daryldoak

Started working on hanging the spine plate. First thing I realized is the slots that I added for torso strapping are not going to work with the spine plate: So I’m going to abandon those slots and do something different for the strapping later. I cut some little tabs from ABS to use and guides for the spine plate and glued those in place: Then I cut some ABS to use as hangers for the spine plate. Used my heat gun to bend them and then glued them on the back: Turned out pretty good:

Shoulder strapping turned out good: Next I trimmed the side opening so I can get into the chest/back easier. While I had it on I determined how much I could trim off of the under chest and back, then marked it with pencil: I’m taking more off of the under chest than the back since the outer chest overlaps. Cut it off, looks good for now: With the outer chest just held in place:

Worked the shoulder bell straps, using elastic and snaps. Glued on the shoulder plate side, snaps with snap plates on the bell side.

Added some ABS to the tops of the shoulder tabs: Painted the ab boxes and some other bits: Also been trying to figure out what strapping system I want to use, and which areas should be elastic vs. nylon. I’m gonna start with the shoulder bells and biceps.

Next was the slots in the shoulder for the shoulder bell support brackets and strapping. I put the chest/back on and marked the top of the shoulder with tape. Then I marked with pencil where the slots would be located. Then I drilled holes to mark the ends of each slot: Next I used the cutting wheel on my dremel to cut the slots. It was pretty nerve wracking since these areas are really narrow, but it turned out ok: Then I sanded them a bit, then did a rough fit with the shoulder bracket and strapping. Looking pretty good: And with me just holding the bell in place: Then I glued the shoulder brackets in place with E6000: Next I decided to cut some slots in the ab for the 2” strapping that I’m going to use as a suspension. I got the idea from Captain’s Drydock on YouTube. I used the same technique as I did on the shoulders, drilled holes to mark the ends of the slots: Then used my dremel to cut the slots on the front and back: Rough fit with the strapping: I’ll also be using some parachute clips to make it adjustable and easy to get in and out of.

Continued working on the holster. After a few filler and sanding cycle, it was ready for paint. After one coat: Looking good: In order to install the hardware, I had to buy the Torx bits. Then I added the center hardware, and found they stick out the back too far: So I dremeled them off drilled the holes in the base and thigh, and then did the final install: I’m happy with how my “Frankenstein” R2Dan metal + DN base turned out.

Added the fabric and gaffers tape to the chest and gaffers tape to the biceps and shins pill holes: Next I decided to Frankenstein my v1 R2Dan functional metal holster onto the base of the Denuo Novo non-functional resin holster. I started by cutting the “metal” part of the resin off of the base, which turned out better than I expected: Think this is going to work pretty good: Then I added filler to correct issues with the cutting process. I also had to shorten the base by about 1/2” since the v1 metal is a bit shorter: And added white paint: The white really brought out the imperfections, so the base is going to take more filling and sanding. More to come on this later.

ABS paste, sand, polish, and repeat, again and again and again…. Getting closer…

Glued on the leg greeblies: Started polishing the side seams with Novus 3, by hand. Going well, but it’s tough work. I think I’m going to get a headlight polish kit with a drill attachment. Gonna need it for the shoulders for sure. Been working on the shoulders. Wow it’s been frustrating. ABS paste, sand, and repeat. I’m still not 100% happy, but I think I’m going to call them good enough and move on to polishing.

Did some very rough sanding on the ABS paste. Results look good on the ab side seams: I think those are good to go for finish sanding and polishing. The shoulder seams are going to need more work due to the overlap: So more rough sanding and then probably another coat of ABS paste

Painted the arm and leg greeblies: Then attached the clips to the forearms: And the biceps: I think I trimmed too much return edge from the inner chest shoulder: Since I was worried about having enough space for the shoulder plate support tabs and strapping slots, I glued some little bits to both sides to fill the gap. Then trimmed and sanded: Then I sanded the lip caused by the overlap on the shoulders, to prep for ABS paste: Decided to tackle the ab seams first, so I taped off the area to prevent any spread and applied to the left side: I used a toothpick, which I thought would help get it into the seam, but turned out to make a messier application: So on the right side I used a popsicle stick, which was much easier to work with: Next, I applied the ABS paste to both shoulders: I’ll let this dry overnight and then try some sanding tomorrow.

