ANOVOS TK in progress

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Overall your fitting looks to be spot-on, Scott.  The only thing that I see that concerns me is that the backs of the thighs appear to be way too wide (first photo).  The rear tops of the thighs should be much closer to your leg and the bottom of the posterior plate.  I know that you have glued the cover strips on and it may be a pain to do, but from a comfort standpoint I would seriously consider removing the rear cover strips, trimming down the return edges completely, re-sizing them to fit better and then re-attaching the strips.

The thread that Glen gave you a link to will give you more info. on why I recommend this.  Keep up the great work, and keep those photos coming!!!!

 

  

[Hesikaya[TK]]

30 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

Overall your fitting looks to be spot-on, Scott.  The only thing that I see that concerns me is that the backs of the thighs appear to be way too wide (first photo).  The rear tops of the thighs should be much closer to your leg and the bottom of the posterior plate.  I know that you have glued the cover strips on and it may be a pain to do, but from a comfort standpoint I would seriously consider removing the rear cover strips, trimming down the return edges completely, re-sizing them to fit better and then re-attaching the strips.

The thread that Glen gave you a link to will give you more info. on why I recommend this.  Keep up the great work, and keep those photos coming!!!!

 

  

Thanks JustJoseph63 I appreciate your suggestions.  The thigh photo I just posted is after I removed the back cover strip and trimmed the thighs down.  I am thinking I will probably take off some more of that return edge around the top but they fit much better now.  Here is a more recent photo.  Please tell me what you think. My new concern is that my butt plate seems wider than my derriere and hangs out a little.  Still scratching my head on whether to just eat more to correct that or something else.  Pretty sure the Dr. will tell me the latter.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looks a lot better, Scott!  If I could make a few more suggestions (mostly strapping issues), they would be as follows:

 

1.  It looks like you trimmed all the return edge off the bottoms of your shoulder bells (AWESOME), but the left one seems a bit pinched at the bottom, causing it to ride out from the bicep.  This is what is causing the gap between the bell and the chest plate.  The right gap (and the ones in the back) are PERFECT!

 

2.  If you look at the outside bottoms of the biceps, (top blue line) you can see that they are uneven.  I would lower the right one (or raise the left one) to even them out.

 

3.  That lower bicep is also causing the forearm to sit higher.  Same deal.  You should have a closer symmetry on both sides.

 

4.  Although certainly passable at Basic approval, your ABS belt should ideally sit just a little higher. 

 

5.  The posterior plate looks good from a rear view, but it still juts out a bit in the back... you should try tightening the strapping.

 

6.  Unless they are bothering you or making a clicking noise when you walk, the backs of the thigh tops look good..

 

7.  When suiting up, check the alignment on the backs of the calves.  The left one is ideal but the right is off a hair and that point can snag your under suit.

 

      

 

Now for some positive things!!

 

1.  Your cover strip alignment (forearms/biceps-thighs/calves) is among the best I've seen!

 

2.  Same goes for the back/kidney/posterior plate.  

 

3.  One of the most common items we see are drop boxes not positioned correctly, but you nailed it!

 

Just a few tweaks here and there, Scott and you will have one fine set of armor, and once you receive your official 501st TK I.D.#, I would like to see you apply for your Expert Infantry badge!    Hope this helps, and always feel free to hit us up with any questions.

[Hesikaya[TK]]

Thank you for the review JustJoseph, I really appreciate it.  I think I need to give that calf a bath if I'm going to correct the symmetry problem there.  Seems no matter what I do it defaults to that position when closed.

 

The belt had popped off it's snap and I really wanted pictures so I just let it be after fighting with it a while.  Seems I may have been a millimeter off when I put the snap in the belt and it comes unsnapped easily.  Thinking I've seen some folks add a little velcro under there to assist in keeping the belt in place.

 

As for EIB I still need to assemble a blaster that's in a box.   Planning an easy build to get a grasp of it then trying a second build to make a more realistic one.

[Hesikaya[TK]]

A couple days ago I received my Basic 501st approval! 

