RAIDER S.C.A.R. Squadron Cav WIP

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

Looking at all the refs, and no they never truly match up, it looks like the largest image shows an angle at the top. Does that mean the artist tried to make it look like youre just looking up from the lower angle, and it appears angled, or is it actually angled. 

The other references dont indicate this.  I think it should be straight out, and not angled.   

 

Im going to have to investigate Polyflex, ive never heard of it before. Bondo cracks like mad with trooping.  Im about to start printing my ICAT armor (I cant believe I actually typed that sentence out) and i dont want that having a zillion bondo ships after two troops. 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

More leather updates…chest pad/knife sheaths (will be black)…

 

Thigh knife sheath/strap.  This will get screwed into the thigh armor to prevent sagging…

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Man, that looks good!

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Leather goods arrived! Spot on. Weather has been hot and super humid and so and raining when I get home from work so at a standstill at the moment till I can get a good day of painting in.  Then I can start attaching these (semi-permanently) to the armor.

Chest pad will be a challenge to get to fit on the contoured chest. Pouches will go on the canvas belt at the edge of the belt armor (like a Sandtrooper) when I ge the belt. Thigh straps are extra long and the “pad” under the sheath (which is a continuous piece w the straps per reference) will need to be cut and the pad trimmed back to the sheath as well.

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I like it!

[darthRivera[TX]]

Looks great.?

Good progress, this project is more complicated than Sergeant Kreel, the references are more limited, but you are doing very well.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Painting the armor to have the same white finish has been a pain.  Reminding me why I really don’t enjoy costume building lol.

Anyways, here is my current progress BUT need some feedback as well…

The knives are not painted yet and the leather parts are not attached.  And since taking this picture Ive finished the other shoulder strap and a couple arm/leg pieces.

Here’s where I need some help…the abdomen.  I need a consensus in prep for CRL…should I paint it solid black OR white center with black outside the recessed lines???  References are not consistent.

All black here with lines as white (though I think thats just to show they are there/depth)…

These show black outer and white inner…more of these references but not as clear as the one above…

 

I’m leaning towards white/black as there is only one reference showing all black. Thoughts?

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Nice work man! I'd say we need to go with the lines being white on black main part, like we did with Sgt. Kreel.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

1 hour ago, IcyTrooper said:

Nice work man! I'd say we need to go with the lines being white on black main part, like we did with Sgt. Kreel.

Thanks!

I was leaning the other way just because a) more panels 4-1 show that center section of the abdomen as white and b) even tho theyre different story arc references, panels in those also show it as white

So the all black with white lines seemed more like an artist inconsistency error

@darthRivera @nanotek @Blackwatch @Fivezero @stevechewbacca thoughts?

[stevechewbacca[TX]]

2 hours ago, RAIDER said:

Thanks!

I was leaning the other way just because a) more panels 4-1 show that center section of the abdomen as white and b) even tho theyre different story arc references, panels in those also show it as white

So the all black with white lines seemed more like an artist inconsistency error

@darthRivera @nanotek @Blackwatch @Fivezero @stevechewbacca thoughts?

Well done so far !

Imo we should keep a "squad consistency" if that make sense. As it is complicated to know what was the real idea from a comic book. So all black with white lines for me I guess

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

On 11/17/2021 at 2:57 PM, RAIDER said:

Thanks!

I was leaning the other way just because a) more panels 4-1 show that center section of the abdomen as white and b) even tho theyre different story arc references, panels in those also show it as white

So the all black with white lines seemed more like an artist inconsistency error

@darthRivera @nanotek @Blackwatch @Fivezero @stevechewbacca thoughts?

I agree, keep it consistent across the characters. Makes it less confusing for builders. 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Weather continues to be favorable and ao I have essentially finished painting what was once a Sandtrooper w heavy weathering back to a clean white including the boots.  I even had to do a total repaint of the helmet including all the details.  Will show all this when I test fit.

After your feedback I need to go back and repaint the abdomen and paint my knives.

I received my updated left shoulder bell print.  No longer flared at the bottom…and the side details are straight instead of swooping upwards.  An inner bell (which is actually in one of the references was added to give the shoulder strap a lower connection point so the bell sits higher than a normal bell.

The goal is to finish the shoulder and any remaining painting this week so that I can finish strapping and fitting w help on Sunday.  Hopefully I have a test fit to show by then.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Before I pulled the trigger on the all black w white lines torso, I had to see what it would look like as the white V.  Ive been going back n forth about this because the all-black is literally only in that one panel in all the arcs and Im getting more n more convinced its an artist consistency error.  As far as character consistency across the squad…there really isnt any…each one is unique and several are vastly different.  Anyways, what do u think?

I think the shadows of the lines give the “black line” feel from the references without being actually painted black.

And here was the last thing to paint…the helmet…using black tube stripes per the references instead of blue (this would prob be an L2 req). I still need to paint stripes in the tear and rear traps

This used to be a heavily weathered TD and like all the armor needed a repaint to match the white of the 3D printed parts.  What a pain!

