gazmosis

The black frown and pattern/color differences on the tear and trapezoids. Hand guards differ as well. Other than that I think the armor itself is pretty much the same. Lots of changes with ROTJ.

Thanks for the input, Terry! I have wiped down all of my previous projects with alcohol and ahe only paroblems that I have had have been with primer application as I now look back on it. The same thing happened in this case. Primer was too heavy and I painted too soon. I was able to strip all the parts down successfully and (although you would disagree) I did wipe them down with 91% alcohol. I primed with three superfine mist coats.After three, they were covered well. The parts were then moved to my warmer upstairs and will bve left to cure for 72 hours before topcoating. I hope that on Tuesday I can post with news of my pristine paintjob. I did not get impatient. I did wait a total of 72 hours for the primer to cure. The temp is supposed to drop here in Chicagoland and it will rain for the next two days. Humidity is a no-no!!! I painted today and the result is every troopers dream!! What a finish!! After two weeks I can polish out a few inevitable lint specs that no one but me will notice, but overall I could not expect better. Thanks to all who helped and gave me their suggestion for success.

Congrats, Brother!!! Knew there would be no problems there!!! Great build!!

The only part that reall has no return edges are the forearms at the wrists. Depending on your armor maker, you should be able to see the return edge as a little dip that follows the contour of the tops of the shins, thighs, and most other parts. The shoulders are usually a challenge but any return around 3/16 to 1/4 inch is fine. As for the strapping system...in my opinion...do it right the first time and you won't need to mess with it again. Why build it twice? In most cases the only velcro should be on the back of your shins.

I used this on Styrene and it removed Rustolium primer for plastics AND Rustolium professional gloss white.

Now that all of you have endured my whining and crying about my paint failure ( a huge thanks to all those who helped out in providing me with info that will hopefully prevent this again!!!), I needed to strip all my parts that I painted. I may as well learn something from the failure and maybe help others in the process. I found a product called "Goof Off" at Menards. ($5) I used this as an adhesive remover because , unlike goo gone, it leaves behind no oily residue. I soaked the parts with this and after a few minutes soak time, softened up the paint nicely. With 220 sandpaper and and a light touch, the paint turned into a milky paste. A few more sprays and a little effort and the parts were clean...primer and all. Most important, no effect on the plastic!!! I needed about 2 full bottles to do all the leg parts(4 shin halves, 4 thigh halves, sniper, and power pack) Small price to pay to save some time and not ruin the armor parts.---------

It's not like it totally peeled off but it lifted in certain areas enough that with any more coats of gloss it was going to be awful. Time is the key here I now know. Time and patience. I should see this as a blessing. I am building these parts so that I can apply for centurion. I need to get those side gaps down 1/2 inch, though. This will give me the time to work on that. I wish that a few dull areas were my only issue. I love the polishing process and bringing out the glossy beauty in the armor.

Thanks soooooo much for the thorough response, Terry. I believe my issue is with the primer. # I probably put it on too thick ergo the slight run I had on one part and #2 I think I need to let let the primer cure a little longer 3-4 days maybe just be sure. I was fairly meticulous about my cleaning of the parts. I still need to strip a couple parts before re-trying this. Have you ever wiped things down with thinner or alcohol (suggested by ATA himself)? I will let the primer cure a couple days before painting. I think this will be my ticket. Thanks again!!!!!!

Looks like centurion is next! Nice job, trooper!

