Navajo Bro's FOTK Build Thread

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Looking good so far Terry. What glue are you using?

I've used some "plastic weld" stuff I got at Walmart for the ab boxes, but the rest is pretty much all ABS glue that came with the AM2.0 kit lol.  I have so many various glues, adhesives, velcro, snaps, etc.. I've just been using what I had on hand.  I would have loved to get some of the plastic weld you were using but have to save some pennies after the cost of the kit hahaha!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I've used some "plastic weld" stuff I got at Walmart for the ab boxes, but the rest is pretty much all ABS glue that came with the AM2.0 kit lol.  I have so many various glues, adhesives, velcro, snaps, etc.. I've just been using what I had on hand.  I would have loved to get some of the plastic weld you were using but have to save some pennies after the cost of the kit hahaha!

 

I was just about to say it looks like the glue im using lol. Hey as long as whatever you're using works more power to ya.

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Finished basic forearms:

 

1)  Glued the greeblies:

 

 

2)  For the boxes, the bottom glues into the top, but for extra support I hot glued in some foam as spacer (I saw that on one of the builds here).  I then put ABS glue inside the top box edge and smushed it all together lol:

 

 

 

 

 

I'll glue the on the forearms after I do the bondo thing on the seams 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Next comes the belt boxes.  After matching them up I put in holes (they were already marked) for the chicago screws I'll use to attach it to the soft belt.

 

 

I added a small amount of E-6000 on the screw mounts and pushed them through.  This will help hold them in place a little better.

 

 

 

The large soft pouch has a plastic part that sits on the outside.  Simple enough as the soft pouch already has velcro sewed in on the flap, all I had to do was put sticky velcro on the plastic.  Luckily I had my own because ANOVOS gives you the matching hook part but it's sew on so you'd have to glue it lmao 

 

 

 

The second, smaller soft pouch stays as is but is the perfect size for one of those "deck boxes" I had lying around.  This will give it some shape support.

 

 

Using a glue gun and some old scrap from my Ashtooper build I constructed an inner plastic support box for the larger pouch... but because the scraps were all weird left over shapes it came out crappy so I threw it away and constructed a new one out of flat ABS I had from my AM2.0 build 

 

 

 

*** updated box:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime I've been researching the threads and photos - am I to understand those two smaller belt boxes that attach in the front horizontally are supposed to be rubber on the bottom part that attaches to the belt?  

Edited November 1, 2015 by Navajo Bro

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good

[cjdesign[TK]]

Nice job man!! I'll be following this thread, when I get my kit in the coming future.

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Thanks guys!  Got some more down over the last week or two, here's a copy/paste from my Garrison build thread::

 

 

 

 

Okay, I'm pretty much done with basic part assembly, now I have to start with the bondo and then putting it all together.  I'm definitely not an expert in bondo but I'm going to do my best.

 

Talking extreme BASICS here, in case anyone else is brand new, open the can with a flat head screw driver by prying it up a little at a time:

 

 

When you are done gently tap the lid closed with a hammer:

 

 

You laugh, but I'm sure there are or will be some members who have literally never opened a paint type can before 

 

Oh, and as much as the smell brought back wonderful memories of hanging out in my dad's autobody shop when I was little, the fumes are very harmful.  You really need to wear a mask for this part, but honestly you should also wear one for when you dremel and glue for long periods of time:

 

 

Bondo comes in a giant tub of grey paste, and a small tube of red hardener.

 

 

The instructions tell you how much to use depending on how big a blob you are doing, but you should also do it in small amounts because it dries quick.  So you don't waste it, use like a golf ball size blob of grey bondo and about an inch of red hardener.  Mix it up then apply, and make sure you go with a purpose because you'll only have about 3-4 minutes before it's too hard to spread evenly.  Repeat as necessary until all your seams are covered.

 

Another tip is using painters tape around the edges of the seam, so that when it applies you can pull the tape off and be left with just the area you are trying to make seamless as opposed to massive glops of bondo you'll have to spend hours sanding hahaha:

 

 

 

Pull the tape off and let it dry.  I'll be doing this for the next day or so and will update photos as I go.  Anyone with bondo experience like Paul and Andy feel free to chime in with some tips and comments thanks!!!

