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[trashcanmando]

Wait, for real? You just mount them to the flight suit then?

[Jenga]

They still have to be mounted to the vest, but you're allowed to mount them just hanging on the edge. Nothing is required to be underneath them

[trashcanmando]

Huh. Okay, thanks!

I decided I'm going to just completely redo the collar- the one I've got gave me a headache so bad that Ibuprofen only dented it and I still had it when I was trying to fall asleep at midnight. After I only wore it for about fifteen minutes. I really doubt a little extension and some cardboard will fix that problem.

[Shammah]

I sport a neck seal out of duck cloth that is independent of the vest and velcros to itself for a closure. They're pretty easy once you get a look at them, I'll see if I can find a link.

I have no tabs under my shoulder bells. Here's something you may be missing, look at the mount angle of the bells from the front. Ideally (at least in my mind) the outside should be at a 45 degree angle, go back and look at Jango. You get that by mounting them higher up on the vest.

[Havelock]

Wow, vaar'ika!  I have absolutely nothing constructive to add at the moment, I just wanted to comment and tell you how amazed I am at your progress.  You're ripping right through this!  I'm so proud of you.   

[trashcanmando]

45 degrees, got it- yeah, I've been testing this with the shoulder plates way too low.

Wow, vaar'ika!  I have absolutely nothing constructive to add at the moment, I just wanted to comment and tell you how amazed I am at your progress.  You're ripping right through this!  I'm so proud of you.   

  Thanks, ba'vod!! You aren't called the motivat'alor for nothing!

After a busy week full of getting called in to work, first day at a volunteer center, and Easter aftermath, I have another update! Most of my progress this week has been just finding someone to get a helmet from. I finally found someone today who does scaled down Fett helmets with rangefinders! They have a sizable waiting list though, unsurprisingly. Forum name is Dha Bral, if any of you've heard of him.

Put the finishing touches on the flak vest today! My sewing method is more of a guess-and-check than an actual system but it works.  The collar is a lot looser and isn't giving me pressure headaches anymore, but the neck seam is juuusst barely loose enough to get over my head (I got stuck once and had to get my Dad to pull me out haha)



Side view, you can see that the collar has a ton of room. And that's the side with the velcro flaps, both on the side and neck.



I got one side of the velcro attached to the plates, and did the final trim on them! (adventures included melting a bit of velcro, and taking a chunk of a chest plate out accidentally)



Now I just have no idea how to figure out where the other side of the velcro goes on the flak vest... Any tips?

We also got toilet brush holders this week (boy that was fun to explain to the cashier, two teenage girls buying four toilet brushes with holders) so I hope to start on the gauntlets after I get the plates attached! When that's all finished, all I'll have to do is the helmet and the weapons, I'm super excited!

This leaves my soft parts almost entirely complete, the only thing I have left is to get a few more pouches!

[aforklikeutensil]

I finally found someone today who does scaled down Fett helmets with rangefinders! They have a sizable waiting list though, unsurprisingly. Forum name is Dha Bral, if any of you've heard of him.

You're in great hands with Dha.  I would offer to help with the bucket, but with my workshop torn apart and still getting through a couple buckets for clan members I don't know if I could get yours done faster than Dha could.

I got one side of the velcro attached to the plates, and did the final trim on them! (adventures included melting a bit of velcro, and taking a chunk of a chest plate out accidentally)

Battle damage ftw.

Now I just have no idea how to figure out where the other side of the velcro goes on the flak vest... Any tips?

The best shot is having Cy'mur or Shammah (or maybe me, but I'm not the best at spacing) help you get everything positioned correctly.  Trying to do that yourself is super frustrating.  I had them help me get everything positioned correctly, traced around the plates with a washable fabric pen and then sewed on my velcro appropriately.  BEFORE you sew on the velcro I would take pics and post them in the VMC pre-app thread.  You'll get the attention of app team members and get direct feedback.

VMC pre-app thread--->http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=110126.0

Hope that helps.

[Shammah]

Awesome progress vod! Pretty much what Fork said. I think the loose collar is great, by the time you have your buy'ce on no one will notice and it may give a nice seal effect. You should try to get velcro farther around though, don't want any loose flap showing. You may also want to redesign the should to put a zipper or velcro closure at the neck so you can get in and out easier. The vest seems a little loose through the body, but that may well change once you have your flight suit on.

There was a comment you made a while back about how hot it was when you got into your kit. I meant to mention at the time that they're all hot, you get used to it. Every time I kit up it takes about 20 minutes to get comfortable, then I'm good for the day. Guess I'm just saying don't think the discomfort lasts, and once you're interacting with the crowd you forget all that. However, like the neck seal, look for what is really uncomfortable and fix it as you go.

