ELP

Tori - Are you hoping to have this done by Hallow'een? Either way good luck and have fun. I'd love to see build pics but then I didn't take any so it's not really fair of me to ask .

Thanks Ken. "No Curve Balls" ... [wipes away tear] that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my armour ... I'll let you know when I know Iz.

Ok so here is what I did ... it may be over kill but it works. I put a snap through the top of the elastic webbing of the boot above both ankles (the opening is huge so I have plenty of room without getting scratched) I then put another snap about 3 inches above this on the inside of the shin piece. These two are attached by a piece of strapping. I did the same in the back but with elastic - I cut the tab on the back of the boots, attached a snap and then one on the inside of the calf about 3 inches up. It makes it a bit of a challenge to put on but for the comfort and fit an extra 30 seconds per shin is soooooo worth it. I took my rig for a test drive tonight and it works like a charm and feels awesome ... even when running down the hall. Thanks for all the good ideas all!

Congrats Ken! Good lookin' suit!

Thanks all! Been a fun ride buying and building and now the constant tweaking ... can't wait to start troopin'. Wha?!? Come on don't leave me hanging ... at least PM me with what he said . And congrats back at ya!

Well my GML just said I'm in ... Yippeee!!! Now I just need to wait for the official LMO e-mail with my number, et al. And wouldn't you know it hotmail is down ... poop. Oh well I've waited 30 odd years to join so another few hours or days probably won't kill me ... probably

After walking around with only the shins and boots on I see the problem. I need the shins to sit right down on my ankle but the movement of the boot pushes them upwards and when the top of the boot gets below the shin pad my walking motion starts them spinning. So I'm going to try 2 things 1) as has been suggested add attachments on the inside to secure the shin in position, and 2) using black Duck Tape TM tape (basically it's crafters Duct Tape) the top of my boot to my actual shin so as to avoid the "jacking" effect. We tried this out while wearing a pair of thin wool socks and it worked pretty well. I'll get back after my first trial run. Thanks again for all the input.

Whew 138 that's a tonne of info. I'm in the same boat re: Weather stripping. The calves/shins were tight out of the box so I don't think weather stripping will do it, though we did that for my wife's forearms (worked like a charm). I'll give the snap, etc. a try and let you guys know what happens. I've got time this week-end so I guess I know what I'm doin'.

Yippee!! I can't wait - Thanks! Cue the "your call is important to us, and we will be with you as soon as possible" holding pattern. And I know what you mean about the boots, specifically the very top. They and the shins seem to not get along for me. Do you have the Amsterdam Bass as well? My thighs seem to be fine though.

Daetrin - Thanks info and experiance. My wife has an RT suit and I've got the new AM (in Black). I'll try her shins and see what happens (she's also about 6 feet tall). I'm 6'1" and the rest of the suit fit really well. I'll let you know about the RT shins.

Hi All. We have a troop coming up in a while so I figured I'd give my kit a real test. I walked around for about 2 hours yesterday and everything was great - no adhesive failures, no rubbing, not to much 'clicking' when I walk and I got my Ipod hooked up so I can play the radio chatter sound file. My only concern is that both my shins rotate inward about 45 degrees. I had to re-set them about 5 times in an hour and then just gave up and focused on the rest of the kit. My question: Does/did anyone else have this issue? And what did you do (if anything)? My shins aren't overly tight, but they aren't loose. My challenge is I have thick calves (back to front) and the AM armour was tight fitting out of the box. Currently my shin armour just sits on my leg - it's not attached to anything. I am thinking of either placing a snap on the boots and one on the inside of the shin piece to keep it in place, or is velco on the under suit a way to go (my under suit is spandex/lyicra so it's not the strongest)? Or maybe a 'collar' of sorts on the inside of the shin that goes around my leg and keeps the shin in place. Any ideas or solutions? Here's a picture of someone having the same issue (TK on the far left of the pic - the left shin):

WOW (sorry had to use the 'blink emoticon' as I couldn't see the 'sitting in stunned silence' one) That's Awesome. In the back of my head I am thinking my next kit will be a TD and now I know where to find the Pack Tutorial. That is some CRAZY talent! Thanks very much for sharing!

Thanks for the info Ken - I'll stop checking my e-mail every few hours. My wife is a TK and she went from pics submitted to having her number in less than 24 hrs... That's our only experience with the 501 approval process.

Ken - A bunch of TKs were put through today so hopefully those of us with more 'exotic' kits will be in the next bunch, which will hopefully be soon.

Have a look at Muppet's pics and then have a look at yours and mine. Ours are both a bit too dark. I know the excitement of "ok, it's done let's get it on and take some pics"; the challenge with these kits is that the details don't show up except in very good lighting. So really there are 2 things you can do - take the pics outside (or literally under a strong light source - like in the kitchen, and hang a sheet if you need to for a plain background), or if you're pretty good with a camera and standing very still adjust the camera settings for a bit more exposure and the details will pop out - It does tend to wash the picture out a bit so it took us a lot of fiddling. And you might need a "helmet off" shot. From what I can see it looks pretty good! And it looks like you've done a lot of trimming on the thighs ... well done - that takes a bit of courage. Wait to hear from Iz, or one of the other "big wheels down at the cracker factory" but you might need to shim the sides ... Not sure though. Well Done and Welcome Aboard. Now that's 3 of us waiting to hear back from Mr. Spanos.

Thanks for the complements ... Regrettably no word yet from Mr. Spanos. @ Spudtrooper - Yippee for CDN TX! I think that now makes 4 or 5 in The Badlands.

There's a guy in Australia who sells Resin / cast DLT-19s which I've read good things about. He's got a sale thread on FISD. He goes by the name Grand Moff Niko I think. I haven't seen one in person, nor do I own one ... Just thought I'd mention it.

Looks like your buils is coming along ... Thanks for the pics. My wife didn't belive me when I said that the kitchen table is the best place for a build ... Now I can show her great troopers think a like!

Ken - That's a great looking kit! Looks like we're both waiting for Thomas to get back from D-Con

Thanks guys ... A fair bit of work but very worth it.

I was just saying I'll blame the forum as it's been all of their advice that has helped me to build my suit (and if it was built wrong it would be their fault) ... A Total Joke. The folks here have been, and continue to be Amazing. Thanks for all the help!

Hi All, Thanks for all the help, pointers, & support over the last few months. Here is the result. I better get in or I'm blaming all of you ... kidding! (mostly). It's dark out right now so there is no sunlight / outdoor pics. My GML might ask for them (I sent him about 7) as the detail isn't there in these pics. It's a very well lit room but for some reason the suit doesn't show it ... This thing is for real stealthy. me (my wife asked a weird question and then took the pic, hence the expresion). Knock Knock ... who's there ... Silent Death <pyew, pyew>

Perfect - Thanks Iz. EDIT: I didn't get one pic of the built ... Sorry - I'm terrible! Here's my "look at my new suit" post: http://forum.specops501st.com/forum/index.php?/topic/210-tx-reporting-for-duty/

Iz, Thanks for the heads up. I've done a matte finish (electrician's tape) looks pretty good (probably good enough for my GML) but let me know the official and I'll tweak what ever needs tweaking. And as an aside, the chrome tape still comes with the AM kit so if a black finish is recomended let me know. Also this info will need to be passed around, what with all the new AM kits floating around / being built right now. And I keep forgetting to take pictures - sorry.