11B30B4’s ROTK Build

[11b30b4[TK]]

Ok guys, the test of the shoulder straps was successful; however, the Velcro attacked to the front top section of the shoulder strap to attach them to the inside of the chest armor was not sufficient to hold the straps in place. Although, they stay tucked inside the chest armor, they did move and displayed a gap between the straps and the chest armor. This is not a serious issue and I am considering adding a snap to the strap and inside of the armor to hold the straps in place.

 

Here are some pictures taken when I test fit everything the night before my troop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are a few pictures from the troop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, in the coming weeks I will work out the remold and how to attach the straps. Once all this is done, I will put a feeler out to determine how many of you Rogues are interested in these.

 

As always, thanks for the interest.

Edited January 29, 2019 by 11b30b4

[DEVOLVER[501st]]

Those straps look great! Awesome pics from the troops, too.

[LTM[TK]]

The suit looked great in person, but that pack makes it look so heavy! As soon as someone makes a plastic version, I am in! We regular TK's enjoyed making fun of his symmetrical face, no wonkiness evident!   

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looking awesome Troopers

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Super! The armor looks awesome and the pack is an added compliment to it. Your dedication in making this costume is evident and can’t praise you enough. I really want to build an R1 suit more than ever. The straps look great and hope you can find some solutions for attaching them & getting glossy castings in your next trial. 

  Congratulations and thanks for sharing pics of  your troop in the armor.

  

[ukswrath[Staff]]

WOW that suit looks fantastic! Beautiful job. 

 

How comfortable was the backpack? 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, come out great.

[ABS80]

nice job! unfortunately a painted fiberglass suit no matter how careful you are in time paint will just chip, crack ect...  very high maintenance

 

Mark (AP)

[yoshix[TK]]

On 1/15/2019 at 3:13 PM, 11b30b4 said:

Update,

 

Ok so I got around to casting the shoulder straps in Simpact 60A. his stuff is an off white urethane rubber that is fairly stiff. I added Smooth-On’s white pigment to the mix to ensure a proper white color. Mixing and set-up is fairly simple and no need to gas the product. I poured the first one and demolded it 2 hours later. I placed it on some wax paper and let it cure for a full 24 hours. It was a little tacky but I figured out that was the mold release. I washed it with some warm soapy water and presto! One complete flexible shoulder strap done.

 

 

 

So, I made another one, then I made two with a piece of Velcro sewn to a piece of white nylon webbing and imbedded them on the back side of the shoulder straps. After the straps were cured, I used my hot knife to cut the excess webbing off and I think they came out equally nice. The webbing adds some stiffness to the strap, but I really don’t think it is needed. My primary goal with the nylon was to have a surface for the Velcro. I will see if any of the silicone based adhesives I have will stick to the urethane. If they do I will add Velcro to the other two straps. Once I have the process down, I will be offering these to whomever wants to purchase them. I am not looking to make any real money on them so they will go for just a bit over the cost of materials and shipping. I am figuring about 30 bucks for a set of two shipped to the US and Canada. Elsewhere the shipping may be a few bucks more. Regardless, once I get all this sorted, I will post the straps for sell in the proper forum.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the interest.

 

Fantastic! Great work! If my pauldron didn't cover my strap I would totally buy some off you. My strap have many cracks in them

[yoshix[TK]]

[11b30b4[TK]]

Thanks Yoshix.

 

Ok so a little update on the shoulder straps. After pondering options other than Velcro for attaching the shoulder straps to the breast plate, I came up with several possible methods. I considered everything from snaps to a hook latch but nothing really jumped out to me, then out of the blue I came up with the simplest idea of them all, a simple pocket. So I took some left over HIPS about 1/8” thick and cut two small pieces to fit the area behind the raised portion of the chest plate. I had filled this area with PC-7 originally to provide an angled surface for Velcro so I needed to mill all the PC-7 out and reduce everything back to the way the chest plate came. Next, I used Bison contact cement to attach the HIPS. Once the Bison cured, I blended the outside of HIPS with the inside of the back plate with PC-7 and let is cure.

