Kaya Tetsu's reach WIP

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So I cant sleep. I figured I'd make a list of what needs done yet, since I only have a week and half. AH!

Helmet - Finish Details, Paint, Rig
Chest - Pep, Harden, Paint, Rig
Shoulders - Sand, Paint, Rig
Left Gauntlet - Sand, Paint, Rig
Right Gauntlet - Pep, Harden, Paint, Rig
Thighs - Pep, Harden, Paint, Rig
Shins - Sand, Paint, Rig
Boots, Pep, Harden, Paint, Rig

Electronics - Wire Microphones for Hearing Aid

That is a lot of work, especially to be going out of town. Before I go to bed I will be printing all pieces that are missing so they can be worked on in the car. when we get back I will be putting a friend to work sanding and helping me paint. I will have to settle for a lot less than perfect, but I still think I can get this done even if its just wishful thinking.

I ordered some 5V fans from Digikey and they should be here when I get back. I still need to order that cool pack for my helmet when I get back and buy some material to cover the helmet vents and some magnets and dig up something for my under suit.

I really have a lot of work to...but I will prevail!
 
So the trip was long (but fun). I got in at 5am this morning and crashed. Slept most of the day. Probably a good things because, it hasn't been a very good one.

I didn't get much done while I was gone. I scored the folds on all 24ish pages of the chest piece, so its ready for assembly tomorrow. I didn't get anything else done while I was gone, except some shopping. I bought two things of velcro for a dollar each (and already used one on my cool vest extensions) and some elastic to help with rigging my costume. I bought a long sleeve black shirt that fits fairly snugly, as backup under suit in case I cant find anything else. I also bought a Nintendo DS case for 5 bucks to use to hold my phone and wallet in costume. It should fit nicely inside my chest plate.
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Digikey sent me the wrong fans. I ordered 5V 7 CFM fans and recieved 12V 8 CFM fans. Their part number only differs by one digit and they are the same size. Easy enough mistake to make. They quickly remedied the situation and, upon determining they were in stock, have overnighted me the fans I ordered. They should be here in the morning. Due to the price of the fans I was given, I do not have to return them. +2 for DigiKey

The visor I ordered, that was in stock when ordered, ended up being back ordered. I cancelled the order for it and ordered a silver iridium visor off ebay for a buck more with free shipping that will be here no later than Monday. I like this visor better, but I am miffed because the refund hasn't gone through yet so I'm out 20 bucks of my budget till it does. At least I used paypal.

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I modified my cool vest today. I mentioned earlier that I bought a cooling vest on Ebay. I didn't plan on it fitting, because its a kids size, I was just going to cannibalize it for the pockets to keep the pack in, but I changed my mind. I made some straps to extended the shoulder straps and side fasteners with some webbing I got for free and dollars worth of velcro. I will have to wait to sew the velcro because my sewing machine was broke when I went to use it. Its just been one of those days.

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Here you can see how the sides adjust, usually.

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Here's a close up the cold packs when they are charged (cold). On the left are two of the six packs for the kids vest I bought (it holds four at a time). On the right, for comparison, are my friends cool packs for his vest from Texas Cool Vest. The larged packs are about 12"x5", while the small ones are around 9"x5" and about two-thirds the capacity. I tried them out on my trip over the weekend and they worked well. Hoping they hold up at least for the duration of the parade.

I dropped and cracked my helmet this morning, yay. But at least the damage wasn't bad. I took it downstairs at added some more Bondo to it. Now it just needs a lot of sanding. I'm going to put my friend to work sanding on it tomorrow late afternoon/evening after run errands and then I'll take pictures.

Tomorrow I have to go to town for a few things and I need to buy some stuff for my armor. I need to stop at Micheal's for some material to cover the vents (probably cross-stitch fabric). I need to stop at the hardware store for some spray paint and a neck cover. I need to pick up some more card stock to print the boots and the hard case and grab my boots to build the boot armor around. There was some other stuff to do too, but I forgot what it was. I can't seem to sleep now, so I guess I'll just put on a movie and start scoring.
 

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Yesterday I ran errands and bout some stuff I needed for the costume. I also fixed the sewing machine last night, so tonight I should be be able to sew that velcro on.

