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[Myra Tiin]

Aaand now I drooled all over the place. 

Beautiful.

[Jesse Libarra]

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment I have been waiting for since *looks at calendar* 2012! 





Pre-black wash, obviously. I will be adding sigils/stripes, etc and further weathering, but the first coat is put on!

[Havelock]

Simply gorgeous!

[Jesse Libarra]

Simply gorgeous!

Thank you! I used the toothpaste weathering method, and I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.
Thighs, shins, and one shoulder plate done today.



I do have a question for anybody out there who is reading this. I am planning to specialize as a medic. Do I have to be all red and white or can I have, like, one plate painted white with the medic symbol? And, can I paint this symbol on my plate before I'm officially accepted in the target brigade?



EDIT to avoid double post:
Legs and knees painted:

[Kiltedlion]

I do have a question for anybody out there who is reading this. I am planning to specialize as a medic. Do I have to be all red and white or can I have, like, one plate painted white with the medic symbol? And, can I paint this symbol on my plate before I'm officially accepted in the target brigade?

Yes, you can use that sigil. It is not a brigade sigil and can be used before making OM or BM. As far as color. There are no color requirements. You can use any color scheme you wish.

[Jesse Libarra]

Yes, you can use that sigil. It is not a brigade sigil and can be used before making OM or BM. As far as color. There are no color requirements. You can use any color scheme you wish.

Thanks, vod. Appreciate the info.

80% Test fit!









Sorry for the hair. This wasn't actually planned as a photoshoot for the greater internet. 
Need boots, helmet, belt, etc. I'm painting my backplate now, and will be doing my gauntlets and helmet this week. I'll also be doing some blackwashing to knock the shiny new look off my plates.

[Sep Ho'ban]

Great progress

I like how your shoulder came out.

[Mashukir Prudiise]

I knew I recognized that metal....it was made right before mine!

[Shurik Bhar'vani]

Kandosii, looks fantastic! Great job on the weathering

[Jesse Libarra]

Doing some detail work:

"Dare and Endure"


This was NOT easy. 


"Dynamite comes in small packages"




Here's some work on my gauntlets as well:
Black washing complete:

Left




And some detail added to right gauntlet:


"Blood, toil, tears, and sweat"

[Jesse Libarra]

Back plate:
"Ni su'cuyi, gar Kyr'adyc.
Ni partaylis, gar Darasuum.
Diane Spire, Tharon Davison.
Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la (Not gone, merely marching far away)"

[Shurik Bhar'vani]

Coming along great! I may have to think about adding some decal work to my own gear next year, if I can bring myself to deface colorshifting paint 

[Jesse Libarra]

I did some detail work on my knees today.
Here's the right:
"Bend no knee"

and the side


And the left:

and side


Also added a decal to the right chest plate. Behold the fabled Sky Chicken. 

[Carid Vhett]

Looking awesome vod.

[Jesse Libarra]

Looking awesome vod.

Thank you! 

So, I weathered my Kama. I used a combination of spray paint, bleach, actual paint applied with a kabuki brush, and real dirt. It looks lighter in the pictures than it is in real life (because of the flash), so I'll get some outside soon.




I also blackwashed my helmet.

[Jesse Libarra]

"And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds" (Probably gonna redo the letters so there is more space between the words.  )




And the left side:


AAAANNDDD!! 95% wearable InflataMando!




Obviously need belt, pouches, boots, and visor for helmet. Things I'm seeing: I need to knock the shine off the body plates so they blend better with the plastic/sintra plates. Also wondering if I should extend the red stripe up onto the thigh plates to get a more cohesive look. In addition I will probably be swapping out the sash for a longer, wider version in a different color. Maybe really dark red or a teal that matches the sharkbite marks on various pieces of my kit.

[Jesse Libarra]

Tada! Visor installation complete.



Installation was a three-man job. My fiberglassing process warped the cheeks out of round, so it took my sister to hold the thing in place, me to heat, shape, and hold the visor in, and my kid brother to hold the hot glue gun. 

I kept the upper cheeks where I wanted them like this (MacGuyver skills activated), and my sister held the bottom.


I used generous globs of hot glue (on the recommendation of several fellow Mercs) and it seems to be pretty sturdy.


Next up, padding!

[Ronin Tavic]

Man I'm glad to see some solid progress on this again. It's looking really good! I agree with some more color on the thighs, I like the idea of the teal but could probably bring that in one or two other places too.
I will say... While I'm a fan of writing, that's a LOT of writing on the kit... Were it me I'd tone it down to a couple plates... But hey. If you doing it at least you're doing it well. Just my two cents  

[theValkyrie]

Wow! Now that is a detailed back plate!
Love the quote too.
Glad to see this coming along so well, good job vod!

[Jesse Libarra]

Wow! Now that is a detailed back plate!
Love the quote too.
Glad to see this coming along so well, good job vod!

Thank you so much!

So, contrary to appearances, I have not been completely idle, just swamped with a Microsoft certification exam, a two-week Ikea contract, a business trip to Florida, and a month of cold, rainy weather!

I went ahead and put the half stripe on my thigh plates.



Also bought padding to keep my helmet from spinning around on my head. Cut it up into strips, and hot glue where desired. 




I also made the switch from a green sash to a burgundy. Weathering to come later.


And here's some weapons progress (still a wip, obviously).



Not pictured here, but I also added slits in my pants for my leg plate straps.

[Niabi]

Love the stripe on the plates (nice weathering)

Looks like good progress 

[Carid Vhett]

Looking good vod. Starting to really come together.

[Jesse Libarra]

So, I weathered my sash.




I cut up the ends a bit and shredded them using a serrated steak knife. I also enlisted my vod'ika and his BB gun to put some interesting holes in strategic places. 


I also did some work on my gun:





Pre brown-wash:



Post brown-wash:



Gun loosely inspired by this guy:

[Slade Kel]

You've done some amazing work! Everything looks great so far, and it's great to see how far this build has come from the beginning to this point. My only critique the now would have been blackwashing the torso a little more, but you already noted that yourself . The half-stripes on the thighs are an interesting touch, and with the red sash will really tie the whole kit together.

[Carid Vhett]

I would take some sintra to the rifle for the stock. It is (to me) very earthy.

Just keep the overall shape, but cover the obviousness of it slightly.