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Okay okay, I'm overdue for an update, and even then I don't have TOO much for you... but quite a few photos I might as well share! A big part of why things are moving slow is that I keep chasing small cracks in the armor. Just in general, kind of all over. I'm doing my very best to address any that are large or in highly noticeable areas like these on the chest plate (which is now otherwise veryvery smooth) but I think I'm just going to have to accept them. They're almost entirely superficial, as they are only in the very top layer of the gel coat/resin and the piece is structurally sound... or it could be the primer that was used before I got the armor. I try not to ever sand down to the fiberglass directly, as it opens up tiny pinholes/air bubbles, so there is mystery primer under there from the previous paint job that may be cracking. If I were to start over completely, I would just do like a red scotch bright scuff with soapy water on the raw parts as received from Jim, then hit them with a decently thick couple coats of a flexible primer, flexible filler where needed, then a white primer, a white 2K gloss topcoat, and done. Most parts honestly don't ever need to be sanded above 200 either, maybe just the chest and back for maximum shine. Doing my best to balance between my desire for a perfect finish and actually getting this done. If anyone has suggestions for how to best address these type of cracks, I'm all ears! Despite those issues in general, I'm plugging along and a little over half of the parts (ignore those R1TK thighs) are in the final stages of white primer and nearly ready for final 2K topcoat. Once I have enough little pieces, I'll crack one of the ($30!) cans of 2K gloss white and spray them to test, before committing to the rest of the whole suit. Can't decide if I'll do it in my garage again (huge mess, lots of prep), in the yard (risk of bugs/dust), or maybe I'll buy one of those little popup painting tents. Decisions, decisions... You'll also notice in the background there that I've taken to wearing a full on moon suit while working on this thing... especially for stuff like this next bit. I always wear a respirator and gloves, but was getting sanding dust and fiberglass all over my arms and clothes. The suit helps significantly, but without being too hot since it's cloth in the back. I was also getting all kinds of bumps and ingrown hairs on my forearms - likely from the dust/paint mist blocking pores. Anyways, would recommend. Was this next bit a good idea? I don't know. Did I try anyways? Yup. I wanted to add the shoulder bell support tabs to my back yoke, and figured modifying a set of Tony's aluminum tabs might work... still yet to be seen, but I'm optimistic. I started by marking both sides as symmetrically as I could, then drilling some holes through the side. Then I got out the rotary tool and a grinding bit and just went to town. I smoothed the oval holes out some with an emery board (such an underrated shop tool - go buy a variety pack, trust me) and bent the brackets little by little until the tab would poke through and the bracket would sit pretty flush inside the yoke. I did need to grind off the little upright sections on the corners of the bracket, and grind a bit of the fiberglass out, as it just barely sits in there. I want to do a little bit more tinkering and planning as to how I want to actually glue these in (thinking just a medium coat of 2-ton epoxy on the glass and bracket, then a piece of aluminum foil on top, and then clamp it with slide clamps overnight. It makes me nervous so I haven't committed yet, but I made some progress. I don't think I'm going to run the shoulder bell connecting straps THROUGH the yoke though - probably not worth messing with more holes. Anyways, it'll look something like that when done! Okay, moving on to more metal bits, and also some serious accuracy updates - including this metal holster from @R2Dan! So, loooooooong story short, I find myself with a bunch of FOTK bits from various makers and of various quality levels and thought I would just share a comparison of some of the stuff that's floating around out there. The stuff on the far left is what I received along with the original armor I bought off of @Dynamic1 , that he got from Jim a while back. The clips aren't the worst, but aren't accurate, and the holster top plate is metal but body is one piece of resin. It at least had the more accurate hardware. The middle holster/clip is from (what was billed as) a 'complete FOTK' kit by a Garrison mate but honestly ended up being more of an Anovos/KB spare parts bin (and I'll likely be parting it out for sale later). The holster is 4 metal layers, but is slightly undersized, too thin (maybe with a resin block) and had incorrect hardware. It also came with the middle clips, which were pretty inaccurate, but at least were a high quality resin print and I liked that they were curved. And on the right is the R2Dan holster I recently got from @Harbinger. To my knowledge, it is the most accurate and high quality available, and you can see the difference from the other two when compared. It also came with a bag of all of the accurate hardware, including the bearing. It is 3 metal layers and included an angled resin block and the metal bracket to add to the side of my F-11D (more on that below). Pretty stoked on it, and it is what I'll be using. You'll also notice the significantly more accurate V1 of the FOTK greeblie clip that I've been working with @MrPoopie to model and very likely provide to the community. Here is a comparison of the 3 different clips: A comparison of our V1 (bottom) to a screen used TFA clip (top): And a preview of the V2 with a few additional updates pending as well before a final test print: I've got a whole thread over here if this type of thing interests you, but the point is that I'm shooting for maximum accuracy in as many little details as possible! I couldn't find an accurate clip that was available and easily accessible... so I'm doing my best to help make one! Okay, moving on to soft goods - we do have some problems to address there. The pants are RATHER snug, which isn't a problem since the shiny shorts on top should be too, but the center of the knee gaskets (and snap for attaching the knee armor) ended up sitting about 2" below my actual knee cap (that I'm pointing at). Especially when I add the stirrups (visible on the other leg) to help keep them tucked into my boots, it looks like the gaskets will need to be cut and reattached higher up with 2" cut off the pant leg. Not the end of the world, but I'm going to let my tailor sort it out when they're taking the suit in at a couple other areas too. I'm going to continue to invest the time and money to have these tailored to fit perfect, since I believe they'll be my most comfortable option when dialed in... but I'm also strongly considering picking up a set of gaskets from Eadu Armory to try out as well - at their current price point, it might be worth it, and @equuspolo spoke very highly of his. And I daresay that guy knows a thing or two about FOTKs at this point I also grabbed a new set of Jimmiroquai-specific decals from @TrooperBay while I was at it, and I'm going to try some of this self-adhesive white felt to pad some areas that will potentially rub, instead of the EVA foam I tried with the ROTK with mixed results. Another little goodie that came in that spare parts pin was this decent 3D-printed SE-44C. It needs better hardware, some sanding, a respray, and its muzzle repaired, but I think it's salvageable and will look plenty good holstered. Speaking of blasters, figured I'd share some additional pics of my newer one. I do love metal bits. Is it Centurion approvable? Nope, and I don't plan or have the ability to add lights to it. But is it sturdy and will it look darn good for trooping? Oh yea. We'll deal with Centurion if we decide to go there. I think that's all I have for now as far as FOTK updates! But what else have I been up to, you ask...? I did almost completely finish the SE-14R I've been working on for MONTHS, and am generally pretty pleased with it! Just a couple finishing touches left. I also helped a friend Charles build an entire shadowtrooper kit (my 2nd) and join the club if I haven't shared! We'll probably get him over here in white armor at some point too... I also built myself a new PC recently (I've got C2-B5 in there in case anything breaks...) and when it lights up, the " O II " in black and white from the liquid cooling pump and RAM looks oddly familiar, but I can't quite place it... And finally, another reminder to myself and everyone else to not stress about your armor projects and to get out and have some fun when you can! I was fortunate enough to make it out to Batuu (West) over the weekend with several of my Legion/FISD brothers for the first time in two years (after getting my booster recently and as COVID numbers finally start to decline) and I snagged this nice little shot as the sun was going down. Stay safe out there everyone and I'll have more updates in the future!

