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[seugtai]

The start is looking pretty good, my only concern is the small spacing between some of the top layer pieces. When you go to fiberglass over those areas they will become even smaller with the build up of each layer. I'm not sure how many layers you intend to apply or how much this type of foam with soak it up but, that is something to consider. It might help to add a bit more space between the pieces to accommodate for what the fiberglass will add.

Sorry about your finger. What do they say tho, if you didn't put your blood, sweat and tears into it you didn't give your all, right?

[Ajax Kaal]

Yeah, the spacing might be an issue, but oh well, they are glued down tight, lol. I'm going to have to be very judicious in the amount that I use for that area. By cutting up the fiberglass matting and/or using chop matting instead, I think I can minimize the amount of fill it does on those gaps. Worst case, I can always grind the spaces bigger if they fill up...or I can grind the spaces bigger now. I just don't want to have too much space between them. It is something I'll have to keep an eye on and when I get to that stage I will know more if I will have to do any grinding or altering to the pieces. But, yes good eye on that. :-)

The intent with the fiberglass is to use small brushes and to use a chopped version instead of a sheet version of the fiberglass matting. Chopping up the matting, allows it to fit into tighter recesses and cracks and such. It works well for small areas with complex curves or sharp lines. I will have to be careful about how much I try to put into the cracks when I get to that point. So, we'll see.

Yep, well then this is off to a good start for having my stuff in it...but I'd like to avoid any further deposits being made into this material, lol.

[Hondo Karr]

Looking good.

I am glad you are going through with this in your original image.

Being that you already have an approved kit, one of my favorites BTW, it's really not "imperitive" that a compliant costume be built. You have Ajax to wear to "Official Events" and you'll have a new kit that is 100% your design and idea from design to materials.

Kudo's!

[Ajax Kaal]

Thanks Falin, I appreciate that. I already have the materials, and such and figured it would be a good experiment in creativity and seeing what else I can do. Having my first approved kit, is really what helps me with this and wanting to do something different and fun. The thinking for this one has already gave me ideas for a future build and for eventually working on an approvable Crusader kit. I'm going to build one, one day, and think this is good practice and some fun as well, minus the whole burnt finger part, lol.

Yeah, I love my first kit and get great comments on it when I wear it. We just did the KC Zoo hoots and howls event and know that the write up for it is coming and it was just so much fun!

Yep, this kit is going to be inspired and in the spirit of the Crusaders and again a test for myself to see what I can do with it. The neat thing is, the soft parts, can still be used for another build, this one is about the plates base material being different. Thus, I don't have to completely start over, when I start working on an approvable Crusader build. :-) I'm learning and thinking in new directions for me on how to do future builds, if anything this will help me become a better costumer overall, at least I hope. :-)

Again, thanks. :-)

[Ithica]

If I may say something on this matter. From experience the EVA Foam even when covered with plastic or resin will not hold up as well as other materials. I can make a suggestion though. Dolob Mendo did not make it back from Iraq and it wasd that suit that had issues and that's all I will say about that. I did not breaak any riles but it left room for accusations. Anyway, I rebuild Dolob Mendo and molded the EVA parts and now make them out of smoothcast 320....easy fix. It cost me more but now there are not any issues with the materials. I would not use the EVA foam ever again without molding them first. Keep what yu got and go from there, it looks like an amazing kit.

Dave

[Ajax Kaal]

Sorry to hear it didn't make it back, it was a cool looking suit.

I hear ya on the applying stuff to the top of it and will see what happens. I just want to see what I can do with it....

I also see what you mean by using the eva as a means to be a mold and using a hard plastic or such as the final product. I have friends that use a lot of Smooth-On products so I'm familiar with their stuff as well.

This is really becoming a challenge to me, to see what I can do with different materials. I really want to try and do some very cool stuff and the eva is very cool to work with. I don't know what this total kit will look like at the end of this adventure, but again, I'm learning a lot along the way and challenging myself to see what I can do. I already figured out a very cool new strapping look that will be revealed here in a couple of days, when I post a new update on progress of the kit.

