Teach- Posted March 16 Author Report Posted March 16 I finished attaching the edging I had to remove. First I reinforced them on the inside to strengthen them. As those dried, I found kman's HOW TO: Make ABS Paste. I cut a bunch of small pieces of the ABS I had left over and added acetone slowly as suggested. I applied the paste with a toothpick and then used a rubber spatula head to push it into the seam. Looking back after using it, I should have added a bit more acetone. It seemed to be the right consistency, but it was a little too thick and seemed to dry quickly. It worked for me, but I would have liked it looser so I could have gotten it into the seam better. The dried paste was pretty rough and not smooth at all. I used a 220 and then a 400 grit sandpaper to smooth the finish. It's what I had on hand. If I had a finer grit, I would have done one more round with that. Once I got the smooth finish, I used the XTC-3D to give it a glossier finish. Below are some close up pictures. You can see that it's not perfect. There are two pictures from a distance also and in those, the attachments and ABS paste look pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good. 2 Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted March 16 Report Posted March 16 They came up well, nice job. You may however need to extend them just a little, the inner corners, as the ridge comes to the ends of the cut out area BUT in saying that your GML may not even notice them. Just trimming the added ridges straight could be enough. With finer sandpaper (wet and dry) I use water with a drop of dish washing liquid, helps the sandpaper to glide and doesn't clog as quickly 1 Quote
Teach- Posted April 4 Author Report Posted April 4 While my work continues, I posted the body armor on the pre-approval feedback forum. I'm looking forward to what I learn. Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted April 4 Report Posted April 4 4 hours ago, Teach- said: While my work continues, I posted the body armor on the pre-approval feedback forum. I'm looking forward to what I learn. Feedback left Quote
Teach- Posted June 20 Author Report Posted June 20 Thank you for the feedback on the pre-approval forum. I made adjustments to the back of the lower legs. I cut the raised detail as suggested. The cut revealed the glue and support pieces I had used and they were an off-color. I used ABS paste (with a bit more acetone this time) and covered the edges. I then sanded them smooth with 220, 400, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper. 1 Quote
Teach- Posted June 30 Author Report Posted June 30 I continued modifying the Black Series helmet. I used a dremel and sandpaper to smooth out the top half of the inside of the back piece, I plan to cover the lower half entirely to hide the old internal speaker area. On the outside, I started filling the battery compartment and speaker with Bondo glazing and spot putty. I still have some more to do. I've done three coats and sanding in between so far. On the front half, I removed the black trim along the bottom edge. It came off pretty cleanly but the residual glue and bits of rubber I dremeled off. I then removed the vocoder by drilling holes all around the edge and then using the drill bit to "cut" between the holes. I sanded the opening of the vocoder space and made a template of the opening. I made a backing piece a little bigger than the template and cemented that to the inside of the opening. I used the template again to make a piece that fit into the gap of the vocoder. I left a tail on it which I heated and bent. That will be a part of the extension of the bottom of the chin. To make the chin extension, I added a small edge to the existing chin so I could glue the extensions on to them. I also added extensions to the tail of the vocoder piece. I then made templates of the chin extensions, cut them from some extra pieces I had, heated them, and bent them to shape. I also took a minute to dremel a new edge on the chin since I removed the edging. I then sanded the surface with 220, 400, and 1500 grit sandpaper. Quote
Sly11[Admin] Posted July 1 Report Posted July 1 You are going very well with this build, Tom, great work. 1 Quote
Teach- Posted July 19 Author Report Posted July 19 I continued with the chin extension work. I first filled the thin gap with Bondo putty. I filled a cleaned out icing tube so I could use the narrow end to get the Bondo into the crack. I've since sanded and reapplied the putty about four times. I found that smoothing the Bondo with a (gloved) finger caused less air gaps and made it easier to get a smoother sanded finish. Still needs a final sanding or two. I also dry fitted the black neck seal (car door edge trim). The chin extension met the original helmet at 90 degrees and the trim was going to have a hard time staying in place. I added a backing piece and then a curved piece of scrap to round the edge a bit and hopefully help the edging adhere to the curve better. That will get the same Bondo treatment as the rest. I also removed the aerators/hovi mix tips earlier in the process. They wouldn't snap out so I cut one of the tabs from the inside of the helmet. They both came out easily after that. 1 Quote
DarthSaiyan8697 Posted July 20 Report Posted July 20 On 7/19/2024 at 4:52 PM, gmrhodes13 said: Coming along nicely Agreed. Quote
DarthSaiyan8697 Posted July 20 Report Posted July 20 (edited) On 6/30/2024 at 5:44 PM, Teach- said: Chin extensions attached: It looks great, NGL. Do you think you will dremel the stock teeth and replace them with 3D printed ones? Edited July 20 by DarthSaiyan8697 Quote
Teach- Posted July 23 Author Report Posted July 23 On 7/20/2024 at 6:27 PM, DarthSaiyan8697 said: It looks great, NGL. Do you think you will dremel the stock teeth and replace them with 3D printed ones? I'm not planning to do that at this time. Looking for basic approval so I can finally get out trooping...it's been a long build! Quote
FN1313[TK] Posted August 7 Report Posted August 7 Impressive work on the helmet especially. That’s got to be a beast to work with. Quote
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