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[Og' Reh]

 8)

Glad to help.

One thing I love about aluminium armor I make, is that if I want to weather it, I can just... Do it.
Just today, I've been running sharp edged metal through my shnees, where sword-cuts could be. Looks better, than any other weathering technique I did so far!

But the same can go with leather. Just remember not to go too far!

[trashcanmando]

Heh, that's close to what I did for my plate weathering. Just take a knife and cut off the top layer of paint. Being able to damage the actual plates themselves though... Metal armor is where it's at.

My helmet's ears are all installed! I keep looking at it like 'do I actually own a Mandalorian helmet? I do. I own that. It's mine.' It's a good feeling. So now I just need the visor and keyplate installed, and I'll be ready to paint it! Then padding, and it'll finally be wearable! I'm already fantasizing about a voice changer.

I'm redoing the closures on my gauntlets too, I'll post some pictures here once the final version has been decided on.

[Kryamla Redalur]

Glad I could help ya vod

[Havelock]

For what it's worth, I'd suggest painting before you install the visor.  If nothing else, it's less taping that you have to do. 

[trashcanmando]

Advice taken, ba'vod.  I'm installing it with the help of Shammah, who has a trick that makes the visor completely removable, so we can install and then I can take it back out and paint the whole thing no worries. 

[trashcanmando]

Okay, update on the gauntlets: I do believe these are the finals, or at least very, very close. Havelock's been helping me a ton, and I just need to make sure these are approvable. 







Ripped out the velcro and drilled some holes. I had one take with simple leather ties, but they weren't very swarzy and to be honest the quality was not my best, so now it's leather strips and snaps! I'm happy with them, I think the quality is good, and I like the look, so now I just hope the App Team agrees. 

The strips are a bit fuzzy right now but that'll be easily fixed with a few seconds with a heat gun. The final shot shows where I'm going to glue and trim them if I get the go ahead, after fixing the paint job. The glue even came off clean with a little elbow grease! 

[Havelock]

For what it's worth, I think those look much better.  Once you get it repainted, and if you can even up the cuts on the leather - 'cause it's looking just a little ragged  - you might just be good to go!   

So....what else you got?  I want to see more.   

[trashcanmando]

I'll clean it up and make it look all pretty once I know the App Team approves! Didn't want to get too attached and then have to go with something else again 

Patience, ba'vod!  But I've got a good start on my knife holster, Shammah gave me some really nice pouches yesterday, I got a start on attaching my plates, and the helmet is coming along so there'll be a nice big photo dump pretty soon. 

[Og' Reh]

Waiting... Still waiting for that big update!

Holsters... I knew I there was something I've forgotten. Thanx for reminding! ;]

[trashcanmando]

So....what else you got?  I want to see more.   

Waiting... Still waiting for that big update!

Holsters... I knew I there was something I've forgotten. Thanx for reminding! ;]

Okay, well here you guys go! I spent literally all day on beskar, and everything is done but attaching my plates and finishing my helmet!

First off, the best bathroom selfie I've ever taken: 



It doesn't look like a lot of progress, but the helmet is slowly getting closer and closer to finished! I got the visor cut out today, as well as finishing epoxying the magnets in the ears. Also smoothed down the inside of the T. (Totally forgot to attach the rangefinder for this pic I was so excited to be seeing the world through shade five lol) I still need to put in spacers to hold the visor, and reinforce the lower bridge. Hopefully after that I can finally paint it? Shammah's been directing me through this, thanks man. 

And here are pics of almost everything else I've been up to! I redid the sash to be much easier to put on, now it's more than half as long and twice as thick, and attaches with overall strap button thingies instead of tying. My holster is finished and I have Shammah's wonderful pouches! (And a stack of Merc/Vhett Manda business cards!  ) First pics of me in my new boots and gloves, and I finished up the gauntlets! Plus a doorag or however you spell that, cause I can't do a ponytail in my helmet, and I gotta keep my hair out of my face somehow. Thinking about embroidering a mythosaur skull on that.







