left:

 

the right:

 

the interior:

 

My plan is to put on the seal tonight. 
 

You’re probably noticing the different angle between the two ears. The left angle is higher in order to cover the fairly significant repair work underneath but also to ensure that the ears (which were cut to the bucket before repairs) still sit flush. 
 

Thoughts and comments are always appreciated. 

[Bullseye[TK]]

Update:

 

I’ve made adjustments with a heat gun to deal with the gaps created by shimming riding straight pieces of abs onto the curved kidney plate. As you can see in the photo below, the kidney plates stuck out a ways and made it difficult to close the clamshell properly. You can see the kidney shim jutting out on the left kidney and a little bit on the right. Both were fairly pronounced. (Just FYI, this photo was from last year):

To fix the right side I initially tried a grove a slot mechanism to hold things in place. It was fine for the middle of the shim but the top and bottom still jutted out. 

 

Dissembling wasn’t an option so I got out my heat gun and carefully heated up and bent the ABS shims inward to eliminate the gaps. 

 

Definitely better on the left. I may still bring the bottom in a tad, but it looks much better.  On the right, the same. 

 

And yes, I trimmed the bottom of the right shim to meet the ab plate. 

Still have a little sanding and polishing to do on the bottom shim, but that’s not too big a deal. I’m brining in the thigh shims a bit too, I over measured those and it made waking difficult. The right is done and the left will be done tomorrow.  I anticipate being able to submit everything by the end of the month. 
 

it’s only taken three years...... but hey... it’s close!

Edited September 22, 2020 by Bullseye

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Using some tabs on the rivet side can also help, looks like your elastic could be a little tighter as well. 

 

Just noticed you also over trimmed your larger ab plate, should have material left around the base, not usually a problem for basic approval (depending on your GML) but it will be an issue for higher level clearance. 

 

 

 

 

Here is a reference of the sides, you'll notice the kidney plate had a step down with material left on the bottom, you may find your butt plate will sit up a little high

[Bullseye[TK]]

Update:

 

Sigh. One more thing.  It’s been a year since I cut these out, so I don’t remember if thats the way the plate came or if I got overzealous. But since I got this kit from the UK, and matching the abs isn’t exactly gonna be easy, I figured the best thing to do is to fix the problem. 
 

I grabbed a scrap piece of abs from one of my bicep cuts. The piece was 190mm long and flat for 28mm wise before it curved. The thickness was only 1mm, so it fit the bill. 
 

I cut it into 8mm strips that were 180ish long. Then turned them into strips to match the length and width of the ab plate. 

Next, I grabbed some abs, acetone and a glass jar and made some abs paste. I used plenty of acetone to get the abs soft enough and used a metal flat head screwdriver to whip it up nice and fluffy. 

 

I applied a thin layer of the abs paste to the edge of the plate and the corners of the abs strip box. It set pretty well. 

 

With all the strips adhered I used my finger nails and a razor blade to strip off the excess abs. Then I grabbed a ruler and cut off the excess abs strip on the outside. Looked good but needed some work. 

I used 120 grit and 800 grit sandpaper and sanded this bad boy down. The end result turned out great. 

Based on the reference photos above Glen supplied, I’m hoping this cures the ab plate issue. 
 

I also made progress bringing in the thighs. Hoping my e11 shows up tomorrow!

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Bullseye

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work on the fix 

[Bullseye[TK]]

4 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Nice work on the fix 

What I was hoping to hear!

[Bullseye[TK]]

Thanks for the help everyone. My pre-approval thread and photos are up. 

Couldn’t have done it without y’all. 
 

Thanks!!