DarthBiscuit's R1TK Build (Jimmiroquai kit)

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Wet sanded the primer to 400. Washed them off and set them in the sun to dry.

 

 

Decided to wet sand the barrel's putty to 220. It worked fine, except the water stained the barrel as it dried. Next time I try that maybe I'll use running water instead of dipping sandpaper in a bucket. No worries since it's getting painted anyways! You can see how much I filled with putty! Washed it off and set it out as well.

 

 

Then I wanted to get more putty on the primed pieces. I started spreading putty across some scratches on the chest, and the primer scraped up with it!? I don't know if that's from not fully drying, but it never happened before!

 

 

I wet sanded it to 400 again, washed and dried. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to apply more putty. That was weird...

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Now be very very careful leaving in the sun, pieces can distort if it's too hot. Really depends on how flexible the fiberglass still is, I've had two different lots from Jim and one was a lot softer than the other, had a bicep which started out round distort oval, managed to save with wrapping tape around and leaving.

 

With the putty as it does contain acetone it may very well have reacted with the primer, or the primer may still have been a little soft, or was too hot  

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Now be very very careful leaving in the sun, pieces can distort if it's too hot. Really depends on how flexible the fiberglass still is, I've had two different lots from Jim and one was a lot softer than the other, had a bicep which started out round distort oval, managed to save with wrapping tape around and leaving.
 
With the putty as it does contain acetone it may very well have reacted with the primer, or the primer may still have been a little soft, or was too hot  

Wow good tip! It's not too hot out, but maybe I'll just bring them in a little, to be safe. Thanks!

[Darth147[TK]]

the putty does remove the primer sometimes 

happens to me all the time but doesn't cause any actual issues once sanded 

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

So I was thinking about how to fix the belt notches and came up with the idea of cutting off what's on there and trimming down 7mm (equal to the current ones) to make new notches. 

 

 

That would move the belt up a little, letting me wear the barrel a little lower and still bend my hips. The belt would still be wide enough for the ammo boxes.

 

 

Also, I would trim that 7mm off the barrel's bottom, and even a bit more (probably 1.5cm total). There doesn't seem to be any reason to keep the current 8cm strip across the bottom, but I'd still leave some to put a few velcro squares, preventing the belt from rotating.

 

 

I didn't see anything in the CRLs regulating the width of the belt, and I figured this would allow me to make the notches fit more cleanly.

 

What do you say?

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

6 minutes ago, DarthBiscuit said:

What do you say?

I concur and wish I had done this before painting.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I'm not totally up on R` armor but adjusting the top of the belt looks like a good idea. I have never noticed that stepped area on the lower belt front before, must have been for mobility as the lower image doesn't show any steps. Appears R1 armor splits just like all other armor too going on that top second pic  

 

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

After I marked up the belt and barrel, I spread putty on the chest, back, and shoulder straps. Then I applied putty to the side plates. One was WAY WORSE than the other...

 

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Wet sanded all the putty to 220 today. Most of it went fine, except the oval spot had a few pinholes. Filled them up and set it all aside.

 

 

Tomorrow I plan on spraying satin white inside the chest/back/straps. Then wait 3 days and spray gloss white outside! A few days after that and I can velcro them together!!

 

I also marked on the barrel where I can trim to make it more narrow (but I rounded down, since I can always trim more off if needed), and on the back of the belt to make it even with the front.

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Just sprayed some satin white inside today.

 

 

Tomorrow I'll trim and barrel and the belt halves.

[11b30b4[TK]]

Dan, Looking good, keep at it.

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

On 8/3/2020 at 2:56 PM, TheRascalKing said:

I concur and wish I had done this before painting.

Thanks for the support Justin!

 

@gmrhodes13those are the pics I was looking for, thanks for posting them here! I don't think I'll trim the lower step, as the pics aren't consistent like you said, it isn't in the CRL, and no one else has done it.

 

I cut some off the barrel ends, slimming it down a bit for me. Then I trimmed around the bottom, so there's less overhang.

 

 

Then I took the Dremel to the belt! The thing got away from me a couple times, but hopefully it's an easy putty fix... 

 

 

I sanded the cuts to 220 and they aren't too bad! I still need to round out the notches a little, but that'll happen another day.

 

Tomorrow I want to tape together the chest/back/straps and fit the barrel. I'll trace a line around to give me an idea of how much to cut off the top (giving 2-3" overlap). I'll also trace the shoulder bells to even out the bottoms. I'll post pics tomorrow before I cut anything!

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

I test fitted some stuff today. I have the chest higher than I did before, and also the barrel can hang a bit lower, while still allowing hip movement. Now all of the barrel's details are visible! I clamped the side plates on to see how much of the barrel's visible. Somehow I marked it all myself...

