Largo's MK VI Build WIP

Largo Usagi · Nov 13, 2011

First off this will be very picture heavy I have a DSLR I like to use so expect a large amount of pictures here.

Well I started my MK VI build today and this will be my first build ever. I thought starting with a small part would be easy to get familiar with peping but I found out that by choosing a small part that there is a **** load of little folds with even more little tabs and the whole thing ended up harder than what I was going for for a first pep piece. But hey all in all I got the experience and ended up with a some what terrible part. I don't know if resin and bondo can fix up the imperfections from this part so any input there would be great but I still have a Second of this part to make any ways.

This is the workspace

This is the first part I made finished from afar

These are the imperfections that are worrying me

But hey at least i scaled it right on the first shot, I wasn't sure until about half way though I initially thought I made it to big

Well done with this for tonight and I will make another piece tomorrow.

spartanx360 · Nov 13, 2011

that is not bad at all
everything can be done with sanding and bondo, and i don't even think that would be necesary, if you paint it correctly, no one will notice,
very clean pep, keep up the good work

Largo Usagi · Nov 14, 2011

Well today I almost finished the next part but didn't quit make it. After i complete the suit i will probably redo both for arms because how the pep file was setup it made doing part of it almost impossible. There was a divit that was made out of the edges of about 4 parts instead of those parts making a hole and then putting a cap under the hole. Regardless I learned that I should keep to making the small complex parts first as well and then move to the larger ones because it can be a pain to just add a chunk on little parts to the whole.

Any ways here are the pics.

This is what needs to be finished.

The scaling seems right but I do have a small concern that the point around the wrist will be to small, or I will just barely be able to get my hand through it.

Looking at the pictures I just realized last time I was using elmers glue I was in the 8th grade lolol. On that note is there any recommendation for glue out there because the biggest time sink in peping seems to be the glue curing. I'm thinking of getting some super glue for the parts that i know need to glue instantly and need very little alignment, Im also against the idea of using hot glue as it ads to much between the folds and will cause a loss in quality in my mind especially after making that hand piece those folds are far to small for hot glue to do anything but mess it up.

Any other comments and tips would be appreciated o/

spartanx360 · Nov 14, 2011

my wrist was also a problem, but you can always make the hole a little larger when it's pepped and resined

thorn696 · Nov 14, 2011

Looking good so far. Keep us posted.

sandy1973 · Nov 14, 2011

Your pep piece looks good and as your concern about Elmer glue cure too slow I recommend tacky glue because it dry fast but still give you time to move the tab around and use tooth pick to apply very thin layer of glue on the tab.

Largo Usagi · Nov 14, 2011

sandy1973 said:
Your pep piece looks good and as your concern about Elmer glue cure too slow I recommend tacky glue because it dry fast but still give you time to move the tab around and use tooth pick to apply very thin layer of glue on the tab.

Ok ill look into that currently I'm using 7 parts elmer 3 parts water roughly and applying with a paint brush. Seems to dry fast in my mixing pot, its not to terrible for the larger pieces because I can pinch the two parts and it cures really fast the problem I'm having is with the smaller and more intraquit folds that don't need much alignment.

spartanx360 said:
my wrist was also a problem, but you can always make the hole a little larger when it's pepped and resined

If there is any example on how to do this that would be great I don't want to alter the appearance that much.

Well I plan on finishing up that part and hoping I can fit my hand through, then making the other hand plate.

Looking at my current rate maybe I can have this done by Christmas, and that would be cool, There are 15 parts to be made and my current pace is a part every 2 days, so 30 days in total. If some one here could tell me if my time estimate is off with roughly 4 hours of work a day put into this let me know.

Thanks all and ill get another update tonight.

--------------EDIT-------------

I also found this ill pick up 4 of these for the helmet and wire them up, so that i get a real light on the helmet

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultrafire-cree-regulator-reflector-1x18650-2xcr123a-lamp-assembly-1343

Largo Usagi · Nov 15, 2011

So I got the my right forearm done. But I cant fit it on with it finished. I snapped a few shots shortly

after this to make sure it was scaled properly.

Had some difficulty with this part but the rest of the model turned out great.

Fudz073 · Nov 15, 2011

Pep looks awesome. I wouldn't sweat too much about little imperfections. They can be easily remedied with a smidgen of bondo. Secondly, I commend the patience with elmer's glue. You will find this a benefit when it comes time to sanding. I used hot glue for my pep. However, once i began sanding, hot glue DOES NOT like to sand AT ALL!!! Elmers though should take the density of the paper which should give your seams, well..., a seamless look. So good choice!

Welcome to the site and keep up the great work. Can't wait to see more!

Largo Usagi · Nov 15, 2011

Fudz073 said:
Pep looks awesome. I wouldn't sweat too much about little imperfections. They can be easily remedied with a smidgen of bondo. Secondly, I commend the patience with elmer's glue. You will find this a benefit when it comes time to sanding. I used hot glue for my pep. However, once i began sanding, hot glue DOES NOT like to sand AT ALL!!! Elmers though should take the density of the paper which should give your seams, well..., a seamless look. So good choice!