Again, thanks for the input Ithica, I appreciate the feedback.

[Ajax Kaal]

How's it going my fellow Vod. Got some stuff done over the weekend and got pics done today to provide some updates to the build.

I've got the majority of the main armor plates done as far as basic cutting and forming and here's a pic of the main parts as they stand for now, minus the backplate which is not pictured here:


They are in a rough state as all I've really done is design them, cut them out, form them and in the case of the thinner detail parts, cut them out and glue them on as well.

Here is a view of the arms:


I'm not 100% happy with the right shoulder plate right now which is the boxy one on the left in this photo. I had to do some intricate forming to get the right shape and it took a bit of engineering to do it as I want the angular shape. I may redesign this piece, but not sure yet. Also, not sure I like the cover detail piece on top of it. As you can see I've got the basic bicep plates done and am going to go with a bracer style hard gaunts.


Here is the right leg pieces:


I plan on attaching the boot plates to a pair of boots, once I decide on which ones to go with, but for now they are basically just formed, using a pair of my old military jungle boots.


Here is the left leg pieces:


As you can see, the knee plates are attached to the shins permanently. I'm not sure on the blocky transition at the bottom of the knee piece, and am thinking of tapering it upwards into the main plate, some way. Again, these are rough formed, and not detailed yet, so still lots more to do.

Here is a shot of the Chest Hose assembly. The lower left is the chest side and the upper right will connect to the backpack/jetpack:



This is a detail view of the chest side:

Basically I'm using a hydraulic/refridgerator/sink braided hose with hose connections for the chest hose. Since it is attaching to the chest in the front, I wanted to have the "L" connection so it would point towards my shoulder and over to the back. The black stuff is heat shrink tubing applied to the hose to give it a different look. Also, where you can see threads where the hose connector connects to the L piece, will have rubber "O" rings put on there like the back piece. I don't have any in the size needed for this connector and have to pick up some here in a couple days to fill in that gap.

This is a detail view of the back connection:


When you tighten down the connector to the fitting, it leaves some of the threads showing and I didn't like that. So I, figured use rubber "O" rings to fill in the gap and they look cool in the process. Where the 2nd set of "O"rings meets the octagonal piece will actually be inside the pack and will not be seen. I'm going to use a washer to help push up against the wall of the pack to hold the connector tight. The hose will be disconnected from this end when I need to take the torso apart. The chest side will be hard/permanently mounted to the chest. I also like the fact that the "O" rings make the whole thing look more sealed and airtight as well.

When I was planning the torso pieces, I needed to figure out a way to strap the front to the back over the shoulders. The thing is I just didn't want to put a strap over it with a typical buckle showing. So after some thought and looking at parts I had, I came up with this configuration:


The basic assembly is a formed and cut piece of foam on each end. The strapping itself is a piece of heavy duty nylon strapping with a piece of needlepoint grid plastic literally machine sewn to the top of the strapping piece. I used the sanding bit on my dremel and made a space for the strapping under the foam pieces so that they would sit flush against the top of the shoulder. The "bolts" you see are Chicago Screws which go all the way through and will be used to attach the shoulder connectors to the shoulders. I will use washers on the underside for reinforcement. The strapping will allow some flex so that I can slide the whole torso assembly over my head. If they break or mess up, I can undue the Chicago Screw and pull it apart and replace them if needed. Right now, I'm thinking of leaving a gap between the front and back torso pieces to have some flexibility there for putting the torso on. The sides will have a gap built in and a strap going from front to back to connect the sides. I still need to work on that as well.

This is what they look like loosely placed on the shoulder:


I haven't drilled the holes through the shoulders yet, as I need to do some more fitting and forming of the front to back to make sure I have good alignment of the front to back straps.

I like the way the strapping looks and I'm thinking of using them for all my strapping pieces on this kit. It will also keep it uniform for the total look. I will adjust the strapping sizes to the pieces, but really like the way the strapping looks. Haven't decided on the final color of the white plastic though. Thinking it might be a metal or copper or such metal finish. Since it is attached to the nylon already, I'll probably have to use "rub-n-buff" or such to color them. Or I could also  just paint on the finish using my model brushes so it doesn't mess up the nylon strap. Which also means that for the rest I need to paint the plastic grids first, then sew them to the strapping. LOL, oh well, welcome to on the fly engineering.

