Paul's Death Trooper Build

[Mal86]

On 1/26/2024 at 11:15 PM, DoggyDoc said:

I sanded mine with a belt sander to get rid of print lines and then sprayed them with Plastidip 

Thanks.  I tried using my dremel with a sanding wheel on one of my failed prints and I was able to get a little more even of a matte look on the sides.  I was trying to avoid the plastidip as I do like the current finish, unless I don't have a better option.

[Mal86]

A quick update without pictures (so, who knows if it really happened)...

I have Mr. Paul's Shoretrooper shoulder bell connectors.  They were not sitting in a way that would make them easy to attach to the back piece or easily attach to the front piece.  I took the dremel sanding wheel and evened/smoothed out the back shoulders where they meet the front shoulders.  This should allow me to use a chicago screw to mount it to the back (I'm also thinking I might use some velcro for stability as well) and then I plan to attach some snaps some nylon webbing and glue it to the front of Mr. Paul's shoulder connectors and the chest piece as the way to have them join.  I'm not sure if I'll need to apply resin to the areas I thinned.  There was a lot of dust, so I rinsed them and am letting them dry and will re-evalute the need for resin, but I assume I'll end up doing it.

I also went ahead and JB Welded one of the forearms and have it clamped overnight to see how that goes.

I plan to cut down some of the upper inner thigh on both thigh pieces for better fitment.

[Mal86]

For those following along at home...

I printed something to help the pouches hold form.  First one was too small, so I made some adjustments and the second one worked well.  I'm printing two more for the other two pouches:

I printed a plate for the pouch, but it's a little small (hard to see in the picture).  I'm going to adjust and print after I can get measurements with the pieces that hold the form in.

Based on the recommendations, I trimmed the neck to have a better range of vision:

The line isn't perfect, but it's pretty close.  I was worried I'd wear the whole thing down if I didn't call it good enough.  If anyone thinks its not good enough, please let me know and I'll make adjustments.

I started cutting the opening for the straps, but mistakes were made:

However, I think the are started well and I plan on ordering some small files that I'll use to finish it up:

I also used JB Weld to join one side of one of the forearms and then trimmed it down a little:

However, after a test fit, it's still not trimmed enough, so I'll be trimming it down a little more.

I cut the thighs about 3/4 of an inch (5 ribs) at the ribbed portion of the inner thigh and tried to blend the rest of the way up:

 

I'm waiting for them to dry so I can test fit.  It might not be enough, but I'd rather take too little off than too much off.

 

As always, any feedback, suggestions, etc. is appreciated.

[Mal86]

I got impatient and went ahead and tried them on...

They are now at/barely above the top of the knee, but I know I remember reading a recommendation that they should be about 2 fingers above the knees.

Let me know what you think:

I also realize in looking at the pictures that one is higher than the other, so assume I have them even for feedback purposes...

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I cut a couple inches off my thighs. You need to be able to walk comfortably when they are on and consider that you will need to be able to get your boots on once the thighs and shins are in place, so you almost need to be able to get into a sitting position. 

[Mal86]

@DoggyDocI think you are right.  Now that they are pulled up higher, the tops press in to my hips and prevent me from sitting.

Any feedback on the general fitment here?  Obviously, I'm just holding the belt for spacing perspective.

 

Also, these white lines are indents cut in using my dremel.  Are these sufficient for for level 2 shins?

 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

With the thighs, I actually shortened them twice as they also were digging into my hips. 
I needed to cut back this area. 
 

You can see how much I had to trim mine down and how I curved the part I circled above. 
 

 

The groove in the bottom of the shin looks right. As far as location. Just need to make sure it is deep enough to show up when it’s all painted and clear coated. Tough to tell depth from the photo. 

[Mal86]

I'll get some more shots when I take it off, but I attached Mr. Paul's Shoretrooper connectors.  At the rear points, I used Chicago screws and velcro to hold it in place.  For the front piece I attached snaps on to nylon webbing.  The nylon webbing is attached with E6000.  It seems to work well.  My two concerns are:
1) whether my connection point for where I attach the shoulder strap/buckle is going to hit the metal (but I think this will be okay);

2) whether I needed to move the connector closer to the edge to have the metal stick out further (but I also think this will probably be enough).

I put the glue on both parts and snapped them together and clamped them in place to let them cure:

 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

The alignment of the shoulders looks really good in the clamped photo. 
I can’t tell if there is a metal tab sticking out to support the shoulder bell. Is it under the strap or is it u see the shoulder bridge?

 

[Mal86]

51 minutes ago, DoggyDoc said:

The alignment of the shoulders looks really good in the clamped photo. 
I can’t tell if there is a metal tab sticking out to support the shoulder bell. Is it under the strap or is it u see the shoulder bridge?

