ANH Stunt - AP Trimmed - First TK Build

[MightyAtom[TK]]

On 10/9/2020 at 6:38 PM, CableGuy said:

Hi Mark,

A very well thought out build - kudos. :-)

Regarding the strain on the shoulder bells - I wouldn’t worry too much. With well fitted parts, there’s not as much stress as you’d think. Especially as your arms are likely to be bent for a large proportion of your time as you’re likely to be holding a blaster. With your arms bent, the weight is reduced from the shoulders.

Also, the arm parts are quite light so it’s really not that bad. I had nylon straps joining my chest to back on my old suit and it was fine. For my latest suit, I’m using white elastics like the originals and it’s also holding up perfectly.

You’ll see the strapping here:

Regarding the bicep to forearm, I like to follow the method used for the original suits - this allows the arms to align naturally, just like the original suits did. I wouldn’t recommend nylon as this will add MORE strain to the arms as nylon has no “give”. With elastic, all of the parts have a little wiggle room.
Here a video I did on the subject of arm connections;



There’s quite a few other handy TK videos on there so feel free to check them out. :-)

Thank you - great advice. Without the practical experience I'm a little in the dark, so thank the Empower for the hive mind.

I have black elastic I can use for the forearm to bicep straps. I'll do a fitting this weekend and post some pics for feedback.

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Edited October 11, 2020 by markgambino

[CableGuy[TK]]

Thank you - great advice. Without the practical experience I'm a little in the dark, so thank the Empower for the hive mind.

I have black elastic I can use for the forearm to bicep straps. I'll do a fitting this weekend and post some pics for feedback.

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Happy to help. :-)

Here’s a little more on the bicep / forearm attachment. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49857-anh-esb-accurate-bicep-and-forearm-alignment-and-a-look-at-shoulder-bells/

[MightyAtom[TK]]

Happy to help. :-)

Here’s a little more on the bicep / forearm attachment. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49857-anh-esb-accurate-bicep-and-forearm-alignment-and-a-look-at-shoulder-bells/

Brilliant, thanks!

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[MightyAtom[TK]]

Hive mind! Your feedback is sought. I am trying to determine the length of elastic to use between the biceps and forearms. I have discovered I may have longer arms than expected. I have taped the elastic in place in these pics: my left arm has a slightly shorter gap than the right. (Please excuse the chest plate; it popped out on the right without me realising).

 

 

 

 

 

I know there are no specifics in the CRL regarding the distance between forearm and bicep, but my question is: to reduce the gap between the two, should I move the hand guards on my gloves back a little to claw back some space in order to push the forearm up towards the elbow a little? Or does it look ok (I'm favouring the gap on the left arm at present) and I shouldn't worry?

[husky68[TK]]

You just want a balance of gap between biceps and forearm and forearm to hand guard.

Also you can lower your chest piece down.


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[MightyAtom[TK]]

You just want a balance of gap between biceps and forearm and forearm to hand guard.

Also you can lower your chest piece down.


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Ok, great. Thanks for the advice!

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[MightyAtom[TK]]

Hey folks, I've made some progress on my belt and am now looking at the holster placement. From the updated Billgram it suggests the distance from the bottom of the belt to the top of the holster is between 2.5cm and 6.35cm, however the current location of the holes in the belt itself will leave the holster to sit around 1.6cm below the belt, if I use the holes that came in the belt - make sense?

 

So, my question is, can I just use the existing holes in the holster tabs and let it hang short, or should I make new holes in the holster tabs to get it hanging 2.5cm> below the bottom of the belt?

 

 

Also, I've been looking over the belt and holster images in the gallery section and it appears (RS suit) that pop rivets are used to fix the holster tabs to the belt. Is this still the case? I've seen in a number of EIB and Centurion applications that many people use Chicago screws. If it is the latter, are there specs on sizing?

Edited October 23, 2020 by markgambino

[husky68[TK]]

My thoughts, not official in any way, is no one is going to get a ruler out on your armor. If it looks good then should be ok.
I used Chicago screws and they have worked fine.


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 minutes ago, markgambino said:

Hey folks, I've made some progress on my belt and am now looking at the holster placement. From the updated Billgram it suggests the distance from the bottom of the belt to the top of the holster is between 2.5cm and 6.35cm, however the current correct location of the holes in the belt itself will leave the holster to sit around 1.6cm below the belt, if I use the holes that came in the belt - make sense?

 

So, my question is, can I just use the existing holes in the holster tabs and let it hang short, or should I make new holes and get it hanging 2.5cm> below the bottom of the belt?

 

 

Also, I've been looking over the belt and holster images in the gallery section and it appears (RS suit) that pop rivets are used to fix the holster tabs to the belt. Is this still the case? I've seen in a number of EIB and Centurion applications that many people use Chicago screws. If it is the latter, are there specs on sizing?

There are no issues with using chigao screws or rivets, I use snaps behind so I can remove the holster at windy troops where we don't use weapons.

