Ensi

Wow I kinda feel bad for abandoning this thread ? I'll get back to this soon, i'm working on my E-10 at the moment. Can't really walk around with the ANH.. Some pics: For wrapping up the armor portion of the thread, would videos be of interest? Would it be easier to understand how I made things go together, or are pictures adequate?

Thanks man! If you log onto the main 501st website, go to "Membership DB" on the left side, click costumes total, then click "click here for table view", then click on TX Special Ops, you can see the total number approved. I checked it before my GML approved me and after Thanks man! I'll tag you once it's done, still need to take some pics and write up the table of contents! Thanks! Yeah, I didn't go overboard on the weathering. You can always add more later! Think I might do that soon.. I've been on one troop so far with the costume, and it is really comfortable. Only qualms I have with it is wearing the respirator on your face, it's a bit hard to move your head with the hoses. Might have to replace the hose connectors with swivelling ones or something, but it's not terrible. Also I want the version of the helmet which is longer, I can't really see out my goggles as the helmet sits too far up. I can either get a new helmet or remove the bike liner, but have to think about that for a possible level 2. (ps: I am using an ANH E-11 at this troop pls don't kill me, working on the E-10)

Things have been going at lightspeed the past week, been busy and haven't had the time to update the thread.. But I can announce that Mudtrooper #26 has been approved! The first in Nordic Garrison (Norway, Sweden, and Finland) TX-61514 ready for flying in no time! Still a couple of kinks to work out, upgrades to do etc. Finish the E-10.. Can't allow myself to use that ANH E-11 But pretty happy! Will post the few updates I have after my vacation Will also add a table of contents for easier navigation.

Completed the yugo buckle respirator straps. The way I have it threaded here makes the frontmost buckle lift a bit. I added a blob of E6000 and clamped it down overnight to make it stay. Did my helmet strapping. Rectangle rings onto webbing onto leather which were E6000'd into the helmet. I have a large head, so I had given up on the bike/skate liner. But I was browsing a hardware store and found a helmet cheap, it fits and sits really well but does make the helmet sit a bit too high for my liking. Nothing bad though! Installed into helmet using velcro, sits like a champ. My chinstrap consists of a buckle on one side and velcro on the other. Making it removable. Of course, couldn't resist trying it on.. Gives you a real motivation boost PS: Nike pants are not approvable sadly Hose connection on the respirator. I designed this up and added it with two M4 screws. Available free here (fits Jim kits): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D_WbICFH2OioMPttiAMBTItbyOhGKLcZ?fbclid=IwAR26xrHC4HazSuDbQqPaSabhfSdpfAq3IPJ2hRXAM1AxbiCa9bpKRBgLVQY Same thing on the back, but with a single M8 screw. Have it not tightened 100% and it swivels! Here you can also see my resp strap. Cut the hoses to length For the updated telemetry unit I decided to mess it up. I mixed some 5min epoxy glue and dabbed it on with a crunched up paper towel. Looks real good, this will need a few coats of spray putty to get rid of the print lines. Also sewed on the connecting buckles onto the plash, makes it sit at about mid-calf length. This is for safety when trooping. Will get some better pics of the plash later if anyone wants.

Filler-post to reach next page on next post.

Great to see another muddy in the works!

Further revised the plate and i'm happy now. CURVED TELEMETRY UNIT FILE FOR JIMS HELMET (STL) I split the parts for easier printing but whole file is also included. Holes are 3,3mm meant for tapping M4 threads, An M4x10 screw fits perfectly. Indents on the front for helping align the small parts. DOWNLOAD

The TU file available has a flat backside and as such doesn't sit very well with the helmet. As you can see, mine flairs out quite a bit. Screen used and original TU file: Since you can't really shape 3D-prints I modded the file and added some curves. What do you guys think? Is it still protruding a bit much? Since it's gonna be curved I cut up the main components from the plate for easier printing.

Sick! Congrats

I think it looks a bit too symmetrical/even and a bit much of the light color. Wiping some of it off unevenly should make it just right Great work so far!

