Scootch's Imperial Backpack Tutorial

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I started with wet sanding, rubbing, and waxing our frame. Same way we've done everything else except for tubes and pipes we sand with the radius of the piece and not the length. This gives it a "Machined" kind of look

 

Mortar Tube:

We're digging into the plumbing surplus for some of our next parts! A piece of 2" PVC schedule 40 pipe, and a couple of 2" test caps. Ask a plumber, they will more than likely GIVE you this stuff! Mortar tube parts may also be purchased from your favorite armourer as well as folks like Crashmann.

I've heard a couple different measurements for this "Mortar Tube" piece of pipe. 29" and 29-1/2". Sounds kinda like 29-1/4" will please most, so cut the pipe 29" nice and square! (our end caps will put us out another 1/4" to 1/2")

Sand this piece of pipe pretty well and then we'll get ready to figure out where we'd like to mount it on our frame.

Of all the awesome ANH packs I've spent hours staring at....The Movie packs,TD-252's, TD-1536's, etc, I've come up with a mortar tube mounting scenario I think looks pretty good and keeps to the look of these others. I like to attach the mortar tube once at the bend in the right side of the pack frame, and once between the 90's at the bottom of the right side of the pack.

Let's begin by clamping our frame in the upright position on a table so that our mortar tube will hang naturally and we can establish where we want it to hang . Next wrap some tape around it in a couple spots to hold it where we like it.

Somewhere between 1" and 1-1/2" above the pack frame is good for mounting height of the tube,..............

Sorry for the crummy photo, but roughly 8" to 8-1/2" of our mortar tube should be hanging past the bottom of our pack frame.

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We may drill the bend in our frame through to the side of our mortar tube with a pilot bit. Just be sure to center the 2" pipe before drilling, and once it's drilled switch to a bit just large enough for a #10 size lag screw. (the lag screw is only for assembly purposes) we want this piece snugged together so we can concentrate on the lower mounting hole easily.

Now we may repeat the drilling process for the lower mount once we've ensured it's centered up.

Something I had to learn the hard way but I can share with you is DRILL THESE HOLES AT A SLIGHT ANGLE TOWARD THE TROOPER SIDE OF THE FRAME!!!

It will make final assembly so much easier.

Also, if you make a mistake on your 2" pipe location, don't worry, relocate it and drill again. nobody will ever see an extra hole in this thing and guess what else????? It will be lighter!

If you're ever uncertain when working with longer pieces of pipe, use the side with the label on it as a guide for helping you stay centered up. Same principal as the seams in the fittings we played with earlier.

Now we may drill our Mortar Tube mounting holes to 1/4" and insert some mollies!

Now we may tap these mollies home and get ready to paint this Mortar tube!

Finally!!! We can paint that crshmann pipe too!

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Now to prep the test caps and turn them into mortar tube caps!!! First off we want to mark them at 1" from the tips down.

Next we'll use an old school Stormtrooper trick for getting a nice even line.............Electrical tape!

Let's cut off our excess test cap lips and then clean out the ridge inside the test cap as we ream the lip so it will pass over the pipe end easily.

(I failed to mention before, part of prepping the mortar tube includes beveling the pipe ends!)

We'll sand these babies, shave off as much of the cast in labelling as possible, then drown them with primer! While we wait for those to cure we'll get back to the seed trays and frame!

 

Okay, ready to mount our main seed tray halves? Well let's do it!

Grab some little machine screws, washers, and nuts! Use whatever you have, don't worry too much as long as they fit and do the job. or if you're a freaky person use some #10-24 x 3/4" ones!

Start in the center and work your way out, snug the little fellers up nice but don't overtighten them or you could risk damage to the tray. Six screws later the boxes are mounted! Check for fit. Don't worry if you're a bit off, it happens. Once the pack is built no-one will notice. However, you may still fix it at this point if you really feel it's important. A good way to check the trays and frame for "plumb and line" is to lay it on it's side, set a level or yard stick across the two trays and check that the two trays are even from corner to corner. You may also "eyeball" the trays and make a mental note of how they line up in relation to the frame on both sides. If you followed the layout for the frame and the trays you will be fine.

