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[mporter]

I appreciate the feedback.
I'll take a look at the plate tonight and see where the bottom of the plate lands on my belly.  I do think that I could take it up a bit.
I was messengering Ronan this morning and we came to the conclusion that I may have to take another look at my girth belt.  (A proposition that I don't look forward to, despite the fact that I'm not all that pleased with the color I was able to get with the fabric die I had available. Maybe I'll rebuild it with parachute chord, that could look cool. Just a thought.)
Right now, my girth belt is something like 5" wide, and could probably go 6" or even 7" in width, considering how much body I have to cover.
I was hoping to get this thing wearable by Halloween, but I really don't want to screw it up, and then have to spend time and material rebuilding.  So we'll continue taking it slow.
I've been building for well over a year now, what's a couple of more weeks, Right?

[Itolia Ulik'vhett]

I think that I'm going to have a sit down with one of our Ruus'alors to talk about the belly plate. If I cut it off as short as the forums tell me to, i'd seriously have 4" of exposed vest between the plate and my girth belt. As it is right now, I have 1.5".
I'm telling you. I have a very long trunk. It's just one of those body things that does not conform to standard proportions.

I also have a long torso.  I added to the top and bottom of the chest plates (above and below the diamond cutout) to adjust the chest plate sizing.

[mporter]

I think that I have figured out what to do about my belt. I'm going to follow the advice of Kris Jasra and make a triple layer girth belt. Wide leather covered by the corded belt that I made covered by the ammo belt. THIS way I can cut a few inches off of my belly plate and still be in proportion without having a vast area of exposed vest.  It works in my head, hopefully it will work in real life.

[mporter]

While I was reworking my collar and belly plates, I had an idea for how to do ammo pouches without breaking my limited bank.
I took nylon tactical pouches, and then added some armor plates so that they don’t look so earthy.
Thoughts?

[Havelock]

Glad to see you're making some progress, vod.  And the ammo pouches look pretty cool.  Are you going to armor up the bottom of them, too, so they match?  How's it coming with your triple-layer girth-belt for your long torso setup?

[mporter]

Thanks Vod.
It's funny that you should mention that, I was looking at the pictures last night and was thinking that I could put a small plate on the bottom to hide the nylon there as well.

The triple belt is still in the works. I've tried a couple of things and just didn't like the outcome.

[mporter]

Pre-Pre-Pre App Pics.
There are a few things I know that I need to add.
A balaclava to help hide my neck.
Some hoses on my right gauntlet.
Some visible damage to my flight suit and kama.
I also need to cover my boot laces.

In the pics, I can see that I have an alignment problem between my collar and chest plates.  It's probably just some bends in the plates, and an adjustment to my vest.  The plates are perfectly aligned when I'm not wearing it or if I raise my shoulders.  So any advice would be welcome.

Anyway. there you go.  Please let me know what else I need to fix/change.

[Havelock]

It looks as if the spacing between your collar/chest plates and your chest/ab plate don't match.  That may simply be the curve of your body and an artifact of the camera.  I was going to say that your flight suit legs looked a bit baggy...then realized it was the kama making it appear that way.     It appears that your left knee overlaps with your left shin in the face-on picture; in the left-facing photo it appears to be ok.  Not sure what's causing that, but you might want to investigate.  *Shrug*

Beyond that, and the points you've already listed, and getting your girth-belt wider, I think you're good, vod.

[mporter]

Thanks Vod.
Our clan has an armor party on saturday. I'll meet with one of the smart OM'S there and try ro figure out the chest alignment problems.

[Kris Jasra]

Alignment looks to be a shaping issue at the top of the chest plates - they're poking away from the body a little - as is the very top of the ab plate.
Flightsuit sleeves look a little baggy in the arms.
Girth/sash also wants to go over the kama - if it's holding the kama up then I highly suggest getting a third belt and relegate one to being a hidden kama support belt.
Looking good though, not much more to do

[mporter]

Thank you Kris.
I'll work on it.

[mporter]

Updated Pre-Pre App Pics.
These pics were taken by our Ruus'alor and afterward gave me a couple of things to change. (Damage to the flight suit & sliming down my sleeves).
I've fixed those things and will have new pre-app pics in a week or so.
But here's where I'm at (or was at a week ago)

[Kris Jasra]

The backplate needs more forming. It's pulling away from your back a fair bit at the bottom and behind the shoulders. If you press the bottom in so that its flush to you you'll likely find the shoulders are nowhere near you - should show how much more curve it needs to sit flat.
The ab plate also looks rather long. If you're able to pull the girth up a little (I don't know how far over the cod it is sitting) and trim a little of the bottom of the ab it may bring it back into proportion.

[mporter]

Part of the back plate problem is the hoses that goes behind it. I'll get it figured out.
As for the ab plate... frustration is all I have on that front.

[mporter]

Right now, I have my gauntlet hoses going behind my back plate.  I don't like it. It pulls my back plate away from my shoulder, it doesn't look clean, and it feels like a rock is sitting in the middle of my back.

While I was at Salt Lake Comic Con FanX a week or so ago, one of our OM's gave me a great idea. To hook the hoses to a greeble on the outside of the plate.
It took me a week to build up the guts to cut into my beautiful plate. But the ports are in.




I have some ideas on how the greeble should look. I'll build it in the next few days and post the pics.

Ugh! This is nerve wracking!  May the force have mercy on my soul if I screw up this back plate.

[mporter]

Update on my backplate hose ports.


Just a start mind you.

[mporter]

Moving forward after 2 days of sanding.


I know that you can't see it, but there is a shroud under all of that tape.

[Havelock]

Cool.  Looking forward to seeing the hoses attached and you kitted back up.  I think you've got a great solution for your hoses.

[mporter]

I still have another 2 hours of sanding to do before I'll be happy with this hose port install.



But I like the way it looks so far.

[mporter]

Back plate is finished. The paint is still a bit fresh, so I'll attach the hoses tomorrow.

[Havelock]

Looking forward to seeing this, vod!