SkyWonHwa

So it's been almost 3 months since my last update...oops. Thanks to @Blackwatch for the reminder! Things have been slow due to the cold of winter in Minnesota, but things are starting to warm up again, so progress should be coming along soon. Both boots have been notched, and I'll be covering them in marine vinyl for my next step. My first attempt had the vinyl piece be too narrow and too tall, so it had to be pulled tighter than it should be and it didn't look quite right. I'll be making another attempt this weekend. Then it's soft part time!

Slow progress is still progress! I picked up some grey blue paint as Blackwatch recommended. Since none of the local places had any in stock, I ordered some online. I then received 3x what I ordered, so I'm swimming in grey blue now! Before and after painting. I made sure to sand down the paint when it was dry for a smooth finish. I decided to glue down greeblies as well, getting closer! I did touch up the paint job after gluing, despite these WIP pictures I've also continued to work on the boots. I had a much easier time after replacing my Xcato blade! One boot down, one to go! If this boot looks good, I'll start on the second of the pair and finally get them in vinyl. I'm hoping to get a start on the vest, cummerbund and cod this week. I'm a little concerned about the number of layers of duck cloth for the pouches, but hopefully it'll be fine despite my entry level sewing machine...

Yup, rear traps are black, all the decals were cut from the same sheet of adhesive vinyl. I made sure to have plenty of extra for any errors in application/sizing/etc! Fortunately finding space to paint something as small as elevator bolts (I plan on using this color), should be doable despite not being able to paint outside anymore.

So due to being out of town for a few weeks, and the impending winter, I haven't spent time on soft parts yet. I'm hopeful for this weekend though! When I had returned into town, my roommate let me know that my Altmann's helmet had finally arrived! Seeing snow in the forecast, I decided to paint the helmet right away. So after removing the decals, and giving the helmet a light sand, I got it painted green. Pre Tape Removal Tape Removal and slight cleanup With decals applied Since to my knowledge, nobody makes Swamp Trooper decals, I made my own. I'm especially proud of the way the one above the snout turned out! Now that snow is here, spray painting won't happen for another ~6 months, so I'm hoping that I'm right and it's good to go. At the very least, the completed helmet is good motivation to get everything else finished. Next up is getting my soft parts squared away!

Has it really been almost 3 months since I updated? Oops. I'm a bit behind on where I wanted to be on my build at this point, but I have progress to report! My fabric has been purchased, washed, and other than ironing the grey, is ready for the cummerbund and vest to be sewn. I picked up cotton for the bund and cod, duck cloth for the pouches and 2 heavier t-shirts for the vest (one to use and one for extra fabric or oopses) I also took advantage of the perfect weather this weekend (after a very humid summer), and got most of my armor painted green. Before painting: Committed to the build! It took all day since I didn't have a lot of paint space, but I got everything but the knees and helmet painted green. The Altman helmet is arriving "soon," and I want to be sure the Grey I have for the knees matches the nose of the bucket. I'll be disassembling the helmet when it arrives to paint it green and painting on the accents when that is complete. Task for this week is to sand the armor with 1000 grit sand paper so I can take advantage of nicer temperatures over the coming weekend (we've been in the 50's all week after upper 70's over last weekend) to clear coat the armor. Only a couple weeks of painting weather left! Soft part work will continue once the armor is prepped for the clear coat. Work on the soles of my boots is slow, but will get there!

Things are going slow, but slow progress is still progress. Due to the pandemic, it's been challenging to get materials, and my mail stopped/was returned-to-sender for about a week due to the uprising here in Minneapolis. (There were a few scary nights, but I got through it safely.) Despite all of that, I finally have all the pieces I need for my boots. I've started to notch out the treads. Before I go much further, is there a standard for how deep the notches have to be? And I have the vinyl in for when that step is complete. There was a minimum order of 2 yards, so I will definitely have plenty (and then some). My reordered Red Kap coveralls should arrive in the next day or two. My first set from Amazon was returned during the local unrest, and sold out in my size before I could reorder it. This one is from eBay, so I hope it works as well! I have the suede from Tandy Leather on hand, so it's a matter of getting the patches on and attaching the elastic strips/bands. After the flight suit is verified to fit, I can start working on the armor. I've learned from building my Mandalorian kit that it's best to form things right to the surface they'll be placed on. Otherwise it may not fit right. It's probably less of an issue with this style of armor, but I'd rather be safe than sorry! I still need to source fabric for my cummerbund and pockets, but I hope to do so this weekend. Along with the vest, it should be the last things I need to buy for my build. My Altmann's helmet will probably be the last to arrive, but I can shoot to have a good chunk of the rest of the work done by then.

I'm still on the early end of things, but I'm starting to source out parts for my build with the end goal of reaching the Specialist level. Things may go in spurts with the current world situation, but having a project to work on will be good! For my coveralls, I'm looking at these Red Caps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007EYXL1K/ I'm not fantastic at sewing, but altering this doesn't look too complex. I'll be stopping by Tandy Leather when they reopen locally for the suede. For shoes, I'm looking at picking these up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07978XY6N Modding these should be fairly straight forward after my custom Mando build. I expect finding the vinyl will either be straight forward or tricky. Hopefully I can find some locally so I can see the shade in person. For Gloves, I'm going with Wampa Wear, and they should arrive shortly. I have several balaclavas already, so I should be covered there. I do not apologize for the unintentional pun. Other soft parts, I'm going to attempt to make them myself (thank you for the tutorials!). Fabric will be sourced when it's safe to head to SR Harris (a huge local fabric warehouse). If they don't have it, I'll check Joann Fabric before resorting to online retailers. As for hard parts, I have a larger head for a lady (24 inches), so I will most likely be going with an Altmann helmet. For the rest, I'm still looking at armor kits, but I am currently leaning toward Studio Creations. I'll be making my own decals in black for the helmet and armor, so I expect that I'll have sizing questions for those once everything is painted. I may eventually add a blaster, but that is a lower priority at the moment. Thanks in advance for any feedback as I go. I'm really excited for this build!

Hi! I'm starting a Swamp Trooper build, and I'm not having any luck finding the answer to this before I settle on an armor kit. I have some extra weight in the hips area, and was wondering if that could cause problems for the armored section of the belt. Do I need to find a XL piece if I'm beyond a certain size? If it helps, I'm not as large in other areas, but I suppose trimming down armor is easier as a whole than the other way around. Thank you!