Jonathan's ANH TK Build

[JSchmit[TK]]

Ah, I apologize. I thought in a previous post that you recommended incrementally trimming down the tabs from the back. So would it be better to move the chest and back to my original positioning and sliding the chest down and the back up to move the back closer to the neck and away from the kidney? Also, in regards to AJ's method in removing the back plate wings, what direction was he bending the plate after applying heat?

[dblcross[TK]]

I'll let the experts respond on this, but from my experience, be careful when you bend the wings on the backplate. The bottom return edge will try to warp as you are bending it. Do it in with small bends at a time like AJ describes.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

[JSchmit[TK]]

I think I figured out the source of some of the confusion on my previous post. The proposed cuts to the shoulder tabs are on the back piece, not the chest piece. I moved the back piece up a bit to approximate where the pieces would rest if the back tabs were trimmed down. When I looked back, the picture wasn't clear as to whether it was the chest or back piece.

[JSchmit[TK]]

I went ahead and trimmed the chest and back pieces based on the lines I drew and posted (with the exception of the bottom return edge on the chest and back. Those return edges remain untrimmed. The shoulder tabs are also untrimmed to this point.) I went ahead and fitted the two pieces after trimming the return edge, and my initial thoughts are that it seems to be an improvement. The back and kidney pieces no longer overlap and the corner wings don't hook with the kidney. The front looks to be closer to the appropriate length based on the reference images. I just wanted to see what you guys thought about the updated fitting.

 

 

 

 

Also, I marked the shoulder straps for trimming. Do these lines look accurate?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

10 hours ago, JSchmit said:

Also, I marked the shoulder straps for trimming. Do these lines look accurate?

 

Yes, a little return edge is ok.

 

  

 

 

 

[JSchmit[TK]]

With no shortage of inspiration from many posts on the forum, I went ahead and assembled the codpiece, posterior, and kidney pieces with straps and snaps.

 

 

As I wait for some more snaps to arrive in the mail to finish the assembly of the chest and back pieces, I wanted to post a rough fitting with the completed pieces.

 

 

 

 

I did some minor trimming on the shoulder tabs of the back piece so that the top would ride higher to the neck and the bottom wouldn't overlap with the kidney. As always, any feedback is appreciated as I move forward with assembly.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Awesome progress, Jonathan!  One thing I would definitely do is trim down the sides of the posterior plate as seen below.

 

 

       

[JSchmit[TK]]

Thanks for that feedback, Joseph! I'll round that edge off as soon as I can. I'll be away from home for the weekend, so I won't be able to get back to work on my armor until Sunday at the earliest, but I did have a quick question pertaining to the kidney and posterior pieces. In regards to the 22mm notch some people cut out of the kidney and posterior, what is the prevailing opinion on that now that that portion of my armor is sized and assembled? Are there pros and cons do making that alteration?

Edited June 8, 2023 by JSchmit

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

48 minutes ago, JSchmit said:

In regards to the 22mm notch some people cut out of the kidney and posterior, what is the prevailing opinion on that now that that portion of my armor is sized and assembled? Are there pros and cons do making that alteration?

 

Hi, It's optional . i would strongly recommend to let this to the end .  I would prefer to remove plastic than add it. 

[JSchmit[TK]]

Hey, all. It's been a bit since my last post, but I have some exciting progress to share! I got the torso pieces strapped and fitted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I'm always open for suggestions on improvements. It also appears that I'll have to deal with the wings on the back piece above the kidney if I want to eventually earn Centurion status, so I may have to follow AJ's method to level them out. 

 

Also, in what seems like a long, long time ago when I was assembling my thigh pieces, I was advised to wait until the torso, thighs, and shins were assembled before gauging how much to trim the tops of the shins.

 

 

In looking at the thigh placement, I'm guessing that I'll have to take at least one inch off the tops of the thighs. I'll also need to make some mobility cuts, as the way things are at the moment I am not able to walk very well. When I was initially working on my thighs, Mario directed me to a link from a previous build thread that offered commentary. Within the thread, the troopers advised not to take the same amount off from the inner leg as the rest of the thigh in order to avoid losing the pieces' original shape. I had difficulty following this thread, but a diagram was posted with suggested cuts. I used a measuring compass to mark in pencil 1 inch from the top of my left thigh and followed along with the diagram when tracing the inner thigh:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does this appear to be the proper markings to trim these pieces? I so, my plan is to incrementally trim following this path until the thighs ride higher on my leg.

