Saber's Second Project- Agent Texas Style! (PIC HEAVY)

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Saber

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Saber's Agent Texas Build (PIC HEAVY)

Hey everybody! How are you doin'?
I'm good, I'm good. Nuttin' much goin' on...

Except!

I've started my second set of armor! WOOT! XD

So for those of you who have seen my first project, some of you agree that my work wasn't too shabby. But NOW! (hahah, I'm kinda hyper right now...) I am going to make a second set of Mk VI armor that will be 10000000000000 times better than my first!

Now you ask, "But how, Sabes?"
Well I'll tell you how...

1. I'm trying my hand at pep without numbered tabs
2. I'm actually going to use bondo this time!
3. I'm gunna make sure that the armor fits like a glove! (If you saw my first set, you'll know that some pieces weren't sized very well...)
and 4. I'm gunna pep, resin, glass, etc. each section at a time. First, I'll start and complete the arms, then the legs, and then the helm, chest, and COD (I'm not sure which order I'll do the last three, but I'll figure that out once I get to that point of the build)

Okay, now I know you're itchin' to see pics. So here they are!

First! Let me show you my AR, Marine Pilot Helmet (From H3), and my handplates.
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So here's some info about the marine helmet...
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This is a helmet that my friends and I worked together to make. This was basically my "training session" for my friends so now they know how to work with pepakura.
We, as a group, want to create armor and wear it for Kumoricon. We haven't met up recently, so we haven't been able to work on our group's armor much. But this is what we started with, if you don't include the marine shins we pepped too (sorry, no pics for that), and I am proud of my friends for wanting to learn to do stuff like this.

Now here are some closer looks at the AR-
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Note: This is my THIRD attempt at pepping an AR and I am, again, really proud of this!
Yes, this has numbers on the tabs, but I didn't want to try pepping something as complex as THAT without numbers. What makes this AR so different, as you can see, is that I actually tried to keep it straight. I went kinda crazy with my box of popsicle sticks (they weren't used...) and tried to reinforce every bit of that dang thing! I have yet to put the top on it, but I'll get to it soon. I'm sorry if it looks a little warped in the second pic, I assure you it's just the way I angled the camera.

So here are the handplates, and the start of my actual armor project!
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They were my first pieces without using numbers on the tabs and I was happy with how I did. Because the hand is so easy, I didn't even use my lappy (laptop) to help me remember which parts went where.

Next, are the shoulder pieces! Huzzah!
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The first shoulder I pepped, I decided that I wanted to experiment with the size a little. I wanted the shoulder "cap" to overlap my actual shoulder a little bit so I corrected the resizing option to be longer.
When I pepped it...
(I know I'm setting myself up for a nasty "that's-what-she-said" joke, so calm down)
I was like "Woah... That's big..." O^O; I showed it to my dad, and he said it looked like it could fit Hulk Hogan (Thanks, dad...).

After bringing down the size a little bit (quite a bit, actually), I repepped the right shoulder and it turned out perfect. It was a little bigger than the shoulders that I made for my last build, but I wanted that because the First Project's shoulders were a little too small.
Because the pep was just right, I continued on and pepped the left shoulder. So now I have two! (Good to know that you can count, Sabes...)
Here is a pic of my left shoulder:
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The bicep is a little iffy, I know, but I'll fix it later. The right shoulder bicep looks perfect.

Here's a pic of my Hulk Hogan Shoulder (left) next to my "Take Two" Right shoulder (right). The difference is definately noticeable.
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All right, guys and gals, that's what I've got for you today.
Be sure to stay tuned and hang tight, I'm almost at the end of my senior year in high school so it may be a while before I post anything else; you never know.

Thanks for checkin' out my thread! Please comment and critique!

Cheers
 
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I'm new to this and don't really see the benefit of pepping without numbers... is there an actual benefit? its not like the numbers show up onthe finished product either way...
 
The more I look at other peoples work the more I wanna get started on this asap! Stupid other projects holding me up >.>
I know what you mean about other things getting in the way. My Senior year in high school has definately held me back from doing much on ths project and the projects that I have started with my friends. All I know is that when my senior year has ended (which will be fairly soon), I'll be back into armor building and hopefully I'll get a part-time job to actually pay for my own projects instead of having my parents provide for my costuming endeavors.

