Acrylikhan Posted October 22, 2008 Author Posted October 22, 2008 The primary port has been cemented, and a coupling put in place. The vacuum valve. Death Star "mooing" sound not included. Assembled! The braided vinyl cable connections are all air tight! This will connected to the industrial sized vacuum pump at work along with a 75 gallon plus vacuum casting chamber. The pulls from this should be sweet! Everything looks great. I need to disassemble it, and move it to it's final destination! Once I get settled into a new home, I'll continue the work I've started on the costume. About this time last year, I had just finished the modifications on a DP/Rubies Helmet. I am in the process of completing another one by December of this year. Like last year, this year produced a lot of great things! The knee armor is complete, the holster has been started, and so much planning for the chest armor and the hump still to do... as well as more research, and getting my measurements right. Then there was the progress photos in April. Just to see how much everyone's input has helped, and how much more I still need to improve on. I gotta tell, it's a great feeling! Even though I have to see a chiropractor about my crooked spine! So much done, yet still a little further to go. I though this would be the year I would finished it all, but things got complicated this summer. That's life. Hopefully, next year... maybe before July. I can only hope! Thanks everyone!
Acrylikhan Posted November 12, 2008 Author Posted November 12, 2008 Oh, WOW! I'm actually posting something REALEVENT to the armor now! So I'm getting back to the shoulder armor. I gotta tell ya, that piece is really driving me up the wall. So I've decided to for go trying to get teh chest armor done, and concentrate on the shoulder for now. Since I have some good referrence photos, of the pieces on my person, it's a starting point. I could use some opinions here, so lets get started. Here's two posting from the shots I did a while back. I didn't realize how puffy the arms on the vest are. So that is adding to the complication. I think I might need them shorten as well. I'll post more details of these pictures soon, but I want to get a feel for what our what you guys think. and then go from there. The vest hides the bicep armor, so I am thinking I could keep the length. I had originally chopped off about an inch or two from the height of the casting when I trimmed it. But, the width and depth is eluding me. More concepts to come.... but in the mean time... the floor is open!
Guest sylvain Posted November 12, 2008 Posted November 12, 2008 You may want to consider using darts on the sleeves to taper them a bit rather than shortening? It's really easy to see how it'd look by folding over some of the fabric and pinning in place. I'd recommend you try it in the inside bicep area. Here's a simple page on darts: http://www.startsewing.co.uk/HowToSewADart.html If you shorten the sleeve more, you're gonna find that the outside cuff is going to poke out more and more because of your shoulder.
loosetoon Posted November 12, 2008 Posted November 12, 2008 Hey, Frank. I made this quick doodle to illustrate what I see. I sketched in where the chest armor would sit on your body, so it's easier to see where the shoulders should be. Where you currently have them, the bottoms are right, but you can now see that they are overall too small and the tops should sit higher on your shoulder. I do think your vest sleeves are too long and I also sketched in how far down I think they sleeves should be. You want the sleeves to be longer than the bottoms of your shoulder bells, but not so long that they cover any of your bicep armor. I think where you have your biceps and forearms is just fine. I personally wear mine slightly higher. Hope this helps!
Acrylikhan Posted November 12, 2008 Author Posted November 12, 2008 You may want to consider using darts on the sleeves to taper them a bit rather than shortening? It's really easy to see how it'd look by folding over some of the fabric and pinning in place. I'd recommend you try it in the inside bicep area. Here's a simple page on darts: http://www.startsewing.co.uk/HowToSewADart.html If you shorten the sleeve more, you're gonna find that the outside cuff is going to poke out more and more because of your shoulder. That is very interesting link! I will have to check that out, and see if my wifey can help me out! Thanks!
Acrylikhan Posted November 12, 2008 Author Posted November 12, 2008 Loosetoon! Thanks for that Sketch... you pretty much illustrated what I was trying to figure out. And you beat me to the punch! Serves me right for posting my problems while I'm at work!! The shape of the shoulder bell has baffled me from the start. So this is a good direction for me to start! My forearm armor is a bit low in this picture because I haven't got them secured in the right location. The biceps, I think, were generally in the right place. I'll know more once I examine my original photos. God, I have GOT to see a chiropractor soon! I'm leaning like the Tower of Pisa!!!
