Cricket's 3D Print FOTK (TLJ)- ABS, Kid-sized- FINISHED!

[TheSwede[TK]]

On 6/17/2020 at 8:55 PM, wook1138 said:

Wow! Amazing work.  I was looking into doing this for my son - but after seeing the amount of work you are going through, I've come to realize that I don't love him that much. 

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Super-awesome work

[Sly11[Admin]]

I think I need to go through the dictionary and find some more words to describe the job you are doing with this build, Mind blowing!!!

[TK-28046[TK]]

This build is just more than amazing!!!

[ticopowell[TK]]

I have a can of unused 2K spray, I think it has a 48 hour limit after popping the 2nd tube. But your can should have good instructions on how long you can wait before it cures inside the can. 

The build looks great! it's good and bad that my 18 month old wont be big enough for armor for a while... I'm doing enough work for my armor, I don't need to do that for his yet haha.

[Cricket[TK]]

Thanks for the kind words, troopers!  It really means a lot coming from such an amazing group as you all!

Keeping up my momentum on the gaskets, I finished everything today!  

 

I started by sewing the sleeve to the other side of the vest.  Then to finish the edges, I simply folded them under, making sure it fit Cameron correctly as I made my adjustments.  It's not the most elegant solution, but it'll do.


I sewed two pieces of 1.5" elastic at the back.  This allows for good movement.  In the front, since there's not a lot of room for a buckle, I opted to sew in some loop velcro on either side of the vest in the middle.  I sewed some hook velcro to a short piece of 1.5" elastic to make a closure of sorts.  Again, not the most elegant solution, but it works well to keep the vest closed.  And it's easy for Cameron to attach, so win-win!  Here are all the finished gaskets.

Can you tell that Cameron was a little tired of having to "try on-take" off the vest?  He was a real sport about it, though.  I think I had him in and out of the thing about a dozen times as I tried to figure out how to position the elastics and figure out the lengths for connections.
  

 

And now I'm at the point where I can't work any further on the kit.  :/  Everything is waiting for the last coat of paint and clear coat.  The weather isn't cooperating at all, and won't be improving for at least a week.  Grrr.  Ah well.  Maybe time to clean the nerd room, I guess?   Anyhow, thanks for reading, and I'll be back in a few weeks once I've got everything painted.  

[LTM[TK]]

Awesome sauce! You will need to remind him of his facial expression when he is a stud at his next troop (going to look awesome)!

 

How about belt pouches, boots, neck gasket, shiny shorts? Sewing minds want to know the plans. If you are not already, you should plan to get him trading cards. 

[Cricket[TK]]

2 minutes ago, LTM said:

How about belt pouches, boots, neck gasket, shiny shorts? Sewing minds want to know the plans. If you are not already, you should plan to get him trading cards. 

Ah, the pouches and the neck seal!  I will be sewing a neck seal with the same material that I used for the gaskets.  And I already have the black canvas material for the belt pouches, but I forgot that those need to be constructed.  Easy enough, though!  Thanks for the reminder about those.  

I bought some pleather leggings already. I don't know if I can convince Cameron to let me cut them short, though. He was running around in them yesterday pretending to be a rock star.  Wish I had that on video.   

And shoes... I have some faux-leather white slip on Vans style shoes that he wore with his previous kit.  I even painted the bottom trim black so they would look more like FOTK shoes.  They were really big on him when he wore them late last year - so big that he had to wear three pair of socks to keep them on his feet.  His feet have grown a lot since then, and more comfy on him now.   Should be good enough for trooping.  

I know that he would love a set of trading cards.     Will definitely be getting him a set once he's ready!

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Wow awesome work on those gaskets, if I was your son I would be stoked 

[Cricket[TK]]

On 6/24/2020 at 5:13 PM, LTM said:

 

How about belt pouches...? Sewing minds want to know the plans. 

Okay, then!  I made Pouch #1 today, and it wasn't all that difficult.  This is the pouch that has the hard cover to it.
 

I began by cutting out two rectangle shapes of black canvas.  Then I drew "fold" lines so I knew where fold and where to cut.  I don't have exact sizes that would work for all troopers, sorry.  I've got this specifically sized to fit the smaller belt for this kit.  I found a photo of what another trooper used to make his box pouches, and figured it would help as a guide.  


The two pieces are stacked here.  I clipped them together and cut out the necessary areas.


I sewed the two halves together, keeping the end of the flap open so I could turn it inside out to hide the stitched areas.


Then I flipped it inside out to show the right sides.  I worked on the corners to sharpen them up (forgot to take pics of that!).  To the left you can see my prototype pouch.  That pouch is just one layer of fabric, and I really didn't like it at all (even though it was much easier to sew!).  Two layers adds nice bulk to the pouch and helps it keep its shape.


