gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted July 31, 2021 Report Posted July 31, 2021 22 minutes ago, XYDIU said: Ah got-cha. I was thinking of that, but unsure if that kind was ok to be exposed to the weather and all. Had this image handy of my TFU forearms 1 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 2, 2021 Author Report Posted August 2, 2021 Alright, today I finished the biceps and the forearms (in regard to bondo-ing, gluing and all minus the greeblies.) Forgot to take photos of the forearms alone, but here is it on me with the gaskets: (The gasket is a bit bunched up because it is not velcro-ed in yet, so when I slid on the forearm it pushed it a bit, but it does fit without issue) I have yet to glue the greeblies, but will probably do them later today. As well as start on the shins. Here is a little more of the biceps: (Seam seems visible here, but it is smooth completely, and once painted won't be visible at all.) More updates to come later today~ 3 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 3, 2021 Author Report Posted August 3, 2021 Alright, got the final details done on the forearms and the biceps today: They are ready to go for painting. I may sand a bit on the edges (on the forearms) but it should look really good once it's all painted. Will sand it overall right before painting to get it to paint better. The other major progress I made today was trimming down the shins to fit (and it was not easy, being honest) but I got it done: The main issue I ran into was trying to get the outside seam to be decent that it is not with big gaps or all. There are some, but I minimized most of it. My solution, that I think can work, is if I glue the side together, which may have a few little gaps with the backing strip showing, can easily be solved by filling in the gaps with a little bit of bondo and then use a toothpick or something similar to "draw" in the seam where it would go normally, so it would look like a normal seam that was fitted well. (The gaps are very small, but I believe not small enough to not notice.)Here is the backing strip being glued. Tomorrow I will glue the other side for the shins on, and then start trimming down the thighs (which will need a lot.) Possibly as well get started gluing those as well. There is not much trimming or gluing left besides that, minus the helmet which hopefully will be on the way soon with my blaster. I plan to start with paint next week. More updates to come~ 3 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 7, 2021 Author Report Posted August 7, 2021 Hey, sorry for the lack of updates. I forgot to post here, but the thighs are fully glued and look pretty good. Thighs glued and sanded down. It took a bit of calculating and trimming but I got them to size pretty well. I also got the outer seams cut well but using the cut front half to mark the back half (on tape) then cut along that. It wasn't perfect but it did come out pretty well, imo, and it will probably be better once it's all painted. The other thing I have done was finish gluing the shins, and then there was some pretty bad gapping on that, so I used a bit of bondo and then traced a seam into them.Shins with bondo in gaps. (This was also way before sanding them down) (There was some bad gaping due to how these were cast and my cutting mess-up on the right one So I bondo-ed them and traced a seam into them. The left one looks pretty good, but had a little issue.)Left one after being sanded and fixed. Needs a bit more sanding and should be good. Issue is that after doing so, a day later, I went to get them into position (like I would be wearing them) and then a small part of one of the seams popped, but not too much. I easily fixed that one yesterday, but the other one popped pretty badly. Nearly all of the seam came off, and it was because somehow the glue didn't touch both the backing strip and the shin piece. I don't know how since I had magnets on it and used a decent amount of glue. I reglued that and then came to today, and it did it again... I now applied a lot of glue, enough that it is coming out of the seams and check multiple times after clamping it, to make sure it got both parts. If it does it again, I just don't know what I am going to do. I have used N52 magnets triple stacked on two separate areas, so hopefully it will stick this time. Right one after today (will need to be sanded a lot more, plus will need to be rebondo-ed after it works.) Besides that everything else is basically ready for painting, but I am still waiting on my helmet and blaster. The last thing I have to glue, besides the details on the shins and thighs (which the holster is on the way for) is the thermal detonator to its plate, but I am waiting to do so until after painting to make sure that the paint gets everywhere evenly, and then so I can apply the decals to that with ease. Then I'll glue that and move onto the strapping, which will pretty much be it. (As well as the belt kit (which is pretty easy) and then the helmet/blaster when those arrive.) Hoping that I can get it done in the next two weeks (which I should be able to) as