Merkava74's TFA FOTK Build Thread (Anovos)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, merkava74 said:

Thanks Tony! Makes a lot of sense. Which means this is acceptable for the biceps and thighs:

 

Yes I understand what you meant with the Shins. There is definitely an entry section, unlike the thighs and biceps, where I can glue them shut. 

 

Thank you again!

 

Correct. 

 

Also, the "inner" seams can be fixed or functional, choice is yours

[merkava74[TK]]

REPAIR FOREARM BAD PULL

 

So, I realised that my left forearm (bottom half) suffered a bad pull during the vacuum-form. Here you can see the comparison between the correct (right) and the one with the bad pull (left). After taking off the excess ABS which cannot be used, you can see that the recessed long bullet is almost gone, and the width of the wrist opening is so much wider:

 

So, I drew the outline of the right Forearm piece on Styrene and cut it out roughly:

 

Then, I removed most of the ABS from the forearm, leaving just enough to make the return edge and hold the styrene in place later:

 

Then I glued the styrene piece behind the return edge, and indicated where I should cut to match the right Forearm:

 

Here's how it looks cut:

 

Next, I caked the area with epoxy putty, and pressed a little recess for where the bullet recess will be, and let dry.

 

After it was dried, a little sanding and smoothening, and after spray a coat of primer to see the results, I am pretty satisfied with this repair job:

 

Now it looks much better!

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[merkava74[TK]]

Afterthought: once I realised that the recess was supposed to be black, I don’t think what I just did is the best solution. So I’m going to rework both forearms: 

 

Remove the same area from both forearms, build up flat with styrene, cut the pillbox hole through, stick a piece of black styrene from the back. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Can't tell you how many Alpha builders hacked this section off also. Nice recovery.  

[merkava74[TK]]

Not much time to build over the last week due to work, but found some time to repair the forearms as mentioned earlier. 

 

I shaved off both forearms leaving only the return edge:

 

Then I glued 2 pieces of 2mm acrylic pieces together as I wanted a 4mm depth, but could not find any sheet that was that thick:

 

Next, I bevelled off the edge, so that it will sit behind the return edge and be flush from the front, glued it in place, and filled the gap with more CA glue. 

 

After sanding down the front to make the acrylic flush with the return edge, I cut the pillbox recess.

 

And then finally shaved off the rest of the excess at the bottom. 

 

This is how it looks after sanding and priming.

 

Did the same to the other arm.

 

Before final sanding and priming:

 

And the finished forearm:

 

Both forearms completed. A tedious step, but I think the results are worth it. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[JAFO[TK]]

Love your work! 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Wow fantastic re-work on those forearms Jasper  

[merkava74[TK]]

FOREARMS

 

So after completing the re-work of the recess at the front of the forearms, it was time to assemble it together. 

I did not want to use the shim method, as I realised that if I used the shim down the whole length of the forearm, the pieces would open "outwards". I needed the pieces to fold "inwards" in a rounded fashion. As such, I decided to use little styrene rectangles, heated and bent inwards and lined them along the insides. 

 

 

This is how it looks like completed. The 2 sides do take on a nice inward curving shape. 

 

As for the top plate, since I am going for Centurion, the CRL states that the "Forearm top plate is not attached at front of wrists". So I glued 2/3 of the top plate, leaving the front end flexible. 

 

Next, the arduous task of filling the seams and sanding them down to a smooth finish. 

 

Once that was done, I glued the 2 clasp greeblies and the ridged rail, and tackled the wrist boxes. Again, the CRL states that "Forearm wrist box should be separate pieces, affixed to forearms". So I decided to use 2 nylon bolts and nuts, drill 2 holes on the forearm, and attach the wrist box to the forearm this way. It shows a clear separation. 

 

From the inside, this is how it looks:

 

The completed forearm, ready for priming and sanding down one final time. 

 

After priming, sanding, priming again, and finally wet sanding with 1500 grit, left to dry. 

 

And the completed forearms, ready to send for auto paint. 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[JAFO[TK]]

Outstanding effort! Loving your work Jasper.


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[Sly11[Admin]]

Lovely mate, nice clean job of those forearms.

[merkava74[TK]]

Outstanding effort! Loving your work Jasper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you! Enjoying the build!

[merkava74[TK]]

Lovely mate, nice clean job of those forearms.

Thanks! These seem to be the most time consuming part of the costume. And I thought the TD was bad...

[merkava74[TK]]

THIGHS

 

Moving on to the thighs, I tackled the side with the holster first. I had Dan's metal holster, and it is a beauty. I wouldn't even save the kit holster as a paperweight. First thing I did was to drill a hole somewhere in the middle so I could embed a bolt through it, which, combined later with the top and bottom screws of the holster, will go through the resin riser, ABS riser, and the thigh piece, holding everything securely together since this part is going to hold the weight of my blaster in the future. 

 

 

This is how everything should look like once done, with 3 screws going through the entire set up. Here you can also see the rectangular hole that I cut out, so that the indent where the clasp greeblie will sit later can sit flush. 