Welcome to the site and keep up the great work. Can't wait to see more!

Yah I actually started using tacky glue as recommended and it dries some where in between what elmers does and hot glue its slightly more gel like bit when i thin it out and apply it it bonds much faster, so i don't think I'll have problems sanding this unless I use to much, but ill know that when I get to bondoing. I did pick up some 3M/Bondo liquid resin for resining the parts. But what I'm not sure about is when it comes to fiber glassing the inside should I be using gel resin or liquid resin.

But i knocked out the other hand plate and that puts me at 3 assembled pieces, im printing out the left forearm now and will be assembling that over the next 2 days. Then I will probably do the shoulders then resin them. I want an excess of parts to see how far the resin will go. I'll post up some pictures of what i get done tonight before I sleep.

Also if some one has any suggestions for resining in a cold environment that would be appreciated. I live in Michigan and I only got a few more weeks of non freezing temperatures left so fiber glassing and the majority of the resining will be done this winter.

Thanks for the help and encouragement, I just cant wait for the painting and electronics part. I got something big planned here

Largo Usagi · Nov 17, 2011

Well I have started my other forearm peace and its going along great here is a picture of what i have together so far.

Ill wrap those up tomorrow and figure out what parts I'm making next.

Also I'm very happy with how the latest part is going so far no little problems at all its going to look great.

Some one who has finished their suit if you wouldn't mind letting me know how far a quart of liquid (not gel) resin will go on this project.

thorn696 · Nov 17, 2011

Largo Usagi said:
Some one who has finished their suit if you wouldn't mind letting me know how far a quart of liquid (not gel) resin will go on this project.

It depends on the method you plane on using I went with a rondo/rondoglass when working with my resin. Pulse I went heavy and durable. So I went thru about 2 gal. bondo 2 quarts bondo glass, and about 2-3 Quarts resin. I'm not sure on how much wasted materiel there was from mixing it hot, But I think I would buy my materials in the larger containers next time. At $19 per gal. of bondo it wasn't that bad on cost. I hope this helps you.

Spartan Devastator · Nov 17, 2011

Looking great man keep up the good work!

LongShot X · Nov 17, 2011

Excellent pepping skills!

Cheers.

Largo Usagi · Nov 18, 2011

Well here is my update. Got another another part done and moving on to the shoulders next.

I was much happier with my second forearm up until the very end when the last part went screwy but as much as you guys are saying bondo can fix **** I guess it wont be that big of a deal doesn't seem to far off of the opposite. Well let the comments and criticism fly.

Hosed · Nov 18, 2011

Looking good! From what I understand, the HD forearms are some of the hardest pieces to pep, and it looks like you knocked them out with no problem. I'm personally not looking forward to pepping all the little crevasses and indentations, but that's what makes it a HD piece.

Nice work, and keep it up!

Largo Usagi · Nov 18, 2011

Hosed said:
Looking good! From what I understand, the HD forearms are some of the hardest pieces to pep, and it looks like you knocked them out with no problem. I'm personally not looking forward to pepping all the little crevasses and indentations, but that's what makes it a HD piece.

Nice work, and keep it up!

Yah the HD parts are totally worth it, if hundreds of hours are going into the suit with a lot of money on top it might as well look the best it can be.

Also I'm trying to figure out while assembling the parts if the support pieces are really required. I don't see why the would need to be there and any guide on resin and reinforcement of a pep I see no reinforcements on the pep but the pep files I have, have reinforcers, any help here would be appreciated because the parts I want to do next have them.

Another cool thing is I found out Meijer sells fiber glass cloth and mat for 55 cents a square foot as well as quarts of resin for 11$ found a spot to buy that **** cheap.

thorn696 · Nov 20, 2011

You're pep looks great.

Largo Usagi · Nov 22, 2011

Well this weekend im going to continue work. I keep having problems printing out the pep file where the numbers are the only thig printing. I can't quit figure it out but ocassionally the lines print so I just keep changing random settings then changing them back to what is "right" but its only working about 50% of the time.

If any one knows how to fix that issue it would be great, its really grinding wasting that cardstock because of a software issue.

Largo Usagi · Apr 4, 2012

Well its been a while, had some big issues with my printer, it wont print out the lines for the pep files so i got frustrated and took a break from the project. Recently A friend printed out 2 more pieces for me so I am back at it. Also picked up some new tools for this, I highly recommend an ex-acto stainless steel ruler, it also has some scales on it if you have use for those.

Now a question on assembly are these supports really needed?

I see all over the chest piece as well but i see many pics of people trying them on before they resin coat the part. This tells me people dont build these into the peps but I am looking for some confirmation here.

Thanks for all the help guys and hopefully I can get some new pics up of my progress soon.

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