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[Echo Darklighter]

Well, it's time to get back to basics.  My first kit, Echo, was much beloved, but carried a few fundamental flaws and novice mistakes.  Now that I've gotten my hands thoroughly dirty, it's time to fix her up.



A quick glamor shot.  Notice...
-Sloppy/ splotchy damage masking
-Inconsistent damage (the helmet's massive "hit" was caused by painting mistakes that I rolled with.  Meh, it looks cool.)
-Modern nylon pouches.  They weren't bad, just... "meh"
-Marine vinyl vest.  Seriously, this thing is like a sauna during the summer.

Not the only issues.  If anything, I can disguise problems...
-The plates are lined up crooked.  It's hard to tell in most photos and is mostly disguised by the sleeveless trench coat.
-Vest was a rough-cut job.  It fits fantastically due to design (I'll share templates and give a look under the hood), but was poorly sewn and has a couple of issues (extra flaps over the shoulders in lieu of sewing and zippers that'd work much better, adhesive residue from sticky velcro related to said flaps, holes from the first attempt at mounting that turned out horribly).
-Shoulder bell flaps have a tendency to Gundam out.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but looks a bit off with the sleeveless/ short sleeve thing.
-The plate's shapes are slightly off, and the gaps are a little on the small side.

Here's a look at the current state of it...



It's held up well these two years (aside from the collar plate cracking in half- you can see the point where I fabricated a metal bracket for the front and back and secured with rivets.  I like the look, and will probably replicate it for the MK II).

So, for the "what's new," or the parts we're rebuilding...


New templates.  Smaller than the originals, but hopefully large enough.  I'm not looking for giant gaps, mind you, just "rule of thumb."  The collar plate is a little longer than normal and will probably be trimmed down slightly.  At the end of the day, I want an overlap with the back plate (Will start working on it as the project progresses).

Here's a quick line-up on Cin's Kraam Vest (will most likely contact him for another; the man does good work).


It looks a little on the large side in the pics, but the local ruus'alor had misgivings, saying they might be too small.  As I said, they're slightly smaller that the MK I plates.  The chest plates are thinner across, certainly.  Any other trained eyes wanna comment?

Edit:  The plates need to be shifted around a bit to ensure proper spacing, I see now.  The gap between the chest and ab plates is a little large.

New knees will need to be fabricated.  The old ones were cannibalized for parts during Cin's build.  It happens.  The next go around will be constructed more along the lines of the Boba/ Jango standard, instead of the chopped custom knees.

Last but not least, MK I was a sintra job (modified Schubi-won; never again).  This time around, well, it seems I got ahold of a slightly damaged hood from a Toyota Echo (it has a kind of poetry to it, if you think about it).  I have my work cut out for me (heheh) prepping it, but in the end, steel is really the only way for me to go.

To recap, we're going to build/ acquire/ fix up:
-New plates
-New vest
-New leather pouch belt
-New knees
-Strip and repaint the bucket
-Modify the trench coat/ Switch it out for a Kama
-A couple of new greeblies (pilot-style leg flares, comms equipment, bino's)
-A decent combat knife for either chest or leg mounting

And, at the end of the rebuild, I may end up casting my lot in with the Brigades as a Recon kit.  Just a maybe.

There's really no established timeframe for the completion of this rebuild.  Only real caveat- It will be ready for CVII.

Oya, vod.  Let's get building.

[Jaing Vau]

Awesome! Another build by the infamous Echo Darklighter! Im definitely bookmarking this ner vod. You do awesome work, and know CRL's off my heart. It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

Chest plates look a little wide to me. May want to take 1/4 inch off. Should fit perfect then  8)

[Echo Darklighter]

Awesome! Another build by the infamous Echo Darklighter! Im definitely bookmarking this ner vod. You do awesome work, and know CRL's off my heart. It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

Chest plates look a little wide to me. May want to take 1/4 inch off. Should fit perfect then  8)

Oh god, I'm infamous now?  Lol...

I'll try tweaking the sizing a bit.  It's been a while since I saddled up Modern plates. 

[Carid Vhett]

Yep, your infamous.
And yeah, bout a 1/4 inch off the outside of the chest plates, everything else looks fine.

[Jaing Vau]

Ive been thinking about trying my hand at a Legacy style kit. Thought it would be best to finish up my modern first though. 

Do you have a paint scheme planned or are you just going for an updated version of the old Echo?

[Echo Darklighter]

Yep, your infamous.

I'll take it as a compliment.

And yeah, bout a 1/4 inch off the outside of the chest plates, everything else looks fine.

Truth be told, I may cleave a bit from the inside.  It'd allow me to put a harder edge on the inside curve to line up more cleanly with the ab plate.  Corners and hard edges are substantially easier to work in steel than soft curves.  It can be done, but why bother, especially when a jagged kit looks meaner?

Ive been thinking about trying my hand at a Legacy style kit. Thought it would be best to finish up my modern first though. 

Do you have a paint scheme planned or are you just going for an updated version of the old Echo?

Hey, to-may-to, to-mah-to.  It's really up to your personal tastes.  One of my vode from the old clan went with a Legacy kit from the get go, and it looked fantastic.  He was half the reason I threw Cin together, actually...

Ol' Echo Standard- black plates, silver left chest.  Going to add details, improved weathering, some undercoat-peeking-through effects, maybe some detailing in burgundy.  Basically, what you see there, but better.  Definitely keeping the hasty patch on the collar plate, though.  That was all too happy an accident born of a lazy fix.

