RaiderNick

No it doesn't, I took the protective plastic off. For some reason it is lighter colored than the rest of the bucket, even without the foil? I'm just noticing this now...I hope I didn't get another batch of bad plastic.

While I was waiting for the cover strips to dry on the thighs, I decided to finally install the ab buttons and plate.

I was lucky enough to be able to get replacement shims that aren't cloudy. Before I glue them on the thighs I need some help. Do I glue the shim from A to B or A to C in terms on length? I see some people who cover up the entire front of the thighs and some people who only cover from A to B.

Ok, I finally took the plunge and started cutting and gluing the cover strips. I cut and glued the biceps and cut the strips for the arms. I used spare abs trimming for these strips. There is a problem I noticed; the abs sheets that came with the kit are not glossy black, they look like they have a white film over them, like that plastic protector stuff(but they don't I scrapped it with a knife to check). I don't want to use this because it doesn't match the rest of the abs, but I don't have enough scrap to do the thighs and shins and will have to use this stuff. Any suggestions as to why it's not the same color and what to do? It's really hard to see in the pic but look at the abs sheet compared to the spare abs trimmings I have cut here. It looks like it has a cloudy whitish film over it that I can't do anything about.

i bought the bucket from arakyel and he installed the padding for me

I installed the cooling system in the bucket today. The setup includes 2 squirrel cage fans, 2 9-volt batteries, an on/off switch and variable speed control. The fans blow directly up to the lens to prevent fogging.

It's 3 inches wide. I'm going to cut the clasp off and cut the belt in half. I'm going to rivet each half to the abs front part of the belt and velcro the halves in the back just like you'd do with the abs pieces that come with the kit. My thermal det has metal clips that slide over the belt (as per specialist requirements) so no problem there. And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you attach the drop boxes to the ends of front of the belt where I'm going to attach the 2 halves of this belt to(so they aren't going to actually be attached to the leather but the ends of the front abs ammo box piece)? Exactly as toddo did it here: http://forum.specops501st.com/index.php?/topic/1509-resource-patent-leather-belt/

So I was cruising the forum for belt ideas since I don't have enough abs left over to make a belt and I came upon a thread which recommended buying a patent leather belt from ebay. I received it in the mail today I think it'll work well. It fits specialist standards because it is shiny and looks almost identical to the abs but unlike the abs, it is flexible and more comfortable to wear.

It feels pretty good. Then again I've never worn armor before so I'm not 100% sure how it's supposed to feel. I was leaving that point for the shim to meet the edge properly. But I guess it can be rounded instead of a 90 degree angle for the shim in the back then?

On advice from a member of my garrison, I was able to trim it down and I think the result is much better than before. It kind of looks the same in the front because I'm not wearing my suspenders in this pic so the ab is sagging, but it is better trust me.

I'm doing some last minute trimming on the thighs before I put the cover strips on. They are giving me a hell of a time. I think I have the high part of the thighs trimmed properly but the lower parts are hitting the cod piece and butt plate(I can't close my legs, I have to stand with them apart!). I'm not really sure how to trim the back without losing the shape of the thighs. Anyone have any recommendations? So should I just cut the entire thing like an inch shorter on top all the way around?

The only problem I'm having with it is they tend to move up and down when I walk, so the ab and kidney edges don't stay lined up. I'm thinking of maybe adding a strip of velcro to the overlap in addition to the elastic to keep them from shifting.

Here's a pic of the ab and kidney side gap (or lack thereof). I think this is what specialist calls for right?

I finally finished the snapping system on the ab/kidney and the snaps on the chest and back are drying. I also trimmed the chest and back sides.

Ok, finally got the snaps. I trimmed the ab and kidney plate sides and glued snaps inside. Am I allowed to have the ab plate slightly overlap the kidney plate so I don't have a gap; that way I keep specialist standards? I don't want to cut them short then add shims to close the gap when I can just leave it longer and overlap.

I ordered a doopydoos kit aswell. I'm going to be putting it together as an esb model to use for my upcoming snowtrooper. I can use that for this as well correct?

Thanks for the advice. Still no snaps in the mail so I figured I'd show you guys the hyperfirm e-11 I bought. I also have a leather holster and d-rings on order from the FISD.

All the talk about the thermal det/o2 canister in the other post has got me thinking. I wanted a better one than the crappy AM one that comes in halves, so I ordered a better one from TK4702 on the FISD. It is white and grey so I'll need to paint it black. What type of paint would you guys recommend that will stick well and not run or chip off over time. I see that Jim ordered the same one so maybe he can tell me how we went about painting it?

I forgot about that, so maybe I will need to remove some if I want to get a couple of fans in there.

I actually got lucky, they are placed just perfectly for my head. I don't think I'll need to move or remove anything. To get the bucket on though I need to turn it sideways or I can't fit it over my head.

I have foam padding in the one I bought from ARAKYEL, it is very comfortable so I will probably end up doing that for the AM one too.

I can't reuse them now anyway the glue ruined them. If I was to sell it/give it away I'd need to get new clips first.

Since I don't have my snaps yet and thus can't work on my armor I decided to throw the AM bucket together just for fun. It is huge and inaccurate but it'll make a good display piece I guess. On a side note, the head harness that comes with it SUCKS, I glued the clips for the headband inside like 5 times and they keep ripping out, even with abs cement.

You know I knew someone was going to mention that . There are 8 more to the left that you can't see .

My bucket arrived today, courtesy of ARAKYEL. He makes great helmets. It fits a lot better than the massive AM one. Unfortunately I ran out of snaps so until the new ones come in the mail I can't do any more work on the armor, damn.