Another loong update incoming. They're giving me a notice that this hasn't been updated in at least 30 days, who knew I could get so much done since then!
First order of business was starting on my knees. I figured they would be simple enough and I was mostly right. I figured out the template myself, so here's a progression of that.

I ended up with these as my final plates. I believe I trimmed off the bottom a bit after the initial cutout.

They cracked a bit while shaping, whoops. I just filled it in with bondo and made it look like battle damage. I am a bit worried about the stability of these though, but they were simple enough to make that replacing them wouldn't be the end of the world.

Hugely not a fan of this silver paint I'm using, absolutely nothing sticks to it. I'm going to have to get a different brand or something because dang, this is annoying.

They turned out good enough after a few coats and some weathering, though.


For now I'm using an elastic/snap/velcro combo to hold them in place, but I might switch this out later. If it's a problem for approval I'll be glad to change it but if not, I also have no problem leaving it as it is.


(That little tail bit got folded over and sewn neatly, I just don't have any pictures of it.)
And that's that for knees

I got to painting the shins but again, the tape kept ripping off the paint which wouldn't stick. I ended up stripping these entirely and now they're looking pretty spiffy. These were the last plates that I bothered to use that silver undercoat on because I just couldn't take another round of fixing ripped paint.


I'll be attaching these with some leather straps and likely velcro as well for security.
And at long last, the chest and ab plates. I abandoned the silver and just did a flat grey primer underneath, and used a silver paint to fill in the damage. The primer and main grey look very similar here but I assure you, they are different.


Here is a before and after of the primer and then the silver paint added in. There were no problems with paint ripping at all here, finally. I wish I'd figured out this idea sooner

I was using rustoleum metallic silver, if anyone's got a good rec for metallic paint other than that I would welcome it!


Oh yeah, on the center chest piece I drew out a rectangle and then used a screwdriver to press into the heated sintra to give it a nice indent. I think it turned out nice! You can see it in the other photos how it has that etching or whatever you would call it.

I got the backplate all bondo'd, sanded, filled, and painted.


Once everything was painted, I got to work on fitting it to the vest.
Originally both sides near the fangs of the chest plates were sticking out like this, but I got them both settled down into the better fit indicated by the arrow


I then sewed velcro for ages and ages by hand to the vest. I tried to find some non sticky-back for the loop side but Joann's was out so I just accepted my fate. I did sew a majority of it outdoors at an ap though, and I believe that the cold made it much less sticky and therefore a lot easier to sew. Yeah I was cold during it but, you win some you lose some. Everything still needs to be dirtied up but at least it's all attached together now!

I gave up on the codplate mostly because I didn't feel like painting more. I will probably finish it someday but I changed tracks and started on an armored loincloth. This took me all of 30 minutes to make and just needs some red trim and weathering added to the plates.

Here's a quick try-on of the lower parts before I added that fourth plate.

And here's my first try-on of all of the upper parts. I haven't yet had the chance to put it all together, but hopefully soon I will!

My remaining checklist as of right now is...
- gauntlets
- weather soft parts
- acrylic wash plates
- blaster/weapon
- waist accessories (pouches, holsters...)
Maybe I'll update again before the new year so I don't present another wall of text. But then again, maybe not.
Thanks for scrolling through!