DarthBiscuit

I wet sanded the cod and butt to 220. And then applied putty to the bells and biceps. Up close, they looked much worse than before. I might have to start doing a 2nd coat of primer, or at least use a filler/primer. That took so long that I didn't have a chance to fit the thighs with the barrel/belt, shins, and boots. Hopefully tomorrow!

Thanks for the specifics! Searching now, it looks like it IS an Australian thing I'll keep looking to see if I can find something out here that might work better. At the very least, I can try switching my primer to a primer/filler. Thanks!!

Oh man...do you have Amazon links? When I search it comes up with primers...

I wet sanded the bells and biceps to 400 today. They were SO BAD! Hopefully they turn out better this time, like how the chest was terrible and just needed touching up. Maybe I'll start doing a 2nd coat of primer and light sanding before spraying gloss... I trimmed the tops off the thighs! I took 1" off the sides and 1.5" off the front, lowering the peak a bit. I realized I also had to fix the line in the rear cover strip. Turned out alright! I just need to putty the other spots. Here they are clamped in the the back, looking fairly symmetric! Tomorrow I'll test fit them with other pieces to see if they're good... I still think I'll need to close them up more.

Yeah you're definitely right. When I held them on I was trying to judge if foam would hold them steady. I think I need to trim around the top first. It's way too long for my thighs. Maybe I'll take off an inch from the top, and then fit it with everything else before trimming more from the back.

I used a Dremel cutting disc to open the thighs, inward of the cover strips. Then I used a grinding drum to even them out. They look pretty good! I clamped the back at this spot, keeps the bottom pretty even, but it's still pretty large. I probably need to take another inch or so off, but I'm not sure of my options. I don't want to cut it off and trim both sides... I think if I trim at this line, then I can close the thigh more while keeping the bottom rim even, and not just getting super close on one side. I also started spreading putty on the cod and butt, and decided to just overdo it haha! Maybe this time I won't have a billion pinholes... I'll wet sand the gloss white on the bells and biceps to 400 tomorrow, and the cod/butt to 220.

I sprayed gloss white on the bells and biceps today. Moving them back and forth between my paint booth and these stands worked out alright. It only took a few coats. Maybe I wasn't careful enough, since I got some runs, but I was able to dab them a little with a towel to absorb most of it. EVERY PIECE has pinholes!? I had wiped them all off with a microfiber cloth, and the humidity isn't THAT bad... I don't know what happened here, but maybe it was too much sanding or not enough filling. I think I'll need to touch these up, probably with putty in 2 days, then sand, and paint again. The lower rear snaps on the barrel work! The suspender Y is much lower. I put it on and attached the cod and butt with tape, about 1/2" underneath, then put the belt on. These heights look good! I trimmed the lower point and a bit off the top of the cod. I also trimmed the butt's V to make it more narrow, in the top pic. While wearing it, the butt extended really far to the side, so I went back and cut 1/2". The top also curved up on both sides, so I trimmed it more evenly across, instead of cutting it all off like I had planned.

I test fitted the barrel with the suspenders loosened and found a spot that'll work. So I E6000'd some more snaps down there. The tops ones are pretty stuck in there, so I'll figure out prying them off later. Based on suggestions from gmrhodes13 and looking at lots of reference pics (also posted by gmrhodes13 haha) I adjusted my trim markings! Taking this much off the top lets it hang 1/2" below the barrel, but the belt extends 1" below the barrel, so there's still 1/2 of overlap (makes sense lol). The bottom pic is how it'll look while worn (theoretically). I'm also going to trim some off the bottom since it overhangs really far, and reference pics look more rounded. I'm going to take about 1/2" off around the whole butt plate. Looking at reference pics, I think Jim's plate is big enough that I can do without this much. I didn't get around to trimming today, which is probably good since I'm hoping for more feedback! I'm always so wary when it comes time to cut... I also wet sanded the exteriors of the bells and biceps to 800 to get rid of satin overspray. Tomorrow I'll spray gloss white on them and hope for the best! I probably won't trim tomorrow either since that'll kick up too must dust, which is NOT what I want to deal with on gloss white day!

Snaps make sense too, but I think it'll be difficult to reach back there to snap/unsnap. But maybe velcro on the triangle will work! I think you're right. Thanks for the image! I agree, the height looks good, but I can take away from the bottom. This pic of my cod piece doesn't have the belt, so not as much is hidden. But I can adjust so it looks like this with the belt on! He probably goes big since we can trim down, but it's difficult to add! Oh well, back to the Dremel! You got that right! I was literally wearing most of this for 2 hours while working. I loved it! I definitely have to do something about the satin black that's rubbing off the sides onto the barrel... I thought my boots felt narrow at first, but I had no issues the whole time! Bending down is near impossible, and I'm not even wearing the full suit lol!

I spent today sticking velcro on everything that's done! I think it all fits together well! The satin black on the side plate interior rubs off onto the barrel, so I think I'll put some soft black velcro inside. I stuck a few squares around to hold the belt halves in place. 2 issues with the back... I guess the plate's too low, since the mesh shows through. I might be able to raise it a little by putting velcro on the suspenders so it stays high. Otherwise I guess I'll need a black undershirt. Also, the suspenders stick out a lot. I'll pull off and move down the barrel's rear snaps so the Y split is under the back plate. Does this look like good placement for the cod? I'll trim some off the top so it leaves a gap below the barrel, allowing for movement (I'll snap it on with elastic). I'll trim some off the bottom of the cod too. I'll post tomorrow where I plan on cutting. Does this look like the right height for the butt plate? I can lower it a bit, but I'll need to trim a lot from the bottom and sides. I'll post tomorrow where I plan on cutting this too. I figured I'd check the thighs while I'm wearing everything. THEY'RE HUGE!! I'll cut the back open and figure out how much I need to cut off, but probably 2-4"... I think that much will require moving of the cover strip too... I'll also need to shorten the thighs too! I can barely bend my knee when I hang them at this height. Probably need to trim 1-2". I'll cut the back open first to judge how much from the top. I'll have to cut the groove back into the cover strip too.

