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[Arch]

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_____________________________ THE JOURNEY BEGINS! _____________________________

Hi all!

I've been a lurker for a long time now, and me and my fiancee (Chro) have been working on our kits over the course of the past year. During this time, we've made mistakes, new friends, and a couple of full kits with scratch-built helmets.

Here's the mug shot of my first kit:





I wanted to make a female kit with sharp edges instead of smooth curves. I think that this kit looked decent from the front, but was really lacking from the side... Check out the gaps.

Recently, I relented and took out my frustration on a poor T-shirt mannequin, ala Sinclair and some of the other Mando girls here:

A Dremel worked great for this, however, I think I could have managed my RPM speed a little better. The fiberglass / resin / plastic / whateveritwas melted into little Hershey Kiss-looking things all around my cutting disc. I had to stop a few times to clean the Dremel off.




Time for paint! I love weathering armor. I used some gel toothpaste to mask things out before applying layers of paint. As it has in the past, this method worked like a charm!




New knee pads are next on my list! I don't like how they sag on my original kit. Cold weather is on its way around these parts, so I hope to make speedy progress on the things that require outdoor attention!

Thanks for having a look at this madness!
- Arch

[Dha'ward Firaxan]

Great job on the first kit! Looking forward to the next one. Will we being seeing you guys at AB next year?

[Arch]

Absolutely! We've been going to Anime Boston for years. Last year, the Firaxan and Wampa folks were kind enough to let us tag along in our armor. Hopefully we can be official this year!

Thank you for the encouragement!

[Dha'ward Firaxan]

Lol i know i was there! I was the all black Mando. Just upgraded my kit and took on a new paintjob

[Arch]

Aha! Sorry I didn't put that together! I remember ya'.

In that case, thanks for having us along! I am definitely looking forward to AB 2011!

[Dha'ward Firaxan]

Thats okay! Haha. AB2011 should prove to be a blast!

[Biohazard]

You've made great progress, Arch! I'm proud.

One thing I might suggest is to use a bit of crushed up conte crayons where the paint is chipped away. Just get a little of the dust on your fingers and rub it along on where you weathered the paint. It'll get in the little crevasses and help those lines pop a bit more, and add some more depth to it.


Looking great! Keep us updated!

[Len'ya Sarsk]

Look'n good so far! I kind of like the chest diamond being up a tad more than normal.

[Arch]

Thanks, Bio and Len'ya! I think I'm going to end up with a somewhat large collarbone piece with this one, because everything wants to sit kind of low.

I love the conte crayon idea! You're right; I bet that would really help bring the weathering around. Will it stay put on its own, though, or would I need to find a clear coat to seal it in?

I'm going to go harvest some beskar, now... Probably in the form of a storage tote. Wish me a happy hunt!

[Biohazard]

Thanks, Bio and Len'ya! I think I'm going to end up with a somewhat large collarbone piece with this one, because everything wants to sit kind of low.

I love the conte crayon idea! You're right; I bet that would really help bring the weathering around. Will it stay put on its own, though, or would I need to find a clear coat to seal it in?

I'm going to go harvest some beskar, now... Probably in the form of a storage tote. Wish me a happy hunt!

You'll want to seal it with an appropriate clearcoat. I usually use Krylon. If you want matte, gloss, or satin, etc... juse use whatever type you want. I'd do two good coats of it. Spray it on, let it sit for twenty minutes, do another coat, let it sit for twenty, then let it sit for a week indoors, just to be safe.

Note: if the clearcoat glazes a bit (like frosting on the paintjob), just let it dry, then use a lintfree cloth to just gently rub it away. The frosting sometimes happens when the paint dries in the air, and then beads on the surface you're spraying. Since it's a clear coat, it doesn't reflect teh light correctly. However, if you gently brush it away, those beads should fall off.

[Arch]

It never occurred to me that they make clear coat in matte finish! This is probably the best news ever! Thanks again!

I bought a Sterilite tote over the weekend and started making some new plates for my kit. Here's an ugly picture of it, complete with an obnoxious flash flare!

(EDIT: lol jk Photobucket killed everything I love. The photo is gone.)

(It gets dark outside too early now, and my lighting gear is MIA. Boo!)

The knees are not pictured well here, but you can see from here that the way they're curled doesn't quite match yet. I'm still fighting with the plastic to get it to set the way it should. If you give this stuff a few hours, it likes to relax right up and all of the pretty curving goes bye-bye. Once I'm sure that the plastic is done being wishy-washy about what it wants to be when it grows up, I'll start in to painting it.

I also have a pair of coveralls and a 2-piece Jango helmet coming my way. Bring it!

Suggestions are more than welcome! I'd love to take the time to do this kit right and try for official with it.

[Dragon Sunkiller]

Looking great! Love the paint! Can't wait to see it finished!

[Arch]

Thanks!

I've come up on another question: How do I get straps attached to my tote-plastic armor?

The shin armor pieces on my last trash can kit were a mess of elastic ribbon and duct tape on the back. Turns out that Gorilla Glue doesn't stick to this material. I'm not sure what the best way to adhere straps would be. Suggestions?

The other pieces are easy-- I have the gaunts bent so that they'll just clap onto my arms and stay put. Everything else will use Velcro. The adhesive on Velcro is just about the only thing I've been able to find that will bond with trash can-type plastic.

[Dha'ward Firaxan]

What i did on my thighs is buy two boxes of velcro. One box of the heavy duty sticky back type. This is what i stuck to my armor plate, on on top on on bottom. The second box is the same heavy duty velcro just in sew on form.

Then i headed out to Jo-Anns and got some 1 - 2 inch straps, about 2 yards i think. Measured the length around my thigh with about an inch and a half of over lap on both ends.

Now comes the sewing. I sewed a equal length of sewing velcro to the sticky velcro that i put on the pate. I placed that in the middle of the strap. Then i sewed velcro to either end of the strap so its and over lap on the other side of the plate.

If you need pics as a reference i can take them

[Arch]

I see what you're talking about. Thanks! I'll have to stock up on some more Velcro.

Really, dude. The adhesive on that stuff is magical.

I've been making a lot of progress on my armor without posting pictures because I'm a huge doofus. Pictures soon, I promise!