tbo

Please set me up for 501st access! Forgot to do this a while ago. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=14675

I let it sit for like 18 hours the first time and came off fine. I sprayed a few other spots and after about four hours it appeared to look as it did at 18. I wasn't in a hurry so I let It sit I over night.

After trying to hand paint my RT-Mod helmet versus use decals I found myself having quite a bit of troubles with the Humbrol paints.. The end result was a very thick and nasty looking coating of something that sort of resembled paint. I had done a few searches trying to find things to remove it, and after finally making a post someone recommended using oven cleaner. This was done quite a while ago and I just recently found the free time to get back to my build, but I thought I would share the results. I take around the trap and sprayed it two or three times. It would foam up so I would apply more after it settled. It has been sitting for approximately 18 hours or so and it started cracking and bubbling up and one swipe with a rag showed a good clean removal with no damage to the plastic. Enjoy!

Hahah! Wish I would have read this a bit ago and I would have. Between being busy and work and waiting for some extra strips of plastic from Rob with RT-MOD I was delayed quite a bit... I finally got those strips so I seperated every piece of my gear, scraped the glue, trimmed and butt jointed it all. The first batch of plastic strips were not long enough to use as outside finishing strips so I use them on the insides since noone will see them. I am currently awaiting another shipment of longer abs strips to apply as outside finishing strips..in the past week or two I have removed all of my snap plates that had Dritz snaps and replaced them with the longer Tandy Leather snap plates. I have redesigned the strapping to use 2" elastic permanently glued between the kidney/butt plate and the ab/cod piece just as Soldermaster has used on his setup. This will, hopefully, allow me to have less snaps in the design so I have less snap failure to worry about. Tonight I plan on glueing 2" elastic suspenders and installing the permant snaps on the butt plate...then i'll be ready to suit up and if all that goes well then I just need to apply the outside finishing strips and a few other bits and pieces and it will be complete! It was definitely a bit daunting to rip it all apart and overhaul the whole thing with different snaps and butt jointing it all versus overlapping the pieces, but the extra effort is proving to be well worth it.

Oh no! I already convinced myself that I need to buy a TM sandy kit.

So I left my hack job dry because I ran out of paint thinner to remove it..now it won't come off! I try holding a tag of paint thinner on it and letting it soak but it appears my paint is too thick. I also tried Goof off, which I read about somewhere, but after testing on bare ABS that appears to do the same as acetone. Any thoughts?

Thanks Eric! I did a bit of searching and it appears they aren't worth but about double their retail value. Maybe someday loong from now they will be. I know my brother purchased them back when he was like 12 and left them unopened with hopes that they would be worth something someday.

So Ive been roaming around trying to find a price guide, but most I find are just books that I would have to purchase. I came across my brothers collection of all the "second wave" action figures. From what I gather they are the second distribution of action figures that was from 95' to 99'. Does anyone have any idea of their worth? I imagine its not much more than their original purchase price, but i'm just curious.

Pictures! I'm still waiting on my butt joint strips. I'd love to see how it goes together for you.

Got snaps? I got to work with my Tandy Leather snaps and hammered away. My back/kidney and chest plate are the only pieces still assembled and somewhat fitted to me, but I am going to wait till everything is rebuilt before I replace the Dritz snap plates On them with these Tandy ones. I have a list of things ready to be done it is