Swamp Scout in Louisiana... Is this really going to be the first here?

[Krysis[501st]]

In my support of future generations of spec ops... I am building a Swamp scout for my God Daughter. She isn't quite old enough for membership yet but she wanted to buy it (Her portion of it) with her graduation money. Scouts are pretty easy builds so this should be a fun side project.

 

Today was big brown box day, and I got a lovely box of goodies from SC

 

Quickly did some cutting and assembly of the helmet before the heat index hit 110 degrees.

 

Now as for color I could use some input. I looked at Neoakaj,s build and he has a very dark green and Chef's build and that is a very bright green. I painted a color sample today and i would place it right in the middle of those 2 but it is a very nice green. would this work?

[splinter[TX]]

Looks great Evan. Are you planning on weathering your Swampy?

[Krysis[501st]]

No I don't plan on weathering it... at least not at first lol. She wants it shiny for now, but down the line it might get some abuse.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

I do believe there is realistic and the game version which may explain the difference in green coloring and weathering.

So it seems realistic is shiny green with no weathering.

Animated version has the weathering.

I am not sure about the green coloring though as there was no indication that one was better than the other or approvalable over another after looking at the build threads. I personally am not a Swampy expert but in my opinion i dont think it would be an issue with the color you are using.

Hopefully we have more swampy experts to give more guidance.

[neoakaj[TX]]

Some of the reason I went with a slightly darker green was due to the soft materials that I was able to find for my boots and pouches. Another reason is that when pictures are taken with they way that I do my pictures, It will look a little brighter, similar to how the AT-AT drivers were grey but with the exposure they look white.

 

By any means, please reach out if you have any questions. I am planning to dig mine out this weekend and maybe finish up the last couple items needed.

 

Look forward to another swampy!!

[Chef[501st]]

That green looks pretty good.

 

The green HIPS I use is 'reasonably' dark anyway, but flash and lighting make it look a bit lighter that it is in the flesh.

 

They are a more 'emerald' style green than a 'bottle' style green on the armour parts although no specific shade/code has been specified.

 

 

 

Weathering is fine on either, in fact it's positively encouraged... It is a 'swampy' after all.

 

The Animated/Realistic versions relate to some specific details within the costume itself, and depending on which route you are going to take will determine what details you need to follow. My suggestion is to go the 'realistic' route as it will require less changes to your suit in the long run.

 

Keep us updated and I shall be on hand to pass on any information you require.

[Krysis[501st]]

I'm not sure what the difference between the realistic and animated are. Honestly she has been trooping with us when she can in her Jedi, and just wants an imperial costume as well. I pointed her to the website (naturally she went straight to spec ops) pulled the picture and said she wanted that. lol. If the animated requires modification from the normal scout then I know she would rather not do that she like the basic scout.

[Chef[501st]]

Boots are different, thermal detonator is different and needs to be scratch built. Detailing on the helmet and tank are different, blaster is different as are the gloves....

 

They're subtle... but significant.

[Krysis[501st]]

Got a bit more trimming done today, started some painting as well.

I filled the back seam and primed it (Forgot to take a picture)

painted the insides of the front parts

Also painted the snout bit but didn't take a picture of that either

[Master Tej]

This build is looking very good so far! Since your daughter has a Jedi, does she have much experience trooping?

 

- Master Tej -

[Krysis[501st]]

Yeah she comes out and troops when she can, toy drives and free comic book day. She wants to join both RL and 501st when she turns 18.

 

On to progress. the vinyl for the boots arrived yesterday and it is such a close shade of green i think it will work nicely.

 

I painted the out side of the helmet after giving the inside the weekend to cure.

 

When I got into the shop today I noticed the paint had a ton of tiny bubbles in it, so it was either to hot yesterday when I painted or I didn't mix it well enough. It should be fine after another coat on Thursday.

Its hard to see in the picture, but if you look next to the reflection of the light you can see them.

[DeathMOS30[501st]]

Looking good keep up the excellent work.

[Master Tej]

That paint matches incredibly well!

 

- Master Tej -

[Krysis[501st]]

Yes...I am a slacker...I am back to work on this. I finished the helmet a while back (side by side with my shadow)

Most of the parts have been coated green, inside and out, but I have been having a hell of a time with the paint, and have polished most of the parts to give it a nice finish.

the chest back and shoulders have had the finial polish on them wet sanding with 1000, 1500, 2000, tri zac, then wax and glaze.

[Krysis[501st]]

also got some webbing for the drop boxes but I'm not sure if I like the color

[splinter[TX]]

Looking good mate. I can't wait to see another Swampy.

[retrofire[501st]]

The finish on that armor is simply amazing. I would love to have a tutorial of how to get a paint job to look that good. I ask as I am working a shadow and I'll be painting it to get that nice satiny black.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Chef[501st]]

We had an old saying in the body shop....

 

If you can p!ss, you can paint!

 

 

It's not as difficult as it looks to be honest. Good preparation and a clean environment are the keys to a good paint job.

[Krysis[501st]]

The finish on that armor is simply amazing. I would love to have a tutorial of how to get a paint job to look that good. I ask as I am working a shadow and I'll be painting it to get that nice satiny black.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks, this paint has been really testing my patience, but I am kinda a perfectionist when it comes to paint.

As chef said prep and clean environment is Key

From there ALWAYS read your paint can! stay within the optimal temps. and follow the recoat times.

I am using Rustolium 2x Meadow Green, all of the parts have been preped by sanding it with 400.

From there I put 1 coat on the inside of the parts, waited at least 48hrs then coated the surface.

The helmet was easy going for the most part, the blinder gave me some issues. 2x (I believe) is an Oil based paint so it has a tendency to react with any contaminants. I don't know the exact chemistry but the gloss colors have a tendency to spider web for no "apparent" reason, so I blame it on contaminants.

The rest of the armor on the other hand was very tricky.

I was painting during the summer in my shop (upstairs in a warehouse) and it got too hot (between 100 and 112 degrees F). The paint would start to harden before it was done off gassing and it gave it a really bad finish.

I sanded and repainted at 4am before the sun came up and that helped but still not good enough for my liking. The only thing left to do was bust out with the elbow grease and polish it.

I generally started with 800 or 1000 grit wet sanding depending on how bad the finish was, then worked my way up to 3000. the next step was wax and glaze, which i just used automotive polish, and it worked great.

In retrospect I wasted a ton of time on this thing I should have just waited until this fall and paint it all and gloss clear coat the parts VS polishing them but it is almost done now, The knees are the only parts left to paint, and those are 2x primer grey with a gloss coat. The exact same thing I did for the snout.

[Krysis[501st]]

Time to blow the dust off of this build!

[RAIDER[COTG]]