No I’ll probably use Velcro. I chatted with equuspolo (Ardeshir) and he recommended overlapping for extra support. Time to bite the bullet and glue the inner chest and back: Started cuttings for a batch of ABS paste:

Glueing the boxes on the forearms: And last to be glued, the back to the inner chest, but I’m still in the planning stage here, no glue, just magnets: I think the width of the pieces dictates where they will meet: I tried it on with just magnets and I can get my head thru, so that’s good. I guess I’m going to have to fix this seam also on the return edge: Before I actually glue, I’m gonna need to make sure my head will still fit thru once the outer chest is attached. I’m going to review lots of reference photos for this part.

Spats glueing:

Worked on getting the forearm polished up where I sanded off the trim lines. I had already sanded with 80 and 320 to get rid of the lines. Not a great picture, but here is where is was: Today I sanded with 400, 1000, and 2000, then I remembered I have Novus scratch remover, so I polished with some Novus 3, followed by 2. I’m really happy with how this turned out. This was practice for the rest of the seam removals.

Right forearm glueing complete, left forearm glueing: I also bought the supplies needed for the next phase of my build: Acetone to make ABS paste. White spray paint for the resin greeblies. Various grit sandpapers for prepping the ABS surfaces. Headlight polish for the final step of the seam hiding process.

Glueing the right forearm:

Ab glueing complete: These seams are ready for abs paste. Next up was the shoulder bell tabs: Question: Anybody have tips on how much to overlap the inner chest and back?

So I did a test to see if I could just sand off the forearm trim lines, and be able to keep the proper TLJ shape (as described in a post I made above). So I carefully sanded with some 80, followed by some 220, and the results look really promising: After additional fine sanding, and then polishing, I think this is going to work great.

All leg outer seams are glued: I’m planning to use Velcro on the inner, overlapped seams. Next is the ab side seams, starting with the right side:

Biceps done glueing: Onto the right shin:

I’ve really been struggling with how to handle the outer, elbow edge of the forearms, since I’m doing a TLJ build. Denuo Novo cut instructions show this, which I believe is the TFA “Finn cut”: This is a movie reference from FISD: This is what is shown in the TLJ CRL: So I tried to mimic that look on mine: But you can see that the cut lines and the rough extra are visible. The TLJ CRL mentions that the “TFA cut” is not permitted for level 3, so I assume the cut recommendation from DN would be sufficient for basic approval. Thoughts?

I remembered I had some smaller clamps that would work great for the biceps, so I borrowed some magnets from the thigh, while it was still curing, and I glued the biceps. I also was trying to plan ahead and figure out how to best apply the gaffer’s tape behind the front shin pill holes, which are partially backed by the glue surface on the rear shin when they are overlapped (didn’t get a picture of this unfortunately). So I decided to do a little cutout on the rear shin so I would be able to easily apply the gaffer’s tape. Rear shin with cutout: Final look (not glued yet):

Left thigh turned out great. Right thigh is glueing.

While waiting for the glue to fully set on the thigh (I only have enough magnets and clamps to do one piece at a time), I was feeling brave, so I decided to open up all of the pill holes (shins, biceps, and chest) and the chest indent. I used my dremel with a sanding barrel and went at them from behind, sanding just enough to open the hole. This worked really great. Then I hand sanded to get nice openings. Shins and biceps: Inside view of a bicep: Chest: Inside view of the chest. Overall, I’m very happy with how these turned out. If you do this be very careful, it would be very easy to go too far or even melt the pieces.