Cyra Marrus

Finished the kidney piece, complete with required greeblie on the Pringles can. Still need to do weathering, but I'll do that in one big batch with the backpack. With that, I'm down to just needing to print the greaves, and get some EVA foam to do the hip armor.

Yeah, just that it needs to be flush. I ended up doing some heat gun work and they now attach with velcro. Terrible picture below, but you get the idea. I've got the kidney portion all printed and in various states of finishing, and I'm currently printing the greaves. It's the home (ish) stretch! PS - I will trim down that piece of velcro peeking out.

Thanks! Do you know if the chest part going behind the back is a requirement? I’m using PLA and mine likes being the other way around. I could heat gun it if needed.

Yeah. I may pull one side of those magnets off and do velcro there to see which works best. I don't like that you can clearly see the magnets.

Hey hey, quick question. I'm working on fine-tuning my chest/back rig and am trying to figure out the best way to connect the sides. Is this connection with magnets approvable? I'm not overly thrilled with it but it does allow me to put it on without any help. I know the CRL states, "chest and back plates meet flush at the lower sides." If this doesn't work, I'll probably just do velcro. @KOtrooper, what do you think?

Hi there! A few updates - I finally finished the backpack! And by that I mean, since this picture was taken I've added the rubber on the sides. And I know I still need to glue in the collar piece. BUT the Sean Fields modifications are done! You'll also notice, thanks to @KOtrooper, I painted the sides of the back box recesses. Still need to weather this, but with the back done, I've been able to work on strapping. Of course, when I put the whole thing on, I found out I need to take off a good few inches on each lower side of the chest so that it fits more snuggly (even when I have the abs on) around my waist. Also! I'm going to get my soft parts from Jim Tripon. I know his work is great, his prices are very reasonable and he's been really responsive. Current lead time is 2-3 months, so I'm HOPING to have everything ready for approval by the time the soft parts arrive.

Oh! Thanks for the callout. I will do that!

Hey again! I'm working through this now. Were the shoulder strap parts the only ones you needed to change the scale of? I've been printing everything at 100 percent and for some reason, those came out way too big to fit. I wasn't sure if you needed to trim them as well...or just scale them down.

Thank you! Also, just dropping these in since I'll probably need these pics for approval anyways:

Hello! Was away on vacation and traveling for work, so I've been a bit slower over the last month. But I come to you with a big update! I'm done with the backpack box! Check out the progression below. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I ended up using the NTX3D boxes, to make sure all the details were in there. And, I used updated Sean Fields files on the housing, to capture the circular greeblie on the top. Will still need to do some scratching and black washing, but after that I need to do the modification to the sides so that it ends up flush with the chest piece.

Thanks for the update! Did you get level 2 with it?

Hey! I know it's been awhile here, but did you end up getting Geeky Pink's shirt? I'm looking into it. If so, how'd it turn out?

Hi and welcome! I'm using the Sean Fields files for a WIP Shoretrooper Captain, and there are only a few things that need to be changed - mostly with the backplate. If you're up for a little extra crafting, they work great. Plus, he has his separated into pieces to print on smaller beds. Check out my WIP if you want to see those files in action.

Nice! Keep up the great work! I'm in a bit of a post-con crafting slump right now, but I'll get back on mine (literally, I have to do the backplate) soon. Good luck!

I had a hard time adjusting to the Montana Gold at first, since I'm used to just the Rustoleum paint, but once you get a hang of it, it's great! Are you going to make your own belt or did you buy it? If you have ANY sewing skill, the belt is super easy to make. I've got a picture of mine on my build thread if you want to check it out!

Hi! This looks great so far. I'm building a captain so I'm there with you, trooper! Yes, there's a spacing guide on the Shoretrooper Fam facebook page, here.

Alright, my quest for an undersuit hack continues. I found this shirt from Kohl's. Wondering if you all think it would work? Obviously, I'd need to dye it grey.

Great! Thanks. Are you level 2 approved with that? Also - if you have any advice on making the soft parts, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks! I ended up using little screws, coated in Gorilla Glue. They seem to be holding pretty well, and there's enough infill on the boxes that they had something to grab on to. I finished the ab/kidney plate! I decided to keep them as two separate pieces. Since I'm dealing with PLA, this is the easiest way to ensure they're not going to snap as I put them on. I used a neoprene flap with snaps on either side. And, I made two straps that snap onto the ab and kidney to hold the whole thing up above my hips like suspenders. Pretty pleased with it, and can get it all on by myself, which is an important part of this build for me. Next up - I need to finish an SE-14r blaster for a fellow Midwest Garrison officer before C2E2 next week...and then I'll be looking at printing the final three pieces: the greaves and back plate!

Has anyone used this fabric? It does look very close. I'm debating whether to make or purchase my soft goods.

Belt straps arrived! No issues stitching the two together with the zigzag pattern. Here it is all laid out - nothing affixed yet. I'm torn between attachment via snaps or screws. As this is PLA, drilling in can be a bit tricky, but is definitely doable. Any suggestions on that? Also - I haven't seen anything about spacing between the boxes, so mine are laid out here based on how it would sit with the ab armor on. Each is about 1.5 inches apart.

Well hello! Got some solid work done this weekend finishing up the ab plate (minus final weathering) and the belt boxes, and started to knock out some very basic strapping. For the ab, as I'm working with PLA, I did decide to heat form the sides a bit. It was just sticking out too much and making the whole thing feel really boxy. I know I need to leave room for the undersuit, so I made sure to fit it with me wearing a sweater. I think the result gives a trimmer, more tailored look. Here's some strapping I did on the shoulder/biceps. Not sure why I didn't think to anchor the rivets with EVA foam before, but contact cementing that to the PLA is never going anywhere. Here are the belt boxes, including the hinged long box. I ended up just adding negative space to the box in the shape of the hole, instead of having to carve that out post-printing. I'm having a blast with this build, and it's so satisfying to see it come together! Next up is the back portion of the ab plate (the kidney, as it's called in Sean's files). I'm toying with leaving it as a separate piece and using rare earth magnets to connect the two sides at the diagonal strip. The CRL doesn't say it has to be a single piece, and i think that would make it much easier to get into and out of. More to come!

Great. Thank you both!

Never mind on the clasp, Imperial Issue sells those separately. Also - for the chest and back, I'm using neoprene for the sides - it seems like a lot of folks go that route. Would that be considered a "plastezote-like material" for level 2? If @KOtrooper or @BikerScout007 could weigh in that would be fantastic.

One other thing! I'm going to do the belt myself. I ordered 2 meters of the Coyote Brown 38mm webbing from Contact Left for incredibly cheap. They ship directly out of England, so I'm wondering if @mr paul has worked with them before. I do need to purchase the rear metal clasp, though. If anyone has a lead on where to get just those (and not the whole belt rig), I'd much appreciate it.