Acrylikhan

Hey... yeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! - fk

Tank Greeble - Clones. I think I made then too big, but I could mill them down to size. (crosses fingers) Cut the patterns for the Tank's top and the topper that goes on top of the topper. I cut the square hole out for a red piece of acrylic. I may borrow MonCal's pulsing light idea. That was cool. Much more to do. Got some supplies together for the detonator, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. -fk

oh! Thank you! Actually, I'm waiting for a HUGE STRIP OF LEATHA' so I can start making the belt boxes, and the buckle, and riveting snaps, and either coathing it with 3M vinyl, or painting it, and then sewing the webbing together. I hate starting over, but it's going to look so much better this time. Ah, anxiety. and look who's ready for a cup mold?? -fk

-fk

I cut out the slots for the webbing, and added some details to the thigh boxes. Still need to cut the curves on the top and the bottom edges. Maybe tomorrow, and I'll post pictures when they look pretty. They're not quite camera ready. I couldn't see the guidlines I made, and I went a little crazy. So as soon as they're patched up and primered, I'll take some pictures of the kid for you guys. I'm still waiting for my parts for my belt so I put the belt and the boxes on hold until I get that stuff. So it got me thinking... about the tank and the tank topper.... All this talk of tanks! (Thanks MonCal!) Getting the scale correct was, trying, but I think I have it correct! (The drawings here are scaled down.) I am cutting this on a mill, preserve the dimensions. Once I have these pieces done, especially the top of the tank itself, I am going to build off of that. The greeblies that go on the top, I will hand make. I started the little guys that are on the left side closest to the red lens. Since I do not have access to the tank kit, I'm making this little guy out of some RenWood. I shaped it on a disc sander, and then cut the 45-degree chamfer with the help of my Dremel router table (and a few prayers to keep my finders intact). Bondo patching, a quick coat of primer, and a silicone cup-mold for this little guy. The clones will be urethane. Any details will be added to the final part will be cut styrene or acrylic. -fk

Yeah. Yeah, I babble alot too. -fk

All of the armor piece will be molded then cast in urethane. Probably with a 10% fiberglass in the mix. Then painted. All the armor pieces I'm photographing are the masters (templates) for the molds. I am hoping that I can get away with just using plastics for the smaller pieces, the belt boxes, hip boxes and the detonator. If they break, I could always make new ones. They again, should one of the pieces break, I could always act like that there are rebel snipers in the area while trooping. Or active duty battle damage.... maybe the Empire gives Purple Hearts? The RTV silicone for mold making can be pricey. I've had people tell me to roto-cast some of my parts. But in all honesty, unless you have a roto-caster centrifuge, doing it by hand can produce crap parts. I know. I have a hand rotocast Vader Mask, and it looks like @#$%. If we have spare silicone from the next batch of molds we make at work, I'll put my name on the list for the extras. I am experimenting with bathroom caulk and paster for a cheap mold. I've made some progress, but a lot of details are lost. I will post pictures if I do start any molds in the near future. The bicep or the forearm armor might be first piece(s) I mold. -fk

