tubachris85x

Thanks! There is an elections forum still up actually...can you not see it?

Thanks! BTW, I need to have a chat with you at some point!!

Hey guys, just letting you know the new job is gonig great! I'm going to star easing to this project shortly. I need to note that I was recently voted in as detachment leader for the Blizzard Force as well, so I'll be pretty busy on that end! Stay tuned!! -TC

I'm getting that itch really bad...Just need that first paycheck...

Good news everyone...I just got hired for a full time contract job working where I'd like to start my career. Start on Feb 1st. Fairly decent $$ for now, with room to move up. I'm going to save up a bit of the first few paychecks and get the rest of my stuff out of storage. I'm itching to get back to work on this thing... Also...trying to lose weight now...running 3 days a week and altered my diet. I'm sure the Army will appreciate it, but I'd like to slim down for not just the costumes sake but for my own... I'll keep you posted... -TC

Eh..story of my life...the job opportunity fell through..I really hate this economy. I'm not defeated....

I'm sorry it's not much of an update. I'm hell bound to finish this. It sucks...I have a majority of my project stuff still in storage..all my tools, etc...Frustrating...

Still on hold There's a good chance that I will be starting a fairly good job in January...trust me, I haven't forgotten about this!

Appreciate it! Doing what I can...kinda dealing with some personal issues at the moment though :/

So I spent the better part of the day finishing up the trimming and sanding. I focused on cleaning up the (one) forarm that I'll use, a bicep and the shin armor. I've run into an issue with the calves, but as with my clone armor, I need to get some experienced members to help me with the construction, as they are a tight fit on me.. -TC

Started to do some trimming today...however, got pretty rained out. I'm having to get another forarm set as I received two of the same side, and may have to return a bicep piece for some QA issues... Anyways, just a mock up but cant wait to start cleaning these pieces up to get some paint on them... -TC

Same as before unfortunately. I'm slowing fiberglass reinforcing it but I've slowed down a bit. I'm lookin to staring that back up shortly. I'm going to try and knock out the smaller armor parts today like the biceps and forearms

I thought so too, but thats the problem with a low def type model I guess :/ I'll take another comparison to the TK model in the game, see how it looks.

I'm awaiting some measurements of existing OSCS clone armor, since the majority of my armor is already OSCS pieces, from the tall kit version. I'm going to *attempt* at matching the scaling of the chest armor with this. I do have a question though-I have the TK style shins. While they match according to the game, I cannot decide if I should leave the angular detail (Where the knee plate would be attached) on or cut that off to give the piece a smoother look. While the detail is soft on the 3d model, I cannot decide if this is something I should do.

Well had an awesome time at Star Wars Weekends this past weekend. I randomly learned of one LFL author, Jason Fry, was to be doing a book signing. One of his latest books, "the essential guide to warfare" came out in April, and they had some for sale, which I promptly purchased. The reason being, is that because of his writing, the Phase 0 Darktrooper was retroconned, i.e., was NOT considered to be part of cannon, but was re-instated as cannon, therefore, making this project squared away for 501st approval. So I did the only logical thing and had to meet this guy and thank him. He was a bit shocked considering how obscure it was for me to bring up. But he said that they wanted that little tid-bit to be short and very to the point, explaining that the clones that were turned into "more machine then man" was a major pshycological blow to the clones, having fought machines their whole lives, which drove them mad and even to suicide... So I'm going to do the best I can to complete this project. I just aquired all my TK parts to fill out the base armor. I'll be posting up questions for assistence as well...thanks -TC

Alright, well I finally had the chance to sit down and take some quality pics. Surprised that it didn't just break the camera to be honest. Though, I don't think the gf would like if I broke her expensive Cannon.... Anyways, here are some better pics. Considering the entire process leading up to this POS cast was my first time, I guess it could have been a lot worse. As you can see, there was some warping in the back section, mainly the dome. I already foresee a large financial investment in bondo. So here is the ugly duckling.... Re-attached the broken pieces... Only a face a mother could barely love.. Look at that sexy seam line...and those curves! So yea. I have my work cut out for me.... -TC

Well here it is. It came out pretty decent but we severely underestimated just how thin the outer edges were, so we have to do some fiberglassing across the rim of the helmet. Some pieces broke off during the demold, but we CA glued them back together (not show in the pics though) but otherwise, for what it is, I'll settle. Needs ALOT of bondo work but like I said, needs to be fiberglassed before I can continue doing anything. Really want to cut the eyes out to see how my vision will be... Just to give you an idea of size, here's my buddy who's about 5'10" -TC

Alright, well this was an almost near failure due to the mother mold breaking apart. Lesson for next time is to make it thicker (already pretty thick though) but it developed weak spots and snapped at them. Needless to say I wasn't very happy, despite the actual mold itself coming out perfectly. So today, I was just fumbling around trying to figure how to hold it all together...a water bucket. It works perfectly and everything sits as it should. The only problem area being the back inside of the fin, but with the casting today, we made the shell shock cure everywhere but the fin, sat the entire thing vertically and finished the fin (which it's now curing). So there we have it, not letting it go to waste or giving up over a screw up. Anyways, I've been holding out with pics, so here are a few Heres the mold unassembled. The craptacular mother mold pieces along with it Here's the sculpt after the excruciating demolding process Here is the whole thing sitting in the water bucket earlier after starting the casting. Hey, it works.... So now we are just waiting for the entire thing to cure. Ill be back after we pull out the first cast. Until then, beer. -TC

Figured out a quick solution, making a casting now..

Good news and bad news. The actual rubber portion came out perfect. The bad news, the mother mold did not. Needless to say, demolding sucks. I intended to have a two part mother mold, but it soon turned into a 4 piece. Because of this, I cannot properly reassemble the mold. I mean, I can still make a casting, but there will be warping. Idk right now, I'll deal with it in the morning

In due time! Waiting for the second half of the mother mold to finish curing! I'm gonna have to dremel out a seperation though but it should be fine...I'll update as the night progresses

Ok first half of the mother mold put on! At Fridays waiting for it to cure so we can do the other side! I'm not going to sleep without a casting tonight!

I'm a big halo fan. Collected ALOT of the halo 3 McFarlane figs

There ya go, the world's ugliest helmet and the world's ugliest mold, in one... -TC

Alright, well the mixing and brushing phase is done. Gotta let it sit overnight and then make sure its fully cured before I can put the mother mold together, which I'm hoping to do tomorrow night, possibly even try making a cast! I'll post pics shortly...