Bob's ROTK 850 Armor Works Build Thread

[Teach-]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

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

[Teach-]

While my work continues, I posted the body armor on the pre-approval feedback forum. I'm looking forward to what I learn.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

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  

[Teach-]

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.

 

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Great work.

[Teach-]

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.

 

 

[Teach-]

Chin extensions attached:

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good

[Sly11[Admin]]

You are going very well with this build, Tom, great work.

[Teach-]

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.

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Coming along nicely

[DarthSaiyan8697]

On 7/19/2024 at 4:52 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

Coming along nicely

Agreed.

[DarthSaiyan8697]

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

[Teach-]

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!

[FN1313[TK]]

Impressive work on the helmet especially. That’s got to be a beast to work with. 

[Teach-]

Back to work! I've used the Bondo glazing and spot putty to apply a few coats and sanded in between. Initial sanding is with a 220 and then I use a 1500 and 2000 grit. I'll forgo the 220 for the sanding in what I hope to be my last coat.

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Everyone has their own way to prep, I prefer using bondo for larger filling and blade/glazing putty for smaller imperfections. Also be careful using too much blade/glazing putty as the thinners in the paint can seep into the putty while the paint is drying and cause imperfections. 

 

Are you wet sanding?, wet and dry sandpaper with water, helps the sandpaper to last a little longer, less clogging.

 

I normally use 240 wet and dry, after that I use a primer filler and sand with 400, then paint over. 1500/2000 is normally used for cutting and polishing final coats, very very fine and it's a lot of work using with blade/glazing putty.

 

 

 

[FN1313[TK]]

16 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Everyone has their own way to prep, I prefer using bondo for larger filling and blade/glazing putty for smaller imperfections. Also be careful using too much blade/glazing putty as the thinners in the paint can seep into the putty while the paint is drying and cause imperfections. 

 

Are you wet sanding?, wet and dry sandpaper with water, helps the sandpaper to last a little longer, less clogging.

 

I normally use 240 wet and dry, after that I use a primer filler and sand with 400, then paint over. 1500/2000 is normally used for cutting and polishing final coats, very very fine and it's a lot of work using with blade/glazing putty.

 

 

 

having previously built a Jimmiroquai fotk I second the information here. I wouldn’t sand before base coat paint above 800 grit. Anything higher can lead to runs. Also I’d highly recommend using a gloss polyurethane based clear and protective coat for the shine.

 

another thing I’ve done with wet sanding here and there is use a dab of dish soap alongside the water it helps the sanding process be a little more smooth, but overall just water is plenty fine too.

[Teach-]

Thank you, to both of you. Wet sanding not above 500 grit. Will do.

[Teach-]

I wet sanded the Bondo on the chin extension and on the battery compartment and speaker. Wet sanding gave me more control over the amount I was removing. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with the way it came out. Thanks again for the guidance gmrhodes13.

 

 

 

Here's a look at the inside of the chin extension:

 

 

[Teach-]

I decided to drill out the recessed sections on the tube stripes and add a blue section underneath. I drilled them with four or five holes using a Dremel.

 

 

 

I then used the same bit to remove the small amount of remaining material between the holes.

 

 

Afterwards, I used two files to sand down the openings. I then used 400 grit sandpaper to clean up the openings.

 

 

 

In order to drill the final three stripes at the rear of the tube, I removed the clamps that snap the front of the helmet to the back of the helmet. They have two small screws and are easily removed. I also hollowed out the inside of the helmet under the stripes so that eventually I can lay the blue underneath and have it lay flat behind the hollow stripes.

 

 

 

I still have a little cleanup but they are 95% finished.