Love the effort on those detailed clips! I need some better ones for my kit so I’ll keep on eye on your progress with them

I next went “ahead” and worked on the bucket as I had finally attained all the electronics from Tony and Henry I cut away the plasti dip anywhere I needed to apply padding or Velcro. I installed some of the black fabric over the vent holes. Installed the foam blocks from Tony (Hope I did this correctly!) installed the speakers next… Foam insulation on top I’ll install the usb power, amp and fans next…

very productive!

T-tracks added, the stock has been darkened a bit: Now just to find someone in EU with a metal shop to make the box and the disc

Great work Ardeshir.

as promised here is the upgraded blaster. Also posting in the body for quicker reference

Sure does look perdy! Amazing work Adam.

Thanks!

Congratulations trooper and welcome to the EI ranks

Congrats Chris! Welcome to the ranks!

Congratulations Chris!!!

Oh my goodness, I heard that you were all helpful but to have all those responses within a few hours blew me away Thanks for that and I can't wait to get started!

Thanks, fellas. Yes, Andrew, absolutely aiming for Centurion

I just built both my DLT and E-11 from the real steel.

I am sorry to hear Angie, but i really hope you can get out and troop. Sometimes it's those little things that make such a huge difference to our lives and those we touch through what we do. Keep us posted on you, and your troops, we will always be hear for you.

