FatalSlink's DT build

[Fatalslink]

@Chaos ahh ok thanks, I was trying to match the effect shown in this pic taken from the crl photos of the greebs. I'd thought it was something like what I did with the 2 tone paint scratched up. But I'll strip and repaint tomorrow in ts40. I have like 10 cans from all the re-painting I've done over the past 3 years of building this lol. I am also going to redo the forearm ladders like the pic you linked says to do as I feel they are too overdone at this point.

Thanks for all the knowledge man!

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Fatalslink Mike, yeah that's my fault the CRL greeblies look like that. When our model was submitting photos it was missed in the "lookie loooos."

The CRL rewrite was done and we were working on the 2 versions, fortunately the Front and back full body photo for Version 2 is correct.

Sometimes its best to go with what the words say. 

Thank you for catching that. We will make sure we change on the next update. Nice job of duplicating what you saw by the way.

@nanotek Mark I guess I have one more thing to change on the CRL  

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Fatalslink Mike

Oh one more thought. If you ever have to repaint your kit, (Like I just did last year) think about painting everything as it looks new, and then use an acrylic water base light grey in an airbrush or dry brush and then use a dry clean rag to wipe away the excess. This way if you want to look like you just stepped out of the Imperial Armory or you were conducting a VIP escort, you can simply use warm water and a soapy rag to clean off the "dirt and grime" and go full blow shiny. 

[Fatalslink]

@Chaos ahh ok that makes sense, I wasn't sure which to follow but now I do, thanks for clearing that up!

And the first time I painted my kit, I went with high gloss black with an hvlp gun with spraymax 2k over the top and didn't do any weathering at all because i wanted it to look shiny and brand new all the time like this photo

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DPmzg9jqFwylGZGHBHrw19jO6W-RZdfS/view?usp=drivesdk

(another dt in the works in my garrison building at the same time as I am, his is gonna look better though im sure) but my wife said it was too shiny and hard to look at lol. So i repainted it with just rusto gloss black and got what you see today, which looks more battle worn and wouldnt stand out in stark contrast to the other dts in garrison.

[Fatalslink]

@Chaos I actually was going to do my armor in VantaBlack 2.0 as seen here (ill have to dig up the forearms and bicep i painted in it, they look crazy af. Buuuut it was too dark to see ANY detail, even in person, you had to run your fingers over it to feel any details...maybe ill do that on my second kit, it couldnt be approved since it absorbs 99% of all light and you couldnt see any details, but it would look scary as hell like a living shadow if i did do it. But the paint was like 50 bucks for 8oz when i bought it, so it would be an expensive paint job lol.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D18_PXwBkLgmHVtiUYVNa-sq4VHfOfj6

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

1 hour ago, Fatalslink said:

but my wife said it was too shiny and hard to look at

It can't be shiny enough in my opinion?

[HRivera7322]

2 hours ago, Fatalslink said:

VantaBlack 2.0

You'd probably fry in the suit if you ever wore vantablack in the summer ?

[Fatalslink]

1 hour ago, HRivera7322 said:

You'd probably fry in the suit if you ever wore vantablack in the summer ?

Undoubtedly lol but itd look freakin cool though yeah? Like a Shadow Ghost Trooper.

[Fatalslink]

@Chaos this is what I got back now:

Hi Mike,

We’ve finished the first round of approval. Sorry this took so long but there was a lot for us to go through and discuss. Thanks for all the additional pictures you sent. There are going to have to be some changes to certain parts of the costume to make it approvable:

1. The helmet is going to have to get repainted. We hate to do this since we know helmets are a lot of work, but the gloss paint job is very bubbly and has a texture when it should be very smooth. In order to prevent it from bubbling again, I’d recommend sanding it down and using a primer such as Rustoleum Self Etching, then wait 24 hours for it to cure then sand it down a bit to get it smooth, then add your flat black to find any imperfections to sand down or fill with bondo, then coat again with the flat black and after 24 hours coat with the gloss clear coat.

2. On the helmet we saw dents in the brow and forehead which are going to have to be filled as well as any others that you might find when refinishing the helmet.

3. The chest plate and back piece are going to have to be adjusted fit wise. The back armor is sliding too far back which is causing your buckles to be too short on the front. Also, the prongs should be pointing more down where they are pointing more towards your helmet in the picture. This runs the risk of them getting caught in your helmet while trooping and could cause them to snap. This will be fixed by pulling the back plate up more and having it sit further up. I’m attaching a picture from Celebration 2016 to show where the buckles and prongs should be.

4. The left side of the back plate where you patched the crack will have to be filled and sanded more. In the pictures it's still somewhat visible and the paint could start to chip there easily.

5. The belt is going to have to be tightened so that it won’t slide down on you while you’re trooping.

6. The pouches are going to have to be filled a bit more, they should look more boxy but they are more baggy in the pictures.

7. Be sure to re-weather areas that you just fixed to make sure it matches with the rest of the costume.

 

Some recommendations to help with wearing the costume:

1. If you slide down your shins more, it should help you with walking in the costume and hide the tops of the boots more. I saw in the video that your thighs and shins were touching every time you took a step. I had this problem on mine and I raised the thighs and lowered the shins and it worked better for my mobility.

2. When you’re suiting up, make sure the poncho area is even after you put on the armor. That area is easy to get caught when suiting up and needs to be adjusted after you put on the armor.

3. I noticed your shoulder bells are rubbing the paint off on your biceps, I would recommend adding soft material underneath (I used the soft side of stick on Velcro) the bells to cover the fiberglass to keep it from scratching the biceps. Nothing serious but will prevent major damage down the line.