I have painted several sets of armor and many helmets. Sometimes all goes perfect. Other times, not so much. You want to learn from your failures but when I did something that succeeded before but failed now...what is there to learn? I posted earlier about using a type of goo gone to get off some adhesive left behind by the tape used in the fitting process of my armor pieces. After all was wiped off, The armor looked really clean and I asked if anyone had used this as a degreaser/cleaner in their prep because I know that any oils that are left on the armor due to inevitable overhandling can harm paint adhesion. There was concern in a couple of responses saying it would be best to stay with old school sanding as a prep. The sanding just was not taking off the adhesive. I used the goo gone to take the adhesive off only where necessary. I then used 400 grit to clean the rest of the armor pieces under running water. Someone had posted in that they used a lava type soap...even dish soap was used. I used dish soap before and had a failure so I avoided it. I opted for orange glo. A mild abrasive with no film and a top notch degreaser for oil removal. I sanded/cleaned the snot out of each piece. Metuculously. I primed with rustolium plastic primer. Let that set for 1 1/2 days. Then painted this morning. A light first coat with rust. professional. It lifted off almost immediatly. In no particular pattern. Some in more areas than others...more on some parts than others. Now let's find out what I did wrong. I am painting in my basement with a constant 65 degree temp and low humidity. I can't imagine that I left ANY of the cleaners on with the amount of sanding/rinsing I did. I didn't wipe off any parts so no secondary transfer could come from a rag. I compressor blew the main water off then let air dry for 24 hours. The since the paint lifted the primer, the only conclusion I can come to is that 400 grit is not course enough to use for paint prep and the armor surface was too smooth for the paint to bite to it. I always thought that since the primer was for plastic, there was something in the primer that bit into the plastic for you. Am I wrong here? Lastly, any spray painting needs to be applied with all coats about 15 min apart. Does this go for the primer as well? For example...apply primer, wait 15 min. then top coat, wait 15 min then more top coat ect....? Sorry this got so long. I am really frustrated right now and I am a perfectionist so that is NOT helping. Where did I go wrong?

Well It seems that I am doomed when it comes to painting armor. ALL my horrors have come true regardless of all the careful prep work. The ONLY thing I have going for me is the fact that it was only the first coat. It will only take several hours not days to sand it off and start over. I don't know why everyone else can get away with using some kind of cleaner like dish soap or LAVA and all comes out perfect. I, on the other hand, sand the p*ss out of mine with a tiny bit of de-greaser, sand it more while rinsing, rinse it again, ....blah, blah blah....whine whine whine..........I'm gonna try Brian's approach and once I sand it down...AGAIN, I will just paint it.

That's fine! Any more and you risk losing the straight edge.

Never get tired of looking at those! Great finds!

I like to move it move it......I like to move it move it.....I like to move it move it....he likes to.....MOVE IT!!!!!

Well, I guess I will have to run a mile before suiting up...that way I will already be warm before puting on the armor. Thanks to all who informed me!!!

Being new to trooping, I have yet to experience trooping under all conditions. I am participating in two troops around thanksgiving and bought some Underarmor compression cold gear. The guy at the store said that this stuff was the bomb! He said, " I went out in single digit temps wearing only this and I was fine!" I tried it out last night for Halloween. It was in the low 30's here in the Chicago area. I froze. Now I am freaking out. My forearms and bicep armor parts are tight enough with one layer I can't imagine wearing two. am I missing something or did I get hosed?

Well done!!!!

I washed all my parts yesterday using 400 grit and orange glo handwashing gel. I know what a great de-greaser that stuff is. I made sure to thoroghly wash and rinse it all while using the 400 sandpaper. I air blew all the water off and they should be ready for primer today. I need to disassemble a halloween show that was hired to build first. Then I need to take down stuff in my yard and start back on the intense workout sessions again. The armor was a bit tight last night.

Looking good so far!!!! ROck that armor!

How'd the helmet turn out?

Sweet build there guy!!! You ought to be proud!!!

I mean that I do wash the undersuit. The only thing I really clean is the black area that is left by the holster onl my thigh. I just use car polish.

I do nothing. My long term goal is for my armor to take on a life of its own.

Sucking it in would work if the halves of my ab and kidney were adjustable. Diet and excersize...diet and excersize...diet and excersize....no halloween candy...diet and excersize

Out of all the centurion application photos, I only noticed one that was a bigger trooper with side gap fillers on his armor. Is it possible to acheive Centurion if you still have a few lbs. to drop but every other aspect of your armor is spot on? Not huge fillers. About 3/4 inch.