The instructions and 501st CRLs call for a snap in the upper right of the ab plate. I followed UKSWrath's blog for more details. Marked the hole, double-checked the measurements, drilled, and tapped the rivet, male end towards the inside (to snap to the strap). Easy.
I needed to start getting the torso plate ready for strapping. Now, if you're using the ANAOVOS instructions, you'd just toss some H&L tape into the left side of the torso and call it a day for that side. But as it is, I (eventually) want to try for Centurion some day (I'll probably have to settle for EIB for the moment due to budgetary concerns, and not wanting to replace the belt just yet). This means that you need three MORE rivets on the ab plate's left side to correspond with the three on the kidney plate. At least ANOVOS gave me PLENTY of spare split rivets :D
Now, where you measure from top to bottom is debatable. UKSWrath does it one way, but since I started out with the kidney plate and am a noob to this, I did it another way. Fortunately, it doesn't matter so long as the rivets or 10cm from the edge of the plate and evenly spaced. This is because the belt will cover up the bottom rivets anyhow. The 501st will accept them in either configuration (if that's your goal).
So instead of having to re-do the kidney plate rivets out of OCD, I kept them as-is and drilled the holes in the ab plate to match. I first lined up the kidney plate, made marks for approximation, verified the measurements on the ab plate with a rule, and drilled.
Now it was time for the groin snaps. Wait... the split rivet is supposed to go in the cod plate, NOT the snaps? ... well f**k.
Yeah, I messed up. Thankfully, snaps are easy to remove with some pliers and "gentle persuasion" (and I have spare #6 snaps from my snap anvil set), but the holes don't exactly disappear with an eraser. And even if I keep one of the existing holes, the other has to go bye-bye. I'll have to make some ABS paste.
Until then, I can get the snaps in the proper piece - the "posterior" (butt) plate. Easy peasy. I drilled a hole about 20mm from the edge of center, then another hole 20mm from that, to match the strap supplied by ANOVOS. Then I set my snaps. I ended up using the snaps that came with my snap anvil as they worked better and match the snaps on the strap.
At least the snaps are in the right place now. In my butt... plate.
Now for the shoulder strap plates. During the armor party, the sqaddies advised us that these straps just love to snap in half lengthwise while trooping, and advised us to reinforce them with scrap ABS on the underside. That being said, I had plenty of scrap ABS, but wanted to match the shape of the straps as much as possible. I tried a heat gun at my office but encountered some "baconing" (where the edges of the pieces start to look like cooked bacon). So I had them take a hot water bath.l
This was challenging for me as a novice builder, but worked out as I was subjecting scrap ABS to the hot water bath as opposed to "real" pieces. What I did was soak the scrap in boiling water for 30-40 seconds, removed the piece, and formed the curve to the room-temperature shoulder straps by hand using my Gorilla Grip gloves. I further used the old rolling pin to remove baconing and any other warp. Each scrap required a few passes. I found it's better to be slow and methodical than to try to rush, lest you ruin the piece and have to start over.
Once the pieces were finished being curved, I used the Dremel sanding drum and sanding block to remove an leftover warping, then glued the pieces under the straps with several clamps and plenty of E-6000.
Later in the evening I went to Home Depot and picked up some industrial acetone for about $8, to start making ABS paste.
Only one of these items is for human consumption.
In a nutshell, here's how you make ABS paste:
Get a glass jar. Add some cut some scrap (make sure there's no clear protective film first; it won't dissolve in the acetone), add acetone until pieces are slightly covered, and then wait a few hours, mixing occasionally with a metal or wood stirrer. Once applied, it dries pretty fast. One can probably work with it in a few hours after you put it on, although I've been waiting 12+ hours due to real life.
But while that was setting up, I decided to work on another part of the ab plate - the snaps for the belt. Using a mix of the instructions from ANOVOS and UKSWrath's guide, I put my marks at an ideal height exactly 170mm from center in each direction (340mm or 34cm total from snap to snap) at a height determined by using a clamped straight edge as a guide line.
I also placed the belt over the plate as I wore it to ensure the snaps would line up.
After triple-checking, I drilled the holes and set the snaps. Now, getting the belt onto and off of these snaps is a pain - it's like the crimped the snaps on the belt stiffer than those on the ab plate straps (which use the same size snaps). I applied a very very slight amount of WD40 to the male snaps on the ab plate to help hasten them, which seemed to help a bit. When donning the armor, you'll probably want to fasten these snaps BEFORE putting the armor on, and unfasten AFTER you take the armor off, to avoid damaging the plate. But yes, the belt fit just fine with the measurements as described above.
Now that the ABS paste was set up, it was time to cover the one hole in the cod piece. I applied paste to the hold and both sides of the plate, using a scrap ABS piece as a scraper to control lumping.
Time to let that set.
Working with the belt, I found it flaccid, to say the least. So I took the advice of other ANOVOS builders (beyond replacing the cloth part of the belt outright) by gluing the ABS plate to the belt, and applying clamps and magnets.
Since the top is the part from which the cloth will hang, I clamped the top foremost, and used magnets elsewhere. That should help stiffen up the belt for now, and allow me to replace the cloth with a Kittle belt in the future. This is because, according to UKSWrath, the stock ANOVOS belt won't fly for Centurion status, even modified (I still need to remove or cover up some of the holster rivets for Stunt cert). But I don't have $40 to spend just on a belt at the moment, so that will have to wait until later. For now, this mod will get the job done for at least Elite certification (once I take care of those rivets).
That's it for now. I was able to get started on sanding the ABS paste on the cod, but because the snap had left a circular score ring, I had to sand down again and apply a second coat (no pictures). Next session I'll probably be finishing up that area and finally getting the strap and split rivet in place. once that's done, I can apply the left and right straps for the ab and kidney plates, and then the butt, chest, and back plates, then the limbs, and then... close to done? We'll see.
Until then...
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