activation email

[Straka Zulu]

That you do! Opposite the Dragonmark of Passage.

Sweet.

I'm not sure if you answered this, but what gauge metal are you using?  I'm in the middle of a rebuild, and have been using 22ga steel.

[Slade Kel]

All of the torso plates are 16ga steel. The shoulders, gauntlets, and below-the-waist armor are all 22ga steel. I've always done either 22ga steel or 14ga aluminum, but decided to give the 16ga a chance on the bossman's recommendation during one of the Warmaster's Workshop livestreams.


Edit:
Just in case anyone checking the thread out has any delusions in regards to my talent, I'd like to share the pictures of my very first suit, the one I technically got approved in back in late '08, early '09, when Mandalorian Costuming was still mostly a lawless jungle.



As you can see, it was a fair bit of a mess, and I doubt it would warrant more than a glance from the App Team before getting kicked back with a veritable mountain of required changes .

Then, my most recent officially approved kit, from circa 2013-2014

Still a bit of a mess in areas, notably bagginess of flight suit and those first run vac-formed Legacy shoulders being too small, but leaps and bounds improved. That was after five solid years of practice, well over a dozen separate sets of torso plates hammered into existence, not counting utter failures and an ever-varying number of other armor parts.  The proper armor build is all about time, practice and patience.

[The Unknown Mando]

Nice work vod, I'm kicking around idea of next armour set being metal. Watching this with interest

[Slade Kel]

Thanks vod, If you have any questions on metal armor building feel free to message me any time. I get notified by email when someone PMs me, and my email goes to my phone so I should respond in a timely manner. It's easier to get into than people expect, though it can be tough work on some parts. Getting all of the tools can be a little pricey as well, but once you have them, most of them will last you for many years. All of the hard work and cost is definitely rewarding when the armor is done.

Updates will be thin on the ground the rest of the week, as I had a surprise Flushing week. I make tubing assemblies for medical instruments, analytical quipment mostly related to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, which means almost nothing to me ; one of the sales guys once explained it to me as "we make the -censored- that tells you what -censored- is in your -censored-". Part of the process in the Tubing department where I work is flushing solvents through the raw tubing after it's cut and then blowing them dry with nitrogen gas. We take turns working one week at a time with the full time flusher, which means going in there every 7 or 8 weeks. It means extra hours worked, and hours spent hunched over a pump outlet and often turned off to one side because of longer tubes. I was supposed to have one more week before my turn, but the Saw operator is out on temporary medical after surgery, and the guy who's turn it was this week is the backup Saw operator, so it's a'flushing I have been .

TL;DR: Super exhaust from bonus work and have to work Saturday and have an engagement party Sunday, so chances are real updates won't resume until next week.

Also, don't let my blaring overconfidence fool you; I am as insecure about my work as anyone, or more so, so compliments, encouragements and constructive criticism are very welcome .

[Kol Varek]

Nice to see another of the old guard return! Watching with interest.

[Slade Kel]

Thanks Kol,

Minor update, as the weather decided to be nice with only slight humidity. I decided to hit the front torso plates with a coat of primer, as it's a great way to see any remaining imperfections.


More to come, of course.

[Sep Ho'ban]

Those look awesome Slade!

[The Unknown Mando]

Thanks vod, If you have any questions on metal armor building feel free to message me any time. I get notified by email when someone PMs me, and my email goes to my phone so I should respond in a timely manner. It's easier to get into than people expect, though it can be tough work on some parts. Getting all of the tools can be a little pricey as well, but once you have them, most of them will last you for many years. All of the hard work and cost is definitely rewarding when the armor is done.

Thanks vod, I'll definantly have some questions

[Slade Kel]

Those look awesome Slade!

Thanks

So I caved to the lady and brought the dog outside to play in the yard while the weather held, decided to take all of the plates downstairs and hit them all with some primer.









Please ignore my scrubbiness in that last . I had to go in for 4am today, so as soon as I got home it was sweatpants and t-shirt time.

My main intent with the primer coat now was to look for imperfections that still need hammering/sanding, but for once I seem to actually have been thorough enough with my cleanup work before painting. There are a couple spots that need touching up on the gauntlets, but I think the rest of the plates are ready for more paint. I also got most of my new vest done; it just needs a closure method and velcro for plate placement. One step closer.

[Slade Kel]

Realized I completely missed my cod plates and my hand armor. Did some work on the latter over the last couple days, as well as banging out a chunk of my early crusader armor for a change of pace.

Unfortunately, the knuckle spikes are a bit uneven, but I'm not sure how much motivation I have to redo them, especially given the cost of the metal drill attachments for my dremel. I'm going to wait until I paint them and see how they look.


Start with handplate:

Take leather studs and remove spikey bits with tin snips



Glue onto hand plate with Goop


Of the 16 domes, four came off because the goop within didn't have enough air to cure. So I filled them in and will glue them back on tomorrow.

The reference for the gauntlets is the old wookiepedia shuk'orok, crushgaunts:


More to come, of course!

[Havelock]

Well.  That's just stupid fancy.  Nicely done, vod!  Looking forward to seeing those completely put together. 

[Rhysal]

Metal kits amaze me, they're an impressive level of craftsmanship. Nice work! I'm excited to see the finished product!

[Jennari]

Finally, some crushgaunts! Eager to see how they and your kit come out. 

[Slade Kel]

Thanks guys . I had some major car trouble (as in my car has gone to the great parking lot in the sky) so I didn't get home until about an hour and a half ago. BUT I did get the four domes that failed to adhere glued on. We'll see tomorrow if it holds or if I have to seek alternative attachment methods. Good thing is the goop I filled the domes with cured just fine, so the final layer should hold. It'll also help once I paint them, as the paint will further seal them on.

[MalacorV]

My kit's color scheme was/is inspired by Clan Wren also - I LOVE This build and can't wait to see where you take it.