[Jaing Vau]

Better is.. Well better! I want to see what you'll do with it to mix it up a bit from old Echo.

Are you still going with the same bucket or are you getting a new helmet? I like the buzzerker look for your kit 

[Echo Darklighter]

No pics just yet, but finally begun doing test cuts into the metal.  It's a little thinner than I'd normally use, but implementing edge-folding techniques learned with Cin should yield decent results.  Pics to come, when I decide to actually work during the daylight...

[Mavik]

Well you said with your old kit that there should have been a bit more spacing for the plates, so if the templates are slightly smaller than your old plates I would stick with them. You can always trim the plates down a bit after you form them. After all its way easier to trim the armor down then add to it.

[Echo Darklighter]

Well you said with your old kit that there should have been a bit more spacing for the plates, so if the templates are slightly smaller than your old plates I would stick with them. You can always trim the plates down a bit after you form them. After all its way easier to trim the armor down then add to it.

S'what I thought, myself.  I'll be curling the plate edges to add the illusion of thickness.  Thin metal is great to work, but really doesn't look like much of anything unless you put in the extra effort.

Small update!  Began prepping the hood today by stripping off the paint.  Angle grinder and flap disk powers, activate!



In case you were wondering, car paint is some nasty osik, and thicker than sin.  The striations left by the flap disk will be removed before painting with a decent sanding.  Hard work work, vode.

[Jaing Vau]

This is awesome! Also considering you live in an apartment building. Impressive.. Most impressive

[Echo Darklighter]

This is awesome! Also considering you live in an apartment building. Impressive.. Most impressive

Tenacity was always one of my best qualities.  Consideration for others needs work, though, based on the angry hipster who asked me to stop using an angle grinder at 9 pm on a Thursday night.  Some people just have no sense of humor...

[Carid Vhett]

Shows he has no sense when it comes to true art. Shame really.

Nice start so far.

[Straka Zulu]

That hipster can stick it, noise ordinances usually say to stop by 11pm.

Nice progress, so far.  Thought about using the hood to my van, nicknamed the Falcon. When she runs, she's the fastest thing in the galaxy, when she doesn't, it's a pain in the shebs to figure it out.

[Dresdon Acacin]

Tenacity was always one of my best qualities.  Consideration for others needs work, though, based on the angry hipster who asked me to stop using an angle grinder at 9 pm on a Thursday night.  Some people just have no sense of humor...

what a noob, stuff like that happens to me too sometimes-you shoulda started using a hammer drill instead >

[Echo Darklighter]

what a noob, stuff like that happens to me too sometimes-you shoulda started using a hammer drill instead >

Would if I had one, but I'm pretty sure they'd eschew the neighborly visit and go straight to calling the cops if I did.

[Carid Vhett]

Would if I had one, but I'm pretty sure they'd eschew the neighborly visit and go straight to calling the cops if I did.

I had this happen once at an armour party. Not the vops the old lady shouting at me to stop with the power tools at 10am. The guy hosting it just said she has been a problem before and continue on if she called the cops so what. If you are operating within the law what can they do.

Made any progress?

[Dresdon Acacin]

Hy vod how willyou be mounting your plates?
Countersunk bolts tack'd on underneath?   

[Echo Darklighter]

Hy vod how willyou be mounting your plates?
Countersunk bolts tack'd on underneath?   

Bolts or Chicago screws through the plates, into the vest.  I like the "riveted" look.

Edit: Quick mid-process update.  The main chest plates have been cut out (sans the diamond), and I'm in the middle of tab-curling (reinforces edges, makes the plates look substantially thicker). 




No work bench this time, no industrial vise, no plasma cutter, no air compressor, no drill press...  No weld shop this time.  Just a ball-peen hammer, a cheap vise, a few small other hand tools, and a carpet floor/ concrete patio.  We're playing Metal Armor: The Home Game this time!

[Dresdon Acacin]

LOL Welcome to Dresdon's workshop '10 xD

its all the more impressive when you make amazing things with minimal tools and equiptment 8)

[Echo Darklighter]

LOL Welcome to Dresdon's workshop '10 xD

its all the more impressive when you make amazing things with minimal tools and equiptment 8)

Thanks, vod.

Still, I'd kill for a decent work table about now...

[Straka Zulu]

Use the kill AS the work table. 

[Dresdon Acacin]

A dozen 8' pressure treated 4x4s and 12 feet of stainless steel 3/4" threaded rod, you can fabricate your own brackets for it and DAYUM strong of a workbench to even stick a 90# anvil on 

[Echo Darklighter]

A dozen 8' pressure treated 4x4s and 12 feet of stainless steel 3/4" threaded rod, you can fabricate your own brackets for it and DAYUM strong of a workbench to even stick a 90# anvil on 

Funny story, I've been doing the shaping on the carpeted floor of my apartment, and due to the soft impact surface, I've managed to all but eliminate hammer marks, while still effectively shaping the armor.  Who knew?   Give it a shot, vod, see what you think of the results.  Take some relatively thick carpeting and attach it to a wood or concrete base.  You might be happy you did.  Sure, you have to give it a little more gusto in certain places, but it's as clean and smooth as anything done out of sintra.

Updates are limited.  I've been busy with work.  I managed to cut out and shape one of the shoulder bells, sand the left chest plate clean, as well as cut the holes for future electronics (meh, like that'll happen anytime soon), and prep further surface on the car hood for the second bell.  Progress is slow, but still happening.

[Dresdon Acacin]

Ill have to give it a shot on  wood stump for Sauron when I start that