I taped over the blue buttons, sprayed gloss white to fill the gaps, and then sprayed gloss smoke gray on the buttons and rectangle! I didn't realize that some other R1TKs made the rectangle blue, but going off of images and discussion with gmrhodes13, it looks between gray and black, not blue. The CRL does not specify. I also sprayed satin white inside the bells and biceps. While the buttons dried, I taped over the left kidney stripe, sanded a little to 1,000, and sprayed gloss white. So far there are no paint reactions! Tomorrow I'll stick velcro on the side plates and belt to test fit everything that's done. Then I can also fit the cod and butt plates to figure out how much to trim!

Oh that almost looks black...

Something I want to confirm: do I have the right part taped off for the gray spot above the buttons? From what I've seen in Rogue One pics and WIPs, it's just the tiny rectangle that's gray. Not many pics are close or high quality enough to tell...

So I taped off the barrel stripes. I used a pro tip from @gmrhodes13and sprayed gloss white first, so if there's bleed, then it's white! I did just a couple passes with gloss black, gave it 30 minutes to dry, and peeled off the tape. The right looks great! As I peeled the left, some paint from the tape stretched with it. I decided to leave it and will try to touch it up after it fully dries. No bleed though! Then I wet sanded the putty to 400 on my bells and biceps. THAT took a while. Hopefully the gloss comes out smooth... Tomorrow I'll spray satin white inside the bells and biceps. I'll also finish taping the barrel buttons and spray gray.

Looking great! It's awesome seeing your progress! For the calves (and forearms), did you glue or velcro the front at all, or is it only the elastic holding the halves together? I'm thinking about doing that too, but I'm not sure that the halves will stay butted up together properly without velcro or glue.

I sprayed some gloss black on the side plates again. They look better, but still have some imperfections. I'll see how they look while wearing, maybe it's isn't noticeable. The bells and biceps required a bit of filling... The E6000 and snaps worked great! I snapped the suspenders on and stepped in to pull the barrel up. I started taping off the buttons and used a paint marker for the blue. They look pretty good with 2 coats, but I'll do another coat or 2. I'll finish taping tomorrow and spray the gray.

I pulled the clamps and magnets off and the E6000 seems good! In response to @11b30b4's question, I was able to step into it when the snaps are set to the tightest. It was snug when pulling up, but the elastic stretched fine, and I can loosen the snaps if needed, especially once I put the undersuit on. The sides looked BAD. I wet sanded to 1,000 and I'll spray another coat of gloss black tomorrow. I also got some gloss white on the belt. Pinholes, still... But my notch fillings worked out unnoticeable! I fitted the barrel with the suspenders and E6000'd the snaps on. It was a pain getting the magnets to hold right, but I think it's all setup right. I'll check on it tonight, but hopefully they cure properly and I can wear it tomorrow!

I think the only issue I found was the black outline around the ear bars.

I'm hoping to either lift it over my head and slide it down, or step in and pull it up. I'll find out today if either of those methods will work

The E6000 seems to have cured well... I stuck the opposite side's snaps on. Hopefully no issues while curing too! There was some satin overspray on the exterior of the sides and belt halves, so I wet sanded them to 800. I dried them off and allowed some time to air dry, but I can see a lot of pinholes in the gloss black, possibly ones I didn't fill, but maybe some residual moisture... I'll see how they look when dry, but I'll prepare myself to wet sand to 800 or 1,000 and spray gloss black again in a few days. I also wet sanded the bells and biceps to 400, and wet sanded the overspray on their interiors to 220. I see a few imperfections to fill, but not too bad! Hopefully no pinholes... Tomorrow I'll E6000 snaps into the barrel for the suspenders, spray gloss white on the belt halves, and putty the bells and biceps.

I was thinking about doubling it, but I can't salvage the snaps I already used so I'll have to order more. Thanks for the tip and reassurance!

So I spent over an hour trimming my elastic and webbing, poking holes, and setting the snaps. My soldering iron made it quick and fused ends together as I cut. Using the snaps is a little more difficult than I wanted, since the elastic is a thin material, but they still hold tight once snapped. I'm putting 6 snaps on the barrel side so I can tighten the elastic, if needed. I actually think the elastic strips might be too short, so I may have to make longer ones if these don't work how I planned. The middle snaps are how I plan on attaching the trauma plate... I only have enough magnets to reliably hold one side in place, so I spread E6000 and set them on. I'll check on it over the next 24 hours, but hopefully they cure in place...

I think a big reason was also that I didn't have everything sized right to test fit it all, so I can't glue snaps on yet... I just don't have the space to work on the full suit, so I'm doing pieces at a time.

I did think about that, but for some reason didn't do it. I think I wanted to paint the inside before gluing snaps in, and needed to prime before painting the inside or there would be gray inside too... Maybe I'll try that for the thighs, since I don't know of a good way to prop them up except for hanging from snaps...

Sprayed satin white inside the belt halves! Figured out that I could use my helmet stand to hold the bells and biceps for priming! A bell fell off once, but since I'll sand the primer off anyways, no biggie. I'll have to be more careful when I'm spraying gloss white... Finished early and decided to put snaps on the suspenders... No issues! I was able to trim the leather with a razor and punch holes with the tool the snaps came with. Tomorrow I'll sand some spots in the interior of the barrel (an awesome tip from @gmrhodes13) and E6000 some snaps in! I'll also size some elastic straps to hold the back closed. Maybe I'll even wet sand the bells and biceps to 400!