 

@DoggyDocThey are sticking out, just not as far as they could be if I had them closer to the edge:

And here is the alignment without the clamps:

I think it came out pretty well. it does have the ability to pivot a little, so I might add some velcro, depending on what happens when I move around in it.

 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Looks great. The tabs just have to give the shoulder bell a ledge to rest on, so they should be fine as you want the bells as close to the shoulder bridge as possible. 

[Mal86]

I tried to use JB Weld on one of the shins tonight, but I don't think its going to hold because I don't think there is enough surface area contact between the two pieces due to the indentation at the front center.  Did anyone else run in to this issue?  If so, how did you address? Building up the area with something or...?

Here is what I'm talking about:

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

8 minutes ago, Mal86 said:

 Did anyone else run in to this issue?  If so, how did you address? Building up the area with something or...?

Here is what I'm talking about:

 

I roughed up the indentation with 80 grit and filled it with a 2 part epoxy and kept it level while it cured. 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I think I just put a whole bunch of JB weld into the seam and it held

[Mal86]

@Chaos @DoggyDoc- Thanks.

The glue at the seam didn't feel strong enough, so I pulled it apart.  I'm wondering if I could layer up some of the resin I still have and then use the JB Weld on the resin.  Any reason that shouldn't work?

Also, did you guys use the glove attachments from Tripon's kit?  I think they look fine, but just wanted to confirm there weren't any issues.

Lastly, I 3D printed on of the shoulder buckles and the top is not as smooth as I'd like.  I'm going to reprint with smaller layer height to see if it looks better, but I'm wondering what you did.  Did you sand it to smooth it or add a little resin or any other suggestions on how to make it look good and remove the print lines?

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I found that resin will lift off of the fibreglass at times, so I wouldn’t use it to build up the shin closure as that is a high strain point.  
 

‘’Big tip”. When your shin is glued , don’t open it too much because it will crack right down the front. I open mine enough to slide my foot through with my toes pointed. 

‘Jim’s hand guards (glove attachments) are good and I did use them  

For that shoulder buckle, you can sand it or try to add a thin layer of UV resin if there are defects, then sand it smooth. 

[Mal86]

With the d-rings and buckles, should those be a matte black, a gloss black, something in between?

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

3 hours ago, Mal86 said:

With the d-rings and buckles, should those be a matte black, a gloss black, something in between?

Mine were gloss black

[Mal86]

Finally shaped and glued the spot for the belt to velcro on the front.

I got some of this PVC Board: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EKEOJDA?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I cut it up, as shown in a previous post to make a ledge.

I glued the center a while ago, but I used a heat gun to shape the curve around the edges and glued it and left it to set:

 

Also started gluing some snap connection points and some of Chaos' 3d printed parts in to the shoulder and bicep.

[Mal86]

Working on checking upper body fitment (ignore the goofy smile as my wife made me laugh before taking the picture).

It appears that there is a rather large gap between the chest and my chest.  If we pushed the front and the back together, it gets smaller but its still there.  Ultimately, the ab armor pushes the chest armor off my body some.  Also, when pushing the chest and the back together (as they might be on the sides) then the tusks come up slightly from where they should be sitting (but I could probably use Chaos's tusk attachments to fix that).

Please take a look and let me know your thoughts:

Varying degrees of chest positioning:

Initial:

Wife pushed it together and stepped away (but I'm concenred the ab armor might have gotten pushed lower than it sits):

Wife holding it (also ab might be a little lower than it should be):

You can see the tusks lifting in the image above.

I also having finished all of the connection points holding the shoulders to the biceps.  Hopefully, that'll help straighten that up.

As always, any feedback or thoughts appreciated.

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

One of the DO staff should probably comment on this, but I think the second photo where it was pushed in and your wife stepped back looks the best.  
I have Velcro on the tabs for the chest piece that goes under my arms to hold it to the back piece.  The only thing you need to watch is that the side buckle straps will have room.  
 

 

The blue area is where the Velcro is and the green line marks the back of the side strap, which is the farthest forward the back piece could come.   I think it’s finding the balance of closing the gap between your body  and the chest plate, while keeping the tusks at a lower profile. 

[Mal86]

Picked up some paints to test from a local hobby shop...

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Not sure if it is me or not but the images are not showing up 

[Mal86]

2 hours ago, DoggyDoc said:

Not sure if it is me or not but the images are not showing up 

Thanks for letting me know.  I think I fixed it.

[BLACKFOX[PR-CMD]]

Builds coming along nicely.

I also had to cut down my thighs and shins a few times to make them comfortable when walking. Noted nine was ABS and not fibreglass.