redkraytdragon

I had a lot of folks in my Garrison asking me the same thing lol. Even if I did decide to do it, I just simply don't have the time. With keeping up on orders TDH is blowing up on me), working my 'real' full time job and everything else that life throws at me it's physically impossible for me to add this to my plate. I'm honored that you thought of me though Nate! Thanks buddy!

Wow....I'm speechless at the moment...not to mention humbled. I think that was incredibly gracious of him to do something like that. But personally I have developed very strong feelings about recasting (even WITH permission). Call me crazy or a purist or a snob or whatever, but that's just the way I feel about it. After having sculpted stuff from scratch and not knowing what the heck I was doing (and I still don't), I know as well as anyone the blood, sweat, stress, and tears that goes into even ONE mold...let alone an entire kit! It would be nice to recast and refine some of that stuff and would save me a ton of time on some parts that I need to add to my own GM kit, but I'm going to have to step away from this one out of respect for MRB's work. In my eyes it's his work and I'd feel like I was stepping all over it if I recasted it. Don't take this the wrong way though, I in no way frown upon or judge anyone who will decide to do it ( I'm not that way) because after all, they do have his permission. I just don't want to recast anyone's work. But that's just me SFP??? That's another story lol! Good luck MRB. Rest well my friend until you decide to take up the mantle again, you've earned it!

Class act my friend! I wish you the best in your endeavors and in whatever path you choose. Thank you for your contributions to the prop community!

Here's a few shots of my roommate wearing the chest and back (I kidnapped him and held him at gunpoint ...actually he was happy to do it and very helpful). It gave me a good chance to look at it while not wearing it so that was a huge plus for me. I have to say I'm a little surprised (and proud) at how well it fit him. He's got a 42 inch chest for those of you who are concerned about size (AND he's wearing a hoodie...he said it was snug but not too tight)...anything larger than that and you're likely going to have to shim it up. And of course the obligatory family photos That's it for now. Gonna take a bit of a break to catch up on some stuff (as well as some orders) before I start up on the next piece...as always, stay tuned!

Got a bit more progress to share with you all. I'm on the home stretch on this piece and just have some edging lines to carve in as well as some quick smoothing/surfacing to finish up. I'm very happy with how the shoulders turned out, as they were a real pain to get them just right...but it was worth it as it fits great. I took some pics to show you all where I'm at with this. I'll post pics in a few days with me wearing it so you can get a better idea, but for now here's a preview

Quick update for you all. Here's a first look at the backplate for you guys. Keep in mind that this mold is still under development, but I feel pretty confident that I'm going in the right direction with this. Initial test fittings from the first pull proved favorable, but it wasn't quite 100% where I wanted it to be (particularly on the shoulders). I'm pretty much now at the tweaking stage at this point...just fine tuning some of the curves to make it fit right as well as more comfortably. Take a look: More to come soon

Which silver did you use? It looks really good!

Thanks Nate! PM sent

Absolutely incredible work guys! Looking forward to seeing more progress on this!!

Looks like .090 Boltaron (which is basically a kydex equivalent....very tough and durable stuff) was the answer for this particular piece. If 1 pic = 1000 words, then here's 5000 words

Thanks buddy! More to come soon! Wait till you see what I do with the backplate

Got the mold cleaned up and ready for vacc'ing And the first pull for a customer in Ozzyland That's it for now, gonna take a short hiatus before I tackle the backplate....stay tuned!

Thanks brotha! It's coming along slowly....but it's comin!

Next, I chopped off the bottom edge of the mold to square it and size it properly Here's a preliminary pull. I still need to clean up the tops of the ribs and fade them into the bell...easy stuff and shouldn't take too long That's it for now, stay tuned for more.

Here's where I'm at right now on this piece. This piece has kind of been a thorn in my side. I originally thought it to be a very simple quick sculpt (I'm beginning to learn there is no such thing, especially given how anal I am ) After doing the math and marking all the proper lines over the curvatures, I cut grooves into the mold (not before pulling another scrap master just in case). These had to be absolutely straight because they would become guides for the Audio Video cable that I was about to use for the raised ribs/loops (yes, I said Audio Video cables...hey we all know how it is, use what you can and what works and what's cheap right? ) I just super glued them on there cause I really only needed it for one pull anyway. Afterwards the final master will be completely plaster. Here's pics: And here's what happens when you get your finger in the super glue...yes that's part of my finger print ...ouch!

For your shins, try using some U-clamps with a long board between the two connecting them. One on each side of the shin (inside and outside). That's how I did mine and it worked out pretty well. Hope that helps!

Thanks Darren! More progress pics to come very soon!

Thanks again Leo! More to come soon!

OK I re-pulled this in the .090 white cause that's likely what I'll be using for this piece. I noticed that it kept it's form much better than the .060 on the initial pull (pics of that ugliness over on CT.net) so I was much happier with the results. I trimmed it down to where I figured looked about right and I'm pretty happy with it. Obviously I still need to add the loops, but I need to get this part down first before moving forward (not to mention I need to know exactly how big this shoulder bell will be before adding them). More to come, stay tuned!

Thanks Colleen! Your AS pistols are what got me started down this road

Thanks for the tip Tom

Got the corrections made to the buck last night and a master pulled. I'm pretty happy with it. Let me know what you all think!

Thanks Alex Yes, here you go. I'm using a little from each but they're essentially the same from what I can tell

OK so I'm still making some mods to the chest to get it a bit more accurate along with some help from peeps over on the other two boards. Here's what I came up with after one failed attempt....the second try was good though. I'm pretty happy with the way it looks and fits, very comfy! Let me know what you all think! Here's what I modified it from the original In this picture you can see the awful one on the far right...looks completely wrong

Thanks Leo!