1st build. WTF TK. Issues aligning ab & kidney plates on left

[MintImperial[TK]]

Hi brothers & sisters.

 

This is my first build. I chose WTF as I’m 5’8” and fairly lightly built.

 

But I’m having some problems with lining up my ab and kidney plates.

 

I trimmed to the natural lines but, on the left side, the top of the ab plate is too low. Did I over trim and do I need to shim?

 

Right side is fine.

 

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

hi James, and welcome to FISD.

 

Please take a look to this Building thread, page 10 has a solution for that same issue.   If you need more assistance don't hesitate in ask here or you can open your own building thread into the section HERE to receive feedback and help in every step on the way.   

 

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

3 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

hi James, and welcome to FISD.

 

Please take a look to this Building thread, page 10 has a solution for that same issue.   If you need more assistance don't hesitate in ask here or you can open your own building thread into the section HERE to receive feedback and help in every step on the way.   

 

 

Thank you so much, TKSpartan.

If I understood correctly, Lord-Potato trimmed the kidney on the top left.
My concern comes from if I trim the kidney top, that it will hang crooked

or not line up under the back plate

as I suspect the left would then be lower than the right.
(Don’t have access to the suit right now, so I can’t measure it.)

 

I wonder if it’s not better to trim the AB PLATE top right side instead to match the lower left,

then trim the BOTTOM (both sides) of the kidney plate and make new notches and return edge on the kidney bottom.

I’m a little short for a stormtrooper (5’8”), so I can probably benefit from shortening somewhere anyway.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Ideally the notch should align with the bottom ridge, I would match your bottoms notches to the armor and trim the top to suit

 

References

 

A great build for those of short stature

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

3 hours ago, MintImperial said:

I’m a little short for a stormtrooper (5’8”), so I can probably benefit from shortening somewhere anyway.

 

I would recommend to make a test of the armor (you can use painters tape to get the Ab, kidney rear plate together an see how it looks before any cut.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

Hey man! 

 

Have you made any progress on your ab to kidney issue? There were a lot of things about Walt's kit that gave me anxiety. What I did first was put a butt load of masking tape to enclose the right side of the ab to kidney section, making sure they meet perfectly at the top. Then I slide into the armor and had my wife tape the left side and made sure the top of the kidney and top of the ab plate were flush on that side as well. Then I had my wife take pictures from my back side to see if it was crooked. 

 

Just because the left side seems to appear to be lower than the other side, that could just be the natural tendency of the shape. If you put tape to make it meet with the top of your ab plate while you are wearing it, you might see that it won't be crooked. 

 

I have a feeling I didn't explain this very well. If you lost brain cells reading this I can try and explain again lol.

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Lord_Potato

[MintImperial[TK]]

Thanks Lord_Potato.

 

I haven’t moved any further with it as I’ve been concentrating on my bucket.

 

Yes, I’ve tried matching it up and even measured it.

According to the trim lines, I matched the top of the notch on the kidney plate on each side

to the corresponding ridge on the ab plate.

That way, I know the bottoms are straight.

But doing that, the top left edge of the ab plate falls short of the top left of the kidney plate.

 

I was tempted to rebuild the top edge to make it match up, 

but I’m 5’8”, so I could probably do with making some cuts somewhere anyway.

I just don’t know whether it’s safer to cut from the top or the bottom.
Either way, I’m going to have to make some new return edge.

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

On 7/7/2021 at 8:21 AM, MintImperial said:

Thanks Lord_Potato.

 

I haven’t moved any further with it as I’ve been concentrating on my bucket.

 

Yes, I’ve tried matching it up and even measured it.

According to the trim lines, I matched the top of the notch on the kidney plate on each side

to the corresponding ridge on the ab plate.

That way, I know the bottoms are straight.

But doing that, the top left edge of the ab plate falls short of the top left of the kidney plate.

 

I was tempted to rebuild the top edge to make it match up, 

but I’m 5’8”, so I could probably do with making some cuts somewhere anyway.

I just don’t know whether it’s safer to cut from the top or the bottom.
Either way, I’m going to have to make some new return edge.

If you wouldn't mind posting pics so I get get a better visual idea of whats going on. I think I understand what is going on but I would like to see some pics to see if I can help. If you can post pics of both side with masking tape holding it together from the inside would be great. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Lord_Potato

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 7/20/2021 at 7:24 PM, Lord_Potato said:

If you wouldn't mind posting pics so I get get a better visual idea of whats going on. I think I understand what is going on but I would like to see some pics to see if I can help. If you can post pics of both side with masking tape holding it together from the inside would be great. 

Thanks Lord_Potato.
In fact, the two photos at the top are exactly that.
I’ve aligned the bottom notches on both sides so that the kidney plate sits straight.
But the tops do not align as the left side ab plate is too low.

 

I’ve put the 2 sides here for easier reference.

If the bottom lines up, the top doesn’t.

 

 

I wanted to build the top left edge of the ab plate back up to where it should be.

But since I’m 5’8”, I’m considering bringing everything else down instead:

 

Lowering the top of the kidney plate and the top right side of the ab plate

to match the top left side of the ab plate and create a new top return edge on the kidney plate.

