JZYL Fem7 build

[shashachu[TK]]

DO IT DO IT

[JZYL]

Also! Want to remind everyone safety safety safety!

 

Whenever using sharp cutting tools or power tools, and even when you're snapping plastic, remember to wear protection!

That means safety glasses, no-cut gloves, and appropriate clothing.

What is appropriate clothing?

Remember back to your science lab days... cover as much of your body as possible, do not expose your skin. That means long sleeves, long pants. If you're working standing up, close toed shoes. 

When necessary, wear a fumigator or heavy duty face mask to minimize fumes and dust. Make sure it properly adheres to your skin, depending on the size. That means for the smaller ones, no makeup and no facial hair.

 

I made the mistake of wearing a t-shirt while sanding, and now I have a bunch of little nicks on my arm and on my cleavage.

So attractive, a nicked decollete. Think I'll pick up anyone this weekend?

[Chopper857[TK]]

Ok personally i would have the front plate overlaying the rear plate as you have in your pictures, would trim the front plate along the penciled line then try on again  much the same as you have already done then relay out the pencil line on the rear plate then trim say 10 mm inside of that. would also recommend using snaps on both sides  as you can then have a range of different length elastics for different stages of weight gain or loss 

link below should take you straight to how this part of  the legacy was put together which is pretty much the same as the fem7 at this point  

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44182-legacy-fem-trooper-version-a-tj_fem-wip/page/2/

 

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

10 hours ago, JZYL said:

Also! Want to remind everyone safety safety safety!

 

Whenever using sharp cutting tools or power tools, and even when you're snapping plastic, remember to wear protection!

That means safety glasses, no-cut gloves, and appropriate clothing.

Also use a sharp knife, sounds counter intuitive but true. A dull blade means you'll push harder, which means your more likely to slip, which means you're more likely to cut your self.  Further when you do inevitably cut yourself a cut from a sharp blade will heal faster and cleaner than a nasty cut from a dull blade that was more of a tear.

 

Personally I can't do delicate work in gloves, I'm far more likely to slip/mess up with gloves on. 

[JZYL]

@themaninthesuitcase very sharp point!   

Sometimes I forget that even 'common' knowledge should be explicitly stated, so it's definitively known. I'm pretty good about the sharp knives thing too, so that's another one forgotten to state.

I'm kicking myself a little bit because I'm normally a pretty paranoid person about this kind of stuff. My dad loved building things and always had me be his spotter when I was a kid (our version of daddy daughter bonding time). Plus I started university pretty deep set in Biology, so I did a ton of lab work. Luckily it was all tiny little nicks (like, I didn't notice until I went to take a shower and was like "huh, why is there blood?"). They're so tiny, I'm pretty sure the only reason why I was bleeding is because blood doesn't coagulate as well when someone is menstruating  so I really should take care!

[JZYL]

I forgot to document this last night, but I finally sucked it up and made cuts. Thanks to @shashachu for being my personal cheerleader on FB Messenger, FB, and here. Seriously ShaSha Shifu is the best.

 

Aaaaand once again she was correct, didn't need to use the rotary tool. In fact, it was a bit of a detriment than anything. I was terrified using the cutting wheel (which actually wasn't that hard to use, I forgot that I have some tool experience thanks to Papa JZYL). Lower speeds didn't cut very well and the wheel would slip, higher speeds the plastic actually melted as it was being cut (ugh the smell). So the other 3 cuts I just used kitchen sheers (as klutzy as I am, I am surprisingly very steady with knives)

 

Then I  got a little eager beaver and started gluing down the elastic directly to the kidney plate. When I read @Chopper857's comment, I got a little concerned about the ability to adjust for the future. I also realized that for storage, it'll be a pain if the whole corset sticks together. Luckily I had been using E6000, so I pried the elastic off this morning.

 

So the glued elastic still has glue on it, but I think I'll try to pry it off when I get home. I brought more elastic to work so I can use the hole puncher we have here, and I'm going to ask the packaging team if I can borrow it for the weekend.

 

Also, I could not get the elastic to melt well to prevent fraying. It smells terrible (worse than the glue, though I actually didn't think it was that bad). I might just stitch it down and hot glue the edges I think. Yuck the thing smells. I'll properly lay this out later when I get home.

Edited September 27, 2019 by JZYL

[JZYL]

Hm. So I'm a bit upset with myself.

Last night I somehow thought that the seams would line up perfectly, I think because I had read the threads of some really experienced builders. Also, the cutting process where I tried to use the rotary tool at first and then switched to scissors, meant that I also lost some material from teh sanding.