Before proceeding any further, I realized that I needed to sew on the belt loop.  I folded in a piece of scrap black canvas, tucking in the raw edges.


And sewed it together.  I trimmed it down to fit the belt and pouch.


Here's what it looks like when attached!


I sewed all the edges on the inside, then flipped the pouch out to hide all the stitching.  Here's the result: a boxy pouch.

I made the front flap roughly the same size as the plastic cover piece.  That just made more sense to me.  I will be gluing the plastic part on the flap once I get it fully painted.




I'm guessing it looks okay?  Feedback on this would be appreciated!

[LTM[TK]]

Looks great! Another trooper pointed out that making a box (ABS sheet) to fit inside will help it keep its shape.  You can also use hard foam for a fit it and forget it.

If sized right, perfect for carrying trading cards. 

Maybe industrial velcro to attach the plastic cover to pouch in case you need to clean or replace? 

 

Keep up the great work, hope to get a pic at a future troop with mini FOTK. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, looks great

[Scimitar[TK]]

Great work! I used 2" thick memory foam cut to size for Boba's pouches, looks like you could use 1" thick for that pouch. I like the memory foam because it doesn't give the pouches hard edges, which makes them look naturally full. Then again, they're thinner cloth pouches. It's also still easy to cut to accommodate a speaker or a small box for trading cards.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Scimitar

[Cricket[TK]]

Finished the other cloth box today.  Let's just say that sewing boxes is not my thing.  These turned out adequate for my liking.   The additional layer of fabric involves an extra level of challenge that I neither anticipated nor enjoyed.  Glad they're done.

 

 

And assembled on the belt.  Good enough, I think!  I still need to sew in closure fasteners for the fronts. 

 

They're too small for an amp or trading cards, unfortunately.  And I'll be adding some foam blocks inside to help them keep their shape. I bought three HUGE sheets of EVA foam last year from The Engineer Guy (a local FX supply store here in Atlanta), so I've got more than enough to stuff these pouches.  Seriously, the EVA sheets are larger than a standard Twin sized bed.  Two of them are 1" thick each, and are different densities.  My husband asks me from time to time if he can get rid of them out of our basement, and I always respond, "But... PROJECTS!!!!".   See, I can make blocks now.   

[ukswrath[Staff]]

"They're too small for an amp or trading cards, unfortunately" Possibly, but you probably mount something in the helmet . I'd be glad to help you if you're interested

[Cricket[TK]]

6 minutes ago, ukswrath said:

"They're too small for an amp or trading cards, unfortunately" Possibly, but you probably mount something in the helmet . I'd be glad to help you if you're interested

Hahaha!  Thanks for that suggestion, but I've already got an amp system in the works for Cameron.      In his previous kit, I rigged it up similar to my TK, with the amp velcroed into the ab, and the mic wires running to the lid.  That said, I'm eagerly waiting to hear when you plan on releasing that FOTK sound glove setup you were working on.  Nothing would be cooler than my mini FOTK sounding like a full-sized FOTK.   

[Cricket[TK]]

A happy find today!  

 

I was about to get started on making Cameron's neck seal when I realized that I was missing about a yard of pleather fabric I had bought about a year ago.  I was going to use some of it for the bib, so off I went to my long-term Nerd Supply Bin (a 50-gallon Husky bin stored away in a closet in the guest room) to see if it was stashed somewhere in there.  Alas, it wasn't in there, but I found something better: a neck seal!  



This is a neck seal I had bought from Trooperbay (I think?) when I was working on my very first TK.  I've ended up buying other neck seals since then, and I had totally forgotten about this one.  It's small- about 14 inches I think?  Anyhow, Cameron's neck size is about 12.5 inches.  Close enough.  He tried it on, and it pretty much fits!  I will add a little extra loop velcro to one side to help secure the little bit of extra flap overlap.  Easy mod- and much easier than making an entirely new neck seal for sure!  

Now, still wishing I could find that pleather fabric I'd been looking for.  I don't need it now, but would still like to know where it went.  

[Cricket[TK]]

Freed from sewing that neck seal, I set to tackling the shoulder brackets.  I relied exclusively on Tony's tutorial here, and it was extremely helpful!  Thanks @ukswrath as always for blazing the trail for us and leaving a map!

I started using his measurements as a guide, knowing I'd have to size it down anyhow.  Here is my paper template cut to size, but you can see it's too big.  So I pressed it into the space and made marks.


Here are the measurements I ended up with.


