Craigorski

Na.. they are tk boots.. those are just white socks. on the exposed one you can see my trial splotches of red paints and dye. The thigh holes were just showing how i hacked the thighs apart rather brutally. luckily damage is hidden by the new 'right way up' coverstrips. Question: Do i need the rear thigh strips to be flat at the top? or can i cut off a corner or two (in a rough line with the armour curves) as they were diggin into me at this trial stage also, as you might notice in the link photo, the rear thighs dont join. I'm thinking of doing that curved cut thing to hide the gap. Should be ok but im just checking. You can just see the small gap i filled in the front of the thighs below the coverstrip (3foot rule... cant see it at 3 ft then its fine!) so a filled space in the back would be possible too. dunno what to do. (the front filler strip shows on the right thigh in the photo, but it is there on both legs.... i screwed up joining them together... doh!) 5 8 at 150?.. sheesh im 5 11 1/2 (always put the 1/2.... almost 6 ft but not kinda sux... anyway....) and.. erm.. 96kg which is... 210-212 range i think (i have been up to 225-230 range as a lard ass!) i was 5 11 (+1/2) and 140 when i was 17 and almost blew away in a stiff breeze, so i started going to the gym. Funny how that nowcomes back to bite me! Thanks for the support. Rock on i will. two events at the end of may, so hopefully i can be done by then. not that much to do really... if you squint.. from about 50 feet away.. in a sandstorm....while facing the other way...

oh and an inside the thigh shot showing a small part of the carnage from cutting apart my error. This shot is regluing the botched part to the new strip. i'll put a new internal strip over all that to help hold it together better thats the biggest hole, most of it was just rough and needed a good sanding before the new strip went on (the correct way around this time!)

Am i having fun with this build? kinda I cant match edges, heatgun work kills my stuff, and i have this ability to get glue everywhere. I must be a 3 year old Ah well, here are some pics of bits i have been working on. Giant coverstrips and all... rear strips http://i62.photobuck...zps9bb7e3df.jpg http://i62.photobuck...zpscef90ccf.jpg Calves on boots. More heatgun work needed to close them up properly. it's kinda hard as the strip has curves to match the calf shape(horizontal bends) and now needs a bend down the length (vertical) to wrap the calf properly. its getting there tho... glued the knee plate on.. rusty watches on from the background.. (yes photos are out of synch.. just like my brain ) Sideshots http://i62.photobuck...zpsbac096d6.jpg http://i62.photobuck...zps95762f8d.jpg And a couple trying to wear what was done. left calf had glue drying. ab/butt held by belt so it is a bit more family friendly photo sorry.. not good pics. everything just hanging off me (no straps yet). But at least there is progress Oh and i noticed that, with the canvas belt on, i almost got the kidney pate to touch the ab plate. If i have about 1/2 inch gap on each side will i get my ass booted? or should i just go for the strips to fill the gap. Personally i feel like i'm not going to have an approvable suit, more like a ' just about but not quite' suit. Thats not my aim.. just the direction i feel im going sorry if i kill your internets with big pics. thats why i did some as links.

getting e6000 is a pain in the butt! i actually have big superglue bottles and it works well.. too well..... yeah i know its not what the doctor ordered, but it worked well on my clone so

Sorry for no progress pics, i've been slack since my cameraphone got destroyed (roll on S4 release in a couple weeks...), anyhoo i have about 90% complete the calves. I'm having to heat and reshape them a bit to make the backs close, slowly slowly as i have overheated other suits before Helpful hint for the day: When gluing a coverstrip to the front of a thigh piece, then using a zillion clamps and walking away happy.... Check you didnt put the coverstrip on shiny side down!.. yep i was not all there and didnt even notice the scuff marks from sanding the other side to help it grip better... so not only do i need to do a new strip, i have a pig of a job removing the other one without destroying the thigh DERP

Looks great! Give TK another try looking for seconds i snagged a pair of the last run to repaint as i didnt mind the tiny imperfections. i figure they will get scuffed up and marked anyway now i can trim the calves to fit the boot, and my leg, at the same time hmm.. i appear to have something in my right eye.... winking frenzy ;) ;)

Coolio, thanks jim and heather. i have started playing with the thigh pieces and , surprise surprise, bigger coverstrips again.. twice the standard thanks 50mm looks freaking huge, but if i keep all the strips bigger then im good to go. Now for a question. Is having the back open really necessary? Since i have to make the thighs so wide to start with i can just pull them up over my leg no problem, just like the seamless clone (ARC) i have. is seems to me that no split in the back would make the suit better. i'll still split the calves as that makes it easier to put the boots on etc I also started on the midsection and it appears i might just get away without any side shims, but i need a helper fitting the bits to know proper. elastic and snaps between butt and kidney plate have the glue setting as we speak yay progress.. (oh and a local dude is making me an ANH holster from leather.. yay!)

Taking a year to build my ARC kinda shows my trial and error knowledge i could try make the right forearm a little bit tighter, but i'll leave that for now as it will be a lot of cutting and regluing for a small gain.... and i really should try it with gloves on first (it might look better in my mind at least) Progress should improve on this suit as i have most of it on the dining room table instead of the workshop area downstairs. It pisses off my brother, but hey, it is half my house too

*sigh* making things fit is not my best skill. putting this on actually started hurting my arm around the top more heatgun shaping required methinks hopefully you can see the huge coverstrips and how stupid they look and yep that forearm seems wide at the bottom and it feels that way... so i ordered some tk boots 2nds to repaint or dye and a belt from rob to make me feel better Also i just remembered that when i was 17 my thighs were the same size that my arms are now (yes i was a stick insect) hey at least the coverstrips arent that brown/grey from the last photos

sweet// 30mm it is yeah.. i might have to change into a cardboardtrooper

Work and stuff have me on a go slow, but i had a bite at the forearms and now the biceps. forearms worked fine with 'standard' strip sizing, although the right forearm is loose and the left is a bit tight.. weird but whatever. I had to make the buttjoin piece 40mm wide! so i looked at a couple of options for those strips 25mm on a 40mm join or 30mm on a 40mm join.. or i think the 30mm mockup looks better as there isint suck a large gap to the bend.. if that makes sense?!?! To fit these under the shoulder bells i may have to have almost no return on the bell edges. is that ok? i think it needs something but i may be hamstrung and have no other option... sorry if the pics are large the thigh strips are looking like they will have to be a tad wider also... so i guess it works out with everything being bigger

Thank you kind sir!

Well good news. My gear has arrived and i have begun initial trimming. I spend more time checking where and how than i do actual trimming..lol! now i hit my first hurdle. as i have with other suits i appear to have arms just a tad too big around the bicep area usually us fellas dont complain about having 17 inch arms and i dont think that is big. Anyhoo, if i have almost no return on the bicep parts it looks like i will have to have a larger strip at the join that the 'standard' size. Will this be a hinderance to getting approval? i mean, its not like i can make my arms smaller (not that i would want too anyway) Kinda bumed about it cause this happened with an ironman suit and everything ended up not fitting, i dont want that to happen again No pics to put up right now cause it takes me forever to get them from camera to computer yadda yadda yadda... so... what do the peeps think about the bigger arm thing (hey at least it isint the huge abs thing..lol)