Guest cvg_1786690492 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Purchased a set of AM armour a couple of weeks back and have decided to go dirty with it. I can't wait to dirty it up actually. I'm also aiming for MPED deployed, so am following the requirements very closely. Here is what im up to. " Rivets on the left side of the ab/kidney plates: a total of six rivets with three on the ab and three on the kidney plate, equally spaced out along the depth of the armour and about 10mm from the edge. They may be painted white, or not " " Armor side gaps should be closed. This should be done by adding a shim or shims of material that must be of similar material and color as the ab and back plate. Shims should fit flush and may have seams. Ideally they will be seamless if possible to the ab and/or back plate, resulting in a single seam between the ab/back rather than extra seams for where the shims are joined." "Left side Ab plate has three buttons, painted white." Used the round snap die as a guide, i cut out 3 round pieces from extra abs that was leftover. Have attached the back and chest pieces via white webbing, and have glued most pieces. Still final trimming and sanding needed. Now a couple of little issues i've struck. With the AM armour, were the front part of the belt attaches to the ab plate, it doesnt align with the flat part of it, but where the piece tapers into the cod piece (a little hard to explain) may have to build up the gap to make it sit flush. Also with the seperated butt piece, i find that it wants to stick out and not sit flush ( no Baby Got Back jokes pls) even with the connecting staps to the kidney plate and under the cod piece. Will need to have a look at other builds to see if anyone else has experienced the same issue. For the backpack, managed to buy a radio facia, and following the MPED tutorials, have started saving the wet wipe containers, and i have a heap of old tupperware contains of all shapes that I think will work with it. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashmann Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Hi Ken and congratulations on choosing the sandy side of the Empire! I don't know the best way to handle covering your butt, however I would strongly recommend digging through PandaTrooper's AM build thread on FISD: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=10434 Tons of great information and recommendations to modify the plastic to create the custom fit you are looking for. You don't have to implement everything presented, but it certainly offers lots of good ideas. Good luck! Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIVE Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Lookin' good so far man! Yes, I helped a friend build an AM a few weeks ago and found that same issue with the belt. I'm not sure what other people do, but building it up is a good solution. We just left it "floating" and it ended up giving him "problems." I know some other people have had that butt plate issue too... so I'm sure there are solutions out there. Glad to have you here, and glad to have you going dirty!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Hey Ken. I am in the middle of an "AM" build myself and wanted to share a few things I did that may help you. First, with the butt plate. I actually didn't leave mine floating. I attached it to the back plate from the inside using ABS strips and ABS adhesive. I prefer the one piece butt and back like it was in the old FX. It is a much more rigid section now and I am having no problems with the butt piece sticking out or not sitting flush. This mod does limit your mobility slightly, but again, I prefer the "tight" one piece fit. I also noticed you have quite an overhang of ABS on the sides of the butt plate. I wonder if there is not enough room for your upper thighs and hips and this is causing the butt piece to push out. Here is what mine looks like. See how mine lines up with the seam on the side. My croth pieces also line up with each other almost perfectly. I noticed your butt crotch piece is about 3-4 inches lower than your cod crotch piece. This could be adding to your problem. My back plate is now slightly higher than my AB plate as well. This will allow the back piece to slide slightly under my upper back armor. For getting the belt to lay more flat against the armor, in your build direcctions it has aa small mod that will help with this. It calls for the small center square just below the center of the AB plate to be "cut out" or removed. This will allow the center square of the ammo belt to lay more flush against the armor. Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any questions or check out my build thread here: http://forum.mepd.ne...?showtopic=7214 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandatrooper Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Looking really good so far! The AM kit fits you well, I had to cut so much off of mine! One small piece of feedback re: the rivets on the side of the ab for the future. I know you've already installed them. but the rivets should be spaced further apart. The bottom rivet should be covered by the belt, leaving only the top 2 rivets exposed. A small detail, again it doesn't take away anything from your build. Overall it looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 thanks for the tips, i will cut the sides of the butt piece and trim some of the kidney pieces to bring it all up a bit higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 Trimmed the sides of the butt piece and also off the top, and trimmed a piece out of the bottom part of the kidney piece. Sitting pretty well now, and the crotch lower pieces now line up. Next onto the belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Havent done too much more to the TD, just hard when you're away during the week with work, but i've managed to get most of the backpack together. After seeing the pics, the backpack needs to come up a bit. I ran the shoulder pouch thru the backpack harness, is how its done? Cheers Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1535 Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 yup pretty much,,if ya home tomora, i can bring mine over so you can see how ive got my ammo pouch n pack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 yup pretty much,,if ya home tomora, i can bring mine over so you can see how ive got my ammo pouch n pack? Cool, around 10ish, i have some stuff planned for the afternoon. cheers ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIVE Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Getting there is slow sometimes... but you're getting there. The pack will need to sit higher up; I'm sure you know that already. But yeah, good job man! Just keep plugging away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Getting there is slow sometimes... but you're getting there. The pack will need to sit higher up; I'm sure you know that already. But yeah, good job man! Just keep plugging away! Yeap, after seeing it in the pics, a bit hard when its on, lol Man i cant wait to finish this and weather everything up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 Looking good Ken! Keep at it and you will get there sooner than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Love the weather we've been having in the south east corner of Qld, rain and more rain, so i managed to complete a few smaller things, ammo belt fitted to thigh, knee plate fitted,all webbing and strapping done and sharp leading edges removed or sanded smooth. Next will be the helmet, and am looking for a build thread on one,(if someone knows the link to one pls lmk-AP preferred) to see how they cut the dome front for the frown. Wont get anymore done for a few weeks now, will be interstate. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 small update, All the armour is done, a couple of things to finish off on the backpack. Put the helmet together for a test fit. Just need to paint the traps,etc and then all the building is done. Then the weathering begins. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Im having problems finding a suitable "radar" dish for the back pack here in Australia. Been looking thru tupperware shops but no luck. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Contact "Crashmann" here on the MEPD boards. He can ship you a screen accurate one. He vac forms them in white ABS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 Contact "Crashmann" here on the MED boards. He can ship you a screen accurate one. He vac forms them in white ABS. done,thanks for lead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Well i tried my hand at weathering, trying to aim for the sandy colour starting heavier at the bottom. I used 2 sandy type colours over a couple of layers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 after some weathering (it looks dirtier in real life) tried on all the armour. A bit of trimming for comfort still needed but will do so when all finished. Im aiming for Black Pauldron Private #4 Only need to finish helmet, mortar tube and radar dish, weather backpack,pauldron,pouches and mg15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davej Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Muppet, you grubby bugger. Looking good mate, just one thing... the bend in your backpack frame goes the wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 ha, your spot on Dave, It fitted nicely to my back as well, Will swap it around, not too much trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davej Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 My pleasure Yeah, the angle looks good, just fitted back to front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muppet Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Backpack frame is now the correct way Added second layer of weathering, darker brown, working my way from the bottom up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchy Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Wow...now that's what I call dirty I know it's personal but are the shins gonna stay that dirty or is it a WIP pic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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