Keep it up, you're doing great.

[trashcanmando]

Ahhg, too bad I live so far south... I'm sure I can find some help, definitely post pictures before sewing... Probably the part I'm looking forward to least, besides the blasters.

Glad to hear the heat isn't noticeable after a while! I'll check into an extra velcro flap on the shoulder.

Worked on gauntlets today- it's not in any state for pictures, but I got everything cut out and started attaching hinges. I couldn't get the screws to bite into the plastic, so they're glued on with E600. At this point my kit is held together mostly with guesswork, E600, and good advice, haha.

There's a small detachable blade for the gauntlet too! It's a really really simple design but I think it's pretty cool. I'll get pictures after all the hinges are attached.

[Malakier Vhett]

Nooooo not e6000!

Seriously, I hate that stuff. Only had it actually do it's job 2 or 3 times out of dozens of times trying it. Superglue and 2 part epoxy for the win!

[jett drexel]

i gotta agree with mal, 2 part epoxy beats e-6000 hands down.

[Shammah]

I've used e6000 to put hook side of velcro in my plates and had every piece come loose. Which reminds me, be sure to put the hook side on your armor. Otherwise washing your soft parts can get interesting.

Definitely worth the effort to use epoxy. Just make sure you have everything lined up and ready to go before you mix it. It's amazing how fast 5 minutes passes when you're putting things together.

[trashcanmando]

Ohh no. Well, I guess it's time to go glue shopping again.

Fortunately, I did attach the hook velcro to the plates and the soft velcro is set up to go on the flak vest. So glad I won't have to rip all that off!

[trashcanmando]

Hooo okay. It's been a bit, vode, but I'm back with another update! Work got busy, everything else got busy, everything is still busy, but I've been putting in some work on the gauntlets. I feel bad for the people who go with something complex, just two hard shells have been kicking my butt.

I kept thinking I was going to have to come on like 'yeah, here's pictures of the total trainwreck my gauntlets turned out to be, this is all I've done in the last three weeks, gonna remake them with PVC.' But the damage was never as bad as I thought it was going to be, so I'm proud to finally present them, fresh out of the blackwash stage!



Some of the body plates for color comparisons. I ran out of silver spraypaint and the store didn't have a silver I liked in the brand I had for gold, so I bought another can of gold too, and it was technically the same shade, but it was double coverage, so my gauntlets ended up a little darker gold than the rest of my plates. You can't really tell unless you're looking for it, though, so I'm not worried.

I got lucky and the E600 actually worked really well (this time)! I have one or two ideas for the closures, gonna have to mess around and see what works and what I like.

I really should have done that before painting, but I made a lot of mistakes while cutting them out of the toilet brush holders, and wanted to be sure they weren't too badly damaged. You can see some of the damage there, mostly on the top of the gauntlet on the right. This plastic was very different from the stuff the trash cans were made out of, and it actually started melting a few times.... I discovered the benefits of keeping a bucket of water close by when heating plastic  (turns out you can flash dry hot glue by dunking it in water too)

I made a second cod plate, cause the first one had this annoying habit of not staying under the sash belt. New one comes up farther and shouldn't have that issue. Generally looks more solid all around.



Hope it won't be so long before my next update again, but it's graduation season and I work at a bakery, so who knows.

[aforklikeutensil]

I dig the gauntlets.  Nobody will notice the color difference between the gauntlets and other plates.  Even if they do a little asymmetry always makes things more interesting IMO.  Keep doing little bits at a time and you'll be done before you know it.

[Havelock]

Those gauntlets look great, vaar'ika!  And I think the new cod will work out much better for you, so good job on that, too.

By the way...have I mentioned I really like your color choices?   

[Shammah]

Color looks fine. Just don't get your gaunts too close to the rest of your plates like by picking your nose or something and no one will know!

[Kryamla Redalur]

Following with interest

Btw, I think the new cod looks nice!

[trashcanmando]

I dig the gauntlets.  Nobody will notice the color difference between the gauntlets and other plates.  Even if they do a little asymmetry always makes things more interesting IMO.  Keep doing little bits at a time and you'll be done before you know it.

Color looks fine. Just don't get your gaunts too close to the rest of your plates like by picking your nose or something and no one will know!

  Glad to hear you guys don't think it'll be noticeable! Honestly, if someone can manage to pick their nose with gloves and a buy'ce on, they have my respect. 
I'm really shocked at how fast this is all coming together, I pretty much just have the helmet, weapons, attaching plates, and a few finishing touches to do! Just gotta keep chipping away!

