welshchris77

Excellent information and reference pictures as always Roger [emoji4][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106] Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

Thanks you Roger. Do you mean the position of the bottle in relation to where it attaches to the 'bellows' part of the syhon?, ie not centralised?

Thanks Urs Yes the zip ties are really strong. I will add more pic of the hose clamp soon, the exhaust pipe doesn't look as long with it attached

Pics added[emoji4] I have been busy lately but when I get time I will take better pics outside under natural light with a decent camera, my phone camera is somewhat distorting the perspective and the lighting in very bright in my shed. Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

So my pack is pretty much finished now and I am happy with how it turned out[emoji4] Here is an update of what I did since I last posted:- I shortened the bottles by cutting with a dremel and riveting back together. I fabricated new panels for the frame from canvas using the one original I had as a template, painted them with Daler Rowney system 3 cadmium red acrylic, then oversprayed with auto satin black, finished by copying the internal metal brace pieces in aluminium. Cut off the dial flush element of the Syphon and fabricated a bolt for attaching the bottle by threading a length of brass rod and silver soldering a flat brass disc to the end, I then used bolts and wing bolts to hold the various parts, I decided to keep part of the internal syphon mechanism as it looks cool[emoji4], I had to back it with a black piece of plasticard to keep it steady. Sprayed the original straps with satin black and re-attached. I assembled everything using tiewraps, it was quite fidley feeding them through the holes, I started from the back strapping the radio, syphon and brexton to the top trays, for the exhausted I used copper wire as it was just easier to thread through, I then strapped these to the bottom trays, in some places i superglued patches as there was no anchor point for the tiewraps, finally strapped the bottom seed boxes to the material panels. The mortor tube is screwed to the frame at the top, the bottom was a bit trickier, can't really see fron reference pics how it is attached there so I improvised by drilling two holes close together and tiewraping it losely to the frame to slow it to hang in the correct position. For the radar dish I used a 5" sanding backing disc, took off the metal components and fabricated a plasticard disc to use as a reducer for the hole to keep it all on place. Have since added a hose clamp to the exhaust part The pack weighs in at around 4kg, not too heavy [emoji4]

Thanks John

Tried out a few different things for the shoot gun shells including various sizes of plumbing pipe but nothing looked like the right diameter, eventually I came across some metal pipe in my shed that looked like it might work. From the pictures I have seen of the originals they look to me to be some kind of electrical components, fuses or capacitors maybe. To achieve this look I wrapped electrical tape around each end of the pipe then filled with car body filler and sanded the ends smooth . After that I constructed a bracket from some scraps of abs plastic and build a box to make a silicone mould. When the silicone mould was cured I started to cast copies in black polyurethane resin, I also made a jig to hold a machine screw in place while the resin cured. I cut a support plate from 2mm black plasticard and bolted the shells throught the plate and seed trays adding an interior brace also, everything is very strong and sturdy and the shells do not move once the bolts are tightened. I latter drilled a hole in each shell and glued in small pieces of wire then painted the wire black. They may not be completely accurate but I think they look ok for now. Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

I like this idea, it is an interesting concept. I may try a few different ideas with this before committing to anything permanent, thanks for you input Roger

Thanks Urs, I might try it without the bars and see how it holds up

Testing out the position of the material braces and the support bars, have others positioned them in a similar way?. I am starting to wonder if the original packs even had support bars?, they are useful to stabilize the pack and keep the seed trays in place for trooping but would the art department have gone to the trouble of fitting the bars or just found a way to attach the trays to the fabric braces[emoji848] Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

I know there are a few makers out there who make neck seals with a bigger skirts but I can't think of any vendors off hand. Personally I always put my neck seal on first before my base layer which keeps it from popping out, you could try that, if not get someone to sew extra material to you existing beck seal to extend it I used a saucepan of hot water to heat the plastic on my first kit, it worked but was slow, I now use a heat gun, if you use a heat gun set it to the lowest setting and heat it very slowly from 12 inches or more away, 'slow' is key and evenly, turning the pkastic as you heat it, you have to heat the plastic gradually, it will take time and you will also need gloves as it gets hot!, when the plastic is soft enough you have a 'window' of opportunity in which to bend it, it doesn't take much extra heat beyond this window for the plastic to go from being able to be bent to becoming a wrinkled mess so be careful, practice on some scraps and again don't be tempted to hold the gun too close to speed things up, it will end in tears[emoji54] Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

The original armour was designed to fit a 5'.10 person, I am 6'.1 and had similar issues with my armour, I can only suggest dropping the kidney and back plate so there is little or no gap, I wouldn't worry too much about the gap around your neck, it will not be that noticeable once your helmet is on, in the grand scheme of things!. note:- if this is Anovos armour you may need to heat and reduce the tight curve (straighten out) the parts near the shoulders at the top of the back plate to allow it to slide down your back more. The alternative would be to look into replacing some of the pieces with 'big boy' part but personally I don't think it is worth the extra cost. My armour is strapped differently by the way, I have built four so far for fellow legion members as well as other costumes and improved on the strapping method each time to make the armour more practical for trooping while still retaining the 'screen used' look [emoji4][emoji106] Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

Thanks John. I see you mentioned previously that the leather part is 75mm wide, I can construct my box depth 75mm to suit [emoji4] What way does the back panel work in relation to the box frame?, does it sit inside the frame or butt up against the back of the frame, ie equal to the outside dimensions of the box frame? If that makes sense? Also just to clarify, the outside dimensions of the built box is the same as the outside dimensions of the front face radio casting correct? Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

Looks great John, good to see you got a siphon after, where did you get your chemical bottles from and what diameter are they?

Too late I already sanded if off, oops!, think it will be ok though, one of the corners wasn't moulded to that line anyway so I needed to straighten things up a little, I can join the face plate at this line directly to the box I build, only thing that might be effected is the depth of the box, night have to increase it a bit to allow for the edge I sanded off. Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk