iconoclasta_88

I have another question... If anyone could help me. How about cutting off the little rectangle detail in the ab plate and the glueing a plastic from the back to make it more evident and more present? Has anyone done this before with a TE2 armor? How does it looks? Thx for your comments. Saludos.

THX bro... HEHEHE... selling the drawings sounds cool. hehe. But I guess I rather post them here and make them available for anyone to use if anyone want to do it. Saludos.

Muchas gracias hermano! THX a lot!! Saludos...

PM sent. Thx bro!

HEHE... I will work on the buttons later this week. THX!! And about the magic liquid... well... its called Glyco (local brand I guess). It is described as a rubber solvent for artists and its pretty common for designers and plastic artists. I discovered it dissolves E6000 by accident. It works quiet well... The only thing left after pouring and a little rubbing off, is the marks left on the plastic by the E6000 itself. Here is a link to a popular design and art store in mexico... http://www.lumen.com.mx/catalog/detalle.ph...mp;MARCA=Rodin# It shouldnt be difficult to find a similar product anywhere in the world. Saludos.

Might be... I didn't have much option for the snap buttons. I looked for them in different places for a couple of weeks and couldn't find others but these. And even at the place where I bought them, the lady on the counter was reluctant to sell them cause I was not paying for the "installing" on clothes, but just wanted the actual buttons. Weird I know. But... Hope the make the trick anyway... THX for your comment bro. Saludos... Ohh... Or maybe you mean the 3 plastic buttons on the abplate??? They do look a bit big but They are the same size as the ones used to cover the rivets on the belt. I can correct this as I have found a liquid that "melts" E6000 in a second and does no harm at all to the plastic. Does everyone agrees on me having to make smaller buttons?

After several attempts I have come up with what I think is the final approach to strapping that I will be using. This is based on what we know about ANH strapping, but with some modifications to make it easier to wear and to make... I have followed others approach and also all the advice here... I want my armor to look as close as possible to the screen, but with a relatively easy to use/install system... This is it: And I have started working on my armor. This is how it is coming out: I think its coming out cool. I like it and specially like the details of the snaps and rivets on the outside of the armor... I like it a lot. What do you think??

HEHE... THX! I think I want it to be as close as screen as I can do it (considering my abilities, tools and budget), so, if the correct way to do it is using rivets, thats how I will do it. I still need to find the snap buttons, so until I have them on my hand, I will decide for goo how to do it. Anyway, one more question... Doesn't the use of snaps and all the buttoning-up/off damages the plastic... This is a big concern for me... Thx Bro.. for all your info, knowledge and for sharing it! SAludos.

Ok... THX... I think I understood everything... So, corrections to be made: -Three horizontal straps instead of the one vertical strap. Are this riveted or snapped?? -One strapp fixed to the kidney plate and a snap through the plastic on the ab plate to lock it. -Two snaps for the belt instead of 3 -Cod strapp fixed to groin and 2 snaps through plastic on butt plate. Will there be 2 or just 1 snap on the strap?? I will be using the 3 inch elastic... already bought it! THX a lot for all your help bro! Hehe! Im really happy I did all these drawings. Otherwise it would have been messing it up at the armor... Saludos!

Here it is... I have finished the new version of my strapping system diagram. This has the correct location of the rivets on the ab plate that should be showing according to TK and TD ANH references... I also included Rolf's idea for the thigh system, and completed it with the shins and some notes. What do you think? Unless anyone can see a mistake or have a better idea or suggestion, I guess this is how I will be putting together my armor. Any comments? Thx for your help. Saludos.

I was working with my armor last night and realized that the diagram is not completely correct in terms of how will it look on the outside. The mistake is that I have placed the closing strap of the back and abplate fixed on the kidney plate. This is wrong cause then I would not be able to correctly placed the Rivet on the ab plate... Here is the reference: So, I will work on my diagram and post it later today or during the weekend. One question I do have about the rivet is, what's the diameter of the rivet that will be exposed on the abplate? Thx for all your help. Saludos

You're right bro... So, now the question is... is it a matter of what each one prefers? I guess so. Saludos.

She did! hehehe! THX bro! Saludos.

THX a lot!! Sounds like a great idea. I wonder if it is not too difficult to have the four straps cut and placed in the correct length? I will definitely check this variant when I come to this step! Thanks for the suggestion!! THX a lot bro... I have considered TM's advice and will not use velcro as I thought before, other than in specific places: -Belt -1 extra elastic to better fit the chest plate to the ab plate -1 fitting strap to join the back and ab plates (considering that this will be set in place mainly by the belt) -Back of the shins Everything else will either be glued with E6000, sewed or fixed with Snap buttons. What do you think? Saludos!

I am now very interested in this backward/forward issue... Will check and work with photoshop with some of my references... will come back with an opinion later today probably. Saludos...