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Now we may finish the Bee stinger main body and mounts! First off let's use a couple of wood screws and install our mounting L brackets. These don't need to be snug (we don't want to wear the paint off our stinger body) just get em in range! Remember if you haven't already.....now is the time to drill a couple of pilot holes for these screws. A 1/16" Bit will work for our screws, choose the proper size bit for your screws so your screws will run in without splitting the pieces of oak. A good way to choose your bit size is to find a bit in the index that looks to be the same size as the "shank" of your screw....(imagine the screw had no threads, and you wanted to drill a hole that it would slip into nice and snug).

Now let's take that cover plate we've already waxed up.......and hot glue it to our little oak pieces. Do this by placing a nice bead of hot glue on each of the four pieces of oak!

Next place the cover plate on and press it against the hot glue! Now this babey is good to go!

We'll go ahead and attach this stinger body to our main box on the frame now..... Go ahead and do a "Dry Run" to see where we want to place it, make a mental note of that image.

Now we may mark out some mounting holes! Let's measure center to center of our L bracket holes.....and also center to end.

Now we may transfer our marks to the box (seed tray Half) We're coming up from the tray lip 1/2" to center, and also about 5-7/16" spread on the L brackets. This measurement may vary depending n the bracket and drilled holes.

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Next just drill first with the pilot bit, and again with the 3/16" bit. (or the bit which best suits your screw size).

We may now insert a couple of our machine screws through the L brackets and up into the seed tray we have just drilled out.

If you measured correctly you will have an easy assembly here......I didn't allow enough for my mounting space and short-changed myself on my oak strip! NO BIG DEAL! We'll just make a "shim" and keep on truckin! Cut a little scrap of oak, wedge it in place, and snug up your nuts!

With the stinger in place and the main box halves mounted and checked for square, we may now hot glue everything in place so there is no threat of a nut coming loose anywhere. (I know.......OVERKILL!) Oh well, at least when we're trooping we will have peace of mind.....or is that "Piece of Mind" for all the Maiden fanz? I cover all my nuts with hot glue and let it run down onto the oak a bit.

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Allright! Let's get some of this stuff put together and outta the way! Mount the Bullet box with four small wood screws!!! The holes should be pre-drilled with the 1/16" bit.

Be sure to only snug these up and not go crazy!!! Don't want to wreck that nice job we did on the little triangles!!!

Next insert four machine screws through the "Tool Box" mounting holes and nut them up "finger tight" from outside! Again personal preference on screw size, 10 x 32 by 1" will work pretty well here.

Insert small machine screws for the radio box mount too......nut them up finger tight and ensure all are fairly square!

Now once we're sure we're square, snug, and good to go, we may encase all of our inner seed tray hardware parts in hot glue!

This will allow us to change some pieces out in the future without the need of opening the seed tray halves up, and also give us a sense of security knowing we have a solid mounting system!

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\We want to pre-drill the trays for rivets because we are after a rugged assembly. This is kind of a strange process. First we want to clamp the halves together, then align each corner so the top and bottom mate up as close as possible. Once one corner is lined up nicely, drill a 1/8" hole in it.

Go to the next corner and repeat the steps. It is important to physically line up each corner before drilling.

We also want to drill the center lip at the top of our tray halves. GRAVITY Don't want them coming apart at the seams now do we?

Do the blue and the black sets, then doublecheck your rivet fits in the holes you drilled!

 

Back to the Crashmann pipe and nipple!

Trim the bottom of our Crashmann pipe so it fits the contour of the Nipple! Use tin snips and sandpaper for a good result. Don't worry if you feel like you're destroying all that nice body work you did with the Bondo and Putty, we'll be making a nice seam here with epoxy soon!

I like to cheat here by hot gluing a small piece of oak into the pipe, then running a screw through the nipple and into the oak so the two pieces stay together.....Make sure they're lined up well before installing the screw! Hard to make out in this photo but the little "bump" inside the nipple is actually my tiny wood screw!

We may use a wide piece of tape to keep the two pieces aligned for the next step.

