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[Yodamann]

Added some more templates to the set, the end of the belly plate is about 5 cm above the ol' belly button. Earlier in the thread, it was said that it should end about 3 cm lower. Is this just spacing, or is my torso oddly proportioned?

EDIT:

How about some pictures?


and with belly button reference

[Havelock]

Your plates look a bit bunched up. Ideally, you want about an inch between the collar and chest pieces, and the chest pieces and ab plate.  No more than half an inch for the diamond.  So if you space out the torso plates a bit using - literally - the rule of thumb, that should just about take care of it.

And everybody's torsos are different.  Some have long torsos, some have shorter.  You'll get the perfect size, vod.  Keep up the great work.

[Yodamann]

I reflattened the plates, and it looks like I'll be able to just cut with no problem... except for the collar plate. If I use the existing plate, I'll lose about 1 cm on each side of the neck. That shouldn't be a problem, right?




And I guess I'll have to sand the stripe off too before repainting.

EDIT:

I got the back plate template cut out too:

[Mi'ix]

Your plates could stand to come down maybe an inch or two. I think that is what is causing the bunching issue. My ab plates end just above my belly button.

Back plate looks ok size wize. You just have to be careful about how it sits around your shoulder joints. That's more of an issue with shaping that we can cover once you cut everything out.

[Yodamann]

Your plates could stand to come down maybe an inch or two. I think that is what is causing the bunching issue. My ab plates end just above my belly button.

So increase the spacing? Or move the whole set down?

[Kris Jasra]

Size bigger for height, size smaller for width, bland the two together to get something that fits your build. Space from where you first put the collar but then add an extra half cm to the gaps between armour would be my advice. With it already cut out - definitely only trim the width off not any height and see how it looks then. Remember to trim from both inside and outside of the chest plates or you'll end up with extra thin little prongs on the outside.

[Yodamann]

Size bigger for height, size smaller for width, bland the two together to get something that fits your build. Space from where you first put the collar but then add an extra half cm to the gaps between armour would be my advice. With it already cut out - definitely only trim the width off not any height and see how it looks then. Remember to trim from both inside and outside of the chest plates or you'll end up with extra thin little prongs on the outside.

If I'm reading your comment correctly, it looks like your concern is over insufficient sintra on the existing plates? I checked my new templates against what I already had cut out, and the only new ones that don't fit quite right are the collar and back plates. On the collar, it's a matter of the 1 cm on the inside of the collar, and I have enough scrap sintra to cut a new back and then the existing back becomes new scrap. As for the spacing advice, I added some more space, and here's the result:

[Kris Jasra]

They look like they'll be alright at that length providing you have a good size girth/sash and cod plate. But they still look too wide for your frame.

That is the pic that had me worried - template over plate that looks like you're planning to trim off a cm or so from the bottom of the collar plate.

[Yodamann]

They look like they'll be alright at that length providing you have a good size girth/sash and cod plate. But they still look too wide for your frame.

That is the pic that had me worried - template over plate that looks like you're planning to trim off a cm or so from the bottom of the collar plate.

So I should just trim the sides  and top of the collar plate, and then see where I am?

[Kris Jasra]

Aye width only. You do not want to take any height of any of those.

[Yodamann]

Here we go, I've got some new templates, and I think these might be the ones. But what do I know?

Anywho, here they are:



I added some length to the "prongs" on the collar, and I narrowed the 5'9" templates by about 10% while maintaining height. Hooray for online tools!

So now they reach the ol' BB and I can cross my arms. I guess I also need to trim the sides of the collar plate, but that can wait until I have chest/belly plates that fit.

[Echo Darklighter]

Tragically, the top of the collar (ie, the part against your neck) is now too low.

[Kris Jasra]

Aye, trim the outside edge of the collar to match the chest width and add half a cm to the inside edge of the collar plate and you have a winner.

[Yodamann]

Here we go, new collar plate, now with added interior area!


And just look at that fit!


If this is looking good, I think I can start trimming the actual plates tomorrow.

[Kris Jasra]

Yup. Looks good.

[Yodamann]

So today, I got to trimming. As my existing collar plate couldn't be trimmed, I re-purposed my existing back plate (also not trim worthy).

Here's what I've got now:


I'm thinking I'll use what are now the backs of the painted plates as the backs, as they got a few nicks on the from in the process of cutting them out.

Now for my gauntlets, I was thinking of putting some plates on them, kind of like this: http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=5332.msg516643#msg516643

I was wondering if I could use shoulder bell shapes as the extra plates, or if that was against the CRLs.

[Kris Jasra]

Shoulders must be shoulders only. Shoulders should not be gauntlets, knees, ab plates or anything else

[Yodamann]

I kinda figured that would be the answer about the shoulders, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Anywho, I got some more cutting done tonight:

Shoulders have been resized:


And I got the back plate cut out. I just need to sand the edges.


Plan for the weekend is to sand the backplate, and make a pattern for a flak vest.

On a somewhat related note, how are my existing leg plates/cod size-wise?

(reposting image for convenience)

[Kris Jasra]

Trim about half an inch of the bottom of the shins and drop them down and trim about the same from the bottom of the thighs and don't move them. That should give you enough room to fit your knees in. You may decide to trim a little more off the shins for better fit/comfort and to stop them dropping and clipping the knees - but that decision will be better made when the knees are in place.
Size of the cod looks fine

[Yodamann]

Tonight I flattened out my leg plates and marked out the areas to cut. I thought I would get some input from here before I cut, what with the finality of the rotary cutter and all.

So without further ado... pictures!


all the plates laid out. You can also see my work sandals in this one.


Shin one. I measured out 1.5cm from the bottom and marked the line with a pencil.


This one was more connect the dots, as curves are harder to measure off of.


Shin two. Not much to say here.


Thigh II. Once the other thigh is cut, I'll use it as a template so that the curves are the same across both plates. I was just eyeballing the last one, and so I didn't trust myself to get the shape identical without some help.


Is this enough of a cut?

[Kris Jasra]

That's about the amount I'd cut.

[Yodamann]

I've got some moderate progress to report! First of all, I'm done cutting down my old sintra plates! Man, do I wish I did this right the first time...

Anyway, let's do pictures now.



Thigs, shins and shin extras are cut down. I sanded down the cod because I want to repaint with some weathering in the stripe. I also sanded down the shin extras and cod extra for the same reason.



This is what I'm thinking of removing from the gauntlet. I used the advice given by Kavryn way back on page 2 as a guide.



Finally, my knees. I never got these attached last time, so I'm left wondering if they are an okay size?


One last question, what is the best way to attach the extra bits to the cod/shins? Bondo? a different putty? I'm pretty sure hot glue is right out, but aside from that, I have little to no idea what to do.

[Evaar'la Kal]

Knees look okay from this angle, but you might want to tape them on and stand up just to be sure.  As for the cod/shins, when I did my shins I just JB weld to stick down the flat pieces, and then used bondo to fill the 'cracks' along the sides.  Progress is looking good so far.

Also, I noticed that we are in the same clan territory!  Have you connected with our facebook group?

[Yodamann]

Thanks for the tip! I've liked the page, but I've not seen much about upcoming events.

Unrelated question:

Last summer, I bought a HSP helmet, and it won't quite fit over my head. I found this and plan to use it as a guide, but I have one question before I begin. If I put my helmet in the boiling water, will there be a residue left in the pot? I know resin isn't a good thing to breathe, so I'm pretty sure it's a bad thing to eat. Also, would the repeated heating/rapid cooling make the helmet brittle? My brother is a bit of a Titanic nut and mentioned that rapid cooling was essentially what sank the boat so I thought I'd ask here.

Thanks!

[Evaar'la Kal]

Hmm, for helmet related questions you'll probably get the most accurate answers asking in the helmet threads.  About residue though, you can always just bleach your pot after to get rid of anything nasty