I have worked on a new diagram for the strapping system... taking in considerations your comments and suggestions, including now more snaps instead of velcro, and keeping velcro just for the places I felt was needed. Also included the belt and thigh system instead of fixing the legs to the ab plate. And finally, since yesterday I had an early test fit, I realize that it was not the best idea to have the back plate permanently fixed to the kidney plate, so I also included some snaps there... This is how I think it should be done... What do you think?? And these are some pictures of the test fit... very early still... Haven't glued anything yet. Just wanted to see if it was the correct size an way to put the armor together... I am extremely happy with how it fits. So far it feels like if the armor was designed and shaped to fit my body and height... I was hoping I was not too short for the armor.... What do you think?? THX for all your help and comments. Saludos...

THX man... Actually, I made my diagram based mostly in the picture (photograph) you posted with some variants, and took the sketch approach of Geri's drawing. Also used picts from Mike's armor as reference... took what I though was the best of all systems and also changed most snaps for velcro. This because I haven't been able to find the snaps yet, and because I don't know how to use snaps. I was planning to use Industrial Strength Velcro. Do you think it wont be up to the job? As Rolf suggested, I have reconsidered and will go for the belt to fix the thigh pieces. Do you think with this improvements, my diagram would be closer to what they might have used in ANH? I am still thinking of the whole thing...

Thx a lot for your comment bro! I will definitely consider this to upgrade my diagram and strapping system. Saludos!

Thx Bro... Thats the diagram my drawing is based on... but I thought it was not very accurate, or is it? Thats why I "improved" it in my own version. Saludos...

This is what a I did... http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=5511 It worked great for me. Saludos.

It looks GREAT Nol! Very good job... I specially like the weathering on your bucket, it is amazing!! About the pouches, well, I guess its a matter of being happy with it. I looks great for sure, and if you just move down the shoulder one it would be fine. But since your bucket and pauldron looks like a move along... maybe you could try and get a canvas 4 pocket mp38/40 pouch for your shoulder. I got a set for less than 30 from http://www.ima-usa.com/ it is not 100% screen accurate, but it does look good (even much better for real than the picture on the site). Just my opinion. Saludos.

A little progress: I spend most of last week (most of my "armor time" anyway), thinking about how would I make the strapping system for my armor. I had some very cool references and did lots research on how it was made on the original armors. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want my armor strapped exactly like the movie ones, mainly because of the use of rivets I would like to avoid if possible cause of my lack of riveting experience. Anyway, I will use some rivets for practical and image purposes: 3 rivets on the left side of the body armor, 1 on the left of it; rivets for the knee strip, and probably to fix the plastic belt to the canvas belt. The rest of the system I will attach using E6000 to fix straps to the armor, and industrial strength velcro for closure of straps. And snap buttons to fix the belt to the ab plate. I have come up with this diagram. It is based in some very similar looking diagram I found somewhere, but that was not really accurate nor practical (IMO). At the end, this is based on the picture TM posted here, on Mike H's strapping system as it appears on his site, and on my own experience with armor and straps. What do you think? I will be using 1' black elastic, 2' black elastic and 2' white elastic for the shoulder straps. I alraedy have almost everything I need, except for the snap buttons. So if everybody think this is fine, I most likely will start making it this week. Or does anyone has any idea that might improve this?

THX a lot bro! This is great and will be a lot of help! Saludos.

Blue masking tape is the best! It does not leave any glue residue but still sticks very good to plastic and other materiasl. Love this tape... Saludos.

As promised, here are the updates of the work I did on my armor on the weekend. First, I made the proper corrections on the arms to have them correctly trimmed just like on screen. This involved taking half of the return edge of the elbow end's outer part, and most of the return end on the inner side and both sides of the wrist ends. I have thin arms (maybe too thin), so now my armor arms are a bit to big for me, but will most likely fit alright when I ad some foam on the inside. This is how they look now: Elbow ends Wrist ends And then, re-trimmed the belt and knee belt so to get rid of all the return edge; I also made the corners of the belt round, this is more a pre-trimming. I expect to finish it later cause wanted to ask everyone if this is the correct way to cut the corners? About the knee strip, I have been studying pictures of the move along trooper, and I think he has this strip trimmed in a round edge on the lower part, and a slightly round corner on the upper one. What do you think? Have not trimmed anything yet anyway. And finally, I trimmed all the body armor. Getting rid of most the return edge on lower body parts and leaving it on the upper body parts. With this done, Im researching references, threads and other ppl's opinions and methods to come up with a strapping system that I want and can use for my armor. I have a few pictures and diagrams, and have an idea of how original were most likely put together (from post at the forums from Paul, Mike, Rolf, Seth and others). But I still need to come up with a way I want to do it... That will be my next step. I will probably make a diagram and come to you for opinions before putting it together. Any help or ideas are more than welcome. So thats it for now. If you have any suggestion, or can see anything that should be improved, pls, let me know. Will be much appreciated! Saludos...