Edited August 2, 2021 by MintImperial
typographic error

[MintImperial[TK]]

So, to do that, would look like this:

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

But I suspect it would be easier to lower the kidney plate instead and trim the bottom (including cutting new notches),

 

so that I don’t have to make a new return edge at the top:

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

On 8/2/2021 at 7:16 PM, MintImperial said:

 

 

 

So I’ve taken the plunge and started doing exactly what I said I would do here:

lowering the kidney plate to shorten it and trim the bottom off instead of the top.

 

 

Used compasses to scribe the original bottom line.

 

 

WIP. After cutting and cleaning up, I’ll create a subtle return edge to match the original.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

A couple of threads you may find useful about forming return edges, using a plug/mold can be quite helpful too

Example

 

 

 

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I'm so sorry, I have no idea why I didn't see your response until weeks later. I'll take a closure look later and see if I can give any inputs

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[MintImperial[TK]]

6 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

A couple of threads you may find useful about forming return edges, using a plug/mold can be quite helpful too

Example

 

6 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

 

Thank you, gmrhodes13.

I’ve got my heating iron and this sink has some great curves on it that I’ve already started to make use of as a buck to work against.

Kind of like a 3D french curve set.

 

Edited September 10, 2021 by MintImperial

[MintImperial[TK]]

6 hours ago, Lord_Potato said:

I'm so sorry, I have no idea why I didn't see your response until weeks later. I'll take a closure look later and see if I can give any inputs

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
 

No problem at all. Thanks for your attention. Grateful for any input!

[Lord_Potato[TK]]

So it looks like you are taking a different approach than what I did. What I did was align the tops kidney corners to the top corners of the belly plate. I did not this and made sure my strapping system aligned this way then I worked on the crooked issue. 

 

I removed return edges and did not remake them. It is not a requirement and I find it more user friendly to not have return edges on most of my armor. But the choice is yours and look like you got some good advice on how to recreate return edges. This is how my back assembly looks without return edges:

 

Once I fitted the kidney and ab plate to my body, the back plate didnt want to sit properly. It was slightly crooked due to what I assume is the same issue you are addressing now.

 

What I did was a drew a straight line at the top of my kidney plate (the part the goes across my back. Once I created a new edge, my back plate was able to align a lot better was the kidney plate was not make my back plate sit crookedly:

 

 

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

So it looks like you are taking a different approach than what I did. What I did was align the tops kidney corners to the top corners of the belly plate. I did not this and made sure my strapping system aligned this way then I worked on the crooked issue. 
 
I removed return edges and did not remake them. It is not a requirement and I find it more user friendly to not have return edges on most of my armor. But the choice is yours and look like you got some good advice on how to recreate return edges. This is how my back assembly looks without return edges:

 
Once I fitted the kidney and ab plate to my body, the back plate didnt want to sit properly. It was slightly crooked due to what I assume is the same issue you are addressing now.
 
What I did was a drew a straight line at the top of my kidney plate (the part the goes across my back. Once I created a new edge, my back plate was able to align a lot better was the kidney plate was not make my back plate sit crookedly:

 



 
 

Thank you, Lord_Potato. I may yet have to straighten the top line of my kidney plate, though for now it seems ok.

The issue for me wasn’t so much that the whole assembly was crooked. It was that the left side of the ab plate was simply shorter than the right.

By cutting the top off the ab right and shortening the kidney evenly on both sides, it now fits my 5’8” frame better anyway.

Next thing I’m shortening is the back plate. The tabs still stick up about half an inch above my shoulders when it’s all put together and the crotch is snug. I’ve already heated and curved them round more but it’s not enough.


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[Lord_Potato[TK]]

I had to adjust my backplate as well. How is everything going? Sorry for the late response. Kinda sold my home way before my new place was ready so I have been living in various air bnb's since October lol. 

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

*removed

Edited January 26, 2022 by TheRascalKing

[MintImperial[TK]]

I had to adjust my backplate as well. How is everything going? Sorry for the late response. Kinda sold my home way before my new place was ready so I have been living in various air bnb's since October lol. 

Hope all’s well with the house move.
Are you into your new place yet?

Progress has stalled on this as I’ve been really busy with work.

I think I’m ready to submit for approval at the most basic level (still lots of issues to fix) but I haven’t had time to take photos yet.


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[TheSwede[TK]]

Not sure I fully understod the drawings but….with the original armor, this is how the armor is supposed to line up.

 

[MintImperial[TK]]

Not sure I fully understod the drawings but….with the original armor, this is how the armor is supposed to line up.

 

Thank you. I haven’t seen those diagrams before.

My armour never had enough meat in the kidney plate to allow for A or B; it simply wasn’t deep enough.

I’ve had to create something that’s basically a skinny version of C.

Didn’t realise that would bar me from Centurion.


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

12 hours ago, MintImperial said:

I think I’m ready to submit for approval at the most basic level (still lots of issues to fix) but I haven’t had time to take photos yet.

If you are ready and able to have kitted up images taken you can post your images in our Pre Approval area for feedback, good way to iron out some bugs before applying to your GML (garrison membership liaison)  

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/193-request-tk-pre-approval/

[TheSwede[TK]]

3 hours ago, MintImperial said:

I’ve had to create something that’s basically a skinny version of C.

Didn’t realise that would bar me from Centurion.

To bad that this wasn’t caught early on but…fill in the notch with some abs and fill the seam and you should be alright, there’s almost always a fix for a problem