Miss you guys.. things have been tough for me lately.. I was diagnosed in Jan 2020 with Young Onset Parkinson's so I have a new challenge in my life. I hope to get out trooping once Covid is more manageable, but things have been tough in Canada lately. Keep well all!!

you are too funny

Hey all, apologies for the lack of updates on this thread... where does the time go? I admittedly have had a bunch going on lately (which I'll post a bit about here - again, my threads are less of a 'how-to' and more of a diary of my journey, and often includes a bit of life updates as well for those curious...) but I have also made some progress that I haven't shared just yet. Hang on, it's a doozy. Sooooo what's that ol' Rascal been up to? Frankly, I've been super burnt out, took some time off, and am easing back into things. I was fortunate enough to be part of a pretty cool project over the summer and ended up working on (building or rebuilding) like a half dozen suits in a very short timeline, and by the end of it, didn't even want to look at armor again for a while! haha More on that... later maybe. Next up, let's do a workspace update - I finally took the time to do a little garage/workshop remodel, so I could stop building armor in the living room of our one-bedroom. This little overhaul included doing some restoration work on an old metal workbench and vice that was left to me by my late grandfather. The workbench was cleaned up, repainted inside and out, got a new laminate top, a very cool oversize architect style light, second movable clamp light for detail projects, new hand press for snaps/punches, a power strip, cutting surface, drawer organizers, and an old monitor I had laying around (with VGA-to-USB-C connector, so my phone can run an Android desktop environment on it - great for displaying reference materials, how-to videos, etc). The old Columbia vice was also disassembled, cleaned, sanded/filed, and repainted somewhere near its former glory. I was also fortunate enough to receive a couple of new tools as wedding presents, including a very nice Milwaukee drill from @Ninety-Nine and a cordless rotary tool. I also got some pretty awesome Wall Control pegboard for behind the bench, to hold many of my tools (and a row of blasters). Finally, I updated my little patch collection wall in the space above it - featuring some fun FISD, IOC, and Southern California Garrison/Orange County Squad patches (my personal units). A brighter, directional main garage light also replaced the bare low-watt bulb. Pretty happy with how it all came out, but I still have a good deal of organizing to do and will likely add some more bins/organizers to the side. I added a lot of links in case anyone wants to know where this stuff came from - I'd recommend any of it! Before: And after (still a work in progress): Speaking of wedding presents, I took a good deal of time out this summer to help plan things out, and well... get MARRIED! My wife (and Jawa, DZ-71490) and I had a beautiful, small ceremony in August at a resort overlooking the beach and it was a phenomenal day. @Dsposato0 was kind enough to help MC and represent the FISD Crazy enough, a few weeks after the wedding (bringing us to the last couple weeks), and she ended up spending a long weekend in the hospital with a burst appendix and recovering, so armor again went on the backburner while I took care of her. She's doing much better though and work continues! I also was PET-scanned again this summer and continue to be in remission from cancer, so that's cool too. Butttt I also ended up taking a fin to the back of the head while out surfing in May and needed 20 internal sutures and 17 staples to hold my head shut, so that wasn't fun and prevented me from wearing a bucket for about 6 weeks (Hall of Meat - a pic of the wound for those with a strong stomach). It healed up well but again, set me back. We've forsure had ENOUGH medical issues to deal with lately. I have a build for @JHowe102 and a new Shadowtrooper recruit I'm currently still working on (but nearing completion), then once those are out the door, it will be back to focusing on the FOTK, then on an Anovos ANH build to replace my original ANH-S suit that has seen some battle... I was able to be patient in my search and came across a deal I couldn't say no to. I won't be doing a build thread persay (why, when @ukswrath has it fully covered?) but will likely do a little 'tips and tricks' thread, showing some of the techniques and tools I use throughout my build, and maybe it'll help someone (or me with your comments!). Still a bit backed up in the (MESSY) workshop though. Okay, so where's the FOTK at?! So let's start with a little spoiler for future projects (since I SWEAR I'm done for a while after closing all of these open projects out... adding some little troopers will be the focus!)... I bought more armor haha I found someone selling JUST the pieces needed to upgrade from TFA to TLJ, also from @jimmiroquai , and painted, 'ready to wear'. I saw the Facebook Marketplace post right around when the new Black Series TLJ buckets started shipping, so it felt like fate. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson about BS conversions, orrr about buying secondhand armor, but nope - I had these parts shipped from the UK and was pretty disappointed in the paint preparation and overall quality. You can literally see where a piece of masking tape was left and just painted over... the chest pills were hacked pretty haphazardly... and there was both topical damage (scratches/gouges) and casting imperfections that were never addressed originally - NOT up to my high standards. It'll be a full sand and repaint too. The other downside of this new set of armor is there was a LOT of velcro epoxied into it that was very difficult to remove. One upside is that it has not had additional resin added to the interior, so it is significantly lighter than my other chest/yoke. I'll likely add some resin, but NOT as much as the other suit, which will likely get sanded back a bit. I'll actually probably use the new chest/back/shoulders (not the cod/TD) for the TFA that I'm likely to wear more often, and the heavier stuff for TLJ. Another pretty big update is that I have been working with Sheev's Emporium a bit and snagged one of the first of their new full soft good kits (gaskets, neckseal, and rigging) for FOTK's and the stitched ribbing is probably the best I've ever seen. Looks like a very well designed kit and I'll be excited to take delivery this week hopefully (will post an update). I also have shiny shorts coming from @Soulart/Geeky Pink's, and already have Trooperbay gloves and Imperial Boots chukkas in hand, so that should be all my soft goods accounted for. I also snagged a rubber F-11D since I decided to sell the 3D printed one I have instead of trying to sand the myriad of print lines out. The gentleman who cast it was both former Praetorian and Ano...ther company, and apparently there is some controversy as to the ownership of his mold over on Faceballs, soooo that was a whole thing. But it's a solid, good looking rubber blaster and was a fair price, so whatever. I'll get around to painting it up as well and will likely use it as my trooping blaster, but won't try to add electronics to it. Okay, but where's the actual armor at?! The armor still has a long way to go, and I've had several minor (that feel like major) setbacks, and much like my ROTK, I can tell that several steps in the process are very linear and need to happen before I can move on to the next. The first and most daunting is adding the additional resin to the new pieces. For many months (freakin' pandemic Etsy hobbyists) resin has been very difficult to come by, and I am FAR from an expert in it, so I was really trying to buy the same stuff I used on my ROTK that worked well, but it has been out of stock (and the can I had went bad... resin has a short shelf life and I should have known that). I finally was able to find what I believe is a comparable product in stock at a reasonable price, so that's up next. Happening somewhat in parallel has been general paint prep. I started with the new chest and back/yoke, and well, this isn't even as many priming/sanding passes as I've done total, but here's a few shots. I've definitely learned since doing my ROTK and need to be a bit less of a perfectionist, and to "follow the rules" when painting - stuff like to allow for proper dry times, don't try to paint at night or when it's cold/humid, mask and manage for overspray, etc... always lessons being learned the hard way, but it's coming along. Another big lesson I learned is that my ROTK... is too shiny. The screen used suits are maybe a semi-gloss at best, but definitely don't have a thick layer of high gloss clear like mine. While it does look great, the time and money I spent to get it that way... really just wasn't worth it. What I DO like about the paint is how hard and scuff resistant it is, which I attribute to the 2K paint. I think for this one, instead of a Rustoleum white base with 2K clear on top, I'm going to try just USC's 2K Gloss White on top of white primer and call it a day. This should in theory be MUCH easier to repaint in the event of damage... which has already happened to my ROTK and now that I have to think about repairing it, I wish I had done differently (live and learn). I haven't had major issues with using THIN layers of Dynatron filler (which is similar to Bondo glazing putty) but I was recommended USC Garage's Flexible Glaze, which is a 2 component filler. I'll SAND the old paint, make any structural/deep REPAIRS with Apoxie Sculpt or marine epoxy, then a thin layer of filler/GLAZE on top, then PRIME with light colored filler primer, then white sandable primer moving forward (scratches/chips on the ROTK revealed the dark colored primer, which wasn't ideal), and then TOPCOAT with the 2K gloss white. I'll be doing the inside with satin white, as the flat I used last time tends to scuff and transfer color more. I'll probably be purchasing one of those decent sized paint booths that are like a popup camping tent since I made a huge mess in my garage last time, even after hanging plastic sheets. Anyways, I think that's it for now... LONG overdue, but hopefully updates will be coming more frequently now and I'd like to have this thing approved by the end of the year. My brothers in the SoCal Garrison (including @equuspolo, @Surfintrooper, and @yo_its_nino) totally inspired me with this photoshoot over the weekend, and it is too cool not to share! Photo by @KC Grim who may be joining the FO ranks soon as well! LONG LIVE THE FIRST ORDER!