We'll mix up some epoxy and fill the gap between the two parts. smooth it out and be sure plenty goes into the gap. A good trick is to "pull" the pieces together with a wrap of tape, then smooth the bead once more and allow to cure un-molested.

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Let's cut a strip of plastic about 3/4" to 7/8" wide by 3-1/2" long then divide it into three equal pieces! These will be the stabilizer piece we will epoxy between the funnel and pipe assemblies.

Glue or epoxy these together, then clamp them. Since mine are ABS I'm using ABS Cement!

Let's make sure our pieces will be the correct length. Very critical!!! We'll Set the burger stacker assembly on the table with our "Nipple and pipe" mocked up for a dry fit. Next we'll set the Funnel assembly so that the flare end is on the table but the 3/4" cap is hanging down past.

Now use a level or just eyeball and mark where we want to cut the 3/4" piece of pipe so that it is the same height as the Crashmann pipe.

Now cut it off!

Yep it happens to the best of us, temperature plays a big part in painting and I got caught slippin So I'll be painting a couple parts again!

Anyhow, we're ready to make our "musical note" piece of the project! Epoxy the Crashmann "twinkie cap" onto the pipe assembly nice and square. Allow to set up.

With the funnel cut to length and the twinkie cap in place we may epoxy the two set ups together. Use tape and a Sharpie to keep the pieces Aligned and just far enough apart from each other unless you want to hold it for a few minutes.

I like to put a nice ammount of epoxy in here, and will come back later with hot glue to beef it up!

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We're going to shape our little "stabilizer piece" to fit the contours of the pipe and funnel. Close is good enough. Then we'll buzz a spot on each pipe where we want this thing to attach with our Dremel or a small file.

Next we mix some epoxy, put a small bead on each piece of pipe, and a bit on the stabilizer, then set it in place.

Once our initial joints have set up, we may mix small ammounts of epoxy and work to make a nice uniform looking brace one side at a time. Our end result should be a nice natural looking transition.

Okay I'm disgusted with that crummy paint problem so I really need to shoot this thing black again!!!!! I'll wrap a piece of masking tape around the bottom of the nipple so I don't paint it because when I epoxy this into the burger stackers I want plastic to plastic.

 

Let's get some other small jobs out of the way! From our 1/2" PVC let's cut five pieces 2-1/4" in length. Nice square cuts to be sure. Sand these and shoot em black! They are our "Shotgun shells".

 

Okay let's wreck a perfectly good tupperware pitcher lid shall we???

Dis-assemble the lid into it's three main pieces,

Cut the flange off the lid top, then cut the shaft so it will conform to a piece of pipe. Put the assembly back together then press gently against the inside portion of the pitcher lid causing the pushbutton to raise slightly (about 1/8" above normal resting position). Trace the outline with a sharpie. This is where we'll cut the button off so we will still have something solid inside the lid assembly when we mount it later.

Cut the button, paint the button and pitcher lid top black. DO NOT paint the pitcher lid inner component or the inside of the top component lid piece.

Here's some of todays work, we've located an old motorcycle primary cover screw, and an acorn nut and drilled our pitcher lid piece to correct size. Painted our shells and lid, and also threw a coat of white on our mortar tube caps. They'll need one more coat and we'll paint a keypad piece along with them later.

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Here's an easy job, personal preference wheather this is done before or after the boxes are mounted to the frame. Speed Tape for the Blue box. I like to wrap one set of tape lines at the top of the box, and another set down between the bottom two ridges. Again personal preference. Also I like to go for more of a "Movie" look with it so it isn't "perfect" but looks cool when done. Just wrap how you like, then slice the tape at the spot where the trays meet. (We'll paint this later and it will disappear). I'm using good old fashioned Electrical tape but again this is personal preference. Some of the screen caps I've seen have tape, some don't. Personally I like how it looks.

 

Here's some more "Budget" stuff, a quick and easy tool box. Picked it up at the drug store for four bux!

Since we made the tool box mounts so that the tool box itself may be removed easily, we may change this one out for something else at our leisure. For now, it's a pretty good box, and we can store stuff in it while trooping.