 

I glued the holster together, even though it would be secured by 9 screws in the end, simply because I am going to send it for painting WITHOUT the screws. The screws will go in at the end, so they will retain the silver colour and not be painted white if I had sent it in with the screws. 

 

This is the completed set up, with the edges of the resin riser sanded flush with the metal holster. 

 

Next, I glued the ABS riser to the thigh, and used 3 temporary bolts to hold them together while it dried. 

 

Then, slather with epoxy putty because, again, CRL says seamless...

 

After sanding, priming, sanding, I was happy with the riser looking seamless, and glued the holster to it. Again, I used temporary screws to hold it all in place. This is after it has dried and I had removed the screws.

 

 

Finally, the 2 halves of the thigh was glued together. Pretty straightforward using clamps, magnets and clips. I glued both sides down as the thighs allowed my legs to go through without any problems. The clasp greeblie was then heated, curved to shape, and glued onto the thigh. 

 

After priming, sanding, and wet sanding using 1500 grit, it is done. 

 

The other side was simply glueing the 2 halves together, and adding the clasp greeblie. Here the 2 thighs are done and ready for painting. 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

They are definitely the go to holster, nice work

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Great work on the holster install 

[merkava74[TK]]

BICEPS

 

Pretty straightforward. Cut the 2 pill holes, join the halves, putty well, add clasp greeblie, ready for paint. 

The halves were joint with glue completely as I could get my arms through it with ease. No need for any functional seams. 

Again, I used several pieces of styrene as compared to 1 long strip in order to retain a curve at the joint. 

 

Primer, sand, primer...

 

And done!

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[merkava74[TK]]

HELMET

 

I'm using an ANOVOS TFA standard helmet, and will be dismantling it in order to send for auto paint so that I get the same glossiness and colour as the rest of my armour. 

 

First up, dismantling. Quite logical, except that some parts are glued shut so you will have to break off a couple of tabs. So took out the head strap, the face, the lens, the nose, and the mic tip, as I will be replacing it with an aluminium one.

 

 

A couple of places that need to be filled due to the Anovos plastic construction. 

 

The mic tip interior:

 

The gap inside  which I am going to fill up:

 

This casting line which runs across the whole helmet needs to be sanded down:

 

After all that was done, prime, sand as usual. And this is ready for painting. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[Sly11[Admin]]

1 hour ago, merkava74 said:

HELMET

 

I'm using an ANOVOS TFA standard helmet, and will be dismantling it in order to send for auto paint so that I get the same glossiness and colour as the rest of my armour. 

 

First up, dismantling. Quite logical, except that some parts are glued shut so you will have to break off a couple of tabs. So took out the head strap, the face, the lens, the nose, and the mic tip, as I will be replacing it with an aluminium one.

 

 

A couple of places that need to be filled due to the Anovos plastic construction. 

 

The mic tip interior:

 

The gap inside  which I am going to fill up:

 

This casting line which runs across the whole helmet needs to be sanded down:

 

After all that was done, prime, sand as usual. And this is ready for painting. 

Great work, cant wait to see this painted up and ready to rock.

[merkava74[TK]]

HANDPLATES

 

Pretty straightforward. Cut them to shape, and I drilled out the pillbox so I can back it with a black styrene later. 

 

And after priming, it's done. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[Sly11[Admin]]

5 hours ago, merkava74 said:

HANDPLATES

 

Pretty straightforward. Cut them to shape, and I drilled out the pillbox so I can back it with a black styrene later. 

 

And after priming, it's done. 

Looks great, will can simply back the slots with some black HIPS or other material.  If anything you could make the slot just a fraction wider but its pretty darn good.

[merkava74[TK]]

Looks great, will can simply back the slots with some black HIPS or other material.  If anything you could make the slot just a fraction wider but its pretty darn good.

Thanks Andrew! Will do. Actually, I am waiting for a set of resin ones from Dan. I believe those are screen accurate. I’ll probably be using those when they arrive.

But thanks again for the pointer!

[Sly11[Admin]]

2 hours ago, merkava74 said:

Thanks Andrew! Will do. Actually, I am waiting for a set of resin ones from Dan. I believe those are screen accurate. I’ll probably be using those when they arrive.

But thanks again for the pointer!

Yes Dan's are the real deal when it comes to accuracy

[merkava74[TK]]

COD PIECE

 

I drilled 2 holes for the cod, meant to install snaps later. The snaps will face inwards towards the body, and be attached to straps from the abdomen. 

 

And here it is finished. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[merkava74[TK]]

POSTERIOR

 

I drilled 3 holes on this piece. The 2 outermost ones will have snaps that face inwards and be attached to straps from the back of the abdomen. The center hole will face outwards, and is meant to be attached to the belt. 

 

And here it is finished. 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74

[merkava74[TK]]

SHOULDER BELLS

 

Glued the 2 tabs to the bells. I thought it would be simple. Realised it kept having gaps, so I had to use lots of clips and magnets.

 

And here they are finished.

Edited May 22, 2020 by merkava74