Great Lakes Garrison & Base

I have been scouring the forums here and online looking for how to fit armor to ones body. By that I mean, I have am 5'8" and about 180lbs. I have seen numerous posts and videos on how to put the pieces together but nothing on how the pieces should sit on my body or fit.

I have an FX set that I thought initially I would have to do a ton of trimming down. Apparently, I am more stocky than when I first bought it.
The forearms are very tight and frankly a little oval in shape. I am I do not know how to fit them to me if they are too long or if I have to leave them to get the proper armor detail. They look the hardest to modify.

The next piece that I thought would be fairly easy to start putting together would be the biceps. These seem to fit better than I remember originally when I first opened the box. Again, the concern i have is the length on my bicep and how tight they should fit to the bicep. If I have to shorten them, which side to I remove material from? what is best method to do so? Cutting? Scoring? dremmel?

After looking at the biceps, I thought the calves/shins would be next easiest. These pieces seem to be a little long because they dig into the bottom of my knee cap. I Another issue that might be contributing to the length issue is the shape of these as well. The edges on each side of the clam shell do not seem to follow the same curvature. I read online where people have used boiling water to soften the abs to shape it. I thought if I taped the 2 halves together under stress with the parts lining up how i want, then the heat would allow the parts to soften and better conform, but then I am not sure how they would soften.

I really want to do this on my own, but I have a lot of questions on sizing and fitting it to my body. If anyone can link me to a good reference material or contact me through the forum to meet up for coffee in the northern oakland county in the Detroit area, i have a lot of questions and really would like to try to get this done before Halloween.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

your best bet is to go to FISD www.whitearmor.net and read the FAQ section. There's a lot of good info there.

The FX suit can look ok with some modifications, but there's talk that the helmet will no longer be approved for new applicants.

I have been looking all over the whitearmor.net and have found how to fit it around my arms and legs, but not how to fit it lengthwise.

I didn't mention above, I am having trouble finding info on how to fit the shin/calf piece around the boots. If someone knows where specifically in whitearmor where this info is, I would appreciate the link. I have been looking and can't seem to find it. I have done site searches on sizing, fitting, shaping, and have not found anything. I have even been looking on google and youtube.

Thanks,
Mike

The size of the shin around the boot varies from person to person. Your best bet is to have both your boots and shin plates. Put on the boots and mark the shin plates where they need to be cut. This is what I did as I made the mistake of getting the boots after measuring around my ankle (I had to modify my shins with a longer hook at the ankle to accommodate). Always remember to Measure twice and cut once!! Once you cut there is not going back Hope this helps. Also try looking at some of the build threads on whitearmor.net to see what others have done.

@brewski: did you have to make the cuts so that the shin pieces would sit lower so as not to dig into your knee cap? i don't think I have the issue of making the shins sized smaller around my calf, I am having issue at the lower end where it meets the boot.

I will try to take some pictures to highlight my issue as it is 2 fold.
1.) The shin/calf armor is too long from where it rests on my boots to my knee cap. Simple walking is relatively painful as the ABS digs into the bottom of my knee cap. What is best way to fix this issue?
a. if i trim the bottom, will this give me relief at the top or do I lose the right look of the armor?
any suggestions on how to trim the bottom?
b. do I shim the back of the shin/calf armor so it is wider to sit further down on boot?
2.) With issue #1 above, how do get the right look to cover the boots?
3.) the 2 halves do not sit line to line very well. I have thought about using hot water to better shape the 2 parts to sit line to line better. I was thinking of taping them together the way I want them to sit. This would leave a lot of residual stress in the 2 halves taped together. Then dipping the parts in the hot water, the plastic would soften and relieve the stresses. Has anyone else had to do this?

Again, I will post pics later tonight.

Its possible you just need to dremel off some of the lip where it is digging into your knee. But post some pics before you do that. Last thing you wanna do is cut off something you need. The best way to size your armor is based on look. It has to look right first. Then work on comfort. TK armor is not the most comfortable, but it shouldn't be painful.

mjrose927 wrote:@brewski: did you have to make the cuts so that the shin pieces would sit lower so as not to dig into your knee cap? i don't think I have the issue of making the shins sized smaller around my calf, I am having issue at the lower end where it meets the boot.

My armor was actually put together by someone else. I was having this same issue. The measurements that I first made were without a boot on. When I got my armor, already assembled, I had to get creative to get it over the boot. So what I did was extending my lower straps on the back of the calf, which then in turn let the opened up the bottom a little more for the boot to slip in. I am still tinkering with my armor even today, making adjustments so that it fits better.