Better shot of the finished holster and cool pouches:



And of my gauntlets. They didn't turn out like I intended, but I think they're still okay. I got black dye and told myself I could just soak the leather for a couple seconds and make it darker brown. It does not work that way. I had ebony leather. I managed to wash 'em out a little though.
Also, fixing up the paint where the velcro was did not turn out being as easy as I thought. You can still tell if you're looking for it. I'm hoping it passes for 'plausible in universe defect' and not 'really should've resanded that spot before painting again.' At least, I think that's what did it? But it's right along the tape-off line, so it can't be sanding... I dunno. But they're done. I'm probably worrying about that line too much, bet nobody but me will ever notice.



And finally, I painted my kit box! It took way more spraypaint than I thought it would, and copious amounts of sealer. But I'm extremely pleased with it.  I made a stencil for the Vhett Manda version of the mythosaur skull, and already had a mythosaur stencil that I freehanded a while ago to make a sweater.







I totally forgot to spray one of the handles gold, but hey, the box doesn't need to get approved and was just for fun, so I'm not going to bother with it.

And in the evening, Ivy came over and we got a start on her kit! She was eager to dig right into the blasters, we even bought a bastard file. Yep, I went through this whole kit with nothin but sandpaper and a sanding dremel bit. I do believe we said something at the clan meeting about what we think about 'doing things the easy way'. As in, we don't. 

We got some stuff at Walmart too (including an airfresher for my kit box cause the paint stench is horrid) and then we started on Ivy's gauntlets! I hate to admit it, but I got the angle wrong on them and the first one is a little loose around the wrists and won't even go all the way around the thick part of her forearm.  And they don't sell the toilet brush covers we got anywhere in our town. But I'll post a link to her WIP forum here when she gets it up!

Oya, vode! I'm so close!

[Og' Reh]

Way to go! I'm so glad you're pushing... Actually bashing forward!

The box is amazing! You should start making them for profit!

I melted in love with your blade and holster.

Also not enough pics of bucket! The way it looks now I'd say you forgot to paint ears, but the rest looks like you just headbutt through the wall. And it was just his fault for standing in your way! Badshebs!

[Dragon Sunkiller]

Kandosii, ner vod'ika! Just that part of the kit in your side shot says, "make my day, punk!" Lol! Keep up the great work!

[aforklikeutensil]

I do believe we said something at the clan meeting about what we think about 'doing things the easy way'. As in, we don't. 

Ain't that the truth.

You're getting closer.  And things are looking awesome.  Once you get your full kit together I highly recommend posting pics in the VMC preapp thread here so that app team members can weigh on and make the app process significantly smoother.

[trashcanmando]

Way to go! I'm so glad you're pushing... Actually bashing forward!

The box is amazing! You should start making them for profit!

I melted in love with your blade and holster.

Also not enough pics of bucket! The way it looks now I'd say you forgot to paint ears, but the rest looks like you just headbutt through the wall. And it was just his fault for standing in your way! Badshebs!

Ahaha, thanks so much! Your comments made me laugh!

I would consider painting kit boxes for other people, but really most of that's easy, the only part I consider something I'm uniquely good at would be making the stencils. And if people wanted me to make stencils, I absolutely could.  Maybe once my kit is done I could gauge interest in custom stencils? I don't think anyone's done that yet.

The helmet looks like that cause I shot the ears with primer prematurely, cause I just HAD to paint SOMETHING on my helmet.  But yeah, it totally does look like they're the only thing unpainted, that's pretty funny. 

Kandosii, ner vod'ika! Just that part of the kit in your side shot says, "make my day, punk!" Lol! Keep up the great work!

Thanks, vod! Just need you to help me attach those plates! (nudge nudge wink wink)

You're getting closer.  And things are looking awesome.  Once you get your full kit together I highly recommend posting pics in the VMC preapp thread here so that app team members can weigh on and make the app process significantly smoother.

Thanks, Fork! I absolutely plan on heading over there shortly! I'm shooting for starting the app process in the first half of July, but we'll see how much trouble the rest of my helmet and the plates give me. Hopefully not four week's worth of trouble.

[Shammah]

Getting closer all the time. Helmet has come out great.

[Havelock]

*enthusiastic applause*

[Anansi]

Really digging that blade and those pouches!