 

 

The lower line in the front shows as low as the chest plate covers, but I'm not trimming THAT much off, so I traced just above the vertical cutouts and all the way around. I traced around the sides just below the top of the side plates, so the barrel shouldn't show above the side plates. That seems like A LOT to trim off, doesn't it?

 

 

I also lined up the shoulder bells and traced around the bottom so they'll be symmetric.

 

 

Gloss white on the chest, back, and shoulder straps tomorrow!!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I would try on your cod, thighs and such before a final trim of the ab section, you may need to adjust if you have too much gap around your thighs, but entirely up to you if you think you are covered  

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

I would try on your cod, thighs and such before a final trim of the ab section, you may need to adjust if you have too much gap around your thighs, but entirely up to you if you think you are covered  

That's a VERY GOOD point! And that's why you're in charge lol! I'll definitely try those pieces together tomorrow to confirm, but I think I've given myself enough overlap that the barrel can move down 2-3" and still be covered around the top. Although, dropping it that much might restrict movement and possibly prevent sitting...

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 minutes ago, DarthBiscuit said:

That's a VERY GOOD point! And that's why you're in charge lol! I'll definitely try those pieces together tomorrow to confirm, but I think I've given myself enough overlap that the barrel can move down 2-3" and still be covered around the top. Although, dropping it that much might restrict movement and possibly prevent sitting...

You know after all this research I may have to build one of these version myself  

[Darth147[TK]]

i cut a lot of the top of my barrel due to it hitting my chest too much and preventing me from leaning forward or bending down 

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

i cut a lot of the top of my barrel due to it hitting my chest too much and preventing me from leaning forward or bending down 

I see yours now! Yeah you cut halfway through those slits... I can always trim more!

[Darth147[TK]]

yeah when i wear the chest piece it covers everything even if i stretch my arms up 

its the same length as my anovos abb piece. 

measure twice cut once

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Before...

 

And after!

 

I used up over a whole can!! I think I covered it all from every angle. The backbox was super difficult! No cracks! Two small runs, but shouldn't require touching up. There were a few pinholes, but I used my toothpick technique again (sprayed down a puddle of paint, ran a toothpick through it, then dotted the pinhole) and it fixed them. One on the chest might require evening out...

 

At one point, I noticed a bunch of dust debris on the chest!? It was already white, so I stopped spraying that area. Hopefully I can wipe it off with a rag later... There were also a bunch of pinholes on the chest that somehow didn't get putty! Hopefully they aren't too noticeable from a distance, I'm not looking forward to touching it up.

 

There were also a lot of pinholes around the oval... I don't know what happened there, but maybe I sanded too much. Looking at my before pic, there was no primer or putty in those areas... At least the oval seems filled and level!

 

So happy!

 

Tomorrow I plan on trimming the barrel and fixing the notches on the belt!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Rustoleum isn't forgiving and is a weird paint to use, when you try to get a nice gloss finish you end up with runs, hence why I prefer automotive acrylic, dries quicker and you can load up on paint to get a nice gloss finish.

 

But in saying that you are going well, some pinholes yes but are they going to be noticed in the end if you aren't looking for them  

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Yeah I'm definitely going to have to touch up the pinholes...but I'm not yet sure how exactly. Probably wait a few days, sand a little gloss off, smear some putty, sand it, then spray gloss white again.

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

Used a sanding drum attachment and my flat file to round out the notches. I think they turned out great!!

 

Then I built up the courage to cut off the top of my barrel, along with another inch from each end... No issues there! I rounded out the top too and it looks great! I'll fit it with the chest/sides/back again to see if it's trimmed enough.

 

I clipped on the belt front and back (and set the gap as big as I'm expecting). The notches look and fit perfect! The CRL clarifies that the halves join "directly in the middle of the wearer's side waist. The rear half overlaps the front half's ends." I marked where I was thinking of trimming the back, and marked the front to still leave an overlap of 2.5", but then I looked at some pics and realized I need to figure out ammo box placement first! I might need to trim more off the back half to fit the boxes, which would reduce the overlap if I cut it now...

 

Overall, looks good for now!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Those notches came out a tread, well done

[DarthBiscuit[TK]]

I went putty-crazy today! Slathered it on and scraped at it to fill/cover everything (hopefully).

 

Around the oval was bad, so I wet sanded to 400 and applied putty.

 

The chest was definitely noticeable and unacceptable, so I pretty much sanded and reapplied putty on the whole thing...

 

I'll sand the putty tomorrow, more lightly than before and with 400. Hopefully that way will keep it smooth and let another coat of gloss white adhere evenly!