Let's cut the lid loose, trim it up, and shoot it black! I've found that removing the lid and re-attaching it later makes for easier opening and closing than trying to leave it "stock". Just rough it up with the 400 grit paper or even the 600 if you prefer, then shoot a nice coat of the Rustoleum Gloss Black Paint for Plastic.

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Okay let's get our Crashmann Radio Box Faceplate going! I like these Faceplates, they're great for doing all kinds of trick stuff to. We're going to be tricking ours out inexpensively but at the same time it's going to be fun and our end result will be cool!

First trim the faceplate down to size. Tin snips and sandpaper will do the trick. I like to leave about a 1/4" lip which will overhang my radio box for a clean look.

Next drill out all the speaker holes 3/16". Since the "Dimples" are already formed for you, your bit stays true so the holes are a sinch, just take your time.

Next cut the grooves for the speaker with your dremel tool and an abrasive wheel. It's easy if you cut from inside the face plate. Just take your time and work steadily, don't worry about cutting it all the way out, just get enough for some good lines. A little goes a long way here.

We'll have something like this when we're done trimming.

Next we'll lay out the centers for our dials and toggle switches. Center up each square horizontally....................................

And then center them Vertically

We'll also center up the dial knob hole and trim out the gauge opening too (For the gauge opening, use the sanding drum on the dremel to fine tune the cut). For the Toggles we're using standard issue Radio Shackers, so we'll open the holes up with our uni-bit. If you want a more accurate look go with "slide switches" and your openings for these will be rectangular slots instead of holes. Let's finish trimming our openings!

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We'll measure out the dimensions of our radio box on some surplus plastic and cut it out. First the main box back, then the four sides. Make the long sides 1/8" shorter than the desired length to make up for the short ends.

Next we'll use some square dowell type material and hot glue our box together. I found this Dowell material at Home Depot.

Long ends first, then the short ends.

We may use some of our dowell material to attach the open ends of our "Box" so they're square. I'm almost out because this piece of dowell was used for two radio boxes!

Check the fit of the box and faceplate.

For this radio box assembly we're installing Neodymium magnets.

Once the fit is established, we'll drill our little squares with a 1/8" bit all the way through, then again with a larger bit for holes our magnets will fit into.

We'll fill the holes one by one with hot glue, then press a magnet into the hole. The excess glue will run out the 1/8" hole, but the magnet will be secure. Press the magnet in until it is flush or even with the face of the piece of dowell.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg101/s...t%202/PK204.jpg

The box is now ready to paint. Note: When using signs for your build, sand the sign material thoroughly and remove as much of the original ink as possible.....it will bleed through your paintjob!

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We'll install our "shotgun shells" next, first Hot glue them in place............

Get them all glued on nicely...............

For extra we may drill with a 1/16" bit then run small wood screws through the tray into the shells.

 

We've gotten close enough with our siphon assembly to epoxy it to the bellows, and also attach the top seed tray halves together. for the seed tray connection, we butter the halves with a thin layer of E6000 then rivet them together. Finish by clamping the free spaces together and allow to set over night.

For the Siphon assembly we mix up a liberal ammount of epoxy, butter the inside of the top Burger Stacker lip then slide our nipple in and make sure we are square and have a 90 degree angle if we are looking across our twinkie cap at our mounting screw.

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Going for the siphon mount finally. easy instructions here, just mount to the tray half with washers and nut, hot glue for extra security.

Once that's done we may attach our lower tray halves same as the uppers.

With that out of the way, we may prep our radio box and tool box to mount. First we wet sand, buff, and wax them as we've done to the other parts. Then we figure exactly where we like them to sit on the trays. Next we transfer the bolt pattern to the back of the boxes, drill, and install. Nuts and washers are good enough for these, no need for hot glue.

We'll want to attach the funnel portion of our siphon piece to the radio box so it's mounted ridgid. For this we'll use a spacer of rubber material. This one is from a bicycle headlamp mount. It is a piece of spacer which comes with most handlebar mounted lamps. Note it will fit the contour of the pipe nicely.