Tomorrow we are doing the final strapping and a test fitting.  If all goes well, the slash weathering will be the final touch.

EDIT: Test fit will be of everything minus the left shoulder bell.  Thats not rdy quite yet

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I agree with the white interior on the ab:

   

 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Alot of progress today! Knives painted. Far left came out the best  Its the spare as the other 4 will be pretty much sheathed all the time.  Id love to get rubber ones made   Anyone know someone?

Anyways, finishing up smoothing and painting 2 larger ones to use unsheathed.

Attached smooth custom shoulder straps to chest (also finished all of the interior strapping today…just waiting for glue to cure)…heres a shot with the knives ok chest.

Attached the sheath to the thigh.  This was scary as it required some drilling.

Side note…an L2 req i will recommend is to NOT have rivets on the ammo pack.  Something I will fix later.

Here you see the holes (and how we messed up on the first go).  Luckily the straps and pad hide them. Straps and pad are secured by these screws and then I added some glue in spots as additional support from leather to  thigh.

With knife…

And then just something I wanted to show (I should have done a before and after)…heavily weathered TD boots…stained to the point I couldnt get em white.  But this paint worked wonderfully!  Cant remember who suggested it in another thread but it was a winner.

Whats left???

Waiting for some glue to cure on strapping.

I still need to finish left shoulder bell along with fitting straps from shoulder straps out to each bell…and then strap the left bell down to the bicep for support.

Paint helmet tear and rear stripes.

Install a fan (ur boy is in Florida) and sound.

Slash weathering. My wife loaned me a thin heated foam cutter that I think will work.  Gonna test it on some scraps…then I need to determine if some additional weathering like airbrushing or something will be needed.

Plan is to test fit it all tomorrow or Tuesday and add the final few straps.

[stevechewbacca[TX]]

Very cool ! ?

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

The knives turned out great! I'll have to make a mental note of that boot paint for future as well.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

First test fitting (not of everything). Did some minor trimming in crotch where it was digging into thighs…and did some rear thigh trimming to get more knee bend.

Helmet sits perfectly clear of knives no matter how I turn my head.

Front and back…no arms as the shoulder bell straps still needed to be fitted today.  Happy with the fit I think.  Not so happy w the mess in my room ? 

After this pic, we added  velcro beneath the belt to hold it in place so the split cod from ab wouldnt show.

Now we come to the one issue…the left shoulder bell.  So when putting it in its approx spot, we find out that even though the print has an inner bell to give it some “rise” it’s just not enough compared to what references show.  It should sit higher like a neck guard on knight armor.  Too low…and I may need to trim down that right shoulder bell a bit (will see when I fit it w the bicep)…and I need a haircut.

So we figured since the references do appear to show an inner bell, why not install an actual TK shoulder bell inside?

This gives it more height while the bell sits on the shoulder.  The issue…i need to trim the inner bell down a bit and figure out how to secure it well inside.  Will also need to do some finishing work (paint, sanding etc) on all of the interior that is visible.

The goal was to have it all ready for a test in a parade on Friday…Im not sure I will have that shoulder ready by then but will try.

Left to do for CRL submission:  Left shoulder, helmet stripes, slash weathering

Additional stuff: Add fan and mic system

[stevechewbacca[TX]]

Man this is awesome ! 

Too bad for the left shoulder but if needed i can make another version. Let me know

[RAIDER[COTG]]

9 hours ago, stevechewbacca said:

Man this is awesome ! 

Too bad for the left shoulder but if needed i can make another version. Let me know

Thanks! For the temporary moment I will try to make something out of this normal tk bell BUT i will take a pic once it is set to show where I think an updated new inner bell should sit…and will prob need internal supports as well maybe

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Just making a note in here…these are the references Im looking at regarding the shoulder height.  There are better panels of the bell itself but the arm is at an angle in those where it’s more horizontal.  These seem to indicate it sitting above the neck line…and the raised design area on the bell sitting about where the bulk of the shoulder would be…the one panel shows the inner bell though it’s a super zoomed up crop n the artwork is rough in general there.

 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

@stevechewbacca here is a look inside the bell mod.  definitely not as clean as i would like even though its mostly unseen.  i filled the gap between the old printed inner bell and outer bell but ideally that thick section isnt there.  you can see the standard tk bell is considerably lower…i also trimmed some of the bottom and sides of it off so it didnt creep out from the outer bell

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I agree with the idea of the TK bell inside the Cav shoulder to give it the necessary height. Keeping it unseen as you have done is good too!

[RAIDER[COTG]]

25 minutes ago, IcyTrooper said:

I agree with the idea of the TK bell inside the Cav shoulder to give it the necessary height. Keeping it unseen as you have done is good too!

Thx the idea is there.  Def needs work for my taste.  Will reprint the updated file when it’s ready and give it another shot. This one is pretty heavy w all the filler up there so a redone version will help w that too I think…all this might very well qualify for L2 as it is all unseen interior stuff (mostly) but I think this can be improved.

Tomorrow Im going to take a huge risk n march it in a parade lol!!!  Probably a bad idea but I cant help myself