 

A great big thanks to all who've helped me out thus far! When I started on this endeavor I felt like I was trying to swim solo across the ocean.  Everyone of you has had a positive influence on the process.  A few of you seemed to be checking in often to offer loads of great advice.  gmrhodes13 you've provided excellent feedback and the most impressive insights in locating things on the forums. ukswrath I followed your Anovos build and greatly appreciate the encouragement.  Hopefully by following it I will make an easy transition to higher levels.  Had it not been for your build thread I would still be working on this thing. TKSpartan thanks for pointing me directly to the things I needed to adjust and having the ability to highlight great posts with pictures when your words weren't doing it for me!  Me like pictures! justjoseph63 the detailed critique was very helpful and timely to assist in getting myself prepped for approval. 

 

Now onto the blaster.  I've got my resin doopydoo kit in hand, hit up T-Jay for the extra bits to make it better than a rubber duck and started reviewing the enormous wealth of info here.  With any luck I'll be able to have a moment or two to work on it despite all the holiday, family, and work hub bub to be able to qualify EIB then Centurion in short order.

 

TK41469 signing off!

[TK20187[TK]]

Congratulations Trooper.

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[Rat[TK]]

Congratulations on your approval!

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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks trooper

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Welcome to the Legion Trooper , Don't stop your way to higher levels and personal goals.

 

   

[Hesikaya[TK]]

I wanted to apply for Expert Infantry.  In order to obtain that status I needed to make a blaster!  Here is my E-11 Build thread and a pic of the finished product.

 

 

 

Once that task was complete it was time to apply for EIB!  

 

At this point a couple notes I had already heard and never done anything about needed to be addressed.  

 

The first was my Hovi tips.  I needed to paint the rim white and replace the screen. My source was a from a strainer I saw at the hardware store.  You can see the old more narrow Anovos screen on the handle.

 

I used a dremmel sanding bit as a form to shape the screen and here's what the tips looked like after they were all painted up.

 

 

Next was the ole tooth pic and goof off routine to remove a touch of the frown. 

 

 

Having just received my EIB, (982) I am super excited!  I really appreciate how the team also provides you suggestions on what you'll need to apply for Centurion.

 

[Hesikaya[TK]]

One of the notes I've had was about the clips on my TD being rounded off when they should be straight.  I took the time to cut off the rounded portion and move the panel up against the clips so I wouldn't have to drill new holes.  I might not have cut it so close to the screws had I used the proper cutting tool and didn't nearly hack off my hand.  Be safe troopers! Always use the right tool for the job not just the closest one to your person...

 

Here it is.

 

BEFORE                                                                           AFTER

 

 

Reference

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Hesikaya

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great update, looking much better

[Hesikaya[TK]]

Below is another note from my EIB application on a Centurion requirement I will need to address.  It appears that I made a mistake on where I placed the three rivets on the side of the abdomen. 

 

CRL: Three rivets, approximately 5/16"(8mm) diameter, are present on the left side of the abdomen armor... equally spaced along the depth of the armor and about 10mm from the edge.

     

We have a challenging issue here but we have confidence that you can do it!  Unfortunately, the rivets on the ab plate sit too far back from the edge and, for level 3,  will need to be moved closer as seen below.  The ones on the kidney appear to be farther, but we are taking into account that there is a return edge (as seen by the dotted line) right next to them.  They also need to be horizontally aligned.

After moving them, the holes can be filled with ABS paste and then sanded/polished.  A bit of a task, of course, but we have faith in you!

 

 

                                                                                                                                                               Reference Images

 

                                                 

 

In order to fix this I am going to need to remove those rivets ans move them over to the appropriate location nearly 10 mm from where they are.  I have two options to accomplish this feat.  The first is to remove and replace the rivets and fill the holes using ABS paste.  The other requires trimming off equal amounts of the ab plate from both sides to maintain uniformity.  Now I haven't decided which route to take but wanted to try a couple things first before coming to a decision.