Easy job here, just drill through the radio box and into one side of the funnel piece. Poke a hole in the rubber piece, run a wood screw through everything until snug!

Sorry about the super brite flash killing the photos.

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Radio Faceplate Dial Illumination

Well let's fiddle with some fun stuff. For this bit I use a small water bottle. Drink the water, cut the top off the bottle. Cut it and check that it will fit inside the radio box. Spray the inside of the bottletop silver. Drill out the bottle cap 1/4", carve the bottle top up as shown in the photo. Install your favorite color LED with the correct voltage for your battery source. LED stuff is available at Radio Shack.

Not sure if there's a protocol, I generally cut the red wire (like in the movies) and solder one end to the switch, the other to the battery connection.

Take the remaining piece of red wire and solder to the correct end of your LED. Also solder the black wire to your LED. It's easy to find out which end goes where, just install batteries, clamp the ends of the wires up to the ends of the LED leads, and test. There's a 50/50 chance you do it right the first time! Ha ha!

 

We're going to bounce around a bit and build this faceplate the easy way so for now we're taking a break from the dial and moving on to the next easy job.

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So we're going to mate up some magnets in the faceplate which will ensure our radio box stays together.

Set a magnet on each magnet we installed in the radio box. Next pick a starting point then mark them from one to four in a clockwise pattern.

Transfer the marks to their respective locations in the faceplate, then hot glue the magnets "number side down" in their places. (Not like me, number side up! Cause then you have to peel em out and re-do it correctly!)

Next we'll make a dial for our box with a scrap piece of plastic, a small machine screw and nut, and a pill bottle lid! Drill out the piece of plastic, stick a bolt in it, snug a nut onto this, then epoxy it into the lid so the bolt is centered!

Next let's give that speaker box a more realistic look. Cut some of your neighbor's screen out of his window, (try picking a window he doesn't use much), lay it flat inside the speaker area of the faceplate, then with a sharpie.....trace out the center circle, the cirle with the long cut outs in it, then the outer circle.

Cut these out and hot glue them into position.

Sorry for the flash! But here's how it looks with the mesh installed. Way better than just vacformed "holes".

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I've trimmed a piece of plexiglass for the inner gauge face. This stuff is brittle so I scribe and snap until I get as close to a circle as possible, then call Chris and BS with him while I sand it nice and round. A little bead of hot glue holds it in place.

Next we'll use some industrial velcro "dots" to mount our battery pack to our inner faceplate since we've installed our toggles. we'll also add a couple small machine screws.....#8's by 1" long and secure them with lock washers and nuts. These are for our knobs.

I've thought about running a LED into the center of the speaker face off of the other toggle. May try it some other time, thought of using a little plastic bubble from one of those gumball machines for the housing.

Looks kinda cool already huh?

We've painted our three knobs, so they'll have to set up until tomorrow. The rest of the faceplate is ready except for the Dial and the light cone mount.

It looks pretty cool so far.

Time for the Pink Floyd Lazer Light Show!

I like the weird Dr. Who effect!!!!

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It's mortar tube time again! We've sanded our mortar tube by sanding with the circumfrence of the pipe for a machined look, then we rubbed it out and finally waxed it. Next we'll set our pitcher lid where we like it to ride on our tube and mark it for our mounting hole. I like to set mine so that the bottom of the tube and the outermost edge of the lid are even.

We're going to use a jeweler's file and square up that hole we made for our Radar dish because we're using a carriage bolt to install this thing. We'll make it a snug fit for the bolt.

This next step is a breeze......assemble by putting the pieces together.

Next we'll get some E6000 or other equivelent type sealant / glue, and install our end caps which we painted Gloss White, then sanded, rubbed, and waxed earlier!

I like to start em then stab em by placing the cap on the floor and forcing the tube into it. only because these test caps fit tight. Check with your fav armourer or Crashmann for vac formed tube caps as an alternative to these plumbing caps. Remember to specify your mortar tube outside diameter when placing your request (ours is 2-1/4" in Diameter)

Tube assembly is good to go!