Part 1: This detontaor will self-destruct in five seconds.... four seconds... Tragedy struck the workshop of Acrylikhan a week ago. The thermal detonator... well... detonated. I found a design flaw. The two inch buckle for the webbing did not fit inside the detonator's backside. When I was testing the fit, and generally monkeying around with it. The plastic was stressed and it shattered. Not broke, or fractured, but SHATTERED. Splattered, sha-doo-bee-do Shattered shattered. Though I was dispondent about the meltdown, sometimes we need these setbacks to make giant leaps forward. So in the midst of my preparation for hari-kiri, it suddenly hit me. It is possible to create a new detontator. So without further delay... Yeah, the DREMEL router shaper table with the roundover bit made the top trim work easier than shaping by hand. And more consistent. I just wish bonding the sections on the top was as accuarate! The TO DO list: - I have to sandblast the whole thing to put a little texture so that the primer will stick. - I still have to manufacture the extensions for the tunnel ends. - But I want to get the tubing first so that I will have the correct circumference. That way the machined parts will look right. - Machine or find end caps. - Find or machine a knob. - Drill and ream holes for the zip tie. - Some details on the ridges on the inside pockets - Add a slight curve to the body facing side of the detonator (as per the MoM pictures) - Primer and paint flat white. The questions I need answered: - What is the correct tube size? - What is the correct tube length? - and what is the offset on the right and the left? - DOES ANYONE HAVE ALICE CLIPS FOR SALE??? AND WHERE TO THEY GO? PART 2: BELT REDUX I have had some major problems with the hard section of the belt. I have been working on a new method. Even though I work at a prototype shop, we do not own a large scale vacuumforming table. We have a little one, and it's great for making very tiny blister packs. I did make a jig to bend an acrylic strip I cut at about 2.75". I used a heat gun to make it relax into the shape I wanted. It worked, but the plastic warped slightly. I put it to the test and it shattered. So it's back to square one. I found an eBay auction for a strip of leather about 3 inches thick 44 inches long, and about 1/8 inch wide. I am using that for the base of the hard plastic section. This will mean I have to remake my buckle and the boxes. I have to rebuild the boxes, and this time, I am going to try to make the tops curved. Before I heated the piece of plastic on my first experiment, I made a tracing of the curve, I have to extend the curve up about an inch and a quarter for the boxes. The boxes should have a somewhat accuarte curve like the MoM pictures, but they will be a little bigger. The boxes will have slots cut on the sides to allow the leather through, or they will velcro to the leather. The leather will be dyed, painted, or enameled white. Instead of riveting the webbing to the leather, I will fold the leather over and punch snaps in. The looped leather ends will have a metal rings at the ends, and the webbing will be threaded through, and the sewn in place. Not canon, but I like comfort factor and it should look pretty sweet when it's done. But for now, I have to wait for the leather, and then I can start working on the boxes. Part 3: Hip Boxes From the MoM pictures, the hip boxes look slimmer than I originally though. I am going to slim mine down a little bit tomorrow, and add the slots and the curves on the top and bottom and some more details this week. More pictures to come, with the belt-detonator-hip boxes combination. Looks like this will be the official first finished piece of the armor project. I am also gathering measurements for the tank topper, and will be starting that this week as well. Depending on the work schedule, I may have pictures up as early as tomorrow. - fk

Thanks Mazik! It's still quite a journey, and I'm not quite finished yet! Speaking of... I finally got a little free time to re-tackle my sholder armor. I posted a few pictures back in June with all the arm armor masters. The feedback was invalueable. The shoulder armor, everyome agreed was too small. Back to the work shop. Here is the original shoulder plate with some additions of styrene strips. I cut apart another elbow joint and then started gluing them to the edges. Had some heat gun problems, but I will be putting it in the clay ovens at work to get the plastic to re-relax back into shape. I needed to add at least another 1.5" to 2". The edges are a little sloppy, but that will change after I heat the sucker. I have to add strip down the sides from the top of the bell. After the heating, I'll let it cool for a few hours. It'll be on a jig I made while it cools so it will be closer to the final shape. (Or at least, I hope it will.) Next, will be bondo-ing and sanding. Ah, the joy of shaping! I am hoping that my schedule evens out so that I have a few hours a day to work on this. I really want to see this finished, and how it looks with the rest of the arm armor. -fk

I am so trying to stay on track, keep posting every few weeks. I wish I had more time. Working two jobs is tough at the moment. -fk

Posting some more hip box pictures: The Ugly Side of model making. Still need to smooth this side a bit. I'm marking up where everything is supposed to go, holes and still looking to see how much to cut off for the curves at the top and bottom. Also adding the slots and the indents details to the sides. Going to try to do it with the Dremel router tool. But, as is everything, I'm always reconfiguring. GOOSE!!! Great to hear from ya!!! MAZIK! Glad to have you here. I'm constantly changing armor with every new bit of information I get. Heck, I'm rebuilding the shoulder armor altogether because I made it way too small! I think you'd probably should be laughing at me! - fk

Radio Shack - Heavy-Duty Self-sticking Cushion Feet (Pack o' 8) catalog Number 64 - 2342 You can share with your friends! I was looking for circuit board stuff when I saw them. And then I thought, the original was build on found items. Why should I waste a few ounces of silicone and urethane, when I can get EIGHT of these cushion feet for much much cheaper? - fk

I liked the way these rubber feet for anti-vibration work for buttons on the thermal detontator. What do you guys think? (Ran into some scout armor problems/frustrations, and my vader armor has kicked into high gear, hence my absence. Hoping to fix that in the coming month of November.) - fk

Good show! It took me a WHOLE WEEK to figure out that Clue #6 was 1 a.u.!!!!! I kept trying "parsec," and couldn't understand why it was coming up wrong. The music one was tougher still, but fun! Great game, great game! -fk