I'm new to this and don't really see the benefit of pepping without numbers... is there an actual benefit? its not like the numbers show up onthe finished product either way...

In my personal opinion, I think getting rid of the numbers helps because the numbers can get in the way of where lines should be cut and folded. Also, the numbers can get cramped (especially in the HD files) and you can't tell what numbers are what. When I use my computer for reference (using viewer to select pieces and such) the program points out which piece of the "puzzle" goes where.
If you're new to pepping and aren't quite sure how to do this, I would just go ahead and pep WITH the numbers. Just be warned that the smaller pieces will most likely have colliding numbers so you would have to find the numbers around it to figure out which pieces go where.

I wish you good luck on your projects and I hope they turn out well!
 
I think your braces are actually pushing the sides of the rifle outward. Make sure they don't do that when you resin it.
 
I think your braces are actually pushing the sides of the rifle outward. Make sure they don't do that when you resin it.

Good point and hanks for the advice! I'll be sure to watch it. I would be very pissed if all my hard work in that darn thing went to waste. hahah
 
School is out... Time for some major building!

Hey guys!
School's out and I'm ready to get a-goin' on my costume!

For starters, I have resined the marine pilot helmet, the hand pieces, the shoulders, and a gauntlet that I finished pepping yesterday (I'm starting to pep the second one tonight).
Because I don't have a garage or shop of any sort, I have to leave my stuff outside.

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Usually, that's not something I'm would be worried about, but there's a chance of rain tonight and there has been a strange appearances of beetles around my house, so my quick solution was to cover it up with foil and hope that the pieces will be finished curing in the morning. Or cured enough that I can put a second layer of resin on them...
A cool thing I discovered during the resining portion is when the ink used to crease the paper mixes with the resin and kinda creates a tie-dye effect on the paper. I forgot to take pictures before I wrapped it up in foil, so I'll post the pics tomorrow.

Another thing checked off on my list is my AR. I finally finished pepping it after putting it off for a while. The outside bulges out a tiny bit and some spots aren't the prettiest, but I hope that by actually using bondo this time for my project, it won't look as bad.

This is a pic of me with my AR in scale. I just wanna make sure that it's not too big or too small. I'm confident I did well on the sizing on this one!
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Don't panic! The AR did not grow! I was just bringing the AR more towards the camera so you guys can see the AR better.
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Here are my Goof-Ups and not-so-pretty parts of the AR.
I know that it's not exactly straight, but it's better than my pervious attempts so I'll call it a keeper.
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Thanks for lookin' at my thread and be sure to comment and critique! Tips would be very helpful too!

Cheers!
 
Nice job on the AR. I've been meaning to make a gun for some time now, how hard is the AR to pep?

Well seeing that this is my THIRD attempt at constructing an AR. Let's just say it ain't a walk in the park. hahah :p Keeping the darn thing straight is a pain in the butt and it took me the third try to figure to try to use the batons. The LD version is pretty easy to put together and the HD version is complex and sometimes hard to read if you have the numbers showing on the file.
 
Well seeing that this is my THIRD attempt at constructing an AR. Let's just say it ain't a walk in the park. hahah :p Keeping the darn thing straight is a pain in the butt and it took me the third try to figure to try to use the batons. The LD version is pretty easy to put together and the HD version is complex and sometimes hard to read if you have the numbers showing on the file.

Hmm alright, I'll keep that in mind. I think I'll make a LD first and then if I want more detail I might try the HD.
 
Hmm alright, I'll keep that in mind. I think I'll make a LD first and then if I want more detail I might try the HD.

Here's a Tip
Be sure to remember to have some structural backup so the AR doesn't warp. I used popsicle sticks, which worked great for me, but be sure that the popsicle sticks don't push the sides out or the AR will look bloated.

