rapstertee

Apologies for the lack of progress. last few months have been all work and no play. But I'll be back to it soon .

Did a little weathering on the lid and added the Hovi mics.

I took a quite blunt knife ot the blue stripe, carefully adding random scratches to it. I looked at a number of different TKC lids, and wanted to go quite subtle than some I've seen, but more than a minimally weathered look. I'm quite happy with this at this degree of scratching. ALso painted the rear traps grey, with only the vent lines to go on there to complete the painted detailing.

Ok, no pics on the dremel polishing, s there's very little to see, but it is a bit glossier. I've painted the blue stripe today - The blue is a little lighter than these pics show. Whereas in the past, I used liquid latex to mask off the scratches, I thought I'd do it manually this time and scrape off the paint where it seems needed. The lightest pic was taken with added exposure to try and show the true colour of the blue. I'd say it almost exactly matches the tube stripes.

Thanks. I used to do it that way with Photobucket but it's not an option for me now. I'll think of another way. Cheers!

Okay, this is looking nicer. Despite the slight off-white colour of the aBS paste, which no amount of sandinng will change, it's very smooth and flush. This is after 3 grades of sandpaper and buffed with a soft cloth.

Did a second line of filling and sanding on the rear seam tonight. The ABS paste is a little off-white, and I think I need to do a third before I put the polishing wheel on the dremel, but it's almost invisible. Will update tomorrow to show y'all where we are.

Ok, bulk update: Fitted rubber edges to chest, ab/cod and back. Used ABS & Acetome mix to fill the rear seam (shown unsanded, working on that now) and used millput and spray paint for the ab mods. If I'd realised how good the ABS paste method is, I would've used that and saved myself some hassle with painting. However, I'm sanding as much of the white paint off to minimise the disparity in shades of white, and I'll be painting the blue stripe over the centre ab buttons anyway. Weathering shouuld help disguise any discrepancies.

Okay, I've had my delivery of rubber edge trim (Thanks to Mark aka @sskunkyat CfO for this), and I want to start putting it on the torso parts - Looking at other builds, I guess I need to trim off the return edges before adding the trim? Can anyone confirm please, before I start cutting?

I'm very grateful to @gmrhodes13 for this, as it opens up the TKC and Shock trooper builds for many more people. As the CRL is usually regarded as law, this helps me greatly. Thanks guys.

Yes, you're right. Thankfully the CRL doesn't insist on overlaps any more.

Really? That's good to know, thanks. I'll check I've got he latest CRL, but looking at my own kit, there's nothing there to overlap with. Might have to go the cover strip route. Cheers!

I'd like to tackle the arms and legs next. While Ive built many ANH stunt kits using the cover strip method, I'd like to ask some advice form those of you who have built using the overlap method. Simply - where do I start? My thighs are in two parts and they're still going to need strips at the front and back. Are there any reference pics I can look at to get my head around it?7 EDIT: a photo of the front of my thigh.

Latest on the ab buttons. I've inserted the block and new buttons into the existing area, and epoxied at the back to keep it (very) firmly in place. my plan now is to do some more filling and smoothing, then a very localised coat of white gloss over the 5 buttons to get it to blend in, hopefully seamlessly. As for the central block, I'll do a wee bit of filling in the thin gaps, then the blue stripe should cover all of that area anyway.

Okay, so today, I looked at adding the fifth ab button, even though it's not mandatory for level 2 clearance. Or so I believe - the CRL doesnt mention that the main ab plate is inverted, and only mentions the fifth button under Level 3 criteria. I cut out five ABS strips, glued them together into a block, and added five large brass drawing pins for the buttons, glued in place by epoxy glue. In the pics below, you can see the size and shape of it next to the existing 4 buttons. I'm going to cut out the four, and insert the new block with five, then add some filler (most probably 'porcelain white' Milliput) , sand it and see how it looks. The weathering and scorch marks will be handy to hide a multitude of minor sins...