[trashcanmando]

Small update! I added a strap/button/lace thing on the holster, cause I don't trust seven year olds not to pull it out and stab me with my own blade. And boy, would that be embarrassing. Eventually I'll switch it out with a leather strap and a button/snap, but right now I think a button knot will serve it's purpose just fine. Plus a shot of the back of the holster, because probably no one will ever see it, but I really like it.





Making some progress on the plates! The torso snaps are all attached, and I think I got everything major, but I still might need some small adjustments. This is just on the mannequin, I can get a pic of it on me with my flight suit if that's needed. No keyplate yet, because that'll be easy to do once everything else is right, and it and the shoulder plates are attached with just velcro. (I might put a snap on the shoulder bells, though, make them a little harder to tear off.)



Got a few questions about these. The ab plate ends exactly at the edge of the flak vest. There's about an inch of hem I could easily let down if I need to, but Dragon said it would probably be better to either trim the ab plate or just leave it as is, since the belts are worn over the plates and flak vest. Now, I was under the impression that your belts and flak vest couldn't overlap. Obviously, I trust the OM more than my own preconceived notions. But I trust multiple OMs more!  Y'all wear your belts over your flak vest?

Second question: do I need to trim the chest plates? They pretty much line up with the collar plate, but then they do a funky little curve. Aesthetically, should I cut that curve to a straight line or leave it? Or does it not matter? This would also fix that little nick in the plate on the right, from a slip-up when I was narrowing the plates down.

Currently the glue is drying on the back plates, and I'll probably get those snaps on tomorrow. Turns out epoxy does not bond to trash can armor, but E600 will.

Some progress on the helmet: I've cut out the bolts on the inside, filled some bolt holes in the rangefinder piece with bondo, and reattached a magnet for like the third time. I'm hoping to get the spacers for the visor in very very soon, and then hopefully paint it! After that, just some padding, and I'll be all set! Thank goodness too, cause another event popped up that I want to go to, in late July. I'm optimistic about my chances!

[Og' Reh]

You're working your chances up yourself!

The sheathe is great. And I believe it's a great idea for a costiume (the one about protecting from being stabbed with your own weapon. I had this once for real in my life, and it's one of them ost embarassing stories in my life...

As for plates, I've played "find the difference" game
I believe, if you put collar straight, the rest should fall in place.

[trashcanmando]

Ooh, I see. I think those are actually trimming issues. When I straighten out the collar plate as it is now so the tabs match up with the vest seam line, it's horribly skewed. Plus my seam lines might be a little crooked  But in any case, replacing snaps won't fix the collar plate.  With the chest pieces, I think that's trimming too. I think I'm definitely going to take that curve on the outer edge down to a straight line, and maybe the top edge needs just a liiitttle fixing too.

[Shammah]

First question: the vest is either short and bottom of the ab plate is right at the bottom (such as yours) in which case the vest floats over the girth or, like mine, cut long and designed to be tucked into the girth belt. I did that because of the way my girth/kidney plate attaches to the vest in back.

Second question: I like the thumb width between plates rule because that automatically scales the width of the gap to the width of the wearer. You're small and so is your thumb width, so that gap will work for you. A bigger person will likewise have a bigger thumb and that gap will look right on them. Increasing the gap will give you room to fix any inconsistencies on the edges of your plates, Ogre pointed out some good ones. Think I'd trim the outside edges of the chest plates (following the existing lines) and move them out a little (outside needed to be trimmed a little anyhow). Trim the tops of them just enough to fix the bit over the diamond (your right plate). Then move the collar up, if needed, to get the spacing correct. may not need to once the chest plates are trimmed because this will shorten them up a little. Keep in mind that even spacing between plates is more important than gap width, so a little more or less than thumb width is fine.

The good thing about sew-on buttons is you can really fine tune placement. Once they're right you'll want to add velcro to get the float out of everything and hold plates in place.

Kit is really coming along, great to see how well you're doing.

[trashcanmando]

Thanks, Shammah.  I think I got the spacing on the front plates figured out (about 3/4ths of my thumb) and I was going to put in on with my flight suit so I could ask about the backplate, but I ran into another question (or two).



