TheRascalKing's Anthology Jimmiroquai TK Build Thread

[StarTrooper]

Great work and I hope you make a smooth and speedy recovery

[TK 14166[TK]]

Dude so happy to see you back in action. Looking good so far! If I haven't been working so much I  would be back to. But looking forward to your progress!

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

I’m super excited to follow you on this project and can’t wait to see the finished product(s). Not sure if you’re into 3D printing, but Nico Henderson is currently running an introductory sale on his newest Star Wars files for a R1/Mimban TK helmet. I guess we could refer to it as an “anthology” helmet. Haha.

All of this comes second to your health, of course, and I continue to send you well-wishes and prayers on that front.


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[Sly11[Admin]]

Eagerly awaiting the next progress report

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

Some more updates happening!

 

After today, every piece of the kit is in at least the first coat of filler/sandable primer! Lots of sanding and several more coats to go, but getting there.

 

 

 

I also ordered a quart of Fibre Glast 1110 vinylester resin, which hopefully will work well to reinforce some of the thin/stress prone areas of the suit. It advertises a flexible but impact resistant finish, so I'm optimistic.

 

 

Trying out "Ultra-Thin" 1" Velcro for the closures... Man, I've tried several without being happy so far - regular Velcro, Dual-Lock, low profile... It really doesn't need much to keep pieces shut, so hopefully this will do the trick. 

 

 

A few pieces are in final prep before the last coat of white paint - really hoping I can get a decent finish with Rustoleum 2X without too much orange peel. I purchased several extra spray nozzles (and uncovered an international spraypaint conspiracy apparently - did you know Rustoleum switched to a unique female cap a couple years ago, but doesn't sell replacements at all? I think they just assume you'll buy a new can instead of cleaning or replacing the nozzle. Google this, it's actually weird. I found an eBay seller who makes aftermarket nozzles that fit though) because it seems like I get only one good spray out of the can before it goes to hell and spews 100% chunks. Warming the cans up in water and thoroughly shaking has helped too. 

 

 

Fighting my own perfectionist nature to try to get things MOVING ("'Good enough' never is!" haha). A little afraid to actually trim the kit, but will be taking about 1" off the sides of the barrel, top of the cod, and will be splitting the thighs at the rear cover strip to overlap them. I was debating how to do the rear barrel closure when I ran across Rogue Repro on Facebook and their sweet zippered rear closure system. It looks pretty darn nice for the price, so I'm going to give that a try!

 

 

Finally, I have Jeff (@11b30b4) whipping me up a pair of his excellent flexible urethane shoulder bridges - the ones supplied with the kit are way too long for me and prone to cracking from my understanding (and ANH experience), so these should be a nice upgrade. Getting all my ducks in a row!

 

 

I have two more rounds of chemo left before radiation, and it does get harder every time. But things could always be worse - I'm determined to stay positive. In general, moving in a positive direction, and the masses in my neck and chest were 1/4 the size they started at in my last PET scan. My Garrison has been very supportive and I appreciate them immensely. I helped coordinate a mini TK Armor Party this weekend for about a dozen guys, so hopefully we get some good work in and have some more TKs approved soon!

 

That's it for now, but hopefully I can get everything in white in the next week or two, then focus on strapping and weathering!

Edited February 21, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Fantastic job so far. I've used the low profile before (on my shin closures) but this is the first time I've seen the ultra thin, let us know how it works out.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Wow awesome! Nice work Justin

[andylah[TK]]

Amazing work mate, watching this build happen intently!



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[Sly11[Admin]]

I don't think I have ever seen the Ultra thin Velcro in Australia, but I'm just imagining the applications right now.

 

Keep up the good work.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

On 2/21/2020 at 2:32 AM, Sly11 said:

I don't think I have ever seen the Ultra thin Velcro in Australia, but I'm just imagining the applications right now.

 

Keep up the good work.

It doesn't seem like it's nearly as common as even the Low-Profile (which isn't common haha). I found it on https://www.fastenation.com/ if that helps anyone.

 

The armor party yesterday went great and @Oztrooper and I were able to help get several new recruits up and running, plus it seemed like everyone had a great time! I'm unsure whose shoulder bell upset me so much... hahaha

 

 

More sanding this week but I'll report back soon!