Those gauntlets look great, vaar'ika!  And I think the new cod will work out much better for you, so good job on that, too.

By the way...have I mentioned I really like your color choices?   

Vor'e, ba'vod! I tried the cod on with the sash belt today, it's much improved.
Haha, thank you, can't imagine why, but I really love your paint scheme too! 

Following with interest

Btw, I think the new cod looks nice!

Thanks and welcome aboard!!

Finished up the gauntlets! I came up with a few different closures I could use, and these were the ones that seemed most plausible:



It's pretty simple, hook side of velcro one each side of the gauntlet, and a rectangle of cloth with two more strips of soft side velcro. Not very fancy, but it holds 'em on well!



They fit perfectly over my flight suit, they don't move side to side like I was worried about at all. The black strip turned out wider than I was imagining, but it's on the inside of my arms so I'm not concerned. I'm keeping my eyes out for a better pair of gloves too, but these work alright for now.



And there they are on me! They feel super cool, I'm just itching to be in full kit for the first time! I had my problems with these, but they turned out and I'm really pleased with them! The stick on velcro ripped right back off the painted plastic, and still came off a patch of unpainted plastic, so I gave them some help with more E600, since it worked with the hinges. Just want to add a little more to seal around the edges of the velcro, and I'll be all set!

[trashcanmando]

Okay! It's been a month, but I finally have more progress! (I'm not even necroposting wow I thought it had been a lot longer)

I finally got my soft parts weathered:



It was really fun once I got into it! I tried to do some burn damage on everything first, but apparently I keep picking the most fire retardant materials, so I just got some melting marks.... I put most of the flight suit dirt on the legs, and then didn't do hardly anything to the flak vest. I bleached almost everything just a tad, and I think I'm going to hit the flight suit again for a better difference between the flight suit and flak vest.

And right as I'm typing this I remember that I was going to take some thread and make some patches look like they'd been ripped and sewn over again. Ah well. I can do that when/if I bleach the flight suit again.

I got some new gloves too, they're a lot better than the ones I had! And also nearly impossible to do any significant burn damage to, which was disappointing cause I wanted it to look like I'd grabbed something that was on fire. I'll probably take a woodburner to them sometime soon.



There was a logo on the back of the hand, but I managed to melt it until it wasn't recognizable. I'll do some more damage there too once I manage to find the woodburner.

And I finished my beskad! Enlisted the help of a friend with a fully equipped shop. It's made entirely of one piece of plywood, 18 inches long, with scrap leather that I just glued on and is drying.



All I have to do is make a sheathe for it- either just a simple metal ring, or a PVC rectangle that leaves most of the blade exposed.

Also, since the CRLs only require one weapon, I'm moving the blasters to the 'eventual upgrades' list. I'm not really all that excited about them, and I don't really need them. I'd love to make a Rey-esque staff, though, but I'm not sure when that'll happen. For now, I'm just going for the bare bones I need to apply.

Also, my helmet has been ordered and should ship out and arrive this week! I got one of the anklebiters from Dha Bral, and I'm really excited to finally have a bucket!

I added a status update to the first post on this forum, to keep better track of my progress and what I still want to do. But so far all I have left is:
-get more pouches and make a sheathe
-finish work on helmet, pad, visor, and paint
-attach plates to flak vest
-finishing touches on weathering

And then I should be in the clear to apply and can start on upgrades! (Nearly all of my upgrades are some form of weapon ahaha)

[aforklikeutensil]

Shaping up nicely.  Nice work burning off any logo on those gloves; I never would have suspected they had one.  Keep at it!

[Shammah]

Those are the same gloves I use for fall yard work including the burn pit, so I'm glad they don't burn well. Nice work on the weathering. I just made a couple of pouches for the new sound system so I'll bring the old ones with me on the 17th. Sounds like you've got some good ideas for a sheath. Ever done any leather work?

[trashcanmando]

Thanks Fork! They look even better after I attacked them with a woodburner.

Oooh score! What kind of pouches are they? I've, uh, dabbled in leatherworking. In middle school, with no tools besides a scissor and high hopes. Somehow I still have all my fingers.

I'd love to do an actual PVC sheath, but I'm booked like the library of Congress right now and am impatient to just be in full kit for the first time. So we'll see, whether my impatience or perfectionism wins out.

[Og' Reh]

That's a tough fight! I have the same one, but impatience is appeased a bit when I try out and measure new pieces...

That's a great looking armor Vode. I just looked through your WIP and found some ideas I could use, so thank you and keep up a great job!

[trashcanmando]

Thanks! Yeah, if I can actually force myself to start the sheath, I'll get excited about it and have to finish it. Happy to be of any help!