Chestplates have been trimmed, I think the spacing is ok, and I straightened out the collar plate. This picture's a little wonky cause I forgot to velcro the side of the flak vest shut and the mannequin is starting to lean so I had to hold it up, but that aside, there's some considerable gap between the collar plate and the top of the flak vest. Multiple people have told me the back plate and collar plate don't have to touch, but I went through the 2017 new OM thread and the collar plate comes all the way to the top of the flak vest on every single one of them.

I'm really hoping that's just coincidence and not something the App Team will knock me for, cause the trash cans I've been using just won't bend that far, so cutting a new collar plate wouldn't really fix it. (And I'd much rather cut a new collar plate than move everything up... Kinda starting to hate snaps...) I guess there's making two plates as collar plate extensions but I just hate how that looks.

Second question! Shoulder bells look too big? I don't think they're too bad, but I could easily knock em down a bit, and that could look better.

Thirdly, I did trim down the corner tabs of the back plate. You can see them really clearly in that picture, but it's not bad on me with the flight suit, and I'm hoping velcro fill fix any remaining issue.

[Shammah]

Spacing is much better. Look at the gap between the chest and collar, and chest and ab which is good. Then look at the tighter spacing between the two chest pieces in the diamond area. Think you could either move the chest pieces out which would mean another outer trim and snap re-adjustment, or just trim around the diamond area - the whole inside from where the two chest pieces meet at top to where they meet at bottom, and no snap re-adjustment (depending on where they're placed). It won't take much, just a sliver off of the inside of each in that top area (don't touch the fangs - lower part).

As for the collar plate, it's fine. What many do is bend the back plate tabs over to get a similar gap, as in the torso plates, between back plate tabs and collar tabs, i.e. my back plate tabs cover the shoulder seams on my vest.

Shoulder bells can be a little off scale as long as they aren't too crazy, and IMHO they're good too. Just tell the app team you have a phobia of being shot in the upper arms (ballistophobia).

I can't really comment on your back plate; didn't get to see it at the armor party so don't really know how it looks. The tabs should come down and stay with a little velcro (purpose of using the stuff is taking out float). It'll likely be fine too as long as you have one that fits.

[Og' Reh]

I got to believe you on the fact it looks the way it should on you, and something goes off on a dummy.
I tried to do stuff on dummy myself, and quickly trashed it... It was too fat to my liking!

Anyway, I grew a habit of asking App Team member in case of doubt. And I had loads of doubt myself... For me, Kriss Jasra became favorite victim and she was off the scale helpfull. But I sincerily believe other app team members would help as well.

Size of the shoulder bells, is personal issue as long as you don't go off limits. For me, it just should go with general outlook of your beskar. If you feel it's too big... Just cut it.

What keeps bothering me in this suit is the length and collar.
Length - because I was looking t other suits with you on mind, and I see that most people have vests longer than plates. So that'd be the first thing I'd ask App team. I can't help you with that, cause I simply don't know.
Collar and backplates... I believe mine needs to overlap (that's why I came up with pauldron idea to cever the fact it doesn't ), but since my armor has diferent rules (legacy) whatever works for me, doesn't necesariily apply in your case. I'd give App Team Member a PM about that as well.

Sorry I'm not that helpfull this time.

[trashcanmando]

Thanks for all the help, guys! I'm glad the collar plate is ok, should've asked the App Team member I found to ask about the flak vest about that too while I was there. Oh well. He said that it's preferred to have some flak vest under your ab plate, but they've approved people with their ab plate like I've got it now. I could either trim the plate or let down the hem from the flak vest a little, but I'm not going to bother just yet.

I did trim down the shoulder bells a little bit, and got a sliver off the upper bit of the keyplate area. Got the snaps for the other two backplate segments, had my mom take a picture... Realized they're a little crooked. Darnit. Guess I'm not done with snaps after all.

Spacers are in the helmet, though, just waiting for the glue to dry and then I can finally paint it tomorrow! 

EDIT: The plate problem was caused by an extra half inch on the right side of the top two plates. I also discovered that my vest is wider on the right side than the left, so it would actually look weird if the plates were centered on my spine. Apparently I have a thing for erring with too much space on the right when I'm doing custom patterns!  Anyways, the excess on the plates is trimmed and I'm going to compensate for the vest by putting them a little off-center, and I should be golden.