steve12201 Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 OK, I'm a little worried right now....I have an AP kit, trimmed, and am now trying to fit all of the upper and lower torso panels to me using tape. I am 5'11" and weigh 180. All my dimensions are pretty standard as I can fit a 42" suit coat witout any tailoring. OK, I taped the cod piece to the bottom part of the lower back/kidney piece so that there is about 1/4" space between them. I then put the two connected halves on and taped the sides together along my side where they were comfortable and not squeezing me. There is about a 2" gap on each side. I also need to mention that I cut the kidney piece/lower back in half along the belt line so it can flex more. My wife then helped me tape on the chest and back pieces where they looked like they fit the best. I completely flipped out when I discovered that there is about a 1" to 2" gap between the back piece and the kidney/ lower back piece. Yep, no chance of overlap there!!! I can't imagine how bad it would be if I bent over. To make matters worse, the front barely overlaps and immediately separates exposing black undersuit as soon as I lean back or look up to the ceiling. I don't think this is right and I am not sure what to do now. I figure I can get a little more room by making the gap wider under the crotch, but I don't think I can get enough inches out of it (I'm guessing 4" would give me enough slack to bend over). I don't think I have a long torso or anything so what am I doing wrong? The area on each side of the cod piece also rubs into my inner thighs. If I trim this area to be a little narrower, I might be able to get a little more height out of the stomach plate and have less rubbing(I figure I gould use another 2" on the top to help keep the chest lipped over the outside of the stomach/cod piece). I would just have to tighten up on the jewels a little Any advice, or should I just get an FX torso? I would like to minimize the black showing and use the entire AP kit. BTW, the shoulder bells are very narrow and don't want to fit around my bicep pieces but I assume I can streach them a little with my new heat gun. No? Thanks Pros, Steve12201 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 A picture says more than a thousand words, so perhaps post a picture of your problem? Might help the sandy armor wizards around here solve the problem. Sorry i cant be of any use, i have no armor yet! Good luck, hope it goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpdblues Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 PM sent. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve12201 Posted August 4, 2007 Author Share Posted August 4, 2007 Thanks Nico and T Guns. I guess its time to join the 21st century and figure out how to post pictures. Thanks to Seth's other post about how to add pictures, I just signed up for a photobucket account. I guess it is time to suit up and have the wiff take some less than flattering pics of what I have so far. Just give me some time to figure out the new technology......photos pending ASAP. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve12201 Posted August 4, 2007 Author Share Posted August 4, 2007 OK, I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures to link but I included the link to Photobucket so you can look for yourself. I pinned my arms back for some of the shots so that you can see the spaces but it made some of the gaps wider. My son was not a fan of the bucket but my daughter is ready to troop. Photos also included. http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa305/steve12201/ Thanks for the help. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve12201 Posted August 4, 2007 Author Share Posted August 4, 2007 OK, I think the link is working to see the pics. Please let me know what I am fitting incorrectly. Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-4510 Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 The lower back attaches to the upper back. Dont attach the cod to the butt yet. The chest should be a couple of inches above the square in the ab plate. Make sure the chest and upper back and ab plate all fit properly then let the gap in the cod fall where it falls. The rubbing is caused by the cod being too far down between your legs, it needs to be up on your package... You should put an elastic strap between the cod and the but about 4 inches long with plenty of room for stretching.. Line the top of the lower back sides up to the top of the ab plate sides.. Does that make sense? ****,....did you cut the top of the lower back off dude?? There should be a lip on the top there... Did you cut off some?? Your upper back is wayyyyyyy too far up. It needs to attach to the lower back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-4510 Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 PM me your email and I will send you some pics. i am way shorter than you but you might get the jest. Check out how MH has his attached on his website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I think the best thing to do is get all your snaps glued in place, then make up some elastic straps. Strap the back, kidney and butt plate together, leaving a very small gap between each part. The back of the armour is non adjustable really and just hangs either higher or lower on your body. Attach your ab plate to the kidney plate and make up some long straps from the top of your back plate your ab plate and forget about the chest for now. These long straps can have slide rings in them so you can adjust the length, or just add extra snaps for adjustment. When you feel it is fitting right, then add the strap between your legs. Now you can attach the chest plate by either putting snaps on the long straps and fixing to the inside of your chest plate or by doubling up the straps on the back first, and using one for the ab and one of the chest so it is free hanging (which is best if you ask me). You could also have long straps from your kidney, over your shoulders and down to the ab plate, but your back plate must be connected to the kidney the same way, and your chest plate hangs from straps off the back plate. I hope you can understand some of that, it is hard to explain clearly. -Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj_hassel Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 As long as you cut the armor along the lines it will fit. I have the same dimensions--give or take five pounds--and my AP kit fits pretty good. Remember, we're a few inches taller than the stormtroopers in the movie so a little latitude is needed when scrutinizing how "screen-accurate" you look. Unlike the FX kits, the real suits' back plates didn't overlap the kidney plates; my seam could be a little tighter, but I'll live. You could probably lower your back plate a little bit. mine sits a little lower and still hugs the countour of my back. Here are some test-fitting pics I took this morning: You might want to raise the butt-plate a little bit. I know, mine looks a little but like I'm getting an "armor-wedgie" but I wanted decent seams across the back. If you want to see how I put my kit together LMK and I'll post pics. I hope I helped a little, Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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