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It may seem we're jumping from one unfinished project to the next, and we are, but it's for a very good reason. We're assembling the pack in this odd order to make assembly as easy as possible for us, and also to allow certain paints, glues, and epoxies their full cure time so that we don't have trouble later.

Let's get back to our radio box faceplate:

Let's grind our screws flat for our set screws on our knobs. Do this with a dremel tool and abrasive wheel, or before installing them, use a file.

Next we'll find a print out of one of the latest dial gauge images from MEPD. This one is really cool, but I had to utilize my noobaur skills to shrink it to a size that would work for me. Still did a hillbilly job of it, hopefully most people have better skillz than me at this. Mine are hit and miss. Better yet, rumor has it decals will be out soon!

Next we'll cut it to fit our piece of plexiglass, squirt some hairspray on the plexiglass, wait until it tacks up, then stick the PDF on there close as we can get it to perf. Then just dab some WARM hot glue to hold the cone in place after making sure the LED shines directly center of the PDF!!!!!

Use tape if you have to. The hot glue will melt the water bottle like ice in a sunstorm!

Okay so this is something like what we should end up with for our finished radio box......only yours will be a bit more precise.

Here's a shot of the lanyard system that keeps your faceplate safe even past what those magnets will do:

It's just some elastic secured to the box and faceplate by some of the mounting screws.

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Touch Up Painting:

Touch up painting is easy. The trick is to conceal as much of the seams, rivets, and screws as possible. But I should point out that the weathering will conceal the "Holidays" in the touch up paint. So it isn't the end of the world if some "hard to get to" stuff isn't covered completely.

I like to use a small Pyrex bowl. Shoot the same spray paint we used for the black pieces into the bowl until you have enough to be able to dip a small artist's brush and utilize.

Begin painting the seam in the seed trays on the radiobox / toolbox side of the pack. This way when you turn it onto it's side to paint the other end (mortar tube side) the boxes will hold the fresh painted stuff up away from the table!

Work by loading your brush up and dabbing the paint so it flows into the seam. Then go back over with a nice brush stroke. Cover up the rivets, screws, etc. Touch up any nicks or scratches which may have occurred over the duration of the build. Also, you may paint the "breaks" in the speed tape on the blue boxes unless you plan to add more tape later.

Repeat this procedure with your blue color.

Now at this point we may allow this paint to set up, sand buff and wax. It's not necessary, just personal preference.

Here's the touched up pack:

 

Weathering For the Sandtrooper Field Pack:

Next we're going to add a bit of weathering the "Gundamzeppelin Way" because it's pretty much THE BEST way I know of weathering with Acrylics...... Look for his weathering tutorial here: http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=4973

We'll begin with some Raw Umber and a little chunk of sponge. Dab Raw Umber in spots here and there, allow to dry for a bit, then pat and twist with a paper towell taking most off but leaving a little which resembles dirty specks.

Repeat with Burnt Umber but leave a little more behind this time. Don't forget the mortar tube!

Once the darker colors have been established, we'll mix up some Country Twill or similar Tan color with a bit of water and sponge it over all the cracks, nooks, and crannies in our pack. Let it set a while then begin wiping it away from the high spots, but allow it to dry up inside the crevaces and lines. It will look like dust later.

 

We're not going to rush through the weathering process and risk ruinning a lot of hard work, so after we've worked our tan colors to where we like them, we can take a break from weathering.

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Finishing The "Bee-Stinger":

There are all kinds of cool things to utilize for the bee stinger tip. I found this doorstop to be a good stand in until something better comes along. Use whatever you like on your stinger, I'll walk through the spring stinger one time just for good measure.

Let's take a look at this thing. There's a screw and mounting plate, then the spring, and that rubber piece of slingshot ammo.

Let's attach the mounting plate to our stinger. This is easy because we pre-drilled that piece of oak we placed into the body. So it goes together nicely.

Star Wars stuff is supposed to be slightly familiar but leave you guessing a little. So for that very reason we're going to saw off half the spring and make it short and funky looking. Now just spin it into the mounting plate and dab some weathering on the end.

Let's mount our Mortar tube next. I don't like installing the keypad until this is done so that I can place it exactly where I want it. Remember, now we're mounting it for good so use the correct screws for those mollies!

