Shadow

Worked on the ribbed section more today. This is all the ribbing on this, the rest will be plain. And here is the strip next to the boxes. Next I wanted to check the weight of the wood against the webbing. I was scared the wood would be to heavy and weigh the belts down. Well they didn't!!! So COOL!!!

I taped off the "V" on the belt this morning. I then primed and painted. Going to let it get a good dry over night before I take off the tape. I also got the hump detail and "T" bits painted. Now, to wait for them to dry.

Worked on the hump today. The problem I was having with this type of armor is that I had no upper area to rivet to. So here is what I came up with. First I have a extra piece of ABS and heated it with a heat gun. I bent it like so. After that I drilled holes and riveted the top part to the top of th inside of the hump. I then placed to screws with nuts on the other part, which will go on to the back plate. The bottom will get a rivet and be done. Later I am going to change out my hump detail and "T" pieces. This is what I have for now. The shorter T piece is one I've been sanding to fit in the armor. This is what came with the set and there not great at all. I plan to buy new details after CV, got to much other to worry about right now.

I painted the boxes today!! Might put one more coat on them tomorrow. I think I might have an idea on how to do the ribbed flat tube I've been searching for. I'm going to try my idea and then post how it turns out. I've got plans tonight so that will be my project for tomorrow!

I worked on all the main boxes that you can see in the comic. Below is a picture of the boxes numbered. The #7 box is repeated because it's plain and the same size. Here are my boxes numbered to match the picture above. Here is a close up of the Boxes I finished tonight. Afte see some of the newer comic pics I changed Box #4. I made it about an inch longer and added the round piece. (The round piece is a washer covered a piece of for sale sign. ) Now, to putty the seams, sand again, and then paint.

I went to Hobby Lobby and found the visor! I think it was in the train section, they had all different colors. It's a 8 x 11 sheet that almost looks like a gel, but is a bit thicker. (.005") Got home cut a piece off and taped it to the inside if the visor. I love it!! It's just enough red without over doing it. Oh and look what happens when you take picture with the flash on.... Looks just like the figure! Over the weekend I'm going to bend the lens and get this in. I think this is PERFECT!!! I'll get some pics of this in the morning outside. I need better lighting.

After a LOONGG weekend of rain, t's time to get back on this!! Today I primed the hemlet. I also started painting as well. Going to finish tomorrow! Painted the inside... The first round of paint on the oustside. I also cut all the slots on the armor to attach the straps. Hope to work on that while the helmet dries.

I got the helmet together toady!! BUT I still need to heat this side up for a better fit. I do think black velcro will help hold this down later. Next week, time to paint! Here is some pics of the belt boxes. Belt one..... (Pic above: Boxes...#4, #1, and #3) Belt Two.... (Pic above: Boxes.... #5 and #2) More boxes to come!! One question.... What is a good paint to paint the bucket? I've never painted ABS so any tips would be GREAT!

So, I looked over the belt boxes again this morning. The issue that I was having was with Box #1 and Box #2. (See pic below.) What had happened was the extra wood detail I added made then too thick. They didn't match with any of the other boxes. So, I went to Home Depot and found a thinner piece of wood. Here is what I have come up with. As you can tell from the bottom pic at how much "thinner" this makes the new box. I am MUCH happier with this. I agree with Iz, I thought the thickness was good. It just wasn't on this two boxes. Now, I worked on the test piece covered in the plastic. I sanded it down, primed it, then painted it. I'm going to make another one, need to use more putty next time. I really like the look of it. It would be great to make these boxes in a vacform table, light weight and strong. But that is something I don't have.... for now. Here is what I came up with. This would be box #4. More coming soon!

Put the helmet to the sie today, needed a break, and worked on the ammo boxes for the red belt. One thing I wanted to try was get way ofthe wood look. So, I had some of the cheap "for Sale" signs and cut covers for them. I then covered the outter edges and then used putty to fill in the cracks. Still need to sand down. After I did that I got the chest armor and tested what I have. I think I need something thinner for the boxes. Once the belts a crossed I think the center will stick out to much. LMK, what you think. I'm going to look for something else. The belts make this Weir, so more time on the belts will make this a better costume.

Worked on the helmet some more. Mostly the visior...oh how I hate that visior! :-/ I think I have everything worked out but wow... Tomorrow I'm going to glue the face plate to the visior! A few pics.... Next I did a little research. First thing I found is the "T" bit on the arms. The comic I have it is grey, but the Hasbro figure is red. I'm going with grey, I think it looks better. And then here is how I am planning to work out the belts on the chest. The hump on the back of the armor was going to be a problem. Once I saw the figure I believe this will work. Hoping to really kick this build up more this week! More to come!!

Did a test fit this afternoon on the helemt. Still working on getting the dome just right. Plan to glue the dome and back tonight! After that getting the visor and face plate together. Once those two are together I will paint it all glossy black. Still looking into paint. I think I'm going with Krylon Fusion spray paint, still researching. Oh, thought I would show this as well... Hoping this will give me the red visor effect.

It's been a while since my last update. Had to finish up my Tusken, which is approved! So, now I am fully focused on this project. Last Friday I got a box in the mail! I started trimming on Sunday and did some sanding tonight. A bit more sanding and I might get the back and top glued this weekend. On Monday I got another box which had all of this! Going to pick up what elastic I need tomorrow. I still have some sanding and trimming on the armor, but I'm getting close to getting done. All that I am waiting on now is my cummerbund and pouches. Hopefully they will be here sometime next week. All that is left to get is gloves and make my boots. The next big part is getting back to work on the ammo belts, which I still have to play with some more.

Today I began working on the main boxes on the red belts. There are 5 boxes that are detail and are going to give me a bit of trouble. Here is how I numbered them off.... Here is my first try at boxes 1 and 3, with the small round "bullets" in the middle. Still have to sand to get the curves inside and out. And here is a side-by side veiw.... The play has also to make this the most detail verison as possbile. For me the belt is going to be the hardest part to nail down. Now, back to the other boxes!

Going to try to move most of the build thread over here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is where I am on my armor. Still some trimming and sanding to be done! Got my cummerbund and pouches on order. I'm going to start playing around with the bandoliers issue sometime this week. I've got a few ideas, just need to play around and see what happens.