 

[FN1313[TK]]

I’d definitely recommend incremental changes. I actually did .5 inches each time, on the first thigh and then went more based on how much I did on the first thigh, but the general idea is to get it so it’s comfortable to fit in while at the same time not over killing it to the point that it’s not as accurate anymore. Your last picture you may want to also consider trimming more from the edge near the codpiece after you trim that out. It may be sharp or biting, but you won’t know until you fit with that trim.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JSchmit[TK]]

Sure, that makes sense. This is the post that was shared earlier in my thread when I asked about thigh trimming:

 

 

I had trouble following along with the methods described in the post. I went back and reread it and tried to piece together how they traced the inner slope of the thigh. This is how it came out: 

 

 

Does this look like a closer representation of the markings described in that post?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Personally I think you have room to bring the thighs up before considering trimming them, compare with this reference, not much of a gap on these troopers and note the position of the top of the thigh to the cod

[JSchmit[TK]]

So the pieces as they are are pretty tight on my thighs. Would I be able to open them up a bit by removing the cover strip and separating the back of the thighs so they're not completely butted together?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

14 minutes ago, JSchmit said:

So the pieces as they are pretty tight on my thighs. Would I be able to open them up a bit by removing the cover strip and separating the back of the thighs so they're not completely butted together?

You could, if you need to add larger cover strips they would normally go on the back, since the public normally see you from the front.

 

The only issue you would then have is the lower ridge, you may need to add a section there and fill with ABS paste.

 

Some have even had to add extra material to the sides of the thighs to give them extra width

 

 

[JSchmit[TK]]

I went ahead and disassembled my left thigh piece to see if I could move it closer to the codpiece. I was able to get it closer to the troopers in the screen references:

 

With this fitting, the top of the thigh is farther up and the bottom of the this is farther above the knee. However, I wasn't able to close the backs of the thigh as it rode higher up.

 

 

It looks like I have some shim work in my near future. I was really hoping to avoid this process, but I've been looking into it  on the forum and I'm hoping the process isn't as difficult as I initially thought. I'll start gathering the materials to start this yet this weekend. However, when I was sizing to my new fit to make the top of the thigh more wide and leave the bottom of the thigh more snug, I noticed that the bottom started to shift downward, making it so that the bottoms were no longer level with one another.

 

 

Is the back of the thighs not being level permissible in the approval process? If not, does anyone have any tips on how to counteract it?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

19 hours ago, JSchmit said:

It looks like I have some shim work in my near future. I was really hoping to avoid this process, but I've been looking into it  on the forum and I'm hoping the process isn't as difficult as I initially thought. I'll start gathering the materials to start this yet this weekend. However, when I was sizing to my new fit to make the top of the thigh more wide and leave the bottom of the thigh more snug, I noticed that the bottom started to shift downward, making it so that the bottoms were no longer level with one another.

 

 

Is the back of the thighs not being level permissible in the approval process? If not, does anyone have any tips on how to counteract it?

You may want to bring it up with your GML as ultimately they will be approving at base level. The bottom ridge does look quite angular, mobility cuts may help the appearance. For higher level approvals I will defer to our @Deployment Officer Team

 

Hopefully those few threads I posted will help with the adjustments, it is a fare bit of work but will give you a better appearance in the long run.

 

[JSchmit[TK]]

24 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

You may want to bring it up with your GML as ultimately they will be approving at base level. The bottom ridge does look quite angular, mobility cuts may help the appearance. For higher level approvals I will defer to our @Deployment Officer Team

 

Hopefully those few threads I posted will help with the adjustments, it is a fare bit of work but will give you a better appearance in the long run.

 

Thank you for the feedback, but I have to admit that I'm a little confused now. I've reviewed those posts, and I didn't see where they referenced the issue with the bottom ridge. If the piece is to fit the shape of my leg in its current state, then I'm not sure if the angular ridges on the back are avoidable. I'll reach out to my GML as well for clarification, but any additional guidance would be appreciated.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

7 minutes ago, JSchmit said:

Thank you for the feedback, but I have to admit that I'm a little confused now. I've reviewed those posts, and I didn't see where they referenced the issue with the bottom ridge. If the piece is to fit the shape of my leg in its current state, then I'm not sure if the angular ridges on the back are avoidable. I'll reach out to my GML as well for clarification, but any additional guidance would be appreciated.