 

Nearing the end of the construction phase... still have to assemble the strapping system, add the greeblies and paint but other then the ankle spats most all parts are complete.  I sanded the bondo I've already done and added bondo to what still needs it.  If I can sand that stuff down over the weekend I should actually be in pretty good shape 

 

 

 

Here is a shot of mixing bondo by the way - grey is the bondo, red is the hardener and the second shot shows it pinkish after mixed:

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I also got a few boxes glued on:

 

 

 

 

Nearing the end!!  Here's where I'm at:

 

 

Glued on the forearm details:

 

 

 

 

I'm starting the strapping now 

[Sly11[Admin]]

It's all coming together nicely , great job.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

While I'm waiting on a few snap supports to dry I finished up with the greeblies.  First up was cutting out the chest detail and replacing it with the resin one (ugh... cutting the center point of the chest, about as focal as it gets...def made me nervous)

 

1)  Lined it up on the inside, marked with pencil and cut:

 

 

 

 

2)  Sanded until it fits and glued it in using a method I saw on FISD (heated up scrap to make "L" shaped supports then glued them with CA glue):

 

 

 

 

Make sure to mark it all correct hahaha, don't want to do all this and end up with the detail upsidedown 

 

Used boiling water for the thigh and shin greeblies... they needed a slight shape adjustment.  

 

Tips:  use tongs to get them out of the boiling water (obviously) and drop them on a paper towel for one second to dab off the excess water.  Get them immediately on a steel bowl and hold each side tight.  Move the greeblie around the bowl because it'll heat the metal up, lol, and cool areas help harden it quicker.

 

1)  Boil water, drop it in for 50 seconds, take out and shape.  I held it for 30 seconds on the bowl and they all came out perfect.

 

 

 

(bottom two aren't done yet in this photo for reference)

 

 

2)  Glue them on 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I've been super busy trying to finish this and am basically done.  I have some other shots in my Garrison build thread but they mostly mirror other guys here since I used their info for mine hahaha.  The only thing I wanted to throw out that might help is actually assembling the belt - how I did it

 

 

Belt boxes

 

1)  Finished the two horizontal ones, again used foam and glue and secured them.

 

 

2)  Added top box part to the vertical three part one.

 

 

3)  Using foam and glue finished off the last two vertical ones.

 

 

Belt:

 

A little tricky but not to difficult.  Used a leather punch to put holes in the rubber outer one, and soldering iron to put holes in the web inner one.

 

1)  First thing you have to do is put on the armor, put on the belt and mark there the ends will be.  After that I used chicago screws through the holes.

 

 

 

 

2)  Using the measuring guide on the FIDS and facebook group I laid out the boxes in order.  I made marks then taped them up and tried it on before committing to holes and screws.

 

 

 

3)  To mark where the holes will go I put silver marker on the end of each screw and pushed it on the belt at the proper placement.  This left a faint transfer I then dotted with the marker.  Always double and triple check the placement for each one.

 

 

4)  Quick test fit to make sure they are okay.

 

 

5)  Used the chicago screws to attach each box.

 

 

I haven't seen any actual step by step on securing them so I'll try to document it here for future help.

 

1)  Using the marks made in the first stage, I took the leather punch to the rubber and made the holes.

 

 

 

2)  Used the marker to mark the spot on the web belt.

 

 

 

3)  Used the soldering iron to make the holes in the web belt.

 

 

4)  Put the box on the outside, through the rubber.  The boxes have the female screw part.

 

 

5)  Put the web belt over the screws...

 

 

6)  Screwed in the male part of the set.  

 

 

Repeat down the line until you are done 

 

 

I have some excess rubber on the ends, so I sewed on some velcro to hold it in place.  All this will be covered by the soft pouch, and by leaving it I'll have the ability to adjust things if ever needed.

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Thigh straps

 

I'm using the belt and strap system for this, made a belt with 1" webbing and 1" clip.  Doubled the elastic for strength as this will have some stress on it (keeping it pulled up).

 

 

Just like a normal TK added an inside snap for the thigh.

 

 

Working on the gasket connections, basically put them on and marked where everything sits.  I was able to pull them on and off in one piece and I'm using velcro so super precise and exact measurements aren't needed - just enough to line up the velcro.  I can adjust as needed when all is finished.

 

 

 

 

Marked where the knee will sit.  I'll be working on that tomorrow.