Well, that's it for the major updates for now.

Next steps
Work on detailing all the main plates with lines and textures and such to give them dimension.
I picked up a piece that I will be using for the little chest box that will be on my right front and need to get it in place, fitted in and figure out any more chest parts that will have LED lighting and put in the LED lighting kit to light up some bits on the front, etc...
Work on making the rest of the strapping for the armor attachment
Make the/sew the soft armor cod piece
I need to look at working on the buy'ce.
I need to pick up washers and more "O" rings for the connector pieces.
Work on attaching the chest hose to the chest at some point
Work on the shoulder strap alignment and fitting
Still researching on my weapon build
Once the details are done, actually glass the plates and work on hardening them
etc. etc. etc...long way to go.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

:-) More to come soon....

Suc'cy Vod.

[seugtai]

Wow, you got a lot done this past weekend.
So it's already started talking to you and wanting parts to be changed, huh? LOL So you've changed up the shins, biceps and gaunts slightly? I have to admit I'm sad to see the shin/knee combo change, I liked the more armored style of the concept art. But, that's a personal thing and if you like the new version then that's what matters.
Love the "O"rings. Ingenious.
I like the strapping solution you came up with, now I get what those black bits on the upper torso armor was. I had no idea what those were but also never thought to ask. -face palm- I like that you went a step further to eliminate using a recognizable earthy element like buckles and went with something more swarzy. Gold star my friend.

[Ajax Kaal]

Yeah, a little bit...

Yep, it talks to me all the time, sometines good, sometimes bad...but yep it talks to me.

Well, the biceps yeah, it's much harder to transfer a flat drawing into 3d and make it look like the drawing or what's in my head. So, yeah they are modded some. The shins, um yeah...I've been looking at other designs and thought it would be cool to have the shins lower and the knees attached. Again, this is not set in stone, they do look kind of funny hanging out there in the air, but kind of like the way they look together with the flow up to the thighs.

The gaunts aren't done yet. I'm still trying to think of a way to make them more boxy on top. It was hard to really translate what was/is in my head with that drawing, so it was more of a guide with input from my head while building it.

None of the parts are completely set in stone; I can always make another one to try a different approach, if I don't like it. I will most likely be looking at the knee/shin combo again tomorrow and still thinking about that shoulder.

Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention those are a "placeholder" for an attachment system of some kind. You see a bunch of attachment points in the ref drawings.

Thanks. The "O" rings were across the isle from the hose and it was like, hey...I need to cover up the threads...what about those? And they look cool.

I may still have some buckles, but want to try and cover them or conceal them if I can. Again, trying to push my limits and boundaries and come up with other ways to do things to make them more swarzy.

Still a work in progress. :-)

Thank ya for the feeback Seugtai. :-)

[Ajax Kaal]

Well, after a lot of visual research today, I'm going to redo the knees and shin combo thinking to go a similar direction, I'm just not happy with the diamond look.

Also, going to redo that shoulder again, it just still bugs me.

However, I'm pretty much out of mat material and low on funds, so hopefully here in a couple days, I'll be able to go get another set and pick up the "o" rings I need and a couple of other items to get back to work on this.

Cya.

[Kardos Shantiel]

This is lookin really good! 

[Ajax Kaal]

Hey folks, guick update.

Sorry, no work been done lately as I started a new job and it is making me very tired and haven't really done anything since my last update. I'm hoping that once I get to a regular schedule, after I complete my training and I get used to it, I will be able to figure out when to do some more work on this.

Also, not sure I'm going to continue with the currenct path of this one, seriously looking at going the cardboard-fiberglass route as I don't know if I want to puch a bunch of time into something that can't be official. So don't know. Not a lot of time right now so hopefully something will be done here in a few weeks. Sorry, just tired right now but wanted to put something up.

Cya.