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Strapping The Pack:

 

For my field packs I like to use a 1" nylon webbing for the majority of the work. This material can be found at Army Surplus stores, Fabric shops, etc.

I also like to use E-6000 to "Hold" things for me before I punch them and install rivets.

The Rivets I like to use may be found in Fabric Stores or Tandy Leather. They are easily installed with pliers.....needlenose pliers will work!

Also, try to find an old backpack with the padded shoulder straps and remove these, they are great for long troops!

In the photo below you will see that my youngest son did a fine weathering job on these straps I "borrowed" from his old Jansport backpack.

The first thing I want to do is remove the lower nylon pieces since they're kid size anyway and pretty worn out.

Next I'll make a couple of small pieces of plastic to reinforce my upper strap connections...........and using E-6000 I'll get them glued in place.

Next I'll butter the end of the strap with a thin layer of E-6000, fold it over on itself, and clamp it together. I want to let this glue together very well so I'll take a piece of my masking tape and log the date and time I glued it. I want it to cure for 24 hours un-molested.

Next I'll cut a couple of strips of my 1" Nylon webbing long enough to wrap around my pack frame's 1/2" PVC Pipe.

With the glue joint on my padded straps fully cured, I can now glue the Nylon loops to them, clamp them, and allow these to set up.

The Lower straps can be assembled while we wait.....I will cut two strips of 1" Nylon Webbing about 18" to 24" long, loop them around the pack frame beneath the lower Aluminum crossmembers so that the "tag end" faces in behind the pack, then E-6000 these and clamp them as well.

Once 24 hours has lapsed I will drill holes through the webbing and install two rivets per attachment.

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The top straps are thick, so I am using Aluminum Rivets and washers for assembly. I'll cover these rivets up with some loop velcro to conceal them.

I would like to share a trick with you I learned from abailey1 which will help you keep your pack on your back nice and streight!

Wrap a nice 2" wide piece of Black Industrial Loop Velcro around the center of your pack frame's top pipe.

Install a piece of White Industrial Hook Velcro on your armor as shown in the photo below!

 

Now you can respond to those pesky alarms down the street at the docking bays comfortable in the knowledge that your pack is on your back!

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For final weathering I like to use Fuller's Earth or some other similar product. This one is named NOCH WEATHERING POWDER and may be found easily on Ebay or most hobby stores. There are several two ounce containers ranging in colors from dust, sand, soot, rust, ash, lichen, etc.

I mostly like the Sand and Dust powders for TD stuff, the soot and ash for battle scars to armor, and a bit of rust on any parts I wish to appear metalic.

We'll go outside for this and BE SURE TO WEAR LATEX GLOVES!!!! this stuff is hard on skin. We're going to use some gnarly hair spray and a tiny brush.

The steps are as follows.

Spray hairspray onto a piece of the pack.

Dip the brush into the weathering powder then flick it at the sprayed area. (It will appear as if only a very small ammount has landed on the hairspray)

Pat with a paper towell until you feel it tacking up, then smear it.

Like magic it will become a huge filthy mess!!! Then just work it with a moist paper towell and your dry one until you like the effect.

A small ammount of this stuff goes FOREVER!

If you'de like to see it done on video, check this Youtube flick. Pretty cool weathering tips for Clone armor, but half way through he touches on the weathering powder application........

Anybody recognise this guy??? He looks kinda like the DL Big thanks to Jango 5204 for turning me onto this video!

Unfortunately my two fav colors are nearly depleted so I am only able to get a light dusting onto this pack. No worries, It's going to need further weathering by it's new owner to match his armor anyway, so we just want to get it to him slightly dirty!

 

[izzi[TX]]

I'll bet you guyz think we forgot something huh? Naw, just saving the best part for last! Let's install the keypad with some E6000 so it won't come off so easily!

And again the GUNDAMZEPPELIN Way!

For anyone interested.....GundamZeppelin offers weathering services.

 

Okay this pack is good to go to it's new owner! He will only need to weather it to mach his armor and customize the shoulder straps.

Let's enjoy our finished job!