My fans arrived yesterday. The hardware store wants ridiculous prices for 4 X AA holders so I improvised. I went down to dollar tree and bought an "LED Push Light", for a buck. I took it home and took it apart.
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The Lights use 4 x AA Batteries, a bulb and a switch. So I dissembled it and cut the excess plastic away from the battery holder. Then I wired the switch and the batteries to the fans. There are two fans in parallel with each other, in series with the switch and the batteries. I'll add some more pics later. Heading downstairs to get to work sanding and painting the pieces that are done. :)
 

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So my the forum just ate an entire post. Lon story short I had to waste about 3 hours to go to the hardware store this evening because i ran out of sanding pads. i also made a dust filter out of a storage container. I tooks a small PVC pipe (about 1 1/2" and 12" long - it was a sink pipe) and cut a hole in the middle of the storage container lid. Then I sealed the hole with some rubber tape I use for outdoor coax connections (silicone caulk would work). Then I cut a whole in the long side of my container near on end a few inches from the top, this whole was also sealed with rubber and the the shop vac hose was inserted horizontally. Two hose clamps, one on either side were used to secure the shop vac intake and one hose clamp was used to secure the pipe in the lid (which needs to be flush with the lid). We also put some cheaper rubber splicing tape around the top edged of the container to give the lid a more airtight seal. If you have too many leaks it wont work. Fill the bottom of the container with water an inch or two above the end of the PVC pipe. Turn on the shop vac and work over the container. There will be suction from the PVC pipe and it will draw the dust through the water so it doesnt get blown out the other side. It actually works pretty well for a quick and dirty vacuum table. Most of the dust was at least pulled to settle on the lid of the container, which two of us were power sanding on either end. Instead of coating everything in the basement in dust like it was before! Every once in a while I took a paint brush and swept the dust to the middle (and out of the grid that is in the lid of out container) and the suction in the middle picked it right up. This could be made to work a lot better, if one were so inclined. Right now I need to work on my costume instead.

My friend sanded off any drips and gave the pieces that are done a light sanding for they are ready for paint tomorrw. I worked on the helmet, which is almost ready for a light coat of paint so I can better see an imperfections. From there I'll fix them and then add some foam details and it will be ready for paint! I'm making progress! I also ordered a helmet liner off ebay for 5 bucks, it might be a little big but I'll fix it then. I'm going to go start pepping whats left of my armor now.
 
Today I finished pepping the chest piece, which was a giant puzzle because i somehow ended up with more than one set of numbers. I also started painting the pieces that are done. Unfortunately (and I don't have pics because my phone died), they turned out freaking smurf blue! GAAAH! So tomorrow I have to go in search of a different color of paint. I will also do the foam details on the helmet and finish some light sanding so it can be painted.

I'll add some pictures from yesterday later. I didn't take any today because my phone was dead. I need to go get started on the last couple of pieces.

The stuff is by no means smooth, lots of imperfections. I'm hoping it will look better after I weather it. But first it needs to be a different color than smurf.

Edit: Got the other gauntlet pepped as well. I'll resin and rondo both it and the rest of the chest piece tomorrow and hopefully paint everything a better color. I'm also gonna pick up some hinges and maybe some small magnets or something for the gauntlets.

Edit Edit: Also I'm gonna try and do some weathering on a knee piece to see if I can darken the color to something better.
 
So I bought some new spray paint today and re sprayed all the pieces. Its saftey blue vs the sail blue I had before. Very subtle difference, but enough that it isn't in your face blue. Its also fast dry. everything is outside drying. The chest piece is curing, I resined the outside of it and both sides of the gauntlet. I'm going to work on a little bit of pep for the next 15 minutes or so and go check on the stuff. Th gauntlet will get rondo, the chest piece more resin and anything else will get resined. I'll come back upstairs work on pep until that cures. Then I'll paint anything with the base coat that needs it and do some weather testing on a piece to see if its ready or not. It says dry to handle in 2 hours. Not sure if I believe it or not. Pictures will have to wait until tonight, I'm trying to utilize all the day light I have. I will have this costume done. Even if it isn't my best work, I will do my best to make it presentable (fingers crossed).
 
Well crap happened and I havent gotten much done today. I stopped at the store and got everything I needed and am heading downstairs to finsih a few parts and put the finishing touches on some paint jobs so I can get everythign starpped and padded by noon tomorrow (which is when I'm leaving. I have to be in Atlanta by 5). I will be working all night until we leave and probably in the car too. lol. I'm not driving so I can sleep in the car. I will have this done though! Almost there. Just gotta keep up with the final push. Bought 15 min dry paint with an hour cure time so I should be good. Wish me luck.
 
