Fish's ANOVOS Build Thread - Aspiring for L3

[TheSwede[TK]]

10 minutes ago, fishgoh0nk said:

I also wanted to make the cuts before pasting

Well maybe if going full throttle with a tin snip there´s a risk but if beeing careful or using a dremel there´s nothing to worry about. Either way the choice is yours

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

11 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

Well maybe if going full throttle with a tin snip there´s a risk but if beeing careful or using a dremel there´s nothing to worry about. Either way the choice is yours

I'm with you that I should probably leave cutting till the end, I'm not super familiar with ABS paste, I've used it recently to patch some helmet holes, but wasn't sure if working on it with an exacto would cause any cracking, also I didn't account for the bottom edge when making my fake return edges since I was determined to cut it off. I thought I was pretty much done with the thighs minus ABS paste, is there something I need to look for to judge the placement/type of mobility cuts after that step? 

[TheSwede[TK]]

7 minutes ago, fishgoh0nk said:

working on it with an exacto

I wouldn´t use an exacto to make the mobility cuts, a dremel would be my go-to.

9 minutes ago, fishgoh0nk said:

, is there something I need to look for to judge the placement/type of mobility cuts after that step?

Not really except making sure it won´t go past the ridges. To make it more comfortable (if not cutting for mobility) and also stronger is to leave a couple of mm of the edge and glue som strips of abs on the inside and sand it smooth. That way even if there´s contact it won´t hurt and you can be more foreceful when climbing those stairs without damaging the armor. All within reason of course

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

2 hours ago, fishgoh0nk said:

So I got ABS pasting my thigh seams, but I think I should've gone the thinner seam route - I didn't know how bubbly ABS paste could be - I think I have a density problem - the shade of ABS on some of the areas seem a bit darker - would it be better to paint at this point? I thought polishing might help it, but not really 

 

 

I think it's time I learned how to airbrush...

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

Hopefully everyone's safe! I took a field trip to the local hardware store and got a panel matched with latex acrylic paint - I'm sure I'll be wet sanding this to smooth out brush lines, or do a pour... not sure what I'm hoping to get... all of this is to save me from having to learn how to air brush.

 

First off is trying to find the right grit to use with ABS - this is paint + primer, I'm thinking I should've aerosol primed first regardless... I guess we'll see how it turns out after a cure and wet same and a high gloss clear coat.

 

 

Update - On second thought, I probably should've used one of my better brushes... this brush was definitely too rough/coarse... I'm starting to like the 800 grit. I'll do another panel with a finer brush and post an update.

Edited March 17, 2020 by fishgoh0nk
update

[ukswrath[Staff]]

33 minutes ago, fishgoh0nk said:

Hopefully everyone's safe! I took a field trip to the local hardware store and got a panel matched with latex acrylic paint - I'm sure I'll be wet sanding this to smooth out brush lines, or do a pour... not sure what I'm hoping to get... all of this is to save me from having to learn how to air brush.

 

First off is trying to find the right grit to use with ABS - this is paint + primer, I'm thinking I should've aerosol primed first regardless... I guess we'll see how it turns out after a cure and wet same and a high gloss clear coat.

 

 

Update - On second thought, I probably should've used one of my better brushes... this brush was definitely too rough/coarse... I'm starting to like the 800 grit. I'll do another panel with a finer brush and post an update.

400 grit is used before professional primer/paint. If you plan on more than one coating this would apply to rattle can as well. That said, spot test first

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

2 minutes ago, ukswrath said:

400 grit is used before professional primer/paint. If you plan on more than one coating this would apply to rattle can as well. That said, spot test first

I definitely plan to... I've taken this long to do everything, wouldn't want a few hours to ruin all of that 

 

The sheen from the 800 looks pretty good, but I'm guessing it's not going to matter since I'll need to wet sand the brush lines out. Any  tips (besides doing a pour) to prevent brush lines? Or am I just going to have to wet sand + repeat?

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Is there a reason you're not using spray paint?

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

2 minutes ago, ukswrath said:

Is there a reason you're not using spray paint?

Not sure where to buy matched spray paint... unless you have a recommendation?  I did buy a can of the cheapo 98cent/can paint to try, but I haven't gone outside yet haha

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Great question, the shades of white will undoubtedly differ between manufacturers so buying 2-3 cans of over the counter should result in something close. The other option would be to take a section of armor to a local automotive autobody supply retailer and have it matched. They should be able to tell what make, model & manufacturer of vehicle it closely resembles. After that go to Autozone.com or similar and buy "Perfect Match" by Dupli-color.    https://www.autozone.com/searchresult?searchText=perfect%20match&vehicleSetFromSearch=false&keywords=perfect%20match

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

32 minutes ago, ukswrath said:

Great question, the shades of white will undoubtedly differ between manufacturers so buying 2-3 cans of over the counter should result in something close. The other option would be to take a section of armor to a local automotive autobody supply retailer and have it matched. They should be able to tell what make, model & manufacturer of vehicle it closely resembles. After that go to Autozone.com or similar and buy "Perfect Match" by Dupli-color.    https://www.autozone.com/searchresult?searchText=perfect%20match&vehicleSetFromSearch=false&keywords=perfect%20match

Hopefully they'll have better matching scanners than home depot - looks like the shade i got has a little too much green/not enough violet/red. I'll see who I can find in my vicinity, and at the same time I'll be trial-and-erroring. I'd love to share the automotive paint match color with this forum if I get a good match.

