LTCAlex

Recording for posterity's sake. My plans are somewhat limited now due to weather, but since my helpers are returning at the end of the week, plans are thusly: 1. Fit upper plates (chest, back, shoulders) now that I have undershirt 2. Try to figure out some sort of rigging 3. Finish up leg armour 4. Paint everything when weather warms up, unless by some miracle I find a heated place I can do it So yeah, that's how it's all looking right now. Sorry I'm not that exciting. Uuuuuuuugh.

Super frustrating to finally get my undershirt/neckseal only to have the people who could help me vanish for the next month. That said I do still have to work on my helmet so I'll try to hit the Canadian Tire and get some of that brownish primer stuff.

Thank you! ❤️ A lot was getting in my way and my exhaustion is still a thing but I've decided to set myself a soft goal of next summer for finishing! So I'm excited. 😎

Bet you all thought I'd given up! Hah! Well, I kind of did. I lost all motivation and then I had a job search and now I have a new job that's really murdering my energy levels BUT BUT BUT LOOK WHAT ARRIVED FINALLY!! MY UNDERSHIRT!! AND NOW I CAN MEASURE MY TOP PLATES!! AAAAHHHH!! This one's from the Dark Side Closet but I will have another one coming shortly from Geeky Pinks as well, as she's gone back into production and I'm still on her list. So YEAH. Soon, I will be measuring top plates WOOHOO!!

Sorry I haven't updated a lot lately, I've been caught up on other things. Waiting for my undershirt has really slowed me down as well. I do plan to attach the cover strips and straps to the shins soon though and that should, save for painting/weathering, finish up the shins. So that's something I guess? Pics when I do it.

Gotta admit, I've been looking forward to doing this for a while now - shin details attached woot woot! A nice bump for my confidence.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Have gotten involved in a creative project and been applying for jobs/doing interviews so that's been a big energy leech but my shore's still on the priority list. Trimming update: using my newly arrived lexan scissors I've done trimming of the sides of both the chest and back plates as well as trimmed all the flash off the one shin detail that needed it. I think my next step will be attaching the shin details to the shins. As always, sanding remains. 😑

Ordering right now @TKZombie. Makes sense.

Yeah, I might just invest in another pair.

I had a pair of those but I misplaced them and haven't found them since. I've got a pair of regular scissors that I've been using when the plastic isn't too thick for them though, and then I'll use a dremel cutting thing, and then after that I'll use the dremel to sand what's left and then fine-sand after that.

Thank you! At this point I feel like I'm just slogging through a swamp, but I can see the shore on the other side so I guess I just gotta keep trudging through, right? 😓 I will definitely keep an eye on that as I go! The shoulders were already trimmed when I got the kit - the flash was lower down in the curve. But I don't plan to trim the shoulders any unless I have to, but I feel like that will become obvious later on when I'm fit-testing with tape etc. ❤️

Accountability: trimmed the left side of the chest armour of flash. Obvs lots of sanding remains. Forcing myself to continue working on this. At this point motivation and energy are pretty damn low. Ugh. Thanks for all the motivation and help here though - I really do appreciate it. And @TKZombie is going to be sending me some more sandpaper to help with this - thanks so much! ❤️ Do pardon the messy table.

That's an excellent way to deal with this. Thanks for the suggestion - I will put it to good use.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've had zero energy or motivation over the past week. I've been trying to force myself to get back to this though. Hopefully will restart soon.

For accountability: have been sanding the stupid collar piece edges. Have officially reached the point in every costume build where I am seriously considering throwing this all in the garbage and breathing a huge sigh of relief. Of course I'll push through because shoretroopers are cool but hng. Someone please remind me why I love being a plastic spaceman so much. 😓

Took the recommendation to spray some primer on the blast shield to see if any more sanding was needed and I think I spotted some more parts. One of them was a bottom corner that I actually bondod and then sanded and, after sanding, saw no bondo so it wasn't needed? Still did lots of sanding though and it feels really smooth, so. 🤷‍♀️ I'm making do with what I have, sanding-wise, as the stay-at-home order has just been extended another two weeks, so I can't just bop out to the store and pick up various levels of grit. Right now I have a rough sanding block of unknown grit and some 220, so that's what I've been using. I do hope it's enough, because if I stop doing stuff now I'll basically lose all momentum and that would be bad for my progress and self-confidence. I'm already quivering over basically everything I'm doing, heh.

Second round of bondo GO! And I know things look a bit rough but everything's actually really smooth. I've doublechecked everywhere and, save for the dust (which will get rinsed away), it looks and feels good to me.

Bondo applied and sanded off! The most prominent parts needing it being on the snout and one of the...lower...front...thingies look I dunno what it's called but blaaaaaah. Anyway now they're nice and smooth. Barely any was needed on the middle seam and there was a tiny little part at the top back that needed it as well but yeah - woot! Don't worry, blast shield is not attached, just sitting there for the picture. Wanted to see how it would look. Still have to paint everything before attaching!

Messaged The DarkSide Closet to see how much one of their shirts is. Am hoping it'll be affordable. [Edit: Just ordered! They said it should be ready in about three months or so. It'll be nice to finally have the shirt/neckseal (they do a one piece shirt/neckseal combo) which'll make all the costume!! Well, I still have to manufacture the slot for the shoulder straps on the back plate but one step at a time.]

...um, looks like my house's gonna have some spare spackle then. >_> Bondo will be on order then! Thank you.

Ordered Montana Gold Yellow Cab for eventual bicep painting and some spackle to fill in my helmet seam and other things with. Paint will arrive soon and spackle will be picked up tomorrow. Until then maybe I'll chip away at my shins I guess.

Ooh okay, 'cause yeah. Today I was planning on filling in the helmet seam and anything else on it that needs filling and sanding it accordingly once that hardens. The weather's been pretty good lately so painting would be a real good idea. I'll start painting when I can then! Thanks for the advice. Still waiting to hear back from my neckseal/undershirt vendor but at this point I'm gonna start looking for alternatives because not being able to fit/trim my top plates is holding back my progress. Blech. Was hoping to avoid shipping/exchange on the neckseal/undershirt but looks like that's not to be.

Will do! Thanks! Filler primer? I'll take a look for it! Thanks. Yeah, painting's still a while off until I get all the top parts done too. I'mma paint/weather it all at once to hopefully maintain consistency between helmet and armour, but this is definitely good stuff to know. Thanks to both of you!

Pictured: a metric ton of sanding. I don't really know if it's all visible here, as most of it just seems to be resin dust, but keeping a record here for accountability. I think I've done the best I can on the main body of the helmet. The blast shield/s had minimal correction that was easily done with my dremel and hand sanding. Since I'm gonna leave painting/weathering to do at the same time as the rest of my armour I guess next step is attaching the shin details. Still haven't heard back from neckseal/undershirt vendor. Tempted to start looking elsewhere if I don't hear from her soon. Haven't paid her for anything yet so it'd be nothing lost. I'd still like to support her though, as she's a fellow Canuck. 🤷‍♀️ I will give her more time before I do anything though.

Welcome aboard and cheering you on! Lots of great people here to help!