 

 

 

*** My knee is upside down in the photo, lol, I was just trying to go back and grab some progress shots and was in a rush hahaha!  It isn't attached 

Edited November 22, 2015 by Navajo Bro

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking good Terry

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Looking good Terry

 

Thanks man, like I said I've been using your build as my template lol.

 

I also put the vertical boxes a little too high, my bad for rushing, but it was simple enough to throw in new holes and drop them half an inch

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I UPDATED THIS THREAD, BUT I WAS STILL DOING WORK HAHAHA!!

 

Biceps

 

1)  If you remember, I had to use the glue tab as a spacer to make them larger (my big guns hahaha).  It's supposed to have only one seam so I took some of the thinner scrap and made a fill in plastic spacer:

 

 

 

2)  Glued it on so that one side will have a decently straight seam.

 

 

 

 

3)  Bondo for the other side, I'll sand it tomorrow. 

 

 

Sanded!!

 

 

Sanded down the resin holster a tad to make it more flush, and glued it on 

 

 

 

 

 

Fixed the belt boxes, I was rushing and put the vertical boxes flush to the top, they actually sit a little lower.  Easy enough, just used the existing holes at marks and made new ones slightly below them 

 

 

Lined up and hand sewed velcro for hand plates:

 

 

 

Last little detail - took some foam out of the donut in the helmet.  It's WAY to tight, but the donut is a simple removable velcro thing with a seam in the back.  

 

I ripped the seam very carefully with a stitch puller:

 

 

 

Exposed a little foam at time from each side and cut it out

 

 

Took just this much from the rear then placed it back in and now it's fine 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

The gaskets proved way to impractical to attempt trooping as is, so I did some research on how to trim the garbage ANOVOS ones, lol, and found some tips from guys who modded them.  

 

1)  Basically I had to cut some off the shoulder as they were too long, and cut a notch then re-glue it to taper the bottom a little:

 

 

 

2)  I also notched out the elbows at the forearm side.  They don't need to be re-connected, this lets them squish in better as the forearms are smaller then the biceps but the gasket is all one size.  This worked perfectly 

 

 

 

 

 

The glue I used for some of the boxes turned out to be not so great on a few parts.  Ones like the holster base and shin boxes where there wasn't much to hold onto.  I decided to use aesthetic screws in the holster to actually hold it into the thigh armor, so I'm going to get a few longer ones, but I began the process.

 

1)  I started by making the screw hole, but I also used a bigger bit to make the top where the screw hole sits larger, as a counter sink measure:

 

 

 

2)  Got longer screws and measured it all out.  Put E-6000 on the base and then put it on the armor, used the nuts to hold it in place to dry as well as attach.  I'll have to hit it again with bondo which I was doing anyway.

 

 

 

 

I also opted to do a second round of bondo and some more sanding to prep it for painting  

 

*** ROUGH TEST FIT STAGE ***

 

Thanks to Randy for helping me bang out the bondo sanding I'm almost ready to go again!  I have a few minor spots I want to fill on two or three pieces and need to hit them all with steel wool to prep for painting but plan on getting it done and over to the shop by next week.

 

Jason helped me do another test fit, as I modded the gaskets and made a few other minor tweaks.  He can attest how hard it is to get dressed, lol, but with his help I was able to adjust the belt, test the Thermal Detonator and line up the shoulders.  The gaskets still suck but at least I can bend my arms (and lay them to the sides).  A few quick shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

I was curious about how well the sanded bondo was going to be and if it was good enough for the paint shop.... so I decided to test it with the paint I purchased to originally do this myself....

 

Although my paint skills have really always been limited to weathering and small parts like greeblies and accessories, I was actually happy with how it came out.  I used a pole to get the distance, lol, sprayed lightly and planned to do multiple coats as I wanted to expand my skill some.

 

I've decided to just paint this myself, because although my autobody guys will give it top notch treatment, trooping does wear paint off pretty quick in spots so I'll have probably end up doing a ton of touch ups as time goes by.  

 

I used steel wool on every piece to prep for painting:

 

 

Handy pole I'm using to hold out as I paint, then carefully turn the part to hit all the sides:

 

 

Dry over by the heater.  I'm doing each coat (min two) about half an hour apart as per instructions and suggestions by other makers:

 

 

The very first part I did had a little run because I was doing it too heavy, so I sanded it out and put a third coat on that one.  The rest only need one realistically, but I'm doing two as it's easy enough.