Thigh Box Proto... Acrylic sheet, superglue, and bondo to fill in the mistakes. Darn thing cracked TWICE during construction. BIG THANK YOU-S: -Acturus1020 -Madphisto -StudioCreations The measurements, photos, and the technical drawings helped me create this master prototype. I still need to add the details, such as the recess on the front side, and the slots for the webbing, and the curves on the back edges on the top and bottom. I might put a slight angle on the back edge to bring the top more forward when it's properly attached to the belt. The angles were a @#$%& to figure out. Once I figured them out, I made a jig to position the parts at the angles needed. The sides were the worst to glue in positioned. This part will be molded. All the havoc in the glueing process, a stand alone part would probably crack without too much effort . - fk

Belt boxes, and a closeup of my buckle. The hard plastic "band" will be replaced by a white leather/thick pleather strip which I will either put clips on the boxes, or rivet them onto the leather strip. The ends will have custom made metal clips to loop the webbing to for the back of the belt. I am working on the thigh boxes, too. Deciphering the angles, and getting ready to glue everything together. Still have some more cuts to make. Thermal detonator is coming along well, too -fk

Thanks. There's still alot of work to do, and right now I'm working on the belt. I'm sort of finished with thermal detonator, and working on the belt boxes, teh "buckle" and those darn thigh boxes. I'll be making a larger posting maybe toward the end of this month, or beginning of september. The fulltime job has been really wreaking havoc on my Biker Project. Not too mention I've started a Vader costume. When will I learn? How's the weather in Australia?? -fk

Heh, heh... well... Thanks for the pictures of the Thigh boxes! It was that top part of the box that was throwing me off! I'll post my assemblies very very soon! - fk

Thigh box dreams. I've been looking over your scale drawing of the thigh box, and I have to admit, I am slightly confused. I'm putting together a scaled drawing so that way I can start constructing my boxes with the proper measurements. I keep going back to the front view and the side view on this drawing. I started getting my measurements drew up my own orthographic. But I came up with a different side view. I keep getting a "back angle," not a flat horizontal plane for the "top" of the box, based on the front view. Can't find a good photo of the original top off the archive, or from the film yet. Opinions? I will post this drawing again with the final measurments I calculate. I was trying to make the boxes functional, but that can wait for another day for now. - fk

That's what I figured... heart and lungs. Just needed that second opinion! - fk

Thanks Ken! Been on vacation for the past week and a half. My feet and legs are tired from walking and waiting in lines. You guys in Florida had a lucky strike with the Star Wars Weekends at MGM. I caught the tailend of it. Any of the Florida Garrisons involved??? Details people! Details! Star Tours was a'right... I should be starting up the armor in the next few days. I've got my Belt and belt boxes to start, a "thermal detonator" to continue working on, a tank, and tank topper to start, and then get some card board to start measuring out how big my chest plate should be. Which... brings me to my next question: Where does does the bottom of the chest plate land on your torso? About mid-chest? This is all related to my orangutang genentics and to get the armor my sized. Special thanks to Madphisto and Imperialgrrrrll for keen eyesight on the shoulder bell. I will be extending it out about a half an inch on the top and the edges. Good to be home, and nice to see you guys. - fk

Thanks Dude! I'm working on my Armorer Badge! -fk

Hmm... some very good points on all fronts! Shouldn't be too hard to extend them out a little... maybe a 1/2-inch (1.4 cm) all along the sides? heheheheh, OOK! OOK! I love having you guys here! A fresh set of eyes to look at my stuff! -fk P.S. really bad news... yesterday I came home and the second hard drive in my computer ate itself. This is the third Wetern Digital hard drive that I've bought that has kicked out after the warranty expires. Ug, Ug ook ook! It was my "archive" for a lot of my pictures and projects. Unfortunately, the bikerscout stuff wasn't back up on my last back-up. I lost all my notes, and templates that I built in illustrator and Photoslop... er... Photoshop for the next leg of the armor project. So From the knees, the holster, belt boxes, and the front armor plate, it's restart time!

Thanks Imperialgrrl..! I did make mine a bit shorter and a different shape than the 8.5 inch (21.5 cm) from the SC armor. I used SC's mechanicals from his site as a starting point, but then used the Star Wars Choricles book and kinda guessed at the size. I went with 7-3/4 inches, and it looked right. Then again... I am a mutant. I have orangutang-like arms! - fk (Swinging from tree to tree of the great Sesachewan Forests)

Showin' off.... -fk