classes start and I will be super busy with barely any time to work on it. Let's hope. Anyways, I will update tomorrow, and hopefully post a full mockup of the kit if the shin finally glues properly. More to come~ 2 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 10, 2021 Author Report Posted August 10, 2021 Alright, so I got a lot done today to get it ready and prepped for painting tomorrow: First: I drilled out the holes where the straps will go for the shoulder bells: Left Side (Not the cleanest in this photo but it will be final sanded before painting.) Right Side (The front one was very thin and ended up "cracking" where the hole was so I had to just open it completely.) It's not perfect, but it will look a lot better once it's painted and sanded down some more, and will not be visible once the shoulder bells and gaskets are there. I also took the time to glue all the little details to the shins and thighs today:Right shin (Still a bit concerned on that seam at the bottom, but for the most part when painted it shouldn't be too bad.)Left Shin (I still need to bondo the boxes but I left it to glue overnight before I do that tomorrow.) Left thigh Right Thigh (Holster mount is being glued here. The holster is on the way but should arrive probably in around 4-6 days; it will be painted when it gets here and then glued) I also finished up the details on the spats: Left spat Right spat Also I forgot to take a photo of it, but I had to redo the bondo for the right bicep, but that has been redone and looks like as before. I would have started painting today like I wanted, but I had to run to three different stores to find the gloss white paint I needed (rustoleum 2x) but none of them had it despite them all saying it was "in stock." So I decided to settle on the semi-gloss of the same kind, and will, as I was before, apply a gloss clear coat (x3) on top of it after to seal it and hopefully give it that glossy look. (I tested it on a scrap piece and I thought it looked good.) Tomorrow I am going to bondo the holster mount and then the shin boxes, and then I want to mock the entire thing up on me before I paint to double test the fit with the gaskets and decide if I like how it looks, etc. Once that is done, then I will proceed to work on painting the first parts (probably the thermal detonator and it's plate because I am waiting until that is painted to glue those together.) After that is done I will apply the gaffers tape and the other decals where needed. Hopefully by the end of this week I can also finish the belt kit and get that done. I want to get it all done by the end of next week, but hopefully all goes well. I am still waiting on my helmet and blaster to arrive, they have yet to ship, so that will delay any chances of approval until I get those, as I am unsure of when that would be ready. More updates to come~ 3 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 14, 2021 Author Report Posted August 14, 2021 Update: For the most part of this week, I was not really able to get a lot painted, mainly due to running around for errands and whatnot, as well as having to redo a few parts due to wind blowing stuff over while drying.... Anyways, before I started painting I got everything lined up: (Not pictured was the holster, which I just received yesterday night. I first started on the thermal detonator and the plate for that as well as the belt boxes:First days work They all mostly came out fine, except for the thermal detonator which just needed me to go over it a lot of times because of the divots and issues in the casting of it. I did sand it down, from 60 grit all the way up to 1000 grit, but still couldn't get a bit of it smooth, so it took a lot of sanding between coats, and I nearly had to end up doing it multiple times. The rest came out fine except the one belt box that goes in the front, the one with the line. It fell while I was moving it and it caused it to smudge the paint slightly, and I had to redo that one. The following day I finished the thermal detonator and the other box as well as did the knee plates and the hand plates. As the box and plates were drying, a gust of wind came by, while I was inside, and blew them onto their faces onto the paper. It dryed to it and when I pulled them off it tore the paint off leaving some pretty bad spots. I had to re-sand them all the way down (this was the literal last coat of clear coat too) and only finished them again today. This cut into my time to work on other parts a bit. Other than that, today I was able to paint the shoulder bells and the cod/butt pieces too. Those though probably need another coat of clear coat, as I think it was just a bit too thin. All pieces painted so far. I am still waiting on the helmet and blaster, but besides those I have everything else. Issue is that after next week, I won't be able to work on it daily anymore as college classes start as does my other job and then I will only have about 2 days to work on it at all, so updates will be much slower. I am trying to finish the entire armor sans helmet and blaster by next sunday, but can't finish until the helmet and blaster arrive.. Anyways, more to come~ 2 Quote