Sorry for the confusion, there is no lower ridge modification in those threads, it was more to show the adding of shims.

 

As you can see from the reference below standard the lower ridge is pretty straight standard

 

Making your modification the lower ridge is angular, some GML's may not allow this even if that is how it has to fit you, I have seen an application which had to be modified so this lower ridge is straight after enlarging. 

 

Another application I had previously seen added the width shim all the way down and included extra material for the lower ridge.

 

 

At the end of the day it is your GML who will either approve or deny so always best to check with them and for higher level approval it's up to our @Deployment Officer Team, hopefully they will chime in soon with what they will allow

[JSchmit[TK]]

Awesome, thank you for that quick response! I looks forward to hearing from the Deployment Officer Team about the issue as well. And I haven't added shims yet, so it wouldn't moving the bottom out so that the piece is level is still an option. I guess my biggest question is what takes priority, making sure that the back ridges are level or that the piece fits my leg correctly?

[Chemi[Staff]]

hace 23 minutos, JSchmit dijo:

Awesome, thank you for that quick response! I looks forward to hearing from the Deployment Officer Team about the issue as well. And I haven't added shims yet, so it wouldn't moving the bottom out so that the piece is level is still an option. I guess my biggest question is what takes priority, making sure that the back ridges are level or that the piece fits my leg correctly?

 

Hi Jonathan. We will look at the different options we have and get back to you as soon as possible.

[JSchmit[TK]]

56 minutes ago, Chemi said:

 

Hi Jonathan. We will look at the different options we have and get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Thank you, Chemi! I appreciate you looking into it. I made a few adjustments to the fitting of the thigh piece so I could better illustrate the issue I'm working with. This is the thigh piece with the triangular gap and the angular ridge:

 

 

 

I then adjusted the bottom tape to simulate how the piece would look if it were completely level. In this case, the two sides between the gap where the plastic is added is parallel:

 

 

 

 

Personally, I prefer the look where the bottom is more snug to the top of my knee and the ridge is angular, but it's all contingent on what is garrison approvable. As always, I appreciate any input!

[Deployment Officer Team[Staff]]

14 hours ago, JSchmit said:

 

 

 

 

Personally, I prefer the look where the bottom is more snug to the top of my knee and the ridge is angular, but it's all contingent on what is garrison approvable. As always, I appreciate any input!

 

 

Hi Jonathan. You are right. We have looked at the different options and we believe that the best option is the one you mention (the bottom is more snug to the top of your knee and the ridge is angular). And as Glen rightly pointed out, mobility cuts can help with appearance.

 

However, it is your GML who must approve it at the base level, so before making any modifications, you will have to ask him for his opinion about it. 

 

Keep it up Jonathan, you are doing a fantastic job... Congratulations!!!!

[JSchmit[TK]]

31 minutes ago, Deployment Officer Team said:

 

 

Hi Jonathan. You are right. We have looked at the different options and we believe that the best option is the one you mention (the bottom is more snug to the top of your knee and the ridge is angular). And as Glen rightly pointed out, mobility cuts can help with appearance.

 

However, it is your GML who must approve it at the base level, so before making any modifications, you will have to ask him for his opinion about it. 

 

Keep it up Jonathan, you are doing a fantastic job... Congratulations!!!!

 

Thank you for that feedback! I also have an email out to my local garrison's GML, so hopefully he is also in agreement. If he gives it the ok, that's the method I'll go with 

[JSchmit[TK]]

Hey everyone, It's been a bit since I've posted, so I wanted to provide an update as to where I'm at. I've been hard at work applying the shims to the backs of my thighs. After a bit of trial and error and even having to start from scratch, this is what I've got so far:

 

After following some instructions on the forum, I applied ABS paste to the gaps between the original plastic and the shim pieces. After drying, I sanded it down with 80 grit sandpaper and incrementally worked my way up to 2000 grit, beginning wet sanding at 1000 grit. I decided apply some ABS paste on some air pockets I discovered in the sanding process. Once dry, I'll start the process over again by starting at 80 grit and working up. This has been a pretty long process, and while it's come a long way since I started, I still think I have a ways to go before it's as flush as I would like it to be. As always, any advice or words of encouragement are appreciated!