Jump to content

Starting my build


Drewid

Recommended Posts

After a little bit of hiatus, I have some progress to report. I took my armor out on a test run at LBCC this past Saturday. I was missing a few greeblies but overall it worked out nicely. I also figured out what adjustments I need make.

 

30996_512042415475273_427920018_n.jpg

 

534561_511876198825228_1117633592_n.jpg

 

 

Things to do:

-Build a belt buckle. My 3D printer threw a belt at the last minute otherwise I would have had it

-The rubber greebs at the should straps won't sit properly. I'm going to make some out of ABS off the printer.

-Attach all shin greebs

-Move the cummerbund straps to sit under the armor

-Tighten the elastic strap I attached to the belt

-Paint my donor boots white

-Replace elastic straps on forearm armor with rubber straps. The elastic ones look okay and work out great but the rubber ones would look better.

-Try and fade the pouches. I have multicam fabric but Grumpy did an awesome job on these and they look fantastic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That looks freakin' awesome!!

...must...add...**weathering**...

(even the pouches... ;) could stand a little bit of weathering, too.)

 

Yeah, you might have to do some adjusting. (Everybody does) But, overall, it looks great! ...In my opinion. But, what do I know??? I'm old. :angry2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Matt! I figure most of the weathering will come with time. I have several coats of silver under the base coat. I might rub a little graphite into the armor here and there to give it some "carbon scoring".

 

Oh, to follow up on the bicep greebs and rubber knee straps. I found that I need to seriously scuff the rubber before it would adhere well. Cleaning it of any trace surface oils was essential. Common sense, maybe, but nobody ever accused me of having any of that :). To fill in gaps I used silicone caulking. It's paintable and helps with the adhesion process. One of the knee straps held fine with e6000 but the other one refused. After 3 attempts with the e6000 I moved on to gorilla glue. I recommend to start with that stuff. One note though: e6000 is semi-permanent, gorilla glue is final. Had I more time I would have created some clips on my printer. Oh well.

 

I think I need to replace my shoulder bell straps with a brown elastic. The black straps stand out too much. I will probably do the same on the cummerbund straps when I move them in closer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Long time no update. After practically giving up on the Crow boots I've been moving forward on the last odd-and-ends on the build. I decided against using the boot strap greebs that came with my kit and printed my own. 40 minutes in CAD and a couple hours later yielded some nice parts:

 

th_DSC_0447.jpg th_DSC_0448.jpgth_DSC_0450.jpg

 

I don't have a picture of it but I created a belt buckle with the same method. My kit didn't come with one so until recently I was without. All I have to do is paint it gray now.

 

I tried bleaching the pouches that I wore in the pics above. No dice. Looks like the material is 100% synthetic so I didn't get even the slightest fade. If it becomes an issue I'll remake them with the multicam fabric I have.

 

I've also begun adding fabric paint to dye my secondary boots white. It's not perfect but they are starting to take on a faded white hue.

 

All in all, I should be ready for submission before the end of the weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

good way to get fade on the pouches - using rattle cans

 

mist white - really tones down the new paint look

mist grey - tones down the glaring white

mist black - adds nice weather

 

optional - mist brown; tbh I am not convinced it makes a huge difference, but in my mind it does :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

And finally approved! I've got a few upgrades planned but as of today I am official. CB4237 reporting for duty!

 

CIMG0611.jpg

 

And here it is from Wondercon2013

wc18_zpsd31bf0a0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love the pic with Commander Gree.

Those are always good!

 

**get that gear...dirty...** ;)

 

Welcome to the Swamp!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weathering is part of the upgrade process. I'm planning to at least streak some graphite across parts of the armor for carbon scoring and rub some rusty metal across the straps to stain them a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

And my armor is back in action! After somehow misplacing some small items (chest plate *cough* and back plate/tank *cough cough*) things have been fixed and made troopable again. I'll post up some pics of the repairs once I get them off the phone. But here it is at San Diego Comic-Con!

 

DSCN0001.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...