TKSnake's ANOVOS TK Armor Build Blog: These are your first steps...

I'm a novice at cosplay, especially cosplay that involves any sort of armor like this. So I'm going to into this is a neophyte. The only knowledge I have with these kits is watching the YouTube videos from Tested. I've also been lurking on some of the builder forums like a whitearmor.net. As a dad who has two small boys that need to be in bed by 10 p.m. with only an hour or two each night to spend working on this kit, this is the perfect project for me.

There are plenty of unboxing videos already online for the ANOVOS. Anybody to make an unboxing video, but not many people want to document the assembly of the ANOVOS, kit. I guess I will be that rookie fool then. I might get some flack for my technique or for making rookie mistakes, but I wanted to create a log of this build for anyone else out there who feels overwhelmed by this project :P (what have a got myself into?!?)

This is a picture of my assembly area, otherwise known as my garage. The tools you see here are my initial set of tools, although I will probably get more clamps in order to glue more pieces together simultaneously and accelerate the build process.

The instructions say to use CA glue, but folks on whitearmor.net and other places swear by E6000 due to its sturdiness, easy clean-up, and ability to be unbonded should alterations need to happen. However, it can take up to 24 hours to cure, so I’ll need more clamps to reduce waiting between glue jobs for the arm and leg pieces especially.

After unboxing, I have all these bags with a bunch of different pieces in then. Obviously I have the instructions from ANOVOS, so I'm not completely lost.

The helmet itself is already completely constructed. However, as many people as noted online, the construction looks a little bit rushed. There's still some molding around the eyes. When I get a little bit more confident with my skills on some of the other pieces, I'm probably going to go back to the helmet and clean it up a bit.

The other issue I have with the helmet is a hard hat system on the interior. I have to wear glasses or contact lenses, but when I have my glasses on, the system pushes my face towards the front of the helmet, often knocking my glasses off of my nose. In addition, the hook and loop tape likes to become un-adhered from the plastic straps. It will require a bit of correction before I can wear this comfortably. However, everything else looks quite solid and I did not end up with a warped helmet like some people have.

Ultimately, you have to decide where you want to start with these kits. Because I'm a novice, I think instead of starting with the torso pieces, I'm going to cut my figurative teeth working on the arms and legs first. Unlike the guys on tested.com, instead of using a pneumatic reciprocating saw, I'm going to use my trusty old Dremel tool with a new mandrel. I begin by cutting out the hand guards and the shoulder bells: pieces 10, 11, 32, and 33.

The first cut is a little rough but not bad: the next cuts go smoothly.

For the inside curve of the shoulder armor, I do a wide cut to break it out of the mold, so I can clean it up afterwards using inward relief cuts and a steady hand to cut out excess plastic in sections.

The hand guards come out of their molds with little fuss. After cutting, I switch to a 150 grit sanding lug for rough clean-up before final edge sanding by hand. Hand sanding on straight edges is most easily done with a sanding block, which can even be used on the inside curves. Also, an old trick from plastic model building is to scrape the edge of the razor knife over the edge to knock off any flashing from the cutting.