I've had too many accidents with my previous attempts to know that ANYTHING can happen ranging from an avalanche of books to a spooked dog jumping on the coffee table to crush your dreams. hahahahah
Sorry if I came across negative! I'm not trying to convince you to not make an AR. I guess I'm passionate about my past frustrations.hahah ^u^;
 
Be sure to use something to help keep the AR straight and keep it in a safe place. I've had too many accidents with my previous attempts to know that ANYTHING can happen ranging from an avalanche of books to a spooked dog jumping on the coffee table to crush your dreams. hahahahah
Sorry if I came across negative! I'm not trying to convince you to not make an AR. I guess I'm passionate about my past frustrations.hahah ^u^;

Haha, don't sweat it. I didn't take it as negative, it was more so... informative lol.
 
A quick little update

Here's what I got for you today:
The pieces I resined yesterday are mostly cured, although some spots are still a little tacky.
The handplates ARE completely dry though and I've been comparing prices all day on resin, bondo, and fiberglass mat. So far, Home Depot has the cheapest prices, except the paint brushes at Freddie's (They're 10 cents cheaper!!).
I figured I would need another gallon of resin (my container is almost empty) but I don't know how much bondo I would need for my entire costume and my AR. Any suggestions?
I also have been reading around the threads and I am considering Rondoing my suit too and not just fiberglassing it. If you guys can give me some tips, that would be greatfully appreciated.
Here are some pics of my still drying helmet, gauntlet, and shoulders. I'm still pepping the second gauntlet (I've been busy all day and haven't touched it till now).
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Here's the completely dry handpieces.
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And here is my little tie-dye effect on my gauntlet! I feel super radical, man. hahah
Tie-Dye.jpg


Thanks for checkin' out the thread and please comment and critique!
Cheers!
 
A Stumble and a Recovery

Hey everyone!
Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted stuff! And it looks like my thread is pretty dead ^^; so I'll give you guys a little update. I'm sorry to say that not much has been done because when I fiberglassed my shoulders and gauntlets, they all warped! It sucks that I had to do these pieces over again, 'cuz if I didn't have to repep them, I would probably have more impressive progress to show you.
So here's everything together.
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The AR has three layers of resin on it now. At this moment, I'm trying to decide whether to use expanding foam to fill the inide, or try my hand at 'mudding' the inside. Both methods I'm nervous about doing so any tips, views, suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreicated.
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Since I had to redo everything for the arm pieces, not much has gotten done. One shoulder is about 90% glassed and the second one still needs to be printed out.
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The gauntlets I got a little farther on. The right gauntlet is glassed and I've started sanding it a little and the left one i've started using Bondo. I've never used Bondo before so this will be a trial and error experiance. I'm liking it so far and hopefully, I'll get more practice and my smoothing will be seamless!
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The handplates are the ones that are farthest along. One is bondoed and has a undercoat layer of silver and the other one is completely finished!!! *insert sound of applauding audience here*

Here is the bondoed and silvered handplate.
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And here is the finished handplate!
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As you can tell from the other pictures, it is WAYYYY better than my first suit's handplates!
1. It fits my hand better
2. It is really smooth without the use of bondo
3. It's just plain out GORGEOUS!!!

I've decided to use my old softball batting gloves for my handpieces and it works great. I like the texture of the gloves and they actually fit me better than the other ones that I had.
All I did was take a thread ripper and take off the Nike symbol (it showed even after I put the handplate on top) and spray paint the gray area black so it stayed consistent.

So there we go. That's what I got for you and I hope to get more done soon. The weather has gotten a little on the cold and wet side, so resining and glassing is out of the question at this point.

Thanks for checking out my thread.
Please comment and critique.
Have a good day!
 
Wow, these vacations have drug me behind!

Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been so long! I have some more progress for you and some pics! *WOOT!* 8D
I've been gone on a number of vacatin trips so I have been running around like a mad-man today trying to get stuff done.
The vacations were great, by the way. hahah :p
Here's a lil sneak peek!
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'Ello, Mr. Buffalo! He was the ONLY one that I saw while in Yellowstone! Sad! :-(
Okay! Now on to the suit!
I have finished both handplates now- bondoed, sanded, painted, and top coat- and I have finished the left gauntlet.
I really like the bondo work I did on it! I'm uber proud of myself! 8D
To make the gauntlet fit right, and not worry about my hand getting stuck once I got it through the wrist opening, I cut out the little "bumpy" thingies (wow, love my choice of words?) and then glued them back in using the same stretchy fabric that I used to fasten the handplates to my hand. It works really well!
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Now unfortunately... I lost one of the "thingies" and now I have a gap in my gauntlet!
TT_TT
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I'll have to print that piece out again and remake it and hope to god that I can get it to fit...

Moving on...
While on my second vacation (a trip to the coast) I was able to pep the shins.
Credits to Crackhead for making these files.
In getting home today, I managed to give both of the greaves a layer of resin before it got too cool outside.
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Here is a closer look at the shins before I resined them.
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The glue job is a lil shoddy, but I'll sand it out and cover it up with bondo.

And finally, I got some bondo put down on the left shoulder. I'll be sanding it down tomorrow. The right gauntlet I have sanded down the resin boogers and it's ready for bondo tomorrow. I also plan on putting a second layer of resin and possibly glassing. I think I'll try rondoing the inside of my AR too. But I've got a town festival to go to tomorrow. (Man, my summer has been busy!)
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That's all I got for you today!
Please comment and critique and have a good rest of the night.
 
More and More Done By the Day! :D

Hey Boys and Girls! I got more stuff to show you today! And I promise that it won't disappoint!
First off, I finished the left shoulder piece. There are a few things I need to add like lights and extra strapping (I'll explain later) but the overall construction is finished!
Here are some pics! Sorry for the extreme blurriness in the pics! The lighting in my room is a pain in the butt! >8C
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I'm looking around for LEDs and I can't seem to find just the bulbs. I can only find the bulbs inside of flashlights, but I don't want the flashlight part. And it costs more with the flashlight attached. Oh, and if someone can guide me as to how to wire up the lights, that would be greatly appreciated! I've looked around for a tut with no success... :-(

As to the strapping, I already have a strap that makes sure that it stays attached to me, but it has some mobility issues.
For example, if I were to try to reach above my head with the shoulder on, it would come loose and then twist around and eventually slip off.
Here's the strap that I have on it right now.
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And here is an idea I have sketched on Paint.
SketchIdeaShoulder.png

The buckles are backwards in the pic and what I plan on doing is gluing the male end of the buckle to the shoulder "cup" and then sew the female end to my undersuit. If anyone has any other suggestions (besides getting a pressure suit), please feel free to comment! It would be accepted by me in the most graceful way I can think of!

Here is a pic of me wearing the whole left arm set.
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Moving on from the shoulder, I am in the middle of bondoing the shins and the right gauntlet. The gauntlet and one of the shins are taking sooooo long in curing and it's frustrating! But it's because I didn't put enough hardener in the bondo mix... :-( Lesson learned there...
But I did manage to put in extra detail that the pep work didn't provide.
Here are the reference pics that I used.
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And here is the detail that I sharpied on!
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The squiggly lines are little goof-ups! Oops!
So you're probably wondering as to how I plan on tackling the detail and my answer is...
"I'm experimenting with tape."
Yup! Painters tape! I'm using the tape to mark off the raised edges and then I bondoed over it and carefully removed the tape afterwards! I'm really happy with how crisp the lines are!
(To Be Continued in the Next Post)
 
Continued Post (August 17, 2011)

So here is the shin taped off!
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And here it is with bondo on it!
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And here it is with the tape taken off!
I admit... The actual bondo work itself is a little shoddy, but the lines just make me so happy! :-D I'll continue to use this painters tape method and I'll use it on the rest of my suit as well.
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Again, Sorry about the shoddy picture quality... This is an old camera...

That's what I've got for you today guys and gals! I'll be posting more pics soon!
I'll have progress on the AR later too! WOOT!

Now here is a before pic of the shoulder from my first suit. Quite a difference! I'm very proud of my costuming maturity and it hasn't been very long either!
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Have a nice day everyone and please comment and critique! BD
 
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