TKSpartan[Staff] Posted August 14, 2021 Report Posted August 14, 2021 Great advances Jacob, almost there!! 1 Quote
XYDIU Posted August 15, 2021 Author Report Posted August 15, 2021 Alright, so today I tried to get a lot of painting done, at least for the majority of the parts, and I would say I was relatively successful. I was able today to finish the cod/butt pieces and the shoulder bells, with those last clear coats on them: I also decided today to get the thighs and the chest done as well (mainly because I wanted to glue the holster to the thigh as well as the TD. Chest after clear coat 2 (Will get better pics tomorrow) Thighs after coat 2 of paint Thighs after clear coat I was unable to get the holster glued today, but I was able to get the decals on the TD and glue the TD to its plate: It fit well mostly, but it wouldn't sit completely due to the shape of the resin cast TD and the plate. (Also the little bump on the TD plate is due to how it was cast, not from painting. Speaking of decals, I was wondering if someone could enlighten me on which of the remaining decals are for which: Correct me if I'm wrong - Red = Ab box on wearer's right Blue = Chest indent Green = Forearm boxes and ab box Purple = Bicep pills Yellow = Back Orange = Forearm back indents Pink(?) = Forearms (the long line near the top) Thick ones near orange = shins The rest I have no clue. I mean I think a few are for the ab boxes (on their front/bottom faces). I only ask because I am using mainly gaffers tape, but I wasn't sure where these all went so I needed to know if I needed them and where. Also today I started on the forearms, biceps and spats: I was able to get 2 coats of the white on them done today. The forearms and spats look real good, but need some fine sanding with 1000. The biceps though are having the bondo somehow stick through the paint, so I will sand it again a few times and keep painting those. They were smooth and not visible (not color wise) before painting though.. Here are a few pics from the end of the day: Once I can get the things finished, I will move onto the abdomen and the back/yoke. I expect to be done painting by tuesday at the latest, hopefully. Afterwards I will start on strapping (mainly just gluing snaps and rivets to stuff) and fitment in regard to distance. Once that is done, and it fits well then the armor itself should be done. After it's just the waiting game on the helmet and blaster, and once I can finish those off to approval. More updates to come~ 1 Quote
XYDIU Posted September 3, 2021 Author Report Posted September 3, 2021 Alright, it's been a bit, but I have an update that all painting is done. I kept running into issues with wind blowing stuff over while it was drying, paint wrinkling due to the heat we have been having here, and also certain areas where sanding was done showing up or where bondo is and it showing once it has been painted. But all of that has finally been fit, and the coats of clear coat have been finally applied and dried. Below are all of the parts: I have been radio silent for a bit mainly because I have been quite busy with all my college classes, as well as work. Therefore I have not much free time to work on this. But, I am hoping to be able to get the strapping/foam/final fitment, etc, started this upcoming week and hopefully finish it within the end of this month. No updates on the helmet or blaster. I am aware that KB is switching the helmet material to fiberglass (resin(?)) so that will be worked on when I finally get it and have a chance. Until then, I will finish what I have, and work on the belt kit and the sort as well. Once that is all done, then it's simply a waiting game of when I get my helmet and blaster. More updates to come when I get a chance~ 3 Quote
Sly11[Admin] Posted September 4, 2021 Report Posted September 4, 2021 It's coming along very nicely Jacob, keep up the stellar work. 1 Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted September 4, 2021 Report Posted September 4, 2021 Getting close, nice work 1 Quote
XYDIU Posted September 7, 2021 Author Report Posted September 7, 2021 Forgot to upload a few pictures of most of the decals and details on them, so I have attached them below. Issue is I feel as if I am forgetting some decals, which I cannot figure out, based on my decal sheet: I know that the top ones go to the chest, the small six pills go to the chest as well. The bigger four pills are for the biceps, and my guess is that the big, thicker two are for the shins. The others I am not so sure on, especially the long one. If someone could assist me to make sure, I would appreciate it. Here are the close-ups of the decals put on so far:(I know that the right one's are a bit messed up, but I plan on fixing them later.) One other thing is that the strapping materials are coming in tomorrow (09/07/21) for me, so once those come in I will start working on that as well. This will probably take a bit since I have class, and I need to fit the armor some more, with everything else. More updates to come~ 1 Quote
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