 

Stay tuned 

 

I am done and very happy with how everything came out ... except one part :

 

For some reason I can't seem to get the resin replacement part on the chest to paint the same as the armor. I've sanded, primed and painted (and done over) several times and each ends up with the same result - the resin doesn't hold the paint the same as the armor so you can see it. I know I need to smooth the edges a little more to make it flush but the main problem is the actual part. Any suggestions? I'm literally done with the armor this is the last thing I'm trying to get perfect 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the guys on the facebook group said he had the same problem, it was the resin piece - it hadn't cured right and he ultimately had to replace it lmao....

 

I sanded the $#%& out of it one more time, like for two hours using grits from 60/100/120/320/600/1000/1500 hahaha!  It can't possibly be any more flush and feathered at this point.  I then washed it good, let it dry overnight and hit it with primer.  I then lightly sanded each coat with 320/600 and painted it three times.

 

I just left for work and it actually looks pretty good.  I can still see it a little if I look close, so tomorrow I'm going to do one or two more coats and then see what's up.  I think it'll be good enough for me after then, which means I'm ready to take some photos on Monday!!

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

** ALL CAUGHT UP ON THE THREAD LMAO!

 

As you can see I've really been doing the build thread on my local boards, and copying it over here when I can.  That is why it might seem a little random and weird

 

Last night I put on a fourth coat of paint on the chest and am satisfied with how it came out.   I did some final detail things, put the hardware in the holster, added the snaps for the knees on the gaskets and finished all the velcro attachments.  I'm going to shoot for submission photos today, wish me luck!!!

[Griffin-X[TK]]

Looking good Bro!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Looking awesome Terry

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Here it is guys!  I have a few minor fit issues I'll rectify, some things that still slide around some, but I need to wear it once or twice first to see how things sit and if anything needs trimmed further.  I'm also not going to crazy until I get the cloth gaskets (on the list already).  My boots and gloves are in transit from Imperial Boots but for now I'm using my old TK ones and then Anovos gloves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have weapons yet, but I have an F-11 and baton on the way.  For now I'll just call for backup all the time hahaha

 

 

 

Or point menacingly ...

 

 

 

Just gotta wait for my GML to approve it, hope I didn't miss anything lmao

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by Navajo Bro

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Fine looking piece of armor Terry

 

Not to sound like a DO or anything lol but... your bicep buckles are supposed to face forward with the pill boxes facing outward, to your side. 

 

Your forearms, though not official yet (no CRL stating) the outer joint connecting the flat panel to the buckle side which runs vertical up the forearm should be aligned with the bicep seam that should now be facing forward.

 

Excellent work on the entire suit and very nice looking shoulder positioning also. You did your homework and it shows.   

[Navajo Bro[TK]]

Fine looking piece of armor Terry

 

Not to sound like a DO or anything lol but... your bicep buckles are supposed to face forward with the pill boxes facing outward, to your side. 

 

Your forearms, though not official yet (no CRL stating) the outer joint connecting the flat panel to the buckle side which runs vertical up the forearm should be aligned with the bicep seam that should now be facing forward.

 

Excellent work on the entire suit and very nice looking shoulder positioning also. You did your homework and it shows.   

No man, please tell me what is incorrect.  My wife put it on me, and with the Anovos gaskets it's really tough to move as parts go on so I'm sure things were out of line.  I know the spats were a little too high as well.  I have to print out some costume / CRL shots to keep in the bin so things don't go on backwards hahaha!  

 

Man I can't wait for the cloth gaskets... that was the biggest issue with the arms and getting them on properly.  once she got stuff in place she couldn't shift anything it was all too tight lmao.  

[Torment[TK]]

Heat gun those ankle clips to curve in.  You're gonna loose one of them with them that flaired out.  To put a gloss coat on your suit, try Krylon Laqure spray.  I got it at Michaels.  It takes about 2 or three coats but puts a nice shine on a flat coat.  If you used the rustoleum, don't do that.  the two different paints will clash and F up your paint job. Also you gotta remove the knuckle strips of white on the gloves I believe. 

 

Looks great so far.  just tiny things to go from good to awesome. 

[Griffin-X[TK]]

Wow, another super Bro build! Way to go Terry!