AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 4, 2023 Report Posted January 4, 2023 Hello There! I recently acquired a secondhand set of armor and helmet which were made by Walt's Trooper Factory. The armor is basically new and has a lot of fittings already installed so I need to work on modifying them to fit me. At this point, I am going for Basic level approval. So far there are a few things I have questions/concerns about. Here is are some pictures of the full set with specific pics and questions below that : Right now, my biggest concern is the ab and kidney plate fitting. As you can see below, there is a gap in between the plates. I am not sure what to do to fix this other than loose some weight lol From what I can recall reading , some people say that a gap is not acceptable at all for basic approval while others say it is not ideal, but IS approvable for Basic Level. My next concern is the back cannister. The plate is set on top when is should be facing back. Should I try to remove it , trim it an re-glue it, or what are your recommendations? Last on my list ( for now ) of concerns is the strapping on the thigh pieces. The straps on there right now go up and over the shoulders. I haven't yet seen this method yet and most people seem to utilize the method of looping straps over a belt. Is there any reason why I should not use these over the should straps method? Thank you all for your time and help! Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted January 4, 2023 Report Posted January 4, 2023 Hello and welcome, these may help, it's not too much of a gap and some GML's will allow a larger gap than others for basic approval you could reach out to them as they will be the ones looking after your approval Here are a few threads on filling that gap L2 and above OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): Any gap between the abdomen and kidney armor is no more than 1/2" (12.5mm) wid You would need to adjust the clips as they are hitting the control panel so you won't be able to trim that. Note the angle of the plate/detonator to belt Notes: The top of the TD should should sit level (or slightly) higher than the top of the canvas belt. I use a belt around me which also has shoulder straps, there is no real correct way, just a belt is fine if you feel the shoulder straps aren't working I have back issues so I use a compression belt for my harness Originals use a belt and thick straps 2 Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 4, 2023 Author Report Posted January 4, 2023 9 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said: Hello and welcome, these may help, it's not too much of a gap and some GML's will allow a larger gap than others for basic approval you could reach out to them as they will be the ones looking after your approval Here are a few threads on filling that gap L2 and above OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): Any gap between the abdomen and kidney armor is no more than 1/2" (12.5mm) wid You would need to adjust the clips as they are hitting the control panel so you won't be able to trim that. Note the angle of the plate/detonator to belt Notes: The top of the TD should should sit level (or slightly) higher than the top of the canvas belt. I use a belt around me which also has shoulder straps, there is no real correct way, just a belt is fine if you feel the shoulder straps aren't working I have back issues so I use a compression belt for my harness Originals use a belt and thick straps This is great, thank you ! 1 Quote
BAZINGA[TK] Posted January 5, 2023 Report Posted January 5, 2023 3 hours ago, AstrumVolucris said: Hello There! I recently acquired a secondhand set of armor and helmet which were made by Walt's Trooper Factory. The armor is basically new and has a lot of fittings already installed so I need to work on modifying them to fit me. At this point, I am going for Basic level approval. So far there are a few things I have questions/concerns about. Here is are some pictures of the full set with specific pics and questions below that : Right now, my biggest concern is the ab and kidney plate fitting. As you can see below, there is a gap in between the plates. I am not sure what to do to fix this other than loose some weight lol From what I can recall reading , some people say that a gap is not acceptable at all for basic approval while others say it is not ideal, but IS approvable for Basic Level. My next concern is the back cannister. The plate is set on top when is should be facing back. Should I try to remove it , trim it an re-glue it, or what are your recommendations? Last on my list ( for now ) of concerns is the strapping on the thigh pieces. The straps on there right now go up and over the shoulders. I haven't yet seen this method yet and most people seem to utilize the method of looping straps over a belt. Is there any reason why I should not use these over the should straps method? Thank you all for your time and help! If it is any consequence I'm going to ultimately be using an over the shoulder harness for the thighs too instead of a belt. Bart 1 Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 5, 2023 Author Report Posted January 5, 2023 6 minutes ago, Bartman said: If it is any consequence I'm going to ultimately be using an over the shoulder harness for the thighs too instead of a belt. Bart Yeah , I have no real experience with either, obviously, but just from trying them on for initial fitting, I really like how solid and supported the thighs feel front to back. I will probably keep this style for now. Quote
Doggydoc[Staff] Posted January 5, 2023 Report Posted January 5, 2023 I started with a belt, which I found did not stay up because my belly is bigger than my waist. And if it sat on my hips, it could be seen under the ab armour openings. So I added suspenders to the belt to hold it up and it worked well. Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted January 5, 2023 Report Posted January 5, 2023 For the thermal detonator, you can literally unroll the metal to get the plate at a more correct angle. Put it on the belt (or something flat) and roll the TD downwards. I'm betting that it isn't centered in the belt currently anyway and would have some room for the metal clips to unroll a bit. Of course, you may end up with some visible metal above the TD body. If there's enough metal to permit it, just keep unrolling till the plate angle is correct. Then flatten the metal tabs with a hammer and re-bend it. It's usually aluminum and aluminum usually allows you to do this. Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 5, 2023 Author Report Posted January 5, 2023 1 minute ago, revlimiter said: For the thermal detonator, you can literally unroll the metal to get the plate at a more correct angle. Put it on the belt (or something flat) and roll the TD downwards. I'm betting that it isn't centered in the belt currently anyway and would have some room for the metal clips to unroll a bit. Of course, you may end up with some visible metal above the TD body. If there's enough metal to permit it, just keep unrolling till the plate angle is correct. Then flatten the metal tabs with a hammer and re-bend it. It's usually aluminum and aluminum usually allows you to do this. You're absolutely right. What are the guidelines on how much visable aluminum is allowed above the TD? Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted January 5, 2023 Report Posted January 5, 2023 er... some? heh. Ideally you wouldn't have much visible aluminum above the TD. The TD and belt should be about the same width, and the TD should be centered on the belt, so you should just barely see the metal in an ideal world. But your belt may be thicker or thinner and you may have some visible aluminum when dressed properly. You don't want a big obvious tab above the TD, but you don't want it to be hovering above the belt in a non-centered manner either (no metal showing in other words). Reference pix borrowed from @gmrhodes13 Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 5, 2023 Author Report Posted January 5, 2023 37 minutes ago, revlimiter said: er... some? heh. Ideally you wouldn't have much visible aluminum above the TD. The TD and belt should be about the same width, and the TD should be centered on the belt, so you should just barely see the metal in an ideal world. But your belt may be thicker or thinner and you may have some visible aluminum when dressed properly. You don't want a big obvious tab above the TD, but you don't want it to be hovering above the belt in a non-centered manner either (no metal showing in other words). Reference pix borrowed from @gmrhodes13 Understood. Thank you Quote
MaskedVengeance[Staff] Posted January 11, 2023 Report Posted January 11, 2023 If you want more photos of thermal detonators on-screen I have you covered. The TD part of my build thread (link) has additional close-ups of the shots shown above. Hope this helps! One other quick observation; the shoulder bridges in your very first photo appear to extend a long ways off of the chest piece, which makes me wonder how much overlap there is on the chest piece (adhesion security) and if there will be a lot of excess on the backside. Good luck with your build! 2 Quote
MaskedVengeance[Staff] Posted January 11, 2023 Report Posted January 11, 2023 14 minutes ago, revlimiter said: So many TDs. Adam I still have a TD with your name on it for once I finish my TD master thread. After approval. Also I have a meme already created and ready to go for my TD obsession. 3 Quote
Morgi[Staff] Posted January 11, 2023 Report Posted January 11, 2023 vor 5 Stunden schrieb MaskedVengeance: If you want more photos of thermal detonators on-screen I have you covered. The TD part of my build thread (link) has additional close-ups of the shots shown above. Hope this helps! One other quick observation; the shoulder bridges in your very first photo appear to extend a long ways off of the chest piece, which makes me wonder how much overlap there is on the chest piece (adhesion security) and if there will be a lot of excess on the backside. Good luck with your build! Caleb, this is beautiful 3 Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 11, 2023 Author Report Posted January 11, 2023 7 hours ago, MaskedVengeance said: If you want more photos of thermal detonators on-screen I have you covered. The TD part of my build thread (link) has additional close-ups of the shots shown above. Hope this helps! One other quick observation; the shoulder bridges in your very first photo appear to extend a long ways off of the chest piece, which makes me wonder how much overlap there is on the chest piece (adhesion security) and if there will be a lot of excess on the backside. Good luck with your build! Haha this is brilliant. Thank you! Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 24, 2023 Author Report Posted January 24, 2023 I took some pics of my first test fitting last night. I can already see that I need to fix the crooked belt , bring the forearm pieces down and bring the chest plate down. I may need to bring the thighs down too. What are your thoughts? Thanks for your time and feedback. Quote
MaskedVengeance[Staff] Posted January 24, 2023 Report Posted January 24, 2023 Yeah definitely straighten and bring the belt up. The top of the plastic part of the belt should just barely touch the bottom of the lowest blue center ab button. I think you may be able to raise your biceps up a bit to have a little more overlap with the shoulder bells. That will then impact forearm placement. Your chest piece actually appears to have an appropriate amount of overlap with the ab piece, but you do appear to be a little shorter in stature (any chance you’d share your height?), so extra overlap could help overall fitment. Do you already have your chest-to-ab strapping in place? If so, it could be tightened as the chest appears to pulling up and away from the ab. There’s also some overlap in your back and kidney piece, and as you already mentioned, there is armor bunching around your cod/posterior and thigh pieces. So certainly some adjustment may be necessary. 1 Quote
AstrumVolucris[TK] Posted January 24, 2023 Author Report Posted January 24, 2023 13 minutes ago, MaskedVengeance said: Yeah definitely straighten and bring the belt up. The top of the plastic part of the belt should just barely touch the bottom of the lowest blue center ab button. I think you may be able to raise your biceps up a bit to have a little more overlap with the shoulder bells. That will then impact forearm placement. Your chest piece actually appears to have an appropriate amount of overlap with the ab piece, but you do appear to be a little shorter in stature (any chance you’d share your height?), so extra overlap could help overall fitment. Do you already have your chest-to-ab strapping in place? If so, it could be tightened as the chest appears to pulling up and away from the ab. There’s also some overlap in your back and kidney piece, and as you already mentioned, there is armor bunching around your cod/posterior and thigh pieces. So certainly some adjustment may be necessary. haha yeah I am 5'7" Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted January 24, 2023 Report Posted January 24, 2023 Here's a couple of threads that may help, troopers with similar heights and modifications they have made to allow gaps and movement https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38416-crickets-rs-stunt-build-for-the-vertically-challenged/ https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/38842-fragarocks-rs-stunt-build-not-to-scale/ https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/42868-sha-shas-wtf-anh-stunt-build-complete/ 1 Quote
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