Centuri Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 OK so Helmet and boots are done. Time to get stuck into my SC armour kit, many thanks to Pandatrooper for his very informative thread. I made a start with the tank on the back. For the tank topper, I put a couple of small sheet metal screws in from the bottom as well as using glue to secure it in place. For the red stripe on top i used some red signwriting vinyl that i had spare, which was alot quicker and tidier than painting it. for the black detailing i used black vinyl. I secured the Tank to the back plate with a rivet and washer through the hole in the tank topper, and a single rivet at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Cen looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You are off to a great start Centuri! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancelot Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Nice and clean! Look forward to the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 thanks guys! I wanted to have a go at doing the return edge like Pandatrooper has done on some of his SC parts. it certainly gives a more polished final look. I thought I'd test with the forearms (i tested on scrap sheet first). I dont have a heat sealing Iron, but decided to try with my regular household iron. it seems that with the right combination of temperature setting and pressure, it can work pretty well. heres the forearms before (left) and after (right). I cut off the front edge to be flatter and wider and then attempted the return edge. The return edge came out OK i think for my first attempt, a bit of light sanding and buffing should finish it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 from other builds I have seen it is looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 I made a couple more mods to the forearms. I wanted to make the side edges straighter after looking at some pics of the screen used armour. I also noticed the return at the front of the strap hole is sharper, so i penciled the lines and made these adjustments with my dremel. heres the markup and before and after comparison. a rather subtle change but looks better IMO and because I'm a smaller trooper, I figure trimming a bit here and there shouldnt hurt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 Next step was to shape the forearms to fit better, they are a bit too wide out of the box. I used the old Boiling water in a frypan trick, heating the plastic in boiling water just enough to be able to squeeze it into a better shape. I will likely use the same method for the elbows and shoulder bells. Before and after comparison: and here's a close up of the top edges showing the return - getting better at that! So after a night working on these, here is the end result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Very nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 next step - straps. I've never been a big fan of using velcro, so i came up with an alternative method for the elastic straps. I wanted to make them secure yet adjustable so i decided to use plastic triglides on each side. I picked these up at a local fabric/haberdashery store, and made shure they were the right size for the elastic. I also needed to add a loop to thread the elastic thru on each end, so i made them out of scrap ABS and used the PVC cement to glue them on. heres the finished strap on the bicep armour. the elastic threads through the hole in the bicep plate, then through the triglide, through the ABS loop and then back through the triglide. biceps, forearms and knees all done using this method. Doing it this way means there is no velcro (and better yet, no sewing) required. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sausage_mahoney Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 great build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Nice idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katscan Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Looking good! I honestly would not have thought to use hot water to formfit my armor better. Learning something new everyday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 Looking good! I honestly would not have thought to use hot water to formfit my armor better. Learning something new everyday! yes its much more friendly on the armour than using a heat gun. I found that the water needs to be at boiling temp to work well. as always test on scrap abs or offcuts first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Cen I used Boiling water as well....I also found, if you had an object to mould and hold it too while it cooled down.... Logan and myself would get a tin (around same size to mould) and some tea towels to make the curve, with my small frame it worked wonders and logan isn't huge either. We found the heat gun wasn't good in our hands ...nearly stuffed my chest armor up.. oh if the armor is a large piece ...easy dip in big POT and move around! just make sure to hold the curve as it cools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 thanks Kels, is it strange that i have a dedicated armour shaping frypan? heres my first test fit of most of the armour, yes my overalls are blue, my flightsiut is about a week away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 as you can see in the pics above, the chest and back are a bit big on me. I'm a small fella so I decided to trim the armour a little. OK, i trimmed it alot - I trimmed the armour where the side strap goes on a slight angle according to the below reference image: - I also took quite alot out of each side of the chest plate. flicking through the reference images, the sides should be straighter and the curve at the bottom a bit sharper than on the SC chest plate. I also wanted to square off the neck opening at the back to match the screen used backplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 here are my chest and back plates trimmed with the return edge shaped and sanded. Heres a before and after comparison of the back plate: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southscout Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Looks good! Although your shoulders could be brought down some. Especially your left arm will be hard to raise up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 Looks good! Although your shoulders could be brought down some. Especially your left arm will be hard to raise up Thanks Patrik, shoulder bells are just taped on in the test fit. i plan on making them adjustable using the same strapping system as the other arm bits. will do another test fit once i have my jumpsuit and vest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 i love the strapping idea,looks way cooler than the velcro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Donovan Cen does Awesome builds.....Wish I had seen his strapping before I did mine. Cen I too had to cut alot out of mine, I basically had our GML (Duncs) over for dinner and asked how far can I cut , The tick is the shaping ...Good luck, I think I fluked most of mine. Yours is looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 thanks guys. heres the latest test fit. shoulder bells are strapped up (but pinned at the top for this fitting) I mocked up some pouches using paper templates to make sure they were the right size. my pouches are slightly smaller - 6 inches high, 5 inches wide, 1.8 inches deep. thats about 85% of the standard pouch size (7x6x2-2.5) Side comparison with previous test fit - the chest armour, shoulders and back plate are all sitting much more comfortably. call me picky, but i always do at least half a dozen test fits of the main armour parts before the final cut and glue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancelot Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Looking great! Are those muppets on top of your shelf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centuri Posted September 3, 2013 Author Share Posted September 3, 2013 haha yes indeed, thats Gonzo, Kermit and Animal from Master Replicas. My wife and I have a thing for all things Henson. Looking great! Are those muppets on top of your shelf? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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