The Journey Begins

[FuzzytheWolf]

Been a bit since the last update and a decent amount of progress has been made. As it currently stands, the only thing left to print are the feet. Unfortunately, I had to reprint both thigh pieces as I got the sizing wrong, but hey, live and learn. Everything has been sanded, most of the plastic welding is done (just finishing the back half of the main chest/body piece). I've also made version one of a harness, but I'll likely re-make it as it's currently only designed to hold up a thigh piece by one strap, and I found it was prone to moving and twisting, so I plan to make another where the thighs are held i two places which will hopefully prevent this.

Everything here has been primed, sanded, and re-primed, awaiting wet sanding, all except for the re-printed thighs and helmet which were gap-filled earlier today.

First time plastic welding, proved very handy filling in a few see-through gaps around the arm holes. The front and back halves are held together with very strong Velcro, but I also added magnets at the top to help guide the pieces together ad hold in place while I attach the velcro.

Lastly, the helmet is gap filled, awaiting sanding. I ordered a visor from Galactic Armory. Now, my helmet is printed slightly smaller than full size (93% I think) so unfortunately some details around the outer edges of the visor are lost... Unfortunately I'm starting to run short on time to create one myself, but that is on the cards in the future to eventually attempt to learn to make my own visors.

Still a bit to do; wet sand the pieces, the paint I ordered arrived, then I'll want to learn how to dirty up the armour ad make it look worn. I also need to order something to use as an undersuit (I've made allowance for room for it, but I haven't gotten one yet). Plan to try and have this all done by the end of October so I can wear it to my work halloween event. Wish me luck!

 

[N8TEBB]

Plan to try and have this all done by the end of October so I can wear it to my work halloween event. Wish me luck!

 

[FuzzytheWolf]

I think I messed up... Nearly everything has been painted, the colour being Rustoleum Satin Eden, BUT Rustoleum doesn't stock that specific colour here, so a paint company recreates it. I bought Rustoluem Satin black and painted over a section I had painted green, and I think the paints had a bad reaction... the black is all cracked in some parts (strangely, not all). Both are enamel based paints, waited 24hrs before applying the black.

Think I just ruined a lot of hard work, and set myself up to have to re-sand and re-spray. At least it's just the one piece. Any advice as to what I did wrong, and how to prevent? Paintings new to me.

 

[Parzival]

Oh no! That's unfortunate.

Any advice as to what I did wrong, and how to prevent? Paintings new to me.

Cure time, humidity and temperature play a big part in success with paints. I was certainly bypassing all three when I worked on a helmet two years ago and had cracking all over. It was a rush job though.

Sounds like you had a good cure time of 24hr's, so that leaves humidity and temp.
You want low humidity or else water will be collected by the paint when you spray.
Then you want higher temps for painting as well, a trick people will do is get a bowl of warm (not boiling) water and set their cans in the water to warm up for awhile if the environment is colder to assist with paint adhesion. I personally have put a workpiece and paint can nearby the house vents before to warm up before painting.

 

[FuzzytheWolf]

a trick people will do is get a bowl of warm (not boiling) water and set their cans in the water to warm up for awhile if the environment is colder to assist with paint adhesion

This was solid advise, I think this helped a lot. Everything else sprayed well, and I've sanded down and resprayed the chest piece. Looks a lot better now ^^

 

[Parzival]

This was solid advise, I think this helped a lot. Everything else sprayed well, and I've sanded down and resprayed the chest piece. Looks a lot better now ^^

Glad to hear that!

Your paint post was early in the morning I notice now. My area gets more humid at the late hours of the night / early morning and that certainly could have been a factor pending your location of painting (insulated garage vs generic polebarn w/ dirt floor as an example.

Keep us posted on the rest of the build! Good luck

 

[FuzzytheWolf]

It's been a busy couple of weeks, completing the weathering. I feel the photos don't properly highlight some of the lighter smudges that ca be seen in person. I also decided to make up Cortanas' chip as an accessory to wear around my neck. Sadly, I accidentally got glue on the visor while installing it, and it would not come off, so I'll have to live with it until I learn to make my own. To help the helmet fit snugly and comfortably, I removed the inner liner from my unused motorcycle helmet and attached it inside and it worked amazingly.

I also remade the harness, giving it better support by holding up the leg pieces at the front and back (versus just one strap on the side as per previous). There's still a bit to do: need to fix the forearm pieces so they don't rotate on my arms, some more padding on various pieces for added comfort, foam will be attached to the bottom of the boots (to prevent the sound of the plastic boot contacting the ground), and the modules on the side of the waist piece need rethinking (currently they help attach the front and back pieces together, but they're loose, causing it to drop on my waist). Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how much I got done, it will be wearable in time for my workplace Halloween event.

Some cons I've found (this being my first ever armour build, these were to be expected); the chest/body piece is a bit too wide and I can't properly rest my arms or bring them closer together to aim down a smaller weapon (like my Magnum, which I have to aim one-handed or it looks very awkward), and the shin pieces could be a tad wider (for better fitment, they're a little snug) but also a little shorter as they're scrapping the top of the boots and bottom of the thighs (it's scratched a little paint off already, and the boots also look very large on me with the narrow shin pieces).