TB-7076 Posted November 12, 2008 Posted November 12, 2008 Frank you definately need a bigger bucket . A quick solution: This guy from south america has slightly bigger bucket - I'm not sure if that one will be enough but you would have to use your divine skills to get it in a more optimized condition. The mad and cool solution: You sculpt form scratch. - too bad I couldn't make use of such a creation. I'm sure it'll become badass.
Acrylikhan Posted November 13, 2008 Author Posted November 13, 2008 The mad and cool solution: You sculpt form scratch. - too bad I couldn't make use of such a creation. I'm sure it'll become badass. The bucket is in the works.
Ladyghost4459 Posted November 13, 2008 Posted November 13, 2008 Hey, Frank. I made this quick doodle to illustrate what I see. I sketched in where the chest armor would sit on your body, so it's easier to see where the shoulders should be. Where you currently have them, the bottoms are right, but you can now see that they are overall too small and the tops should sit higher on your shoulder. I do think your vest sleeves are too long and I also sketched in how far down I think they sleeves should be. You want the sleeves to be longer than the bottoms of your shoulder bells, but not so long that they cover any of your bicep armor. I think where you have your biceps and forearms is just fine. I personally wear mine slightly higher. Hope this helps! I agree with loosetoon's overall assessment of the changes needed. I would not tighten the vest sleeves, only shorten them as LT has recommended. It is hard to judge the length of sleeves from the measurements I started with all those months ago. His assesment of placement is very accurate IMHO.
Acrylikhan Posted November 13, 2008 Author Posted November 13, 2008 Cool... I will start ciphering the new shoulder bells, and post here when I have the CAD finished. I probably should get a chest mock up done... it would be better to gauge the sizing on everything, LadyGhost, I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE the work you've done for me with the cummerbund/vest, and the flight suit mods! It's the backbone of this suit!! My bucket it off to you! And my bucket also is off for Ross, for the awesome boots! It's gonna hurt putting rivets into them to hold the blaster in holster in place!
Acrylikhan Posted April 3, 2009 Author Posted April 3, 2009 The project resumes: the holdout pistol holster...
SL-9135 Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Man, Glad to see you back in the saddle. Rock on man!
darthnova Posted April 3, 2009 Posted April 3, 2009 Go on! I think your result would be great! Just like your last projects
Acrylikhan Posted April 13, 2009 Author Posted April 13, 2009 Glad to see you "back on the wagon" Frank! Yeah, it's been too long, and I'm almost there! Four pieces to go! Back to the holster! I took a tracing of the outside top cuff of my boot to get the proper curve so that the holster would fit without too much modification after it was formed. Referencing back to the movie stills, and my holdout pistol, I cut the block down to a more manageable size. I then transferred the tracing of the outer boot cuff curve to the block, and cut and sanded to the line. ending up with a section of a cylinder. I put the pistol on top of the cylinder and traced and outline so that I could start getting placement of the "bump" that the pistol rests against. The holster starts out as a cylinder, but it sort of squares off in the back. I cut a small cube of the foam block from my source, and started cutting away the unnecessary bits. First, I traced out the outline of the curve, so that the block would lay flush. After that, I positioned the pistol on the cylinder, and cut the block down closer to the height of the grip. The cut the angle for the finger guard, and the silhouette of the front face. I kept looking at the stills to makes sure I was getting this right. And there you have it... fits like a glove. I super glued the block in place, and the filled in the gap with bondo using a syringe pipette. I'll sand some of the bondo down, and the started rounding over edges, making sure there's enough space to account for the thickness of the plastic. I think this particular piece will be formed in ABS instead of styrene, specifically because the holster is two separate pieces. ABS glues together much better than styrene. Next up, more shaping, and then getting started on the second portion of the holster. Stay tuned...