Got a decent setup outside with the outside light and a Worklight. Should be good if I keep a good pace. I've got several pieces that just got their first coat of resin. I'm going down to do coat 2 now, that will be 3. Rondo 4. Paint 5. Weather 6 and Prolly 7. Padding and strapping after that. I'll bring stuff with me to modify that when I'm there. I need to cut the gauntlets in half and "hinge them" that will be a piece of webbing and some magnetic strip. Need to install the visor and a few other things. I WILL have this done by parade time.
 
Ran into a few snags last night that made something that shouldve taken an hour take all night. Yay. Also made me need another wasted couple hours to go to the store. but I have a base coat of blue on everything now. I'm letting it dry. I'm gonna shower and pack then pack all that stuff up. I'll weather it with acrylic at the hotel and strap and pad and all that before Saturday. WOOT.
 
I just made it back to my room for the night and started dry brushing some gunmetal gray on some of the pieces. I cant find my silver acrylis and dont want to use spray in the room. I'll buy some silver and blue acrylic tomorrow and finsih the paint jobs up. the acrylic only takes about an hour to dry and w ashes up with soap and water when wet. Right now I'm working on a cover for the blue cool vest out of two cheap black "ninja" vests. They have red trim that's just tacked on, that I'm removing. I'll try and get some pics up before I crash. Its gonna be done! YAY. I'm happy.

A few of the pieces warped and I'm just going to snap them back and paint in some battle damage. I have some spots where I didn't have time to sand out dremel markes and such and I just weather with some of the gunmetal. Tomorrow I'll finish up the gunmetal, use some silver, touchup the blue spots I missed and give everything a black wash.
 
So I guess I should give an update. I never made it to the parade. Long story short is I did finish the costume (and it actually looked decent). But it broke on the way there. Everything broke. My chest piece broke, my thighs both broke, my knee broke It was just ridiculous. I was not prepared to make repairs on that scale and instead of spending time strapping the pieces together when I was done touching up the paint I ended up using hot glue and foam to try and cobble the piece back together. This didn't really work and when I got to the Marriott I didn't make it out of the parking garage before EVERYTHING fell apart again. On top of it I was sick, so when that happened I just said to F it and went back to the hotel and back to bed. I will post some pictures later this week and then I'm probably abandoning this suit for a while. With school and everything I'm going to be busy and when I get back to it I don't know what method I'll use. I've got a very nice cast of a helmet I won at dinner (the only good thing that happened at con this year). So yeah, its just been a ****ty year and I apologize to everyone that was expecting me to show up for the parade. I'll get some post breakage pics up soon.
 
So I finally got around to unloading the armor and taking some pictures. The damage is pretty bad. Although I'd say still not bad for a extremely rushed suit. I must note that all paint jobs were done in the hotel room on friday night. I put a base coat blue of spray paint on before I left. Friday I used acrylic to do everything else paint wise. Here's the damage.

BOOTS
Not much to them, so they actually didn't break. Yay.

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CHEST
The chest piece got crushed in the car so I attempted to use nylon strap, foam and hot glue to fix it, after cleaning the seam up with the scissors and hide it with some blue acrylic paint. This actually held together surprisingly well.
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HELMET
I had to hot glue my visor in and glue black foam around it, since I didn't put it in till about 5 minutes before leaving for the parade. It looks alright.

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GAUNTLETS
Not much to say. A little big. turned out okay.
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BELT/COD
This went together fine, but didn't stay on the belt very well.
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SHOULDERS
They turned out okay, but didn't stay on well. I didn't have a lot of time for strapping things together.
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(What used to be the) LEGS
So yeah...these got crush/cracked/warped you name it and are really the reason I threw my hands in the air when I was sick on no sleep and things kept falling apart.

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THE END

So yeah. The only armor I'll actually keep is probably the helmet. But we'll see. It will live in a box in the closet for now. I'll be too busy for armor for a while, as I've really fallen behind with schoolwork now. But come December-ish, I'll probably start on a new suit. I might try my hand at foam for at least some of it, but I'll definitely have a suit for next dragon*con and the Halo 5 release.

After this experiment, Id say the verdict is with prior proper planning and hard work (and enough free time) that a suit can be done in as little as one or two months. But I wouldn't suggest it for someone who hasn't built one before (or in a while, like me). But after this, finishing up an awesome suit in 6+ months seems a lot more doable. :)

I also have some motivation for my next suit. I won a cast helmet at the Dragon*Con dinner. :) I cannot seem to remember which 405ther it was from.

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I probably won't be around for a while, because of college and what not. I'll be restricitng my time around the forums until the semester is over. When I get back I'll do some electronics tutorials and stuff for you guys. :)
 

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