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[Straka Zulu]

Those are beautiful buckets,  aren't they?

[Bat Akaan]

Straka, yes they are. I should be doing more work on them tonight.

Thanks for the comments.

[Bat Akaan]

Update,

Ok so I finished sanding the bucket and I will be mounting the earcaps and then painting soon.



Next, since I formed the knees and back plate out of Abs and the ABS has a rough side, the parts came out rough. I was not that concerned since it is armor but to get them to closer match the other armor parts I sanded the knees. I drilled and milled out the mounting holes for my knee darts and then I sanded with 100-220 grit. In this picture the knee on the left has been sanded.



Next, I needed to re-form the shoulder areas of the back plate because of a gap near the top of the pale and my shoulder. Re-forming with a heat gun was not going well so I cut the back plate then heated the area up and folded it on itself. Next, I reinforced the fold with fiberglass on the inside and PC-7 on the outside.



Lastly, I sanded the back plate with 100-220 and now its ready for painting.





That is it for the update. Thanks for the interest.

[Straka Zulu]

Nice! Are those custom earcaps for the Executioner?

[Bat Akaan]

I made them in Tinkercad and printed them. These particular earcaps are not on my Thingiverse page ;however, I have several different types available for free download on my Thingiverse page. You will need to scale them to fit the specific helmet you are working with. 

[Novoc Mereel]

I keep trying to come up with reasons not to buy a 3D printer for myself and I'm running out. Seriously some awesome work here, man. I'm loving the custom leatherwork most of all!

[Bat Akaan]

Novoc, thanks for the comments. for what its worth IMHO, the Prusa I3 MK3 kit is worth every penny and more. I love my Prusa and I am soooooooooooooo glad I upgraded from my old printer.

[Bat Akaan]

Update,

First, I attached the now sanded back plate to the vest and checked to see that my modification did fix the gap between my shoulders and the back plate.





Everything looks good, so I drilled and installed the Chicago screws to the back plate to provide additional support in keeping it secured to the vest.









Next, I sanded all the armor with 220 grit then I dented and scratched all the armor by rubbing it in gravel and scratching it with a file. After the scratching, I washed everything and set aside to dry.











Next, I cut out the vent holes in my helmet for the ear caps and attached the ear caps with super glue. I filled in any gaps between the helmet and ear caps with super glue and baking soda then I sanded the joints and cleaned everything up.









Next, I got a variety of grey spray paints to test to determine the colors I will be using for the armor. I sprayed the test plastic with primer then metallic silver. Once that cured, I shot the grey colors on the plastic.



Some things to consider:
There are not a lot of shades of grey (insert joke here) in spray paint. Additionally, the primer is grey already and a lot of the grey spray paint I found was primer and not paint. Yes, I could just use the primer as a paint but that only gives me one shade. Many of the grey spray paint shades I found were gloss and not flat or satin. The largest selection seemed to be in satin and while not ideal, I can work with satin. I had considered using my air brush and I still may do some touch-up work with it but for painting all the armor, spray paint is the most economical way to go.

So, this test gives me 5 colors to work with and I will develop a color scheme and get to painting in the near future.

That’s it for the update and thanks for the interest.

[Novoc Mereel]

This is coming along really nicely! Vest looks great, you did a great job of fixing that back plate up. Can't wait to see the paint job.

[Bat Akaan]

Novoc, thank you for the comments.
Here is an updated concept art with the paint scheme. Nothing in stone yet, still tossing some ideas around.

[Darasuum Prudii]

Very nice looking kit!!! I wish I had a set of those ear caps for my Executioner!!! Those plates are very nice! I love the layers you have put on this kit. Its definitely shows some nice attention to detail!!! I will be following this build!!!

[Bat Akaan]

Darasuum, thank you for the comments and I realize it’s a bit after the fact but here are the earcaps if you should ever decide to do another helmet and want to use them.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3378050

Everything I post on my Thingiverse page is free to use, alter, print, whatever you want to do with the models.
https://www.thingiverse.com/11b30b4/designs

Update,
Finally painting! Ok so I shot a coat of primer on all the parts to be painted. The thing about primer is that it really brings out all the flaws in the armor. If I wanted to make a nice and shiny Mando, there would be a lot of sanding and filling to be done; however, who want a shiny Mando? My Mando is an executioner and he has seen a good bit of combat, so all the flaws just add to the battle damage look.







A few hours later I shot all the armor with metallic silver. I will let this paint cure for 24 hours, then I will be able to mask and start shooting the color on.







And that is it for the update. Thanks for the interest.

[Darasuum Prudii]

Thanks for the files, its never too late, I have my ear caps bolted on so they can be easily removed!

[Blackdugal]

I am loving this build and I need to get with you on the vest pattern.

[Bat Akaan]

Darasuum, no problem. I did notice when I attached my ear caps that John’s helmet is not completely symmetrical. One side is about 1/8” longer than the other side. I just filled and ground both sides to look symmetrical.

Blackdugal, Thank you sir. The pattern is easy enough and I am sure we will be meeting sometime soon for the hand over. Then I can get a nice colored cord, a new tag for my forum profile and a lot more stress in my life. 

Ok, Lots of painting has been done…
After the metallic silver, I shot all the armor with Stone Grey Rust-Oleum. Next I began masking and then shot all the Iron Ace brand paint.











Next, I shot the Costal Grey Rust-Oleum on the helmet.



Next, after more masking, I shot the stainless Krylon.









Next, I masked and shot the Pewter Gray Krylon.







Next, I shot all the trophy chest diamonds in a variety of colors.





Here is how the armor looks currently.









The decision to mix types and brands of paint was made because of the lack of gray shades available. This unfortunately, resulted in some orange peel on several parts. I am not concerned with the orange peel since all the armor will be sanded, weathered, and black washed. If anything, this adds to the used and battle damaged look.



Lastly, I added the knee arts and painted them.





So, now I will start to decide what symbols and decals the armor will get before weathering.

That is it for the update. As always, thank you for the comments and interest.