DaVe

Hey everyone, Here is my WIP pics... Earlier I posted my clay model and my plaster mold. Here are pictures of my rubber casting. I purchased the smallest sized package of Smooth-On's VytaFlex 40 and some of their black urethane rubber dye. I measured out 3 oz. of part A and part B (6 oz total) and prepared my mix. Once I was happy with the consistency of the liquid rubber, I slowly poured it into my mold. The VytaFlex very easily filled all the parts of my mold. I over estimated on my required materials. 2 oz of each part probably would have been plenty. After curing overnight, I was able to peal the rubber cast from the mold. The rubber made a complete cure with the plaster. No tacky parts or uncured rubber. If you notice, I'd made a lip around the outside of the piece to attach to the inside of my gauntlet. More pics soon... Please offer constructive criticism and comments. It is the only way that I will get better at this.

I wasn't sure about the paint job when I first saw it, but that action shot with the blaster is kick-arse! Looks like we need to find some armor suppliers now.... Nice work Phillip!!!

Hey Everyone, I was just reading through many of the posts in the BARC Helmet section and it sounds like many people have purchased a BARC helmet kit. I'm just curious about how many have actually been made and how many people have a complete assembled, painted and ready to wear helmets are there? I have a helmet, but it is not completed yet. I have two coats of exterior white primer and two coats of flat black on the inside. I just started cutting out the ears and visor. Hopefully I can post some pictures soon. DaVe

Gene, Did you abandon the Gempler's Boot build? DaVe

In stage three... Camo of Death Click here for Camo flow example http://www.bikerscout.net/forums/uploads/1...5_32_564493.jpg click here for a pic of blacked out greeble area and more camo work http://www.bikerscout.net/forums/index.php...=si&img=628 PIC #1 PIC #2 PIC #3 PIC#1 side visor decal crest continued... I'm having trouble with basically all links in Section 3.0 and 3.5. The links in Section 1 and 2 work fine. Am I the lucky exception? It seems like some pictures in the bikerscout.net galleries are missing.

Any chance someone can fix the links in the tutorial? Most of the links are coming back 404...

WIP pics... I'm not overly crazy about the way the plaster mold turned out. There appear to have been some air bubbles in the mold, but I might be able to trim those off the cast, kinda like trimming flash. Still think I can get a good cast rubber pull from my mold. It should be good for 10' accuracy, if not better. Can anyone suggest a good silicone rubber to purchase?

These two pictures look like the base boots are tan... Just my take, still open to debate... This picture is probably the best view of the belt boxes. I think they look cloth with a hard liner. The texture looks like a canvus material to me... Again, just my take, still open to debate...

I'm not sure the drop boxes are hard parts. I think the boxes are soft / cloth based with a hard liner to provide form. I think you should add something about the silver / gray wrist strap and brown knuckle pads I think the boots are tan (not white). The two choices of boot suppliers might be a little limiting on boot choices. How about state, Tan treaded sole with flared up mid section similar to what is seen in ROTS. I also agree with Ross... NO CAMO BIKER SCOUT ARMOR!!! This should be #1 and by itself. Don't forget the Bicep greebles...

Damn nice stuff.... Put me on the waiting list now....

Two quick questions... Need some feed back soon! 1) How wide are the shin straps? 1", 1 ¼" or 1 ½"... It looks about 1 ½", but I'm not sure. Thoughts? 2) What do the buckles look like? I have yet to see any detailed pictures of the way the straps are closed. Is it just velcro'd closed? How are the Galactic Marine's boot straps setup? Thanks... Pictures are always helpful. DaVe

I finished my first clay mold last night. Now I just have to make a mold and try my hand at casting. WIP's soon.

John, Have you guys set a ball-park price for these yet? I did not see any $$$ on CT.N. DaVe

