nanotek

Some more mods have arrived. These will be mounted on the chest plate along with my aluminium d-rings.

Thanks team. Some more pics Some bits and bobs: Right forearm: Left forearm: Thighs: I have fibreglassed the ribbed inserts in and spread some resin around to smooth out the print lines Biceps Filling in the gaps between the neck and back armour Inside: Also (but not pictured ) I have done the belt boxes and ammo pouch covers. One of them has malfunctioned by warping in the heat today so I'll figure out a strategy for it next week. I'll try and fix it using a hair dryer and patience 😀 I feel like I am coming over the hill now that things are moving along. There's still a ton to do but I think the worst is done now. I have gone through two sets of leather safety gloves now!

Progress update! It's been a very busy weekend 😀 Finally assembled the shins: I had to Dremel and file the ab plate due to resin seepage. It's looking pretty good now apart from some detailing that needs fixing due to the poor quality print. I also FINALLY managed to assemble my thighs. After having to repair all the weaknesses I could finally finish the sanding and could glue the ribbed inserts in Here's a shoulder bell: Cod: Butt: Hand plates: Thermal Detonator and back plate: Back armour with bits to glue on:

Yeah will do. I'm working off Tom's files so the way that the 3D printed rockets are attached are different as there is a platform that they are attached to. I'll detail everything in my build as I am pretty close to that part. It's a slight design challenge but should be resolved easily I imagine.

My E-11D is nearing completion

Nice! I also got the rockets and the shoulder buckles. The rockets are presenting a design challenge for me as the need to sit on top of a plate. The bolt holes are too far apart to bolt to the correct platform. I am planning a strategy to allow for this.

Thanks mate. I appreciate the kind words. I am following your build as well for ideas. Your kit is looking great!

I was considering some sort of rubber matting or similar but realised that some parts I want to slip on so resin it is. I was recommended by a fibreglass guy to use flowcoat which is expensive but adds a nice finish to fibreglass resin. Maybe check that out?

Those pesky thighs! Both of mine broke at some point so feel your pain on that. What kind of coating are you giving the insides? Looking great man!

Using fibreglass resin. My learnings? I probably should have given all of the armour a rough sanding at the beginning using 80grit. I have chosen to use resin to retain flexibility and used fibreglass matting to strengthen where obvious and where I feel it needs it. I'm not sure whether I am doing this the right way or the wrong way, just doing what I think will work well at the end. I am open to advice and learnings from others as well

Here is a pictorial update with some mildly boring narration: Thermal Detonator is coming along nicely, this is just after a coat of resin, so will need to be sanded etc Here is the Back plate with my extension. Due to the resizing of the armour, the bolt holes for the TD do not align So here I have fibreglassed over the holes so that they can be filled and drilled to match the TD. I decided to put a bit of glass here because the holes are only out by a little bit and I may be almost re-drilling over them. Also paranoia about the strength of the print! Do not want TD malfunctions! A boring pic of a freshly resin'd Shin. I have coated the inside as well as I do not want any sharp bits or print lines rubbing/catching on an expensive undersuit I finally felt like it was time to install the neck piece on to the back armour. This was a little tricky as it has two ledges that need to align correctly with the back piece. I basically laid the back armour in my lap, put some CA glue on both areas of contact, and started placing. The medium CA glue is a little forgiving so I could muck around with the placement before holding. I then got some fibreglass and placed on the inside for extra hold. I will be doing another run on this to fully secure I have been reinforcing some other areas where the print is a bit too flimsy for my tastes so here the back armour with inner reinforcing at the bottom I also reinforced the butt plate for obvious reasons but here is the progress on the outside of it Chest plate reinforcing you can hardly see but it's there I have not been able to do much work on the thigh pieces as they have both been broken and held together by some CA glue. Yesterday I decided to strengthen them up so I can continue to work on them. The reason I have not put in the ribbed inserts is because I am working on those separately to keep the detailing. I will glue them in and reinforce further with fibreglass when I am ready

Have you left enough room for the belt between the ab and the cod?

I should mention that ordering anything through AliExpress the shipping time varies (esp if it's free) generally 2-4 weeks. One item I got within 5 days.

I am currently making a few sets of the leather stuff. Slow going at the moment due to my build. If you a definitely not in any hurry I might be able to get one done in a couple of months. I can also provide instructions on how to do it yourself which I plan on doing in a "how to" thread separate from my build. Build looking good

Looking great! Nice job

Here's the torch for the E-11D http://s.aliexpress.com/6jYFzmuY Here's the swivel http://s.aliexpress.com/mumYruEv

Haha. He already blew his own timescale. Thanks for the heads up about this because I feel it's going to be a necessity to keep riding him to get it...

Dat DLT tho... man that looks schweet

Yes and without repeating exactly what the CRL states. Both forearms have cover strips on the front and the rear. The left forearm front cover strip ends so as to allow for the two wrist bands.

Un-bugger I managed to snaggle one out of him

Bugger. Looks like I'll be making my own then

Is that the ISD pauldron? It looks really good. I got the one from Veeds and am not that happy with it. Has crooked stitching and the edging is wrong

Yeah. Strapping will be another challenge. I was planning on following some of the regular TK strapping for some areas. I plan on being reasonably active and am hoping that all of the reinforcing I am doing will be enough to cope. Thanks for the encouragement. I am sure I will get through it all. Your outfit looks great! I hope I can get mine to the same standard as everyone else's.

Yeah thanks mate. I've been following your build and it's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one dealing with these issues. I managed to get up and running yesterday and get a few things done. Looking forward to when I can start ticking off some pieces!

So after a visit to Tom to show him the ArmoryShop version of his 3D files, a couple of things came to light. One major one was that these prints are from an earlier version of the STL files meaning that some of the more practical modifications he made to the armour for trooping are not included. So here are the beginnings of the modifications to the ab and back plates. Basically the ab and back plate need to be extended by at least an inch to enable more movement of the upper body with out the armour catching on the lower parts. I have never done any work like this before so it's just my interpretation of experimentation and my brand of common sense Note: I have not given dimensions here because the armour is scaled to my body so it will be different for others. I bought some 4mm ABS and began by measuring out the bits allowing for a 2" extension. It maybe too much to start with but it's easier to remove it than keep adding. I used the score and snap method to cut the ABS and basically gave each part a rough sanding before gluing using Zap-a-gap medium CA glue. Here is the back plate which holds the thermal detonator: The ab plate was more difficult to cut as there are curves and angles to deal with. It required a fair amount of effort to get right, including the use of a hair dryer and a large pot to get the curve into the ABS: I will be reinforcing this with fibreglass and will fill the front with more resin. Once this is complete I can do a fitting to see if any needs to be trimmed back.