Guest bastion72 Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 Any updates? Incredible stuff going on in your threads.
Acrylikhan Posted June 6, 2009 Author Posted June 6, 2009 Very soon I hope. I've had some personal things going on, work being a bear too, but hopefully I'll get some more work done on the armor soon. More holster pictures coming up, and some chest armor forming bucks as well. sit tight, and stay tuned.
Acrylikhan Posted July 24, 2009 Author Posted July 24, 2009 So I'm back. Back to working on the holster. When we left our story last time, I had finished the general shape of the base of the holster. The modeling foam (which is supposedly heat resistant and has good deflection) needs to be covered in bondo for more heat resistance, and to smooth out the final shape. I am purposely going to go a step further on these particular bucks. I am going to do the regular pattern finish, and then when I am satisified that I am done, I will apply Polane Urethane Paint overcoat to protect it. I did find out that the holster pieces, after they were formed, were cut directly off the bucks. The over coat will help with accidents with the knife. I started smoothing out the bondo. Added a little too much hardener on the second batch so it set too fast and got chunky. No matter. It will still work, and sands nicely. Small speed bump - nothing of importance. I have started ciphering my chest armor bucks. This is a target silhouette of myself from a picture of me, scaled and then printed. I drew the chest armor on top of it to match the land marks of my vest and where the white of the cummerbund are at. My vest/cummer has a VERY WIDE collar. Should this be completely hidden by the chest armor piece? I could use the opinions of the Lancers here. The black dash line is where the white portion of the cummerbund starts. I could use some opinions here. (I also think the shoulder span is too wide for my frame... I need someone to fix that for me as I'm not good at sewing.) (Thanks for the help Loosetoon! ) More sanding on the holster tomorrow... and maybe cutting the foam for the "strap" portion of the holster. As always... more to come.
Acrylikhan Posted August 5, 2009 Author Posted August 5, 2009 First stage of sanding is complete. I still have some rough patches and some craters, but those will be dealt with soon enough. There's more bondo to come. Going back to the reference photos I've got some more tweaking to do. The pistol rest needs a little but more reshaping. The wall is at a negative angle and I have to get it a little bit more on the plus side. This will be a critical area and an undercut from formed plastic like this will ruin things quickly. This is a top fix on my list. Next, it's time to place the pistol in place on the buck to make sure it fits like its supposed to. Already, I see a few problems. The "stair steps" that the pistol rests into needs to be raise a bit more so that the "wrap" part of the holster will be able to be inserted next to the pistol. More bond to the rescue! Maybe a about a quarter of an inch higher and that should take care of it. Back to layering in more bondo, and refining the shape. The reference photos should help out nicely. More to come... as always!
Sammy T Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 New armor accessory arrived today. Time to start the holster!! Hey Frank... As I'm droolin' just looking over your build and the detailing that you've shown through your work. LOVE IT!! BTW, where'd you get your blaster if I may ask?
Acrylikhan Posted August 5, 2009 Author Posted August 5, 2009 I'm not sure of the abbreviation... its an s.f. ? Hang on I'll PM ya!
kwdesigns Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 Hey Frank. I've been off this forum for a while and I was hoping to come back and see your work finished. Just kidding man, I know these things take time. Your doing a great job! Kevin W.
Acrylikhan Posted August 23, 2009 Author Posted August 23, 2009 Thanks man... It's going to take a bit longer. My house is officially on the market, and I had to pack up my stuff into cold storage for safe keeping. And wouldn't you know it, I'm swamped in at work again! Which is good. I do have some more work done on the boot holster... just need to get it to the right point to post pictures. I've started the "band" that wraps around the pistol and secures it to the holster. I screwed up initially, and I'm fixing it now. The OFFICIAL GOAL: I am trying to finish the armor (hopefully) before/for Celebration V. Even if I won't be able to attend. A lot is going on during this last quarter of the year! I'm hoping to get a lot done between now and December 31st, 2009.
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