But today while I was looking at it, I realized that it looked really bad with the black showing underneath

 

I was thinking about exploring reattaching the old pieces back, but...

1 it would be a lot of work

2 some of those pieces don't fit right, because of sanding and whatnot

I thought about shimming the spare pieces on, but they're really thick and I am really against trying to use the hot water or heat gun trick, I just really think I'm going to mess it up.

 

So my newest idea, is instead of using the large black elastic I had purchased, I'm going to use the white elastic I had bought to join the pieces

I'm still kind of upset and now paranoid, so I want to know what do you guys think if I did this (with snaps instead of tape, of course

 

\

 

 

*sigh* I also for some odd reason smoothed out the ends of things because I didn't want stuff to snag my clothing. But I think that'll be okay because the butt plate goes over the kidney, and it should also cover the little cap between the abdomen and kidney plates

 

 

[JZYL]

So I decided against trying to add in white elastic, I just think it looks really sloppy. I'm going to add shims on the kidney plate so that the abdominal plate can slide over them.

I also set some snaps into elastic for once the shims set, so then I can add those on.

 

Jumping ahead to thighs because I think I want to work on stuff that's not so visible while I build my confidence back up.

Tried to fit the thigh today, and realized that it seems to go in a lot

 

Learning from last time, fit the front over the back

 

 

 

I think I need to trim the bottom of the front so it lines up

 

Also, do people usually keep this as a solid piece and slide up their leg, or do they velcro the hell out of this?

I'm like, really low in confidence now.

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice work so far Jessy, regarding the Ab, the movie armor has no seams at the sides (CRL requirement for standard FOTK), with a expandable seam in the rear underneath the thermal detonator. Closing up the side and opening the back should solve all your issues. Not exactly sure if you could do this with this armor (possible) but if could...

 

Movie armor 

https://imgur.com/a/Q7RvVSB

 

Sorry have photo issues

Edited September 29, 2019 by ukswrath

[JZYL]

So I spent the day on the Ladies of the Legion FB group talking to everyone, and I decided to shim pieces of my abdominal armor under the kidney plate. This way the abdominal plate will slide over the shim, covering any gaps. Also, it looks like the butt plate and belt will hide the weird gaps that result on the bottom.

Also, I got a little zealous again and cut off the edges of the lower thigh that were poking me, but Ladies Legion said that I should actually line up the outer part of the thigh, and then trim the inside. Whoops. Reattaching those too.

While I was waiting for people to get online and give me some ideas, I spent the day using my rotary tool and sanding smooth the edges of the thighs, biceps, and forearms. Also spent some time trying to decide how to attach the butt plate. I also attached snaps to elastic... but when I tried to test them together, not all of them fit. I'm confused.

[Chopper857[TK]]

http://

Here a really good guide for snaps to start with.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JZYL]

Not been doing a good job documenting because the past two weekends have been ridiculously busy for me. First had a friend visiting from Texas, then a friend from NY, and I was playing endless tour guide. Luckily though, New York helped me fit the chest plate. However, I noticed that due to my epic vertical challenges, the chest plate is a smiiiidge longer than I need, but I think it can be fixed by curving the shoulder straps a bit more. A little scared of using hot water or a heat gun, considering how klutzy I am.

 

I also shaped and fitted my bicep armor and forearm armor. I did, however, decide to play with the ABS paste and used that to join the seams. Unfortunately I found that there seems to have been bubbles in the paste, as when I sanded they were revealed  I think after Halloween I will want to learn more about bondo or something, for now it's passable.

 

I also worked on my bucket the past few days... gluing was a breeze, but cutting the face shield was not. It's currently setting right now, hoping I won't have to adjust it because it was a royal pain.

 

Trying to get as much done this week since I'm going to try and attend the Santa Clara City Library Comic Con that @shashachu invited me to, but I'm just a smidgey worried about transportation and time constraints. Next weekend my parental units are going to be in a town, so eeeeeeverything has to go into the closet: armor, personality, individuality, orientation.... oh hey maybe that's what the Stormtrooper program is like!

 

 

[JZYL]

So I did end up going to Santa Clara City Library Comic Con and it was a blast. 

Big thanks to the peeps from the Golden Gate Garrison who were super willing to listen to me complain and explain helmet padding, gluing, etc.

