Darth Pleatsalot

Photos submitted to my GML for approval. Despite looking over them several time before submitting them, it wasn't until after submitting them that Iï¸ did notice a few suit up issues. Iï¸ don't think they will be a problem with approval, though. https://flic.kr/p/GikZH4 https://flic.kr/p/21c8mTb Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tank pack is complete. Time to suit up and get some photos. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Armor is complete. All that's left is for the paint to dry on one of the tanks, then I can finish putting the pack together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Waiting for paint to dry on one of the tanks where some got scraped off. Hopefully, I can get this finished today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's been a year long build, and I should finally have it all wrapped up by the end of the week, hopefully. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Nice weather makes for a great day for painting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know the top of the frame should be a little higher. Unfortunately, due to some miscalculations, this is where it sits. When the tank tops and cross bar w/gauge are attached, they will sit higher, and I think everything will look fine. I hope so, because I'm pretty sure I'm stuck with how this is. On another note. At one point I though I made the frame too short, so I extended it. Turns out, I should have left it alone, because the very length that I extended, is about as much as I need to remove, because it's too long. Should be an easy fix, just gonna add a few extra days before getting to the finish line. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Today we got some lights wired up and tested. One step closer to the finish line. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Taped off the sides of the dome before painting the edges. The paint decided it liked the tape more than the dome. Only a minor setback. Unfortunately, I'll have to paint all the edges very carefully, without taping anything off. I don't have steady enough hands, so this will not have perfectly crisp edges. Oh well, sometimes we just need to know the limits of our skills and keep on moving. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Getting some final painting done in the pack this weekend. I'm on the home stretch, and should be completed with this entire project in the next week or two. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sitting here watching glue and abs cement dry and cure. I'm so close to getting the armor done with assembly and get it painted. I just realized last week that, despite triple and quadruple checking references, I had put the closed seam and opened seam on the forearms on the wrong sides. Had to tear them both apart to fix them. I smashed my thumb today with the hammer when making a snap, too. So far I've cut myself, burned myself, stabbed myself with a tool, almost lost an eye from a flying piece from the dremel, and smashed a finger. This build has been very hazardous to my health. Internal straps to help counter the weight of the back breaker...err, I mean tank pack: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's definitely been a challenge. It's still a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, as some pieces can't be put together until everything is painted, and then I have to put it all together in the right order. Good news is that the paint is binding to everything quite well. Bad news is, I have to wait until pay day to get more paint. I think I've spent as much money on paint for this whole costume as I have for some of the major parts. My GML, who is a master builder, put me on to some 2 part automotive clear coat. Seems like that stuff will be perfect for the helmet, tank pack, and blaster. Not so much for the armor, because the armor needs to maintain its flex, which will cause the stuff to crack. No biggy, the armor seams to be easy for me to get painted and sanded properly to get a nice shine when I use the Krylon fusion clear coat. Almost there. Almost there. I should be done and ready for approval by the end of October. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you. I have no idea how much it weighs, as I do not own a scale. My best guess is somewhere around 10lbs (yeah, I'll be needing a chiropractor after trooping in this bad boy). Once the painting is done, and she's completely assembled, and safe to travel, I'll have to find a scale somewhere to find out. My biggest concern is that I don't know what kind of plastic the tanks are made of (it's not ABS, HIPS, or whatever else is used for building armor). It is no friend to paint. So it is going to take several coats of paint, and then several coats of a quality clear coat to protect the paint. There are so many parts to this thing, and it all has to be put together in the right order for everything to end up where it needs. I'm so hoping to have it down in the next two weeks, or end of October at the latest. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hit a major milestone today! It's time to clean this thing up, fill a few holes, and then Dr. Frankenstein's monster will be ready for paint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You ever have one of them "Doc Hollywood" moments, where it looks like you got "extra" parts? Yeah, I'm having one of them moments... Do I have these parts labeled correctly? What is the one with the question mark? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And the bucket is done. Would have liked for it to be shinier, but it's good enough. If I keep messing with it, I risk going beyond my abilities and screwing it up, whereas if I leave well enough alone, it will suffice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Im like a kid with a BAD case of ADD. I still have the tank pack to finish, started painting and assembling the incinerator, got the arm and lower leg armor painted, got the thigh armor put together and waiting for cod and butt area in order to determine sizing, and still have the body to get out of the box. Yeah, I'm all over the place on this thing, but I'm getting closer to getting done every day. I missed my original completion goal by 3 months, but I am pretty sure I'll have this done before the temperature drops too much to be able to paint. The helmet was looking good until I went to paint the black lines. I got some vinyl model painter tape, which is great due to flexibility for the curves and what not. Unfortunately, I did not have a good seal at the edges, and paint bled through in various spots. The places where it had a good seal had nice crisp lines. In the process of touching up in areas where there was bleed through, I held the spray paint a wee bit too close, and too long, this getting some runny droops on the face. Not a huge deal, just sanded it down, taped off all the black, and put a fresh coat on. Now I have to let it cure for a few days, sand it with some 1500 grit, do some minor touch ups where the black paint came off with the tape, then it will be ready for a clear coat, add the visor, some helmet pads, glue the silver aerator tips on, and then it should be done. Without zooming in, the helmet looks pretty good in the photos; once you enlarge it, you can see the paint runs on the face. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got one of the shins sized and taped up. I need some feed back before I start cutting for the seams. Does this look correct? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Made the first cuts in the armor today. Started with the arms. Still need a little tweaking to get the forearms sized right. Not gonna lie, I had serious doubts about my home made gaskets. Now that I have seen them in combo with the armor, I'm quite satisfied with them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. It's been awhile since I've worked on this. Tank pack still needs some work, but I'm taking a break from it and moving on to the armor. Since mounting it to my back will require the armor to be properly fitted in order to get the mounts correctly. So, started finishing up the elbow and knee gaskets, so I can fit the armor accordingly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After too much time off from working on it, it's back to work today, and the pack is getting closer and closer to being done. There are a few spots where my measurements were off, and things are a little crooked or off center. Fortunately, when the pack is being worn, those parts will be completely unseen, so I'm not worried about it. The frame is also a little wider at the bottom than the top; I think it will be obscured enough by everything else that it should be unnoticeable when all is complete and together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To add to this, I am hoping to be done with the tank pack soon, and start trimming armor. Supreme Leader Wife won't be able to help me much with fitting and marking armor, so maybe we will have to figure out a way to get together and help each other out with this task. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks so nice and smooth and ready for shiny white paint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Threw everything I've got so far together to get an idea on how it all fits. Had to extend the frame by 4 inches, and make two new big tanks that were about two inches longer. There are some potential issues with the size, but hopefully it will work itself out as I finish everything, or if the sizing is off, hopefully by only a small amount that will only be noticeable by me. This thing is heavy AF, btw. Guess it's a good thing I've been getting back in shape lately. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk