miqt

Nice!

I wouldn't worry about the build being too difficult if youre willing to take your time and do your research. This costume has a lot of parts and a complicated paintjob. My first build was a movie clone- also not recommended for a beginner but I took two years to do it and did lots of research and took my time learning the techniques. I took lots of tips and advice off of the forums (all of them because they all had something to offer- CTN, FISD, Whitearmor, BSN, Mercs, TDH, RPF, Man I spent hundreds of hours learning). There are lots of people here to help you when you need it, and on the other forums. There is only one kit in production now that I know of. My bro Jae is over 6`and its going well for him so I think it would fit you too. If the bucket doesn't slide on for you: you can do a face off mod. If parts don't fit you can mod them. Honesly- at six foot four you may have to mod anyones kit to a certain extent- no big deal-we mod stuff all the time. Time and effort and a basic kit are all that's required for any build. Best of luck to you in your decision! Mike

Thanks Gerald. Running? You're braver than me. Here are the 2 spine pouches that look darker than the rest in some of the screen caps. Color turned out pretty much the same as screen cap so I'm happy with them. theyre dark enough already- they wont get weathered like the rest of the pouches.

Dyed my Tan ultrasuede- better than real suede cause you can wash it. Used a blend of RIT tan and pearl grey first, but it didn't take too well. Did it again with dark brown and LOTs of pearl grey and very luckily it came out very close to the screen seen color. Also Ive test painted a couple pouches. Sadly my Krylon base color just wicked into the fabric so I had to put a layer of tulips fabric paint down first, then Krylon, then airbrush acrylics. Sadly I lost the nice color of the base fabric. The airbrush acrylics stick to the raw fabric no problem. If I spent the time to mix Tamiya paints to match the base coat of the armor Id have no probs showing some raw fabric through here n there. Maybe on version 2.

GO KAT! Yeah! Great looking work.

The toe cap meets the riveted plastic with a nice big blob of permatex plastic welder. Its strong. I may load some e6000 into a syringe and put some between the boot and the front edge of the toe cap. The plastic weld isnt under stress though so maybe I wont..... I dunno. Going to shop for the grapple-grommet ring greeblie today.

So Ive worn them around the house for a half hour. I can feel the rivets cause these shoes are a bit small, but the technique works. The attachment is hidden and the toe caps float over the boot and are not under stress.... unlike me.... must finish... costume.

Another way to attach the toe cap armor. Hopefully it works. Plastic bit, rivet, blob of plastic weld. Hopefully this will be a never fuss method.

Bucket done other than final shading n weathering. Also need to buy some switches, im out of fan switches.

The proportions of the knuckle pads are a little off. The one closest to the knuckles should be bigger and the farther one smaller. Also, you will get a much cleaner line cutting with a metal ruler and exacto on a cutting mat. Youre getting there. Take another look at the ref pics and the gloves Grumpy makes to nail those proportions.

Tech- Im just using my helmet decals to cut a frisket to mask and paint the details on. If you want mine just pm me you address and theyre yours.I don't seem to have decals for the bucket eyelashes though...are they supposed to be part of the kit?

KUDOS to you for all the hard work brother! That is a lot of silver paint for what finally amounts to a little bit of subtle weathering. I have to question why we as a group are still undercoating our entire suits with chrome. Because that's how it was originally done Is a bad reason to keep doing it. I think for each others benefit we should discuss not continuing the practise. Im not taking away from CTs work, its quality.... but I think you are doing work that you don't have to because of a CRL that IMO is not great. My .02 Keep up the quality work and effort CT. You had a build thread on the official detachment website: there's no way you should be having approval issues now. Especially with THIS crazy costume. Mike

Pouches (finally) ready for paint:

Yup i would think velcro.... Maybe snaps next time.. More work though. All done but the drop boxes. Just have to make pocket flaps for all of them and start painting. Also have to dye some cumberbund straps and the riding patch material.

Progress is progress. The uncovered ones still need clean up. Just a few left to go. Not sure how or if to contour the two spine pouches. Gerald- I think this will be the base fabric for the cumberbund, but I bought a lot of dye that I havnt used yet so Ill probably dye some canvas and have a competition between the two.

So I figured out how I'm going to build the gazillion pouches: Pattern and cut up thick craft foam giving everything a gentle curve to conform to the torso: Build boxes out of craft foam and hot glue The prototype is a long front/back box: Apply fabric past the edges laying a good bead of glue near each edge, then trim off the excess fabric with a surgical scalpel: Take good old white glue and smear into the outer edges, dries clear, holds down runaway threads: End up with a decent pouch ready for loads of paint: Ill do all the top flaps on the sewing machine for a cleaner more finished look to that part.

if you smudge the rubber with Tamiya weathering powder in a color you like it'll last a looong time

No Chrome. heheh not a chance :-) a bit of grey maybe. Thanks for the compliment. I tried really hard to nail it. I don't think its perfect by a long shot but Im happy enough with it.

Progress is progress. Not 100% on this paint but I think its not bad.

Progress. Not on the paint... STILL messing around with colors. ARGH! Biceps coming along though. Edit: i actually got these and the bucket finish sanded, primed and basecoated tonight!

Still no more real progress. Im gonna go with the recommended Tamiya flat earth for the brown but with just a bit of flat brown in the mix. I find flat earth a shade too light. Undecided wether to stick with my geen or try more mixes.

Spoke with a friend tonight who really knows his airbrush painting. Im gonna try something different- and possibly less complicated. Cant wait to share the results. Fingers crossed.

I don't know. I can use 600gr to break up some of the hard edges and smudge the rest with pigments. It comes out like this: I cant decide If its good enough or not.

Base is tan. Is is a little too light, but if I started with something darker, after the airbrush overspray and washes etc then it would end up too dark.

cant wait to start the green and brown on these parts! Ive left a tiny bit of primer showing through here n there to account for the glimpses of grey you find on the armor. The bottom pic is an experiment to see if I can break up the solid masses of color with weathering powders....I can, so that will be a big part of the finished product: working greens into brown and tan, and tan into the browns and greens. Also Ive spent a lot of time fighting this thought but I should proably lighten the brown a few shades. That means 4 shoulders to redo.