 

 

After the PC-7 cured, I painted it white and added the Velcro that holds the black elastic shoulder straps that run from the back plate to the chest plate.

 

 

Next, I did a test fit of the shoulder straps and the are perfect. The only thing that holds them in the pocket is friction; however, the pocket is about 5/8” deep so I do not think they will come out hen wearing them.

 

 

 

So, I feel this has solved the attachment to the breast plate. I am working on building the new master bucks to cast. Once they are done, I will make a silicone mold then cast some new shoulder straps.

 

 

Thanks for the interest.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Update,

 

Ok so I was concerned that the Sentra that I chose to use for the base of the shoulder strap master mold would be too porous so I made the base from ¼ thick plexiglass and used the styrene half rounds. Once I had this completed I made the mold. Once the mold was cured, I sprayed it down with release agent and molded another set of shoulder straps. The results were the same, the cured rubber was not smooth and was pitted.

So, I cleaned the mold and made another set without the release agent and man did that make a huge difference. So at this point these are as good as I can get them until I can find a supplier that produces ¼” half round plexiglass or acrylic rods at a decent price.

Here are the pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in a set, I have created a sale thread here:

 

 

As always, thanks for the interest.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

On your sales thread I also asked if they were paintable so buyers can better color match them to their armor.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

@11b30b4 Any chance of us getting a link to the suspender/harness you used? Thanks man! Amazing build.

[11b30b4[TK]]

RascalKing, I made the harness myself out of 1" nylon webbing and some 2" elastic. Kind of made it up as I went along. If I had it to do over, I think I would have gone with 1.5" or 2" webbing but the 1" is what I had on hand at the time. As time permits I may do a more detailed breakdown of the suspender system.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Well since California Garrison is doing a rather large ROTK build, I guess I will knock out that overview of the suspender system. Stay tuned guys... 

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

2 hours ago, 11b30b4 said:

Well since California Garrison is doing a rather large ROTK build, I guess I will knock out that overview of the suspender system. Stay tuned guys... 

<333  

[11b30b4[TK]]

I have started a new thread in the in the Rogue One builds as a tutorial on how I strapped my ROTK here:

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by 11b30b4

[napalmseth[501st]]

This thread was incredibly informative! It has also made me regret purchasing a fiberglass kit....

[11b30b4[TK]]

18 hours ago, napalmseth said:

This thread was incredibly informative! It has also made me regret purchasing a fiberglass kit....

Until I get my hands on an 850AW kit, it seems to be the definitive best choice. At the time that I did my build it was also the only choice. Honestly, I do not know if the ABS kit will fair any better. I would really like to make my own bucks and vacuum form my own kit and then have the ability to replace parts as needed; however, I do not have the time to make the bucks so ordering a kit is the only option for the foreseeable future. Besides, even with all the cracks and problems with Jims kit, it still looks great and I get a ton of complements form OT TKs every time I wear it.

[napalmseth[501st]]

The other factor that drew me to this kit was the size. Jimm built it for 5’7”-5’10”. I’m short. Only 5’6”. 850 builds specifically for taller builds. I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and do an auto shop for paint.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LTM[TK]]

I can attest as an OT TK and trooped together, this armor looks awesome and with the backpack appears very heavy! 

He gets tons of looks and to anyone with OCD his armor is "correct" compared to our wonkiness. 

[11b30b4[TK]]

napalmseth, I did the automotive paint myself but if you are not set up for it (and it ironically may be cheaper) to have someone do the paint for you. There is always the option to just rattle can it but I can not say how it will look. The advantage of rattle can is touching up scratches and dings. I have used nail polish and touch up pens for any touch ups I needed to do but its noticeable.

 

LTM, thanks brother. See you soon.

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Jeff, did you do anything to coat the inside of the fiberglass, for reinforcement? Jim shipped out the helmet I ordered and I have pretty much everything on order besides that.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Pinned this thread