 

Looks great so far! You’re almost there to approval! If you have any questions let us know.

 

Sooo...not even close to done yet...oh well, I've already been at it for 3 years, what's another 3 weeks lol

[Fatalslink]

@Chaos sorry i got cut off, I meant to ask if you had any thoughts on the chest and back fitment, it's pretty tight on me already, so do i need to lengthen the buckles or something to make it look right?

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

6 hours ago, Fatalslink said:

@Chaos sorry i got cut off, I meant to ask if you had any thoughts on the chest and back fitment, it's pretty tight on me already, so do i need to lengthen the buckles or something to make it look right?

I'll read thru what your GML sent you and provide any feedback that I can. Keeping in mind GMLs are the final word and their interpretations of a CRL can vary from GML to GML. That's why we see some kits get approved and others don't. Give me a day or two. You can start working on the helmet. Wet sanding and filling the imperfections first. Also let me know what paint brands and type you are using. Some paints have a bad reaction to each other. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

I just noticed your GML must have a DT, that's why he is so detail oriented. Believe it or not that's a good thing. Especially when you stand next to a kit that didn't go thru the same type of scrutiny you will be able to tell the difference. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Fatalslink

Mike, as I go thru this since I need to get a visual idea of what we are working with. So I am going to ask a few questions at first, so please just be patient with me.

These are Toms files so I am familiar with the base construction, I do know that others have had to make some adjustments due to body types and sizes.

How is your poncho attached to your undershirt? Sewn or Velcroed?

How are you strapping your upper back armor to the lower back armor and then to your posterior plate?

How are you strapping your chest armor to your abdomen armor and then your cod piece?

How is your belt constructed?

How did you strap the support for your thighs?

(Photos would help for the above strapping questions if you have the time)

Are your shins completely closed or are they clam shelled?

Do you have a 3D printer or have access to one? If so you may or may not need to make two of these: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n56rr6rzxsm2vl2/collar tab support.stl?dl=0

collar tab support.stl

[Fatalslink]

19 hours ago, Chaos said:

I'll read thru what your GML sent you and provide any feedback that I can. Keeping in mind GMLs are the final word and their interpretations of a CRL can vary from GML to GML. That's why we see some kits get approved and others don't. Give me a day or two. You can start working on the helmet. Wet sanding and filling the imperfections first. Also let me know what paint brands and type you are using. Some paints have a bad reaction to each other. 

Sorry, I meant cut off as in the forums cut off what i was posting lol. But I'm using rustoleum 2x flat and gloss black over rust filler primer so far, topped with spraymax 2k.

Ive switched up my kit to a Jimmi, the 3d one was proving too flimsy and off so this is my rigging for it.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FbFTWLFYvaFT0i479A2M__uZ-tqKmU_J

[Fatalslink]

13 hours ago, Chaos said:

@Fatalslink

Mike, as I go thru this since I need to get a visual idea of what we are working with. So I am going to ask a few questions at first, so please just be patient with me.

These are Toms files so I am familiar with the base construction, I do know that others have had to make some adjustments due to body types and sizes.

How is your poncho attached to your undershirt? Sewn or Velcroed?

How are you strapping your upper back armor to the lower back armor and then to your posterior plate?

How are you strapping your chest armor to your abdomen armor and then your cod piece?

How is your belt constructed?

How did you strap the support for your thighs?

(Photos would help for the above strapping questions if you have the time)

Are your shins completely closed or are they clam shelled?

Do you have a 3D printer or have access to one? If so you may or may not need to make two of these: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n56rr6rzxsm2vl2/collar tab support.stl?dl=0

collar tab support.stl 10.53 kB · 1 download

Poncho is velcroed onto a strip along the front and back, my wife just pulled it out weirdly when she helped me so it should be as simple as having her pay attention next time ?.

Shins are clamshelled, i am building ones that are about 2 inches shorter for my next submission.

I have a 3d printer, i printed the first whole suit as the first thing i ever printed, so i learned a lot through that process believe you me hahaha but will those fit on Jimmis set?

For the thigh support do you mean how i strapped them to hold them up? They are on a separate belt i put in and held up with 1 inch elastic bands with poppers.

Can you clarify a bit on what you mean by the belt construction? The boxes i knew i would beed to fix, i ordered some craft foam to fill them, my submission pics i just stuffed sanding sponges in them lol. The belt is held up by velcro along the entire belt and lower armor and rubber ribbing piece of the undersuit. I was thinking of adding snaps to some areas to hold it up better, i couldnt put the se14r in the holster because it kept sagging even worse so i knew i had to get that supported better as well.

The chest buckle thing and back i dont really get what to do. Do i need to lengthen the upper rubber strips so the buckles are lower? The chest and suit fits right up against my body, i feel like so i dont understand how to make it fit better besides losing muscle mass and bone structure...I did notice the back neck piece is jutting out, but i dont know how to rotate that piece to fit closer, when it sits on my shoulders, it juts out, but i cant get it to go closer to my back neck without physically rotating and holding it forward.

 

[Fatalslink]

13 hours ago, Chaos said:

 

Do you have a 3D printer or have access to one? If so you may or may not need to make two of these: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n56rr6rzxsm2vl2/collar tab support.stl?dl=0

collar tab support.stl 10.53 kB · 1 download

Is this file for the support tab thing supposed to attach to the collar and glue onto the chest so it doesn't raise up from the chest when moving? 

[Fatalslink]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1G5E2mmIZR6Gy0NQG4YjQj2WnN0HQzUGa

Helmet repaint so far. Before the Spraymax 2k clear coats. Much shinier than before...life lesson i guess to always just do it yourself lol.

[Fatalslink]

Happy Easter yall!