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[Drek'ar Ventress]

Just figured I'd add all of my WIPs in one location for easier access...
Helm WIP
Gauntlet WIP
Pistol WIP
Laser Carbine WIP

Hey guys, I need some opinions on my kit if you don't mind.  I'm going for SW Galaxies kit and I used the templates I found here on the forums.  However, something looks off to me, and from reading previous post, I'm pretty sure its too short too.  Anyways here's some pics...

This is the color scheme I'm looking to go...



And here's a pic of the SWG templates on me.  My finger is on my belly button and if I'm remembering previous post correctly, the armor should reach close to this.


I'm feel like the upper portion of the main chest is good width wise, but I'm thinking I need to extend the bottom half of the main chest plate and stretch out the ab plate.  I know the ab plate looks weird on the pic, I think the tape/shirt were causing the issue, cause laid out on the table they fit perfectly, with good spacing.

Please let me know what you guys think, any and all criticism is GREATLY appreciated.  Thanks!

[Bewilderedwolfman]

Hard to see where your torso ends and arms begin in the black shirt. Do your arms touch the chest plates when you reach forward?

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Hard to see where your torso ends and arms begin in the black shirt. Do your arms touch the chest plates when you reach forward?

Nope, not at all.  I can even touch opposite shoulder with very minimum movement.

[Mercy]

There are a million opinions on how low the bottom of the ab plate should sit. The correct answer (my opinion lol) is that it depends upon your body proportions and what you are trying to hide/emphasize.

For example, I have a long torso, and I wanted to give the illusion of shifting the bulk of my torso up toward the chest shoulders to achieve that mythical "V" shape.
So, I extended the length of the ab plate down an inch (sitting 3" above the belly button) and tapered it in some at the waist. The belt sits  higher than my actual waist to fill the gap a bit.

My thoughts, based on the style of the plates and your build:
The lower "fangs" on the chest plates taper in too much/too quickly. I would widen them a bit, and widen the opening between them where the ab plate sits.
I would also extend the ab plate down about 3 inches, then try it on. Trim away that 3 inches 1/2" at a time until you get just the right look.

[Elekbah Dhagal]

I overlaid the actually image with yours (in Photoshop) and this is what I can see.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Made some changes and I think this is getting much closer to how I'm wanting it to look.  The paper just wasn't cutting it to show spacing and my shirt wasn't helping either.  So I did one more of paper on the new template, then made a cardboard example on my duct tape mannequin.




These are the photo's I'm basing my build on... two outstanding SWG kits from these forums and 1 from the game itself.  Thoughts?

[Elekbah Dhagal]

I think the revised cardboard looks good.  Although, I might make the center diamond piece less tall or wider.

[Havelock]

I think the revised cardboard looks good.  Although, I might make the center diamond piece less tall or wider.

I think Elekbah's assessment is spot on.

[Mercy]

Yep, looks much better proportioned to you than the first.
diamond size is personal preference, but I agree with the others...shorter/wider.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Thanks fellas.  I've got the next two weeks off, so I plan on turning this into a WIP instead of planning. 

[Mercy]

Outstanding.
Looking forward to it.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

So I'm officially a WIP now.  Using the 6mm sintra, the plates have been cut and I did a little shaping.  Still waiting on my flight suit to get here so I can actually mock them up.  I know several pieces will need modifying for sure, but here's some pics till then...

[Bewilderedwolfman]

The one thing that jumped out at me was that the knees look really skinny compared to the rest of the leg plates. Not sure if that's what you want. Just looks a little disproportionate. Looking good though vod.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Ya they were the first pieces I tried shaping, figured I would learn and start on the small stuff.  So if I messed it up they were easy to replace if needed.  The bends on them are almost a 90 degree bend at the moment.  I plan on flattening them out some and it will widen the look of them a lot.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Made some progress on my gauntlets.  However, they are taking a lot more time/effort than I was expecting.  This is how everything looks after mounting them and first round of bondo/sanding.

I used a plexiglass form of plastic to build the gantlets up.


Left gauntlet with data pad on top, flame thrower on side and rocket mount above the flame thrower.






Right gauntlet with darts (not pictured yet).





And my rocket, built from pvc pipes, plastic water hose reducer and some bondo/sintra.




The rocket isn't perfect, especially the tip.  Maybe in the future I'll swap it out for a CNC machined one, but this will will have to do for now.