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

For science and documentation purposes, here's a 1 hour dry time for Latex Acrylic - Behr Marquee, base Ultra Pure White, MQ330, Semi Gloss at varying wet sanded grid on Anovos Gen 1

 

220 Grit

 

320 Grit

 

400 Grit

 

600 Grit

 

800 Grit

 

800 Grit with a Wooster Semi Gloss brush

 

1200 Grit

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

So... while sheltering in place, I really wanted to work on some stuff. Unfortunately the hardware vendor still is sitting on some weld nuts I placed back in Februrary... It's imported from Asia, so I'm guessing there's probably some delay due to COVID19.

 

I wanted to glue the weld nuts in place before painting... I got impatient, so plastidipping I went.

 

Masking made the TK face look a bit halloween-ish, good idea for a jackolantern?

 

3 Coats

 

I wanted to cut my ear holes for Tony's SHA hearing system - I have some grommets to stabilize and hold the left/right ear mics.

 

 

Used a 1/2 inch spade drill bit - Running it clockwise would crack and not make a perfect hole, so the trick is to drill in and reverse the bit as soon as the spade blade touches the surface, press down and the circular motion will mill out the hole.

 

Then I painted the missing corners of the frown, the one on the right gave me a ton of trouble - got sick of modifying the stroke, wiped it all off and repainted it. Goof off surface spray works good as a thinner/modification tool

 

Oh yea, then I made an armor stand.

 

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

Hope everyone's doing well. It's good to use  the time in self quarantine to work on the build. 

 

Still waiting for my weld nuts to come in for the helmet lens mounts, been roughly over a month and they're still on back-order, big bummer.

 

I was thinking about liner options for the helmet, and I really didn't want foam inserts or anything that would make me heat up, I pretty much sweat only on my head, and quite a bit too, so i definitely wanted some air-flow and after much research here, I opted to use a hardhat liner. The liners are fairly cheap, almost universal, but the tricky part was attaching it to the helmet itself with the ability to replace the harness when worn without un-gluing, so I made these key slot clips. 

 

 

 

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

I guess this is a necro post lol - haven't given up!

 

Finally got around to mounting the lenses. Currently waiting for the standoff's E6000 to cure, then I'll paint them black, then mount and drill the lenses.

 

Also painted some aluminum mesh - thinking about double up, definitely don't want my smile to show  Any thoughts besides just hotgluing the mesh to the back of the frown? I was thinking of using standoffs as well, just not sure if depth affects the way the frown looks.

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I doubled over the mesh, one piece didn't seem enough to me. I taped in place and added a few dabs of black silicon in places to hold it, hasn't come loose as yet

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Coming along nicely

[tat2trooper[TK]]

Looks good. What did you use to make the stand?

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

On 5/17/2021 at 11:13 AM, tat2trooper said:

Looks good. What did you use to make the stand?

 

I used some 2x2 and a plywood square I had laying around and basically made a stand supported by 4 angled cut supports, two cross beams and a dowel to hang the thighs.

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

Taking some pre-pre-approval photos; please excuse my loose shoulder strap and droopy back plate, that morning i switched out the shoulder elastics for some looser ones, i was trying to reduce the amount of digging into my neck from the front chest plate. I have that resolved.

 

Got some question about mobility cuts - I have an idea of what the cuts I want to make look like, but was hoping someone could maybe draw some lines "they" would like to see? Walking down the stairs without them was brutal lol. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Edit: was thinking something like this: 

Edited May 25, 2021 by fishgoh0nk

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

7 hours ago, fishgoh0nk said:

Got some question about mobility cuts - I have an idea of what the cuts I want to make look like, but was hoping someone could maybe draw some lines "they" would like to see? Walking down the stairs without them was brutal lol. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Hi James, nice to see your on your way to the approval  !!  

 

About the mobility cuts, those you have marked looks ok. just take care of the ridges .

 

 

 

Reference Image

 

 

Keep up the good work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tat2trooper[TK]]

Those mobility cuts are the truth. Definite help when walking around in this kit.

[fishgoh0nk[TK]]

6 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

 

 

Hi James, nice to see your on your way to the approval  !!  

 

About the mobility cuts, those you have marked looks ok. just take care of the ridges .

 

 

 

Reference Image

 

 

Keep up the good work.

 

For clarification - "take care of the ridges" - does this imply remove the ridges? or be careful not to remove the ridges?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

31 minutes ago, fishgoh0nk said:

 

For clarification - "take care of the ridges" - does this imply remove the ridges? or be careful not to remove the ridges?

 

 

I'm sorry not being clear.  It's to be careful not to remove the ridges. As the crl states:

 

 

CRL L3  Any mobility cuts on back of piece do not go past raised ridges.   

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Some other references of the mobility cuts

 

Also you may want to bend those shoulder straps down a the back, you can add some elastic if you haven't already