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

Me: "Nice! These panels look really smooth!"
My inner OCD: "PRIME AND SAND THEM ANYWAYS."
Panels after block sanding to 600: ...

 

Me:

 

Also this. Was rewatching episode eight of a spiffy tv show and noticed this notch cut in the side of the barrel of a screen used Anthology suit. Going to try to emulate this cut with mine. Sorry for the bad quality, but you get the idea. 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Final paintjob will thank your extra effort 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Now that's what I call an armour party. Great to see everyone working on kits.

really enjoying these builds.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

More sanding, more primer...

 

 

 

Don't mind the Rubies Rebels E-11 conversion - it's for a friend. And has been giving me all kinds of trouble with its seam-filling and paint. Almost done tho. I also have two Jawa builds that I'm wrapping up and are heading out for friends. More time to focus on this!

 

 

Also filled the oval slot on the back left shoulder, left the round one (I don't plan on relocating the shoulder bridge tabs at this time). Used a 2-part flexible body filler meant for bumpers, then a thin skin of the Dynatron 650 spot putty.

 

 

After another coat of filler primer, it's pretty much gone.

 

 

Makeshift paint booth did its job, except when a piece of cardboard fell off the fence and marred some wet paint on the chest piece... Sigh... I'll fill and fix it again. More sanding in the coming days and then spraying a bunch of panel's backsides flat white, then front sides their first coat of Rust-Oleum Gloss White. 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

Big weekend for progress on the kit - took several steps forward (and a few back), but it's coming along!

 

The big step was finally adding additional resin to the backsides of all the armor. This kit is my first time working with fiberglass or resin, so it was a learning experience forsure. After prepping the inside of the panels by scuffing with 100grit sandpaper, as previously mentioned, I went with FibreGlast 1110 vinylester resin, which is catalyzed by a mix of 1.25% MEKP. I bought a quart of the stuff along with their basic mixing kit that included several gloves, measuring and mixing cups, and stir sticks, and I ordered several extra cheap chip brushes.

 

 

I did a test run to ensure that the resin would bond to the existing fiberglass matting/resin and would remain flexible, while adding strength (it did, though I must not have added enough MEKP or mixed properly, as it took a looooong time to fully harden).

For the first full batch, I used a syringe I had laying around (for refilling fountain pens, not anything nefarious haha) to precisely measure out the proper amount of MEKP and mixed it into 300ml of resin, then stirred (trying not to mix in bubbles), and transferred to another cup to work out of. It turns from a light pink to a light brown when properly mixed, I learned. You can also use what resin is left in your cup as a gauge for how cured the rest of the resin is.

 

 

Using the chip brushes, I applied a thin layer of resin to all of the inside armor surfaces (except the arms... I'll do a final 100ml batch for those and any other pieces later). I definitely mixed up too much the first time - 200ml is all I could probably use before it started setting up and became the consistency of like Jell-O instead of maple syrup like it was. I ended up tossing about 100ml of hardened resin in the cup, but live and learn. I mixed up another 100ml and used that to do a second coat on higher-stress areas like the shoulder tabs, chest armor neck line, and posterior armor.

 

If it isn't obvious already, wear gloves, cheap clothes you don't mind ruining, and for god's sake, PPE in the form of a ventilator. I already have lymphoma, I don't need lung cancer too.

 

 

While I was at it, I did a little repair on one of the belt boxes - it had a super thin spot in the wall that had already cracked, so I mixed up more of that flexible bumper filler and added some in to ensure it was strong, then a little more resin.

 

 

 

The whole adding resin adventure turned out supersuper well over all and I would definitely recommend what I did to others. It helped add strength to all of the panels as well as "sealing" the open fibers that were super itchy and rough, but maintained a firm flex. You can see the smoother, glossier finish on the below shot.

 

 

Next up, I sprayed all the insides of the panels with a flat white for good measure. (Ended up waiting on the thighs, as I wanted to split them and add a little more resin before painting the inside. Also, I just so happened to run out of the rattle can I was using after spraying everything else).

 

 

I split the back of the thighs later in the day using my Dremel cut off wheel, then a 60grit sanding block to smooth my cut lines out. I'm a slimmer guy, so it'll be nice to overlap these and size em down a bit. I'll add a little extra resin where I chopped them when I coat the arms.

