Tee-Bowls

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I wish! I am making progress so that's a good thing. I'll be making more progress tonight but I figured I'd post what I've done recently. I'm finally moving on to the lower limbs. The shins have already been trimmed ahead of time so it was a matter of sanding and gluing/added velcro. Here they are glued on the outside. I have them overlapping outside over inner. I also have white velrco on the inner part of the shins so I can put them on/take them off. Then came my worst nightmare. The THIGHS. I've had bad luck with my thighs, in fact the thighs are a major part of why my ANH Stunt armor wasn't approved. So its now or never. I set them out to work on sizing and have everything labeled. I then decided to take from the bottom of the thighs so that I wouldn't lose the width of the thigh. (I'm 5'4 so I needed to take quite a bit off). I took off a little more than 2 inches of plastic off the bottom of the thighs. I used a compass tool to keep/trace the edges so I could try to keep the same lines. I lined up the tops of the front of the thighs then tried to trace and create the swoop for the back of the thighs. Here are all the thigh pieces together. I'll be working on fitting and gluing soon. Finally the last major bit of trimming was finished and with it the last large scrap pile! I'm waiting on a new longer belt kit from Darren/JAFO to clear customs and I should be painting a large portion of this armor soon. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. My plan is to try to get it finished before it starts to reach triple digits this summer and I won't be able to paint. Expect another update very soon!

So did a lot of small things this break, however I did get a lot of work on the hand-plates and forearms! First step was to attach the rail greeblies in the center indentation. It was then time to grind down the clip greeblies. I sanded them down and used my heat gun to get the correct shape ( a hammer worked well for shaping). Once the right shape was achieved the greeblies were glued down. I also added Velcro to the inside of the forearms (not pictured). Added the velrco to the hand-plates so they attached to the gloves. Of course I had to try everything on with gaskets. I also started working on the biceps. Up first was drilling out the pill holes. I hope to keep making progress before it gets too hot to paint in the garage. Look for much more in the next update.

So a small update incoming. I got back to work on the butt plate snaps. I cut 3 inch nylon straps to connect the pieces. The snaps are glued inside the ab section. Here it is hanging down. I did try to heat bend/flatten the piece to fit better. Here are some pictures of me trying the torso part on so far. I still need to do the TD and cut /heat bend the yoke to fit better. I'm not too happy with the want the butt plate is hanging so I'm going to be add more place for a sturdier connection. I know things will fit better with the gaskets and undersuit on too but I couldn't resist. when working on a project for so long it feels good when things start to come together. I'll keep working. Plan for a large update or several small ones in the next few weeks. Next week is Spring Break and I'll be home from work and hope to have more finished.

One more time lol. How does it Look now? The black tape is closer to the clip now and I think I've straightened it out now. Here is a photo I took (Before i adjusted for the picture above so go off that one) and compared to the references you've made. I hope I'm getting closer with this. I knew it was going to be a hassle and really appreciate the feedback and help! I also got back to work on other armor parts today. Got the cod attached. I did try it on to see how it fit. I started out working on the butt plate as well. The trim lines to make everything a little bit more even. I then tried to add the ANOVOS cutouts. I started to add the snaps for the belt connection and for the ab plate connection. I feel like things are getting accomplished and I'll be able to get even more finished soon!

From the looks of it I need to add more of the Matte Black which is a lot easier than trying to remove it!! Is this a better line? It'll be off the inner portion of the tape. (Ignore the very bottom it curved weird for some reason) I figured it would be best to wait to add the remaining paint until after I have a solid line down. I'll be moving onto other parts in the mean time.

Thank you! I'm going to use a Matte Clear coat when it's dry so expect pictures of that soon! Thank you for the warning about the Matte picking up marks. I'll be extra careful. So last night I received my cans of Rustoleum Matte Black (I forgot to take a picture of the can) and decided it was time to add the black stripe to the Executioner Helmet. Here is some of the pre-paint tape job. The Back of the helmet. The Front of the helmet. I used Electrical Tape so that I could try to mirror the curve as best as I could. I also used some plastic bags to help keep everything covered. After sanding and setting up it was time for some paint! After the first few coats of paint! Finally left it to dry over night. I'll be checking on it later tonight. Then it'll be clear coat time! It feels great to see some actual progress! It feels like it's more worth it! More updates coming along soon!

Thanks guys! Physical Therapy takes up a lot of my time nowadays (Plus my 25th birthday last Thursday), but I was able to get some work done the past few nights. First off my wife decided to get me a little "Inspiration" for completing my build and gave me this awesome Sideshow Collectible First Order Stormtrooper. And while I started out with a normal pose. However I couldn't help myself and finally decided on this. Beyond that it's finally getting warm enough over night to paint some items so I thought I would try painting my Executioner Helmet. I tried over the summer and it was too hot and then winter hit and it was too cold. Originally I used Montana Gold Shock white. I had already given this helmet a primer coating with Montana Gold primer and 2 coats of the shock white over the summer. This second attempt was to see if it would work out better in cooler weather. I'm not sure if it can be seen in the pictures but the paint left a "fuzzy" texture on the helmet that needed to be sanded off. I then went to my normal rattle can paint, Rustoleum Primer/Paint in Gloss white and the difference is night and day. It looks much better now in my opinion. Now the garage I was/will be using to paint does not have the best light sources. I'll be taking better photos later on. One question for the Executioner helmet. Is it a matte black, or combination of matte/glossy. Like If I put a clear coat over everything do I need to tape off the matte or is it alright to cover it all. I can't remember . At any rate I'm going to start working on other pieces as well. I saw the information about the new CRL and I'm going to need to figure out if my ab boxes and such need to be changed.