[Bewilderedwolfman]

I think it looks pretty good vod!

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Trying to get my plates ready to mount on my vest.  Can you guys give me some advise on plate location and spacing?  I know the inside edges of the ab plate need to be trimmed a touch, but I wanted to check with you guys first before I started trimming.  Easy to remove, hard to put it back on.  Other than that, how does the spacing/placement look?  Be honest, I want good feedback.  Thanks!





Also, just noticed in the pic the upper right (left side of pic) collar plate shifted a little.

edit:(also I know the diamond isn't cut out yet. I was waiting to get shaping done before I cut it out)

[Mercy]

I like narrow spacing, but i think in a few spots its too narrow. And the notches may make it a bit tricky to shift pieces around.

The positioning looks good. At this point I would lay the vest on the table with plates still attached just how they are, decide on your desired spacing and, using a ruler to keep consistent, mark with a pencil (not pen or sharpie) to trim a tiny bit at the edges of each piece.

When you do your mounting points for the vest, lay it out on the table again and use a ruler so your perfect spacing will still be perfect.

Just noticed in the bottom picture, the fang on the chest curves under a tiny bit...doesn't quite line up with the edge of the ab.
Though I'm probably being a bit too picky...

Looks good!

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Thanks Mercy!  I didn't notice the fang till you pointed that out.  Easy fix with a touch of heat    And thanks for the mounting tips.  I will probably start mounting this week.

I've been pretty confident about everything up to this point, and for some reason I'm getting cold feet about mounting it on the vest.  I've got my industrial velcro (for plates) ready and sewing velcro fuzzy side (for the vest).  I've mocked them up 100 times already, just trying to read and read and read about mounting before I take the dive.  I'm sure once I start, it will come together smoothly, just getting there 

[Mercy]

I'm the same way...
Once you do the trimming, go ahead and mount them. What's the worst that happens? You pull them off and tweak them again.
Mounting the plates is one of those steps that makes you feel like you've accomplished something.

Once you get them stuck on, post another selfie so we can see if any last minute fine tuning is required.

Then...you get to start stressing about the paint job

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Did some more trimming tonight and finally got the nerve to cut my diamond out.  Still going to do a touch more trimming before mounting, but I am defiantly going in a direction I like.  This is an updated pic with the vest/armor on my duct tape dummy laying on the table.

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Been a little while since I posted pics but I wanted some final feedback before I started paint.  My 9 yr old son helped me get dressed and said it looked good.  He's the one who took pics, however after loading the pics on photobucket I realized a few things.

1- my back piece isn't straight, just need to reseat it on the velcro (easy fix) (also i think pic wasn't exactly behind me)
2-  my knees kept sliding down as i was moving/walking so I'm going to add some velcro on flightsuit
3- ignore my face in the helmet (its missing padding and visor) cause it to sit too low/forward on my face

Other than these areas, how does it look before paint?

[bravoleader]

Hello there buddy. I'm sorry I saw this post only now.
I 3D printed my SWG armor but if you need any reference you can have a look here:

the WIP
http://s119.photobucket.com/user/Fedezilla/library/Frederick%20Bra%20Vol%20WIP?sort=3&page=1

The finished shots
http://s119.photobucket.com/user/Fedezilla/library/Frederick%20Bra%20Vol%20Finished?sort=3&page=1

Still waiting for approval but no part of the armor was deemed incorrect or had to be modified.

In regards to your build I believe that shins and knees are too close. may be you should trim a bit the shins or try to push them a bit lower.


F

[Mercy]

Looks about ready for the next step.

In regards to your build I believe that shins and knees are too close. may be you should trim a bit the shins or try to push them a bit lower.

Yea I think that if they are not one piece, apps would ding you for having them touching.

Oh, and I think I foresee a smushed nose in the near future... 

[Drek'ar Ventress]

Oh, and I think I foresee a smushed nose in the near future... 

LOL ya I have bucket padding and when its in, it pushes the helm away from my face, but its not in as I prep for paint.

As for the knees, as I mentioned before, they keep sliding down as I was moving around, so I'll just need to add some Velcro on my flightsuit to assist in holding them in place.  However, I may still trim 1/4" to 1/2" off the top of my shins to assist in spacing.  Thanks for the comments guys.  And anyone else that sees something, please let me know.