 

 

After cleaning up any stray resin droplets (what I get for not masking anything) on the front sides of the armor, I sprayed several panels with flat white primer as well.

 

 

I also sprayed the helmet after giving it a quick wet sand with 400grit and allowing it to dry fully. I'm going to have my pro paint guy paint it for me, but I figured it wouldn't hurt - and it came out surprisingly smooth.

 

 

Aaaaaand here's several of the main panels, with both sides successfully in flat white 2X primer. I'm pretty darn pleased with how things are going so far, but there's lots more work to be done!

 

 

Next up is more wet sanding, then a couple final coats of high gloss white! Doing my final chemotherapy infusion this Friday the 13th, so likely no progress until the weekend after, but we'll see how I'm feeling!

Edited March 9, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

Your quick work on this continues to impress me, and makes me think my 9-month TK build is as slow as your extra 100ml of cured resin. Looking forward to seeing the progress, but more importantly, I wish you the best this week with your treatment.


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[TK 14166[TK]]

Awesome to see you keep it up my friend.

I did the same thing with my thighs and sized them down too.
Makes the world of a difference.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

Not a lot happening this past... month? Jeez, where does the time go...

 

Between chemo, COVID, and just a particularly rainy last few weekends, things have been moving slowly, but I try to put time in each day into some aspect of the suit. Many of my updates either don't photograph well, or I just forget to take photos in my fervor. Apologies! Also, the convention (WonderCon) that I wanted to debut this suit at ended up being postponed/cancelled, so... oh well... Hopefully Celebration still?

 

Anyways, I went back and filled any pinholes that materialized from my last round of primer (particularly around the edges of panels), then resprayed primer on top. Most of the main body panels are now FULLY prepared for final paint - the insides are reinforced with resin and sprayed flat white with all noticeable pinholes filled, and the outsides have been primered and wet-block-sanded to 1000 grit to level any dust nibs, small insects (ha), etc. that would prevent a (hopefully) excellent final spray of gloss white once the rain stops (this weekend?).

 

 

I also was able to finally psych myself up, bite the bullet, and trim several of the panels. I'm about 6ft, 160lbs, so on the slightly tall and slightly slim side - I got Jim's regular height kit, (not the Tall version) and ended up taking 1" off the top of the cod, 1" off the top of the barrel and added the underarm cutouts, and 3" or so off the black side connectors. This kit really would fit a pretty big range of people!

 

 

Arms and legs are also still in their first coat of primer and will probably get their second soon.

 

I know it's not exciting, but I can't tell you how much time I've spent in paint prep on this suit, sanding and priming - really hoping it pays off! (I totally should have paid someone to do it, but I guess I get the pride of knowing it was my work when all is said and done!).

 

Attempted my first round of glossy white on my first (easy) panel, but got a weird paint reaction already. Unsure what caused it, but I'll sand it out with like 1500 and try again. Everything will likely get at least two coats anyways.

 

 

My rear zipper closure, ultra thin velcro, and flexible shoulder straps also all arrived, here's some photos IRL!

 

 

Doing more sanding and priming, spraying final gloss on some panels, and figuring out strapping/test fitting things in the next go around! Belt assembly soon and also gonna try to get my HWT submitted for EIB.

 

On the health front, had my (hopefully) LAST chemo infusion last week and am nearly fully recovered from it. The hospital keeps trying to push out my next PET scan, but my doctor and I have been pushing back to get me in next week - the scan will let me know where I stand, and where to go from here (even if I delay radiation while the world settles down). Fingers continue to be crossed for good results!

Edited March 28, 2020 by TheRascalKing

[TK 14166[TK]]

Hey dude. Glad to see your still at it!

It’s looking good.
Ugh I know the feeling of all the prep work for paint. That’s literally all I was really doing with it to the last few months.

I see you got to trimming, did you use a dremel to? I was pretty nervous using it to. Didn’t want to mess anything up.

But hopefully that was your last treatment!

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

20 hours ago, TK 14166 said:

Hey dude. Glad to see your still at it!

It’s looking good.
Ugh I know the feeling of all the prep work for paint. That’s literally all I was really doing with it to the last few months.

I see you got to trimming, did you use a dremel to? I was pretty nervous using it to. Didn’t want to mess anything up.

But hopefully that was your last treatment!

Thanks man! Yea it's infuriating if you're a perfectionist. Shame, I'll eventually weather everything and no one will even be able to tell, but it'll make it easier to repaint down the line.

 

Yea, I mostly used my Dremel with a cutoff wheel. The sheers were only good in a straight line and made me worry it would crack. Hard to get in corners with the Dremel, but it went okay. Smoothing things out with a sanding drum is actually where things got wave-y and bad. Cutting the barrel top took forever.

 

Hopefully! I'll know more early next month.

[Harbinger[IPM]]

41 minutes ago, TheRascalKing said:

Thanks man! Yea it's infuriating if you're a perfectionist. Shame, I'll eventually weather everything and no one will even be able to tell, but it'll make it easier to repaint down the line.

Isn't this the truth, spent so much time polishing my TB just to throw a bunch of black spray paint on it to weather it lol.

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

Alright, time for another update. It's been pretty rainy here in Southern California for the last couple weeks, and being immuno-compromised with all this COVID stuff, I've been stuck at home almost 100% of the time. So wanting to work on armor, but weather not permitting and not having some supplies has made for a frustrating few weeks! 

 

Nonetheless, I have made a bit of progress.

 

 

The barrel has finally been sanded and moved to its second coat of primer (it has more ridged details than any other panel so I've admittedly been avoiding it...)

 

 

Got the helmet on its second coat as well - it wasn't rough enough to need filler primer, so I did a coat of 2x flat white primer first, then gray Sandable, then it'll get flat white again. With Covid lockdown, I can't have my paint guy do it after all, so it's on me. It'll be a challenge! More on this in my next post. The helmet is really a beautiful casting and didn't need tootoo much cleanup. I'm glad I added resin to it tho - it is light, but I worried about its strength. I also lowered the brow trim with a file a bit, if you notice. Debating doing more...

 

 

Speaking of which... if you haven't caught on to my perfectionist yet rattle-can paint technique yet, I'll explain it a bit more below.

 

 

Work left-to-right, as needed, for each panel:

 

Step 1: Every panel gets a rub down on both sides with some wet/dry 100grit just to literally clean them up and remove any mold release/wax/residue/loose glass strands whatever.

Step 2: Rough panels get a coat of light grey filler primer - this stuff sprays pretty chunky but does a great job of filling any pinholes and is pretty high-build to give an idea of any larger low/high areas on the panels (ie, the inside of the thighs were real bad, same as Jeff's), but sucks to sand.

Step 3: Sand with like a 200grit block.

Step 4: Mark with a pencil any pinholes/chips/whatever and fill with body filler, then sand with a 400block.

Step 5: Spray with dark grey Filler primer - it also will fill any leftover pinholes. The alternating light/dark primer colors reallyreally helps you see when you've sanded through one layer and into the next, as well as makes any small imperfections "pop" and be much more visible, and easier to fix.

Step 6: Sand with like 4-600grit.

Step 7: Spray with medium grey primer - most panels only needed two colored primer coats before white, but I used a 3rd on any rough ones. More body filler as needed after it dries.

Step 8: Sand with 4-600grit.

Step 9: Spray entire panel, front and back, with flat white primer - by now, any pinholes or imperfections should be filled - if not, you'll really see them with the contrast of the white and can fix them.

Step 10: Wet sand

Step 11: Mask flat backsides of panels and spray with Gloss White.

Step 12: Wet sand to level any orange peel. Be careful not to actually remove any of the white, exposing darker bottom layers, just level it.

Step 13: Spray with 2K Gloss Clear (as many coats as you can afford haha)

Step 14: Wet sand/polish as needed.

 

Yea it's not fun. My arm hurts from sanding, but damn is it gonna look good (I hope!) haha

 

As for the helmet, I always like spraying my interiors black, so I did - using Rust-oleum truck bedliner. It has a nice texture and I'd like to think it gives the helmet like 0.01% extra impact strength. The helmet also received two additional layers of resin, so it's MUCH stronger than previously, especially in the dome, and I feel a thousand times better about it. It was pretty thin in a few spots before...