I omitted the little tab thingies on the outer edge because I don't really need them as reinforcement.  The chest/shoulder/back area on this print is quite strong.  I used this aluminum sheeting for my brackets.  It's thin enough to cut with tin snips, but also strong enough to hold the shoulders up.  I have a lot of this on hand because when I bought it through Amazon, it only came in a 6 pack.  Lots of material in case I mess things up! 


I traced my template on the aluminum and cut it out.


I bent it slightly and tested it for fit.  It looked good, so I made the opposite side bracket.  

I then took the leap and made holes into the shoulders.  This part was so scary for me!!!!  But it worked out, and the brackets fit nicely.


I made all three holes on each side, and marked the brackets with where I needed to attach the snaps.


Drilled those holes out.  (This was easy!)

Set the snaps.

Verified fit. Again.

Scuffed up the side that was going to get the glue, and stuck the brackets on.  I'm too lazy to drill a bunch of holes in there.  I'll let everything cure over several days.  

I'm really glad that I haven't finished painting yet.   Those holes look somewhat messy, and I know I would have been gutted to mess up the paint!  This piece of armor is pretty dirty after all the cutting and trimming.  Will give it a good cleaning before painting.  Weather still not looking to cooperate with me for at least another week now.  Ah, well.  More time to think about other strapping that I can tackle in the meantime!

[Cricket[TK]]

Halp!!!!  Someone please talk me out of taking this armor into an auto paint shop to be painted.  Every morning I wake up thinking that TODAY (or maybe tomorrow) will be the day when temps are cooler, humidity is below 85%, and rain is not in the forecast. Every morning I look at the daily forecast and weather monitor outside, and my hopes are dashed.  And the forecast for 10 days out is always showing either rain or storms every day.   The only time when the temps are below 75F and humidity is below 85% is after dark, and I can't see well enough to paint then.  Gah. 

Aside from the price, someone please outline all of the downsides to getting a pro paint job done.  The only big reason I can think of is that touch ups will be a major pain in the butt.  

[TheSwede[TK]]

Perhaps asking a paintshop if you could use their shop to paint yourself or better yet, borrow your sons School workshop

[LTM[TK]]

Are you painting in the garage or outside?

[Cricket[TK]]

20 minutes ago, LTM said:

Are you painting in the garage or outside?

Kind of both.  Outside for laying the paint on, then in the garage to gas off for a bit in the shade, then inside to finish curing (because it's drier and cooler indoors).   My garage doesn't have central air/heat, so it ultimately is more humid/hot in the garage (even with the door open) than outdoors. 

I'm considering maybe painting outside at night on evenings when no rain/storms are forecast (if hubby lets me borrow his huge studio lights).  One estimate I just received for painting the parts is $350 (including helmet).  I've already got $90 invested in 2k gloss alone at this point.  :/  I may have to just be patient and finish the paint on my own.  Grrrrr.

 

45 minutes ago, TheSwede said:

Perhaps asking a paintshop if you could use their shop to paint yourself or better yet, borrow your sons School workshop

Alas, the paint shops I've asked won't allow it.  And my kids schools don't have workshops that would allow painting like what I need to do.  Good suggestions, though.  

[LTM[TK]]

Step away from the ledge! :-)

 

You have time, I know what it is like to want to be done with a step/project. No trooping for the immediate future, but you know if you get it professionally painted you will be worried about touch ups (and there will be scratches). Better to do it yourself and be able to deal with the fix-ups. So take what you have now, and start the strapping while waiting for better painting conditions.  

[TheSwede[TK]]

33 minutes ago, Cricket said:

Kind of both.  Outside for laying the paint on, then in the garage to gas off for a bit in the shade, then inside to finish curing (because it's drier and cooler indoors).   My garage doesn't have central air/heat, so it ultimately is more humid/hot in the garage (even with the door open) than outdoors. 

I'm considering maybe painting outside at night on evenings when no rain/storms are forecast (if hubby lets me borrow his huge studio lights).  One estimate I just received for painting the parts is $350 (including helmet).  I've already got $90 invested in 2k gloss alone at this point.  :/  I may have to just be patient and finish the paint on my own.  Grrrrr.

 

Alas, the paint shops I've asked won't allow it.  And my kids schools don't have workshops that would allow painting like what I need to do.  Good suggestions, though.  

That’s too bad :/ If it weren’t for huge delays  in shipping I would happily paint it for him, hopefully someone nearby has the ability to help with indoor painting

[ticopowell[TK]]

Get some halogen lights, Harbor freight sells some that come with 2 lights on a tripod, if that isn't enough light to paint with i'm not sure what is...

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/detachable-dual-head-halogen-shop-light-62565.html