T-Jay

Update 05: - minor optimizations and the undersuit It's been a while since the last update, because I was busy with new completion sets for the E-11 blaster. Now here are the latest pictures. As you can see in the last picture (taken with flashlight), due to the black interior and the balaclava, nobody will see anything when standing behind and watching straight into the bucket. So, every required part is now here with me and all preparation work has been done. The next update will show the full armor.

My DoopyDoo's kit arrived 10 months ago and didn't have this scope rail any more, but a lot of additional parts for blaster building can be found on Derrek's list. Sorry Brian, for hijacking this.

Hey Ian, somehow missed your thread until now. Good work so far, really like it. Waiting for your next update... (following)

Wow, I'm going crazy on the details of this inner bolt and your power cylinders reminded me of the days I did mine . Will you add wires to the front of the three central capacitors?

Wow Aaron, what a freaky idea!!! The structure of the carbon fibre really looks nice (and very individual). What a shame it needs to get painted black at some later point - or do you plan to leave it visible? I am very exited to see how this build will go on... You mentioned "mish-mash of extra parts" so will the other parts be made from metal or resin, plastic...?

That inner bolt is so damn cool.

Hey Brian, that folding stock looks really stable and your ejection port is still my favorite . Can’t wait to see that one finished. Incredible work also with the aluminium plating. What a nice idea! Compare some measurements from Andy’s power cylinders with your build - especially the dimensions of the end caps . Scope lens looks very nice.

Hey, good preparation done! If you continue like that (and you surely will), I'm absolutely confident you'll get a perfect result.

Wow nice find, Paul. Where is that picture from? The gaps at the knees look like they can only stand and walk - but not stairs Am I wrong, or is the trooper in the middle (of the three troopers in the foreground) just an unsharp mirrored copy from the trooper on the left side? Okay, the angle of the guns is different, but nearly all reflections on the suit are the same.

@ Andrew (Sly11): Indeed, Steve's magazines look really great. Can only recommend these. But it all depends on which of the 3 types of screen used guns you are heading for. As Germain recently pointed out here, the DoopyDoo's magazine (which I thought is incorrect) has been screen used! And for the Bapty version (from the Deserttroopers) you'll need a wooden block . As said: it all depends on the type of gun. @ Brian (Bulldog44): You are doing good work so far and I am still fascinated by the realistic appearance of the inner bolt (looks like two separate parts). Following...

Hey Ruben, you seem to be one of the precise guys . I really appreciate that and I'm happy to help in both ways, with my build thread and by answering questions. Glad to hear you fit the lenses and your summary is absolute correct! You can find my answers below in blue: -Apply plastic primer to all plastic and ABS parts. It was very liquid, so a quick light layer should be enough. Yes! -Apply silver coat. I guess it can be a little bit thick, in order to avoid exposing the ABS when sanding? Absolutely. -Apply hammered coat and paper dab it. Anthracite is a good color. Yep! Now, I guess you applied a thick layer of this? Not thin, not thick - but fully covering. Do you immediately dab it or you wait for some time? Immediately. Do you use a clean paper each time or do you continue using the same painted piece of paper? Use the same as long as it leaves a nice texture. By the way, I find the idea of paper dabbing (among others from you) amazing Paper dabbing comes from Felice -Now, tricky point. Update #14. You weather it with sandpaper and you apply the candle wax, only to the visible silver? to the sanded areas? in different spots like in the sight? Candle wax on all parts where you want the current color to stay visible: if you cover the dabbed paint, it will later look, like if just the last layer (black) got scratched off. If you cover the silver and remove the wax after the last paint layer, it will later look like a much deeper scratch or paint chip. -Apply satin matte black. Remove wax and go on with sandpaper, no risk of exposing the ABS? Sand very carefully and not all the way through your silver layer. What do you do with the Humbrol Metal Cote, dry-brush or retouching? This can be used for both and gives different results, depending on the technique. Hope this helped a bit . Feel free to ask your questions at any time, either here or in a private message (that might be better for some special details). Hope you'll have the same unexpected fun as I had Good luck!

