dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Eye tears: Decals don't come with kit so I made a stencil. Could of used decals from vinyl but wanted painted look and easy to do. Wish I would of made stencils from decals that came with kit, but too late now. Ta-Da! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Clear matte finish spray over armor: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Backpack camoed, weathered and topper added: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Knee pads glued inside shoulders to help give bulked up look. (picture took right after spraying - that's why is looks glossy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Boots, shins and toes: To help keep the toe armor in place I put a piece of velcro on tip and back of toe and also inside shins. I have a piece of velcro sewed to a piece of elastic that then connects shins to toe armor and velcro glued to tips of boots too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Lens attached. Started with getting shape of eyes with piece of paper, then copied to heavy card stock paper to get closer to shape (so it wouldn't bend). Once card stock was good I copied that onto piece of acrylic/plexi. Then reflective green (from football visor insert) cut to shape and glued onto plexi. Then that's glued into helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Cod piece: Covered in cloth (I used piece of monks cloth). Sprayed glued to attach. Glued piece of velcro to top which will attach to back of belt/cummberbund. Yes my dog is sticking his tongue out at you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Shin straps: First cut some slits on the raised front of the shins: Weathered the khaki straps: Slide into the slits and wrap around. The inside shins get a 'smaller clip' on the straps; for those I just used some black electrical tape to give the look of being clips: I glued under the straps and also inside to help hold on. Magnets there to hold overnight as glue dries. Outside straps get black buckle. Just glued on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Added black stripe detail to backpack. Most people use car pin stripes but I cut a piece of vinyl down to 1/8th. After applied I sprayed with flat matte clear to help seal on and bring luster down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Trimmed the chest and back shoulder armor so that there is just a little gap between. Sand edges down so I don't stab myself (I did have to touch up the paint). Snaps, snaps and oh, more snaps. Not nearly as bad as in a TK though. Gluing the snaps in. Shoulder connection: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Shoulder pad 'connectors' So my original idea was to use some scouring pads (liked the thickness and flexibility) and then cover in vinyl. Totally didn't like how this looked New plan involved this cute little felt dolphin I picked up at Walmart: I cut him up I then added velcro to pads and armor and also weathered up. This will work for now. Looking for neoprene to replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Strapping from chest/back onto shoulder bells then to biceps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Riding patched sewed on. Also added elastic straps to bottom of pants to help keep tucked into boots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Rubber belt first sewed onto canvas strap: Canvas then sewed onto bottom of cummberbund. Then attached piece of velcro to inside where cod piece will attach to. Cut a slit in belt for hanging pouches to go through. Part of belt cut out for the buckle. Other ends of pouch straps wrapped through then glued buckle in. Finished cummberbund with belt and all pouches added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 SUBMISSION PHOTO TIME! Front: Left Side: Right Side: Back (would of been nice to know cummberbund needed to be scooted over some to left): Showing the balaclava: After pics where taken I noticed some things I needed to do. Add suspenders to cummerbund to help hold up as with weight of pouches it wants to start falling down. Add velcro to chest and back where they meet under the arms. That should keep from front pulling up and keep tight together. Ready to hunt some wookies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Not approved so basically did a beta test of the armor at a Memorial Day parade - no better armor test than a parade with heat of 82 degrees. Still waiting for group to upload pictures of parade but do have this one (that's Ahman Green, a former Green Bay Packer that was lined up right by us...so the Imperial Army arrested him) So what I found out about armor during parade: Need to figure something out with my suspenders on cummberbund as other troopers said you can see from back. Toe armor wants to start flapping off on my right foot. Maybe more velcro? Have to play with. SO there we are. Armor complete in under 2 months (well pending approval). I'll let you guys know if my GML has any changes or if the swamp has grown by one. On a side note about my GML, he did say he'd probably put it up for Legion approval as he's not very familiar with this costume; anybody know who'll review it? I assume it's got to be one of us around here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bselphfsu282 Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Man that is a fantastic build thread! Great work and love the paint job. Couple of tips though. The Velcro didn't work for me. Between the heat and walking, they kept popping off. I had to add snaps to the inside side of my toe caps and then male end of snap I put on the boot itself. Works great now. Also, with the buckle, it kept wanting to come off. I eventually made a bracket that went from the bottom of the buckle to the belt and then put in a rivet so that sucker is not going anywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death Recon Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 I use Velcro on my boots and toe caps with no issues but I added an extra hight to the toe caps so they don't seem to catch as much... as for the cummerbund I used snaps to connect the cummerbund to the chest o the bdu;s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 Huge tip: Reinforce the inside of your armor where there is bondo on the outside. If it can bend where you are going to bondo it'll crack! Add extra strips inside, whatever, just make sure it doesn't bend. I'm finding this out the hard way As you can see here my backpack bondo is cracking, pretty much the whole way around. I'm adding extra support inside and will have to fix the bondo. Thinking fiberglass might be a better option to help hold. Can you bondo or use fiberglass over a painted surface? Or will I have to sand entire area down? Either way guess I've got more painting ahead of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerald Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 Dan i used "bandage" on glue on that edges of tank (some ppl use also fiber or resin) and on that i've put bondo reinforced with fiber ,and just finished it with smooth bondo works ok for me as for now no cracks. I'm afraid using bondo on painted surface can tend to crack and drop off i would sand that cracked areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death Recon Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 same thing happened to mine, so I might be sand blasting everything down, reinforcing the tank, then repainting the whole armor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrippler Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 I hate Photobucket... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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