 

I decided it was probably best to do a trial run on the ABS Paste repair that would be needed to fill in the holes that will be left behind.  I took out a leftover piece of ABS and drilled three like size holes.  In case you are unfamiliar with the ABS paste process Here is Kman's most excellent tutorial. Next, I proceeded to fill the holes and waited for it to dry.  After it was dry I moved on to sanding.

                                         

 

Looking at these results I am not happy with the process yet.  You can see the holes are quite noticeable.  I think my ABS paste was not smooth enough and air pockets allowed bits of debris to get caught in the gaps and voids making it look awful.  Another thing to note is that the ABS paste fuses to all it touches so if you are not careful it gets everywhere and increases the surface area you need to sand and repair afterwards.  I may be taping off the work area to help keep it clean.  

 

Alas I have more supplies and since this was only a test I will try again to hone my ABS paste skills!  

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Depending on the plastic and acetone the ABS paste can get air bubbles inside while drying, while the outside looks fine, I have found this a few times, sometimes a little filling and paint is needed.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

If I can give a tip:

 

recently I messed up with an AB rivet hole  and what I did for a fast solution  instead of using ABS paste was:

 

1- Glue a small circle of ABS from scratch from behind to  cover the wrong hole.. 

 

 

2- Glue another, small piece just to match the front  and with a cotton swab, I applied a bit of acetone just to fill in the edges , another option could be to apply a smooth cape of ABS paste.

 

 

3- Sanded with a extra fine sandpaper and polish (car polish)

 

   

 

You may want to  make a test.  

 

NOTE: I have used  Zap a Gap glue for a fast dry.

 

 

[Hesikaya[TK]]

Oh I like that. I might try it out on my next test.

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[Hesikaya[TK]]

I think I fixed my holes.  This was a daunting task at first but I learned a lot.  I wish I had taken a lot more pictures along the way but here's how I fixed my Ab rivets being in the wrong location ie 20MM instead of 10 from the edge.  All said and done I now realize I am skinny enough that I could have gone the "Ninja" route that TKspartan suggested above but I went ahead and removed, filled, and replaced all of the split rivets.

 

When I was doing tests on this procedure I made a few errors.  First I was making the test holes far larger than the 1/8th inch holes I was really going to need to fill on my armor.  Second I didn't have a good selection of sand paper.  I had been trying to form the filler circles by hand and let me tell you, trying to make a little perfect circle smaller than the cap of a pen is a huge pain in the exhaust port.

 

I discovered that I had a leather punch that makes almost perfectly sized circles to fit the 1/8th inch holes. If you do this let me emphasize that you should only do ONE circle at a time.  I was using a very small screwdriver to force the plugs back out so to prevent damaging them I would cut a thin scrap ABS first then the target thickness next. I would then push them backwards out the cutting side but that would leave an impression hence the sacrificial piece first. 

 

 

 

I removed all the split rivets and used painters tape on one side of the armor.  Took a Q-tip with acetone and rubbed the inside of the hole before dropping in the plug.  Be very careful with how much acetone you use! If too much gets on the outside of your armor you may have more work.  Also be sure if you tape the outside that it seals well.  One of mine did not and I had a couple acetone marks to repair / sand.  Don't worry, the mark next to the hole pictured is just pencil.

  

 

Every one wasn't perfect so I added some ABS paste to a couple and after some sanding with 1000 grit sandpaper, some oxidation remover and then moving onto high gloss polish that I had in the garage for use on my fiberglass jet ski it turned out nice.  There's a slightly noticeable spot where each hole used to be on the Ab.  Most of the holes on the kidney were under the lip of the split rivets.

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Awesome Trooper!! Well done. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work on the adjustment

[Hesikaya[TK]]

No time to stop. Here the link to my Centurion application. Just a couple of photo reshoots were needed and a screw tightened so far.

 

I can't seem to get my belt to ride high enough after fixing my Ab buttons so I'm going to remove and fill in the holes for the snaps and install another reinforcement of ABS to strengthen the area. I already noticed some marks indicative of stress around one of the snaps so I'm looking to address that.