Well the finish line was pushed back further than I expected. Not long after this post I fell down the stairs at work and had to spend 3 months in a knee immobilizer and on crutches/in a wheelchair. I'm in physical therapy and now able to work on my armor again so I'm chomping at the bit to get finished. Since I cant work on the thighs and legs I figured it was time to go back and work on the cod and ab sections. I trimmed and sanded down the cod piece to where I felt it was close. Then came working on strapping to attach the cod to the ab sections. It was at this point I remembered I had to melt the nylon around the edges before the cut piece unraveled and became useless. Now before for my ab sections I had magnets installed, and these weak magnets ended up snapping and falling out. Which was a blessing in disguise because I did not like the weird gap they created. So instead I went with white industrial strength velcro. Now everything sits more flush. In this photo you can still see some of the damage left by the magnets. I forgot to take a picture of the attached snaps to the cod. I'll be working on getting the cod and butt plate attached and ready soon. I've been bitten by the armor bug because I've been stuck in a bed all this time and I've had time to watch all things Star Wars. I've ordered a WTF set of First Order Snowtrooper armor and joined Blizzard Force, and I've got all of Sean Fields amazing Shoretrooper and Tank Trooper files so I'll be 3D Printing those. First up to finish are these two armors. I'll get done with all of these projects eventually!

Congrats on finishing! It looks amazing!

So last night was a semi productive night. My gaskets are stuck in customs so I'm not going to be able to I finished sanding and gluing the spats. All they need is the clip greeblie and a way to keep it fasten closed. Then came the shins. I have such a fear of the leg parts because it's what ruined my ANH build. I was so worried about messing them up i had already cute them after i sized them incorrectly. I was still in the ANH mindset and thought the shins connect in the front and the back when they instead connect on the sides. However I think it still turned out alright. I took 1 1/2 inches off the tops of the shin pieces. They miraculously came out the way I wanted them too after I realized my mistake. Right now i just have them taped together. I'm still on the fence about the curve vs not curve. The Front of the shins. The Right shin. The Back of the shins. The left side of the shins. The inner sections. The Front of the shins without my legs in them. The back on the shins minus my legs. I'm much happier with how these shins fit. I know I'll have the gaskets and knee plates so I'm much more confident in finishing them off. I can actually walk around with them on. I just hope I didn't trim too much off. I'll be moving onto the thighs ad hopefully finished with sizing and trimming very soon. I can see the finish line. I just need to keep pushing!

So this weekend was spent finishing off the ab section. I'm making large amounts of progress and I should be able to finish up soon. Here is the filled ab section. I had to build false boxes to fill in the gaps, and then used Epoxy Putty to fill in the remaining spaces. I had to create a separate back plate to fill in the large gap across the back I had. On this back plate I glued magnets to help with taking the abs on and off. A full picture of the ab section. Still needs sanding and painting but progress is progress at this point. Up next are the legs!

Time for another small update! Over the past week I purchased a First Order Pauldron from heartstopper85 via Diversity Props and received it on Saturday. I was on the fence about getting it but I saw it and knew I had to jump on it! The Pauldron. It has magnets already installed but they aren't the most powerful so I might switch them out. I also decided I wanted a better connection for my lenses so I thought I would go the Chicago screw route. I'm not using the lenses that go with the KB kit. I tried to heat bend them and I snapped the pair in half. Instead I'm using lenses from VaderPaintStudios. I did split the lenses but some glue was added and It all worked for the best. The installed lenses. I think it came out pretty good, and if I even need to change the lens it won't be difficult at all. I also attached the kid plates to the ab section. I plan on filling those gaps and getting the magnetic closure for the ab section done soon and then its cod,butt and the torso assembly for the most part is finished besides the belt. then come my biggest obstacle. THE LEGS . The legs have always been the most difficult portion of any armor for me. Hopefully I won't run into any problems, but being 5'4 wearing armor designed for someone much taller always leaves you open for them to arise. At any rate! that's it for this update! Right now I'm focusing more on finishing the TFA trooper and then I'll go back and finish the TLJ-E parts.

That's not far off from what I did do. I had already glued some inner strips in way back when, and it was also one of the problems I had trimming the curled sections off. After quite a long time I was finally able to successfully trim down the curled edges! I glued all the end of the Chicago screws into the back of the ab boxes. The attached Ab Boxes! I've been so hung up on this section and now that I've broken through I'm planning on making major progress! Tonight I'm going to work on finishing the Ab/kidney connections off and getting the cod piece and butt plate attached. Or I'll jump down to the shins just for fun. Is there a difference between the Curved shins/Thighs and what would be considered for approval because the CRL doesn't say anything curve or non curve wise.

Not great but this is more of a reason to get more work done! After a few weeks of sickness from everyone in my household, I'm finally able to get back to work. Up first was the belt pieces! for the most part they are trimmed and ready for sanding. So I'm hung up on the ab section. The piece I have has bad edge curling, and I don't know how to flatten it out without causing problems for myself later. I tried to glue in supports to connect the ab to the kidney plates before I noticed. This is what happens when I just try to match up the pieces. I think I might need to heat bend/flatten it out? I also don't like how much the ab plate over hangs compared to the kidney plate. At any rate, I have a deadline I made for myself, and it's coming up soon so it's making me work on my armor almost everyday and I'm making small amounts of progress.