Aargh! I recently found an old metal part from the UK, which looked somewhat correct, but didn't find this thread again to post pictures of it. Now I found the thread and checked the link to the Gary Kurtz Joiner Archive (it wasn't posted at my last visit) just to discover, mine doesn't look correct . Anyway, in case your build doesn't work for some reason, here is what I found for you Dan: ----------

@ Bernd (Bone) and Paul (troopermaster): Of course the different materials have different shades of white. These will never be the same, no matter what I do. And that's okay to me. The weathering on the hand guards worked fine and it's just a minor color difference. All fine with that, but not with the color of the boots: in electric light they look like some red was added to the white color when the leather got dyed. For a display in a room (with electric light) this looks a bit strange. So all I am trying is to remove this reddish tone (which is not visible on the pictures here).

@ Stefan (Turrican): Thanks for that trick . I only have shiny white wall color, but I will find a way to darken it a bit, so that it hopefully looks like the armor itself. Thanks again.

Update 04: - weathering boots and hand guards Those TK boots drove me crazy. Don't get me wrong, they look and feel good, but it is a real challenge to "adjust" the color with the armor . Tried the newspaper-method first and then added some dirty water. Some more newspaper weathering, but the colors didn't match. On the MEPD page I found a tutorial, how our "dirty guys" do weathering. So I tried a washing with water and acrylic black paint. Didn't work. If someone has an idea, please let me know. For weathering Karin's white rubber hand guards I used two layers of dirty water, which got partially washed off after they dried. This is not water resistant, but you'll need a damp rag to reduce or remove it. It looks quite good but has a slightly different appearance than the weathering on the armor, so I used this technique on a few other parts too. While doing this, I had some serious thoughts about a dirty Sandtrooper . Okay, the weathering chapter is completed for that display. Too much won't look good. Let me know what you think about it.

Okay, whoever did that weathering the first time will now get a 'thank you' and 'thumbs up' from me here . @ Stefan (Turrican): It simply fascinated me when I saw it on your armor the first time. It is really easy to do and looks interesting. Nice idea with these grease points. I remember you had mentioned them the same day, I just had forgotten...

Very good work on the ejection port . And with these woodblock carving tools you're going to rock this build!

Exactly what RainTrooper said. Just compare the helmet pictures and choose what you like more.

Hi Rob, here is the link to the instruction on how to build these biceps hooks.

Hi Germain, the newspaper-weathering comes from Stefan (Turrican). Originally I planned to leave my display shiny white - until the day I saw his weathered suit. That (and the earlier mentioned color deviations) changed my mind. Rubbing with a finger will not remove this and it is also water resistant, but can get removed with some mild plastic cleaner or with ultra-fine sandpaper. Yes, the shins are velcro closed. Paul suggested this after I had choosen the standard strapping. And I'm very happy with it.

Yes, the lenses got installed by TK-0000, because he simply has the smaller hands. If he returns from the detention block, I can ask him to come to Spain to assist you The truth is: this is a critical point of the blaster build, where your lenses could seriously get messed up! So take good care and work precise.

Hi Derrek, here are the pictures

Hi Ruben, thanks for your honest words! Much appreciated Regarding the scope lenses: These were a bit tricky to place. I carefully used super glue on the outer edges - but take care: less is more! And you don't want to see it after it dried. It did not react with the paint I used and worked fine.

Update 03: - weathering the armor People might wonder why an "idealized" armor should get any weathering at all. Well, some color deviations between armor, hand guards and boots forced me to do this. Weathering will hopefully conceal or at least reduce these. But first I concentrated on the armor itself. Decided to go for a weathering which I had seen on the TK from Stefan (Turrican). Old newspapers got soaked with water for a few minutes, then rubbed over the armor. This transferred some black ink and highlighted the edges. It was done on all parts, increasing from the helmet to the boots. It is water resistant, but can get removed with some mild plastic cleaner or with ultra-fine sandpaper. Enough words. Pictures: And the rear side: In case you haven't already seen it, here is the inside view with the standard strapping. I preferred this, because the original strapping has some visible screws in the torso. Unfortunately the camera's automatic mode changed while shooting. This caused some pictures to have warmer colors than others Any comments and critics are welcome. Please let me know, what you think of the weathering so far. Thanks in advance.

Wow, looks like a very good job on chroming these parts. And the eyes in the last picture look so real . Fantastic! Will you add some weathering later?