Chaos

I have had Jim Tripon's kit for about two years. I love it. He has a build thread in this section.

Momoky, Go post your question under the Swamptrooper section. You will probably get a better response. https://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/forum/50-swamp-troopers/

I just used the 3D printed flashlight mount that came with my kit. The real flashlight fit right in. I then used just a dot of E6000 to hold it in place. Almost two years and it hasn't moved yet.

Now that's a good idea

Sal, Happy to have been of some help. Best of luck with your build.

Ryan @IcyTrooperand Jason @Goromith, I am in Afghanistan right now. I will help as best I can: Jason, can you take some good quality (light back ground with diffused bright front lighting) photos of you in your armor, no weapons. Basic 501st submission photo poses would be best: Front arms up and then down Right side arms up and then down Left side arms up and then down back side arms up and then down. I suggest after you take the photos that you upload them to a place like "imgur.com" the account is free and you can post them here using the BBCode link. It makes it easier to view the high quality photos you take and it doesn't use any forum server storage space. I can already tell that some of your pieces need to be resized and/or adjusted but I can give you better guidance once I can see the updated photos. I everything that I see, I am sure they can easily be fixed. With Mark's @nanotek help, we can get you "Good To Go!" Welcome to the Spec Ops Forums and I will keep checking in. Chaos

Looking great Dave!

Glad to hear your repair went well.

I have an epoxy resin for the fiberglass cloth, is the epoxy to glue the tin in a different type of epoxy? Is there a brand name so I can find it or its equivalent? https://goo.gl/images/S9JMEZ Also I'm assuming the fiberglass is added in only on the inside correct?  yes just on the inside

It won't be a weak point. You can fix this. Sand the inside down, get a piece of sheet tin, cut to fit the entire collar, glue it in with a two part epoxy. Then sand that again, put two layers of fiberglass and resin, then paint. That's how the people who had to shorten their collars did it.

People have cut out sections of the collar and bonded them back together to move the "fangs" back so they lay flush against the chest piece. Others have heated and bent them down.

Wish I knew an answer for you, I found this, you might contact them. I know some makers don't like to share their work with people. Worth a shot. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlqiycimMmqub-iTfIOOJZbbXcactExZCDodVRaCmQ4vSf3Q/viewform?c=0&w=1

It looks amazing and your build process is very impressive. Mahalo for taking the time to post it.

Smart idea for the knee boxes with the wood. Way to think outside the "box" LOL

You probably should move this to the Shadow Scout section of the forums.

Cherry!

The belt and garter system works well for the DT thigh armor. I do recommend that you use 1 1/4" industrial elastic instead of a nylon webbing strap for your drop straps. It allows you to move, keeps the thighs from pulling down on your belt or against the snaps, and returns the thighs back to their original position.

^^ concur with Mark^^ I wore my armor a few times and found the points where the edges rub the paint. I then put a small piece of 1/4 inch upholstery felt on the inside of the top piece to prevent the scratching of the painted surface.

Been over a year and 30 something troops in the heat of Hawaii and no lost of elasticity. Make sure you use a good quality heavy duty elastic. This might help, armor stuff is about halfway down. http://imgur.com/a/7GT4R

Geoff, I strapped all mine with 1 1/2" heavy duty elastic. The stretch/return qualities make it a lot easer to move around AND puts less stress in the snaps and attachment points.

The helmets are heavy enough that adding counterweights makes it worse. A good hardhat liner works well that's what I use. Others do use various bike or motorcycle helmet foam.

Looking great Greg. Keep posting, your thread will be a huge help to those that have bought the 850 armor!

Ren, wish I did but unfortunately I don't. Its really easy, just build a wooden cube frame out of 2x4s or 2x2s whatever size you can. Cover it with drop cloth type plastic creating a flap for a door. Get a small electric heater and put it inside. If you want to get fancy, make an exhaust port and put a fan in the opening to blow fumes out of the booth. Make an inlet and put a AC filter in that opening. Hope that all makes sense.

Sweet!

I just use regular Bondo. Cures faster and adheres better, use thin layers build it up to fill in the divot.