 

The straps do sit behind the belt so you could drop the straps down until the hole already punch stops before the edge of the belt, but how you have it now really shouldn't be an issue.

 

the billgram image I updated recently to give the options in positioning, for a long time the image only gave a standard positioning which wasn't a majority of what is seen in ANH, there is a thread here if you are interested:

 

 

[MightyAtom[TK]]

5 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

There are no issues with using chigao screws or rivets, I use snaps behind so I can remove the holster at windy troops where we don't use weapons.

 

The straps do sit behind the belt so you could drop the straps down until the hole already punch stops before the edge of the belt, but how you have it now really shouldn't be an issue.

 

the billgram image I updated recently to give the options in positioning, for a long time the image only gave a standard positioning which wasn't a majority of what is seen in ANH, there is a thread here if you are interested:

 

 

Ah, this is great info, thank you. I hadn't seen your update thread there - excellent! I do like the idea of snaps to remove in windy conditions, as you say. I'll give it some thought and plan my attack. Cheers!

[MightyAtom[TK]]

11 minutes ago, husky68 said:

My thoughts, not official in any way, is no one is going to get a ruler out on your armor. If it looks good then should be ok.
I used Chicago screws and they have worked fine.


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Very true!

[MightyAtom[TK]]

Almost finished the greaves now, but I have a query about the closure at the back. I've opted to use bra clips and elastic, ergo there won't be velcro to 'seal' the pieces together. As they are now, both greaves have a gap that bulges around the centre when they are brought together and I'm not sure elastic will be strong enough to reduce this - see areas marked in red here:

 

 

 

My question is: can I heat the offending half and massage the gaps closed, or should I not worry about it?

[MightyAtom[TK]]

Next query: it wouldn't be a TK build thread without a sniper plate question! Over the course of about 8 days I: trimmed and tidied the sniper plate; gave it a hot water bath to mildly bend the sides; glued the middle in place and waited a few days; glued the right side and waited a few days; then glued the left side and waited a few days; HOWEVER, upon glueing the left side, the sniper plate angled up a little and the bottom lifted a little from the greave.

 

From the side it looks ok to me. A view of the inside from the top also shows the plate glued snugly to the greave, but looking up from the bottom now shows a large gap and glue that has lifted.

 

So, should I remove and try to re-glue for a more snug fit, or does it look ok?

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by markgambino

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

That is some excellent alignment of the raised ridges and a nice vertical edge there on the plate. I think you’ll find that some of the screen-used shins has similar gaps; I don’t have access to my screen caps right now to show. Some others may have some thoughts to add, and tips.


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[TKSpartan[Staff]]

1 hour ago, markgambino said:

So, should I remove and try to re-glue for a more snug fit, or does it look ok?

Hi , IMO it looks great, if the left side if the same , you're golden mate!! great work.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looks good, sniper plates like to put up a good fight  

 

Shins at times do need a little heat to help them lay a little flatter with their opposing sides, years of practice with a heat gun and it's a quick fix but you may want to try a hot water bath since you've had some success with other pieces.

[MightyAtom[TK]]

Alright, well that's all music to my ears. I was building the courage to remove the sniper plate and start over, but I'll belay those thoughts and move on to finishing my belt instead. Thanks, all!

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[Sly11[Admin]]

It’s an AP kit lol, one of the more difficult sniper plates to fit. I ended up heating mine and reshaping it to align the sides with the top ridges. Challenging but fun.


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[ABS80]

20 hours ago, markgambino said:

Almost finished the greaves now, but I have a query about the closure at the back. I've opted to use bra clips and elastic, ergo there won't be velcro to 'seal' the pieces together. As they are now, both greaves have a gap that bulges around the centre when they are brought together and I'm not sure elastic will be strong enough to reduce this - see areas marked in red here:

 

 

 

My question is: can I heat the offending half and massage the gaps closed, or should I not worry about it?

The movie suits were paper thin and small elastics would help keep back closed to a certain degree, but .80 gauge ABS theres way too much resistance elastics will be useless, keep it as is , you can see in then movie the back just opens up.

 

Mark (AP)

[MightyAtom[TK]]

The movie suits were paper thin and small elastics would help keep back closed to a certain degree, but .80 gauge ABS theres way too much resistance elastics will be useless, keep it as is , you can see in then movie the back just opens up.
 
Mark (AP)

Awesome, thanks for the advice, Mark.

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[MightyAtom[TK]]

As per advice given to me in the above posts, I made two new holes and to lower the holster a little to yield a 2.5cm gap. I've also used a rivet and snap combination to attach the holster, so I can remove it when/if needed (which also means I could use it on another TK build in the future and swap back, etc). Thanks to everyone who chimed in with advice!

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Good work  Trooper!! 

[tarok[TK]]

Looks great, Mark. Will the snaps hold a weighted holster? I.e. a holstered blaster?


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[MightyAtom[TK]]

Looks great, Mark. Will the snaps hold a weighted holster? I.e. a holstered blaster?


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Sure do! Tested it last night. I shopped around and found the highest quality snaps I could; they're as strong as I could find.

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