Lenses! I had a spare hobart lense from a friend which I am using, sadly score and bend did not work out too well. This material likes to snap. So I cold-bent the material with a metal ruler and got OK results. Glued them to the goggles using CA and also added an extra score line in hopes to make it more apparent. I also had to heat-bend the lenses a bit (where i'm pointing) to make them sit more flush. I ended up heating them a bit too much with the heatgun which caused some warping, but rather that than a 1-2cm gap Cut out the rubber gasket for the goggles and CA glued it in place. This was honestly the trickiest part so far of the build, along with the goggles. I glued it piece by piece and not all in one go, had to do some trimming too after installing. After I was done I noticed it could've been a tad higher on the top part, but I don't think it looks too bad TU time, pulled out the drill (nervewracking) and drilled two 4mm holes in the helmet after some measuring. Tapped the TU holes with M4 and installed it with two M4x10 screws (+ 2 nuts on the inside). But something's missing.. There we go For the goggle strapping I had a video showing it but YT seems to be down now, so all I have is this: After my previous post @areilly found what is the closest match to the serrated buckle we have at the moment in the facebook group. So I am just running with the voguestar buckles for now, until someone offers up the correct ones. Starting from the goggles, I used: 25mm webbing->serratedbuckle->25mm elastic->40mm elastic. Completed helmet+goggles pre-weathering:

Now for some more aerosol VOC action.. Started on the respirator, goggles, and large buckle by putting some spray filler on them and giving them a fine sanding. The buckle was 3D-printed and received a good, thorough sanding to eliminate print lines beforehand. Protip for painting small parts, loop some masking tape over itself and put it on the bottom of your parts to lift them up to avoid it sticking and making a mess. And well, who said this hobby was cheap.. Before painting I added some polishing compound by toothpick to simulate a bit of chipping. Here's the painted buckle pre-weathering: Respirator was first sprayed matt/satin black, focusing on covering the mouth area. Then masked the canisters + mouth and sprayed green. I then masked everything but the canisters and gave them (and the goggles) 2 coats of gloss black and 2 coats of clear. This is preparation for the airbrushed Alclad. Drove over to my friend and sprayed some Alclad Chrome on the parts. We experimented a bit, since these parts were gonna get handled we gave both parts a coat of Alclad Klear Kote. This dulled the finish so we gave it another Chrome layer, which helped a bit. We tried another, and just made it worse so we stopped there. The result? A pretty good steel/metal look instead of chrome. Which is kinda what I was going for anyway Here compared to the first pair of goggles in my thread Now the next challenge.. is the mystery serrated buckle on the goggle strap. I have the Vogue Star ones but do not like them a lot, so i'm going to attempt to make my own. Wish me luck

Splitting this post into two parts to prevent megagigapost. Been hauling donkey the last few days on the build This is how my shins look after installing all the buckles I really like the buckle method of connecting the shins, however they tend to sag a bit and flair outwards. To combat this I added a strip of elastic over the female buckle, making it possible to stretch the buckle out when connecting, then just releasing it into place. Also added some webbing to keep the rubber strap somewhat in line. Added an upper snap to my boots and also the straps, will think about adding a lower one too. Now for the plash connection, I also want to use buckles, and installed some on my chest piece. Will take some time later to test a lot and sew buckles to the plash as well. Also note connecting snaps for the collar webbing. Chest straps, in a hurry I installed these without checking how they would sit, and ended up with the buckles sitting way too low on the chest. I ripped it off, cut off 1 and a half rectangle, and reglued it. Looks correct now! Lower belt Dremel'd a hole in the hinged drop box and glued elastic to it for ease of movement. All boxes were screwed on with small washerhead screws Helmet got its black "rubber trim" painted on and also Philo's disks installed.

How about adding something like this for the Telemetry Unit on lvl2? -Telemetry unit is an off-gray black with a rough surface/heavily weathered

The connecting buckles on mine will most likely not be adjustable, there is too little room for it so the rubber straps dont have a large gap. I also don't think i'll grow much in the leg area and also some slack for movement is always nice. As I like to say, a picture says more than a thousand words and a video says more than a thousand pictures, here is a test fit after temporarily installing the buckles. Showing how easy it is Here i've cut 1 rectangle from the top, and 4 from the bottom, this for me leaves just enough slack. Going to leave it as is to test and also add some velcro or snaps to the back of the straps to keep them somewhat in place.