Special shout out to the two TK's who let me take pictures of their hand pieces to see how they had attached (one velcro to the glove, one on an elastic band)

 

So per usual I'm great at plans, terrible at sticking to them, and have been terrible at documenting. But wanted to give everyone a progress report:

 

Corset + butt done

chest: done'ish, but need to attach teh shoulder straps. Also, I think I need to curve the shoulder pieces more but hot water dosen't seem to work very well

thighs: done, but considering how easy it is to slip on adn off, consdering removing the velcro and just gluing it into solid pieces. Also, constantly adjusting the elastic cuz it keeps slipping

biceps: done

forearms: almost done, need to glue the greeblies on, but all my magnets are on the shins

 

bucket: assembled, brow and neck lines attached. The neck was a little short, and I made the opening on the front cuz I plan on painting the vodocoder

facelens has been applied, but the bottom is a little detached, and I'm trying to decide how to attach it

also, working on teh decals

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Very nice progress, it's easy to get carried away while building and forget about progress pics  

 

Keep up the good work

[JZYL]

So my parents are currently in town from Taiwan (family friend's kid's wedding), so I will have to take a week hiatus (everything into the closet! armor, personality, orientation, self-respect!)

I only have to finish the shins, attach them to the knees, and do the forearms. So this speed build will be done for Halloween... and then I will slowly upgrade it.

 

I'm also trying to decide if I should purchase the FemTK and black!Fem7 while Kevin's sale is on.

 

On an amusing note, my dad already found the helmet while moving stuff around. He is impressed.

Impressed by my level of crazy. And dedication. But still thinks I'm crazy.

And not impressed by my attempt to hide everything. Oh well....

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

15 hours ago, JZYL said:

On an amusing note, my dad already found the helmet while moving stuff around. He is impressed.

Impressed by my level of crazy. And dedication. But still thinks I'm crazy.

And not impressed by my attempt to hide everything. Oh well....

Cool   All of us are a little crazy !! 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Nice progress Jessy

[JZYL]

When you're home sick with the flu, initial thought is "oh great, more time to work on the costume!"

Then you remember.. you're home sick... with the FLU.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

All the time to do things but not the energy, that sucks

[JZYL]

Home stretch!

 

Helmet

I forgot to detail that I had completed the helmet, it was relatively easy. Three pieces, front over back, and then the top. The face screen was a nightmare though, my trusty kitchen sheers weren't too happy with it, and the rotary tool made many many many scary noises when cutting. So I basically ended up using the cutting tool to roughly score it, and then used the scissors to cut it. Held in place with the hooks provided in the kit. Glued the top first, and then realized the bottom was very removed from the helmet, and then glued that in place too. Decided to leave gluing down the cheeks for a different time if I get more powerful magnets. Purchased a basic helmet padding kit from Prime (ugh), with focused padding on the upper forehead to keep the front of the helmet away from my face.

 

Shins

I thought these would be easy to do since we've basically been doing the same thing everywhere, but apparantly not. The shins were the curviest pieces I had to do, and it was obvious. Even now they kind of threaten to come apart, and I think post-Halloween it'll be amongst the ones I'd think about ABS pasting solidly and then painting.

 

Decals

There really wasn't much of a guide on the decals, I just kinda eyeballed it. Also, found that if you remove the decal, and then lay it on the long side it helps with placement.

 

Fit

I did a few fit walks, and found that the biceps keep sliding down. I added a layer of some of the leftover elastic I had, and it seems to have done the trick. Still figuring out what to do about the forearms, plus whenever I pull those up, they pull up my sleeve and reveal the green line of my glove. Thinking about cutting the end of the glove off, or sewing it inside. 

 

Here's what I look like as of right now, minus biceps and knees. Forearm greeblies not attached yet, and I forgot the hand guards for the photo.

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Leaps and bounds, looking great, "stay on target"  

[JZYL]

8 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Leaps and bounds, looking great, "stay on target"  

doesn't that mean I'll miss?

 

Also, I start a post regarding injury catalogue...

[JZYL]

I have had dental issues in the past, and worked with kids who have had allergies. 

So I prepared some alternative treats instead of candy for some kiddos.

 

Legos were from a kit I had, they're like $5 a piece. But I found a bunch of toys at Ross, and each Hasbro figurine came out to under $2

Think the kiddos will like?

 

[JZYL]

Holy cow I did it!!

 

 

 

Unfortunately did not win the costume contest, but I'm so happy! 

Armor bites and all (ouch ouch ouch)!!

[jethroskull[501st]]

Unfortunately did not win the costume contest, but I'm so happy!

Wow! Whoever beat you must have been good, you look great!


(My Reserve Pilot/Bridge Crew got beat by a zombie...)