 

 

I masked the eyes with tape and neck trim area with a garbage bag and sprayed a coat of sandable primer just for good measure after scuffing the interior resin with 100grit. I then put a bit of Bondo on a few low spots and sanded the filler once with 200 to even it out a bit and help the bed liner stick. The interior doesn't need to be anywhere near smooth, but I figured it couldn't hurt and would level some of the glaring imperfections.

 

 

The photo doesn't do it justice, but it looks great with the black interior. I'll paint in around the eyes after I cut the tube stripe vents out, which I also started. Holy heck is this gonna be a pain with just a drill and jeweler's files, unless I find a better bit that fits for my Dremel... Not doing the cheek or rear traps forsure.

 

 

As for the rest of the armor, it all finally got a coat of resin on the backside, so it's ready for more painting and sanding.

 

 

I made decent progress on the thighs, biceps, and accessories (which are now in flat white primer), but the forearms and shins are still on their first coat of filler and are the furthest behind. I'll be working on them this week, weather permitting.

 

 

The remainder of the armor is near the end though - I began masking the backsides of any of the panels that were ready for final gloss and clear. I'd like to keep the backside of the panels flat white.

 

 

My goal is to get EVERYTHING done in white gloss, wet sanded, and masked before I spray the clear all at once. 2K is excellent and will hopefully give me a strong, durable, automotive-quality finish, but being 2-part in nature, I will have 48 hours MAX to use an entire activated can. And at about $20USD a can, I don't want to waste any. I've been working in stages on most of this stuff, but it will all get clear at once! I'll probably try to do all the armor with my first can, then the helmet and an additional coat on everything else with the second can. From there, strapping and fitting should come together pretty quick, I hope - I have most of it together already. I'll be using Velcro on most of the suit to allow it to be easily adjustable, then I'll likely switch to snaps down the line (it's a specialty of mine haha), once I know I have the suit fitting well. 

 

On the health front, I had great PET scan results come back and my cancer is no longer showing as "active" on the scans. I got cleared to do 4 weeks of radiation treatment starting next week, and then should be done with this cancer nonsense by summer if all goes well. Fatigue is the major side-effect of radiation, as opposed to the nausea of chemo, so we'll see how it plays out and affects my progress on the armor. Priorities tho.

 

That's it for now! Thanks for reading. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

It's certainly getting close now, super excited to see the finished product.

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Hey man, glad to see you're back at it! In planning out my Jimmi helmet, I'm stuck on paint. It's awesome to see your walkthrough and supply list! Do you know what you're going to use for the gray and black helmet parts? I saw Daetrin’s R1TK Paint Guide which listed Humbrol and Testors colors, but since I'm planning rattle cans only, those aren't really options for me. What are you going to use? You've primed the whole bucket and then plan on taping and painting the different parts? I'm just trying to get my supply list together and paint colors and types are the hardest to plan for so far... Thanks man!

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

On 4/14/2020 at 9:47 AM, DarthBiscuit said:

Hey man, glad to see you're back at it! In planning out my Jimmi helmet, I'm stuck on paint. It's awesome to see your walkthrough and supply list! Do you know what you're going to use for the gray and black helmet parts? I saw Daetrin’s R1TK Paint Guide which listed Humbrol and Testors colors, but since I'm planning rattle cans only, those aren't really options for me. What are you going to use? You've primed the whole bucket and then plan on taping and painting the different parts? I'm just trying to get my supply list together and paint colors and types are the hardest to plan for so far... Thanks man!

***Update, not what I used.....***

 

 

Allow me to answer in the form of a photo haha

 

Rust-oleum Satin black for the underarm connectors and barrel side stripes, Gloss Brilliant Blue for the ab buttons and tube vents, Gloss Smoke Grey for the ab buttons, frown and traps, and PlastiDip matte rubbery black for the vocoder, brow trim, and neck seal trim. I also have a fine tipped black paint pen for the trap and tear vent vertical lines and outlines - I don't plan on cutting them out. I plan to paint the whole helmet gloss white after primer, then mask and spray the grey and black, then hit the whole thing with 2K clear, then finally the Plastidip last. Unsure quite how I'm gonna do the tube vents, but I'll probably just spray a thin piece of plastic blue, then tape it in from underneath. Are those colors "correct"? I don't know! But that's what I'm using, so I hope that helps! Get ready for lots of sanding haha Hit me up with any questions!

Edited April 24, 2021 by TheRascalKing