Upgrade: Making a Better Thermal Detonator

Special thanks to KMan for keeping this resource on the Anovos FB group!

Something I did recently to my Anovos kit was make the thermal detonator more screen-accurate.

For those not in the know, the ANOVOS TD is slightly too long due to the gray tube being a little long and the white control panel being a little short compared to other armors. Here's the CRL info from the 501st for ANH stunt armor:

Thermal Detonator For 501st approval: (A.K.A. O2 canister) attaches to the center back of the belt. Detonator consists of an all grey cylinder, without silver stickers or silver paint. The cylinder is between 2” (50mm) and 2.68"(68mm) in diameter with white end caps on each end. The white control panel pad faces upwards, with the controls/round washer style detail closest to the right end cap. The total length is approximately 7.50" (190.5mm). The thermal detonator is attached via metal or metallic-appearing clips, approximately 1" (25mm) wide.

For level two certification (if applicable): Thermal detonator belt clips are positioned with little to no gap between the clips and the end caps.

As far as a more screen-accurate version goes, for those hoping for EIB or Centurion status in the 501st, this diagram depicts proper measurements for a TD (courtesy of UKSWrath on Whitearmor.net) (click to enlarge):

Screen-used prop reference
(posted by USKWrath on FISD (whitearmor.net))

Most important is the overall look of the TD; if there's too much gray showing, it will affect EIB and Centurion approval. Further, the screws will come into scrutiny as well, since the Anovos-supplied screws for the TD aren't screen accurate to those used in the original prop. Take my finished TD for example (this photo is from its original final assembly):

That's a lot of gray showing compared to the TD in the 501st CRL or the screen-used prop. Approvable? Yes, but only for Basic.

Edit: the main thing keeping the Anovos TDs from higher approval is actually the screws. There's more info on that later in this post.

The overall length for most Anovos TDs is about 7 3/4", whereas a more accurate TD would have an overall length of 7 1/4". That's a difference of half an inch, which might seem trivial but will be noticeable to those looking at approval pics for EIB or Centurion.

Note that, as USKWrath notes in his build, the Anovos-supplied TD control panel is slightly shorter than the ones used in screen-used props. They key is the overall look. Like I mentioned above, as long as there's not too much grey showing, the small discrepancy won't affect your eligibility for EIB or Centurion.

Thankfully, cutting half an inch off the tube is trivial, whether you're building the TD for the first time or rebuilding it like I did. For the former, you can simply cut all the extra off of one end. In my case, I had to make two cuts, but with a Dremel tool it wasn't terribly hard.

I first started by disassembling my TD of all parts except the control panel, which I glued on with E6000 in the original build and didn't want to move, since I had sanded the gray tube underneath it for better adhesion.

Next, I measured 1/2" form either side of the control panel to mark where the edge of each tube cap would need to rest. Then, I put the tube cap back on each end and marked that. The space between that mark and the 1/2' mark was the difference I'd have to remove from each end in order to have the cap rest at the correct spot.

After measuring the difference, I measured the same distance from the end of the tube, and then wrapped scotch tape evenly around the circumference of the tube's end. After that, I simply cut along the edge of the tape with the Dremel tool until I had cut around the tube. I then duplicated the process for the other end of the tube.

The screws:
As I mentioned earlier, the screws supplied form Anovos aren't screen accurate for the TD but, ironically, the ones they use to construct the helmet are. Since I had long since replaced my helmet screws with more screen-accurate screws, I had saved these old bucket screws for this project.

First, I measured out where the new screw holes would be for the TD belt clips but putting the end caps back on and penciling where the holes would be with the clips flush against the tube in the correct location. Thankfully, the clips would cover the old screw holes, making those a moot issue once I did a little deburring with a knife to make them more level with the rest of the tube.

However, since I still plan to use my TD as storage, I needed to shorten their length. So I used the cutting disk on the Dremel to do that while holding the screws with needle nose pliers.

Once that was done I used a piece of scrap foam and some masking tape to set the screws into, and then painted the screw heads the correct color with Testor gloss black paint.

While the paint was drying I carefully drilled the new screw holes into the gray tube using a very small pilot hole, then a slightly large bit to match the screws' diameter. Once the paint was ready, I removed the end caps and carefully bolted the clips onto the tube with the new screws and washers and carefully re-touched the paint on the screw heads.

I also sanded down the right edge of the tube to make removing and replacing the cap easier for storage. The cut-down bolts will make it easier to add and remove items with less chance of snagging, but I might spring for some crown bolts in the future to cover the ends of the threads.

Sure enough, the detonator is now about 7 1/4" long :)

Compare the before and after shots, and then the CRL reference picture:

Before

After

CRL Reference

The Anovos TD still shows more grey than the reference picture because the control panel is shorter than the screen-used prop, but it's now showing far less gray and is the proper length. FISD won't make Anovos troopers buy new control panels as this is a minor issue and is fine even for Centurion approval.

My next blog entry was going to be on the TK Talkie v3, but first I'll probably be covering my ever-cracking chest plate, and how some troopers reinforce problem areas to add strength and reduce the possibility of cracking, especially with thinner armor like the Anovos suit. Until next time...