Mike, Looks awesome!!!!!!! DaVe

Well, I started on a prototype thigh belt box last night. I originally traced the basic layout onto a sheet of paper to see how it would look. I had to use oversized paper cause the template would not fit on a standard 8.5" x 11". I cut it out, taped and folded it up. Here is the basic template that I used. I'm still trying to decide on the exact measurements, but these appear to be close. My template is not to scale. Sorry. The paper cutout looked fairly decent so I moved on to thin plastic. I found some plastic 'For Sale' signs at Walmart for ~$2. I cut out the pattern with some strong scissors and began to start folding and creasing the plastic. Be careful when folding and creasing the plastic. The plastic is very thin and can crack easily. I put clear tape on the seams that I thought might be too weak to handle a hard fold. Next, I punched holes in the plastic and riveted the thigh box together. Hole punch, Rivet gun, Rivets. Here is the final result... I learned quite a bit from my little prototype experiment. Here is what I've learned.... 1# This is only an inner skeleton for the thigh box. I still plan to wrap the outside in a more screen accurate cloth material. 2# I need to spray paint the inside of the box black and the outside tan (just in case the cloth gets exposed from the inside). 3# Use washers on the inside of the rivets. I should know better than that. 4# Use a plastic glue along the folds. 5# I may cut off the top plastic closer flap and solely with a cloth based closer flap. The plastic flaps seem to want to curl back open. I have also started to think about the belt that these hang off. I've looked around for the black and silver belt, but I'm not having much luck. I've decided that I'm just going to get a 1" black leather belt, mask off squares with painters tape, spray paint silver, allow to dry, then peal off the painters tape. I should be able to hide the traditional belt buckle under a pouch. I'm still thinking about the metal ring at the midsection and the straps that the thigh boxes hang from. Let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged. DaVe

Isn't the undersuit a completely different material and camo pattern from the cummerbund / corset and pouches? To me, that undersuit pattern looks like it is mainly two shades of browns (medium brown and grayish brown). I also thought the cummerbund is a solid olive color with minor weathering. The pouches are a different beast all together. Can someone confirm or correct me?

Nice Sentinel!!! $75 is a great price for a resin carbine. I have two quotes right now for kits that are both $125. $75 is more in my budget. Any chance you can PM me your supplier's name or was this a one time ebay-style score?

I am actually drooling on my keyboard....

Hey everyone, I was looking at (drooling over) some of the construction tutorial pictures from the pghfett / skygunbro helmet and something occurred to me... The faceplate appears not to flip up. Since I don't own one and can't confirm this, can someone tell me if this is the case? It looks like it is one solid piece. In this picture it looks like the helmet is one solid slip on piece. Has any one come up with a way to make a flip-up mod for the pghfett / skygunbro BARC helmet? Thanks, DaVe

Phillip, you are a master of details.... Mike, you are a master armorer....

I got my gloves last week... Here are the forearm pieces. I picked up an old black leather jacket at a thrift store... $4. They are not trimmed to size yet. The plan is to trim them to my forearm size, lightly pad them with foam, do a cut out for the rubber piece and glue the rubber piece in place. I'm thinking about using snaps on the underside to attach the forearms to the gloves. A little dark brown and green paint applied with a sponge or blotted with a paper towel. I got me some'BARC'gloves'a'coming... I still have yet to find something for the gray wrist strap.

I'd be a Jedi-Stompin' Size 12.... How much are we talking about $60 each or more like $250 each? Do we know a ballpark figure yet?

Hey Gene, I must be thick or something, but I'm not understanding your concept. Why do you need to heat the vinyl cloth? And what does the craft foam have to do with wrinkling? Have you started on this yet.... WIP pics? Thanks, DaVe

Esniped again... Oh well! I hope it was one of you guys that got the Ebay auction. I guess I have to be patient like everyone else.

Hey everyone, Alot of people seem to be moving forward on creating the BARC costume. Being this is a 100% digital character, there is some obvious problems with fabricating something that has never been physically made. The 501st members are doing a great job constructing hard armor and discussing the how-to's and lessons learned. I was asked to start a thread to discuss coming up with some basic "BARC Requirements". I don't know if the BARC's will have standard and Lancers, but regardless I feel some standards should be created to establish a baseline. Here is a quick start on what I was thinking... I. HELMET - Camo Helmet of similar design matching Episode 3. II. ARMOR 1. Film-accurate or close approximation of complete armor set. - The review committee will examine each costume in its entirety for accuracy, fit and overall aesthetic. 2. Bicep modifications... ...etc.... III. SOFT ARMOR 1. A brown or tan balaclava worn under the helmet and tucked into the collar of the undersuit (no skin should show). 2. A olive corset with.... 3. Pouches... 4. Belt boxes... 5. Belts... ...etc.... IV. UNDERSUIT 1. Based on a one piece camo flightsuit or racing suit with similar camo pattern in ROTS. 2. Thigh pouches... ...etc.... V. BOOTS ...etc.... VI. BLASTER 1. Carbine or Rifle acceptable... 2. Kenner toy clone blasters, modified Kenner toy blasters or resin recasts of Kenner toy blasters are not acceptable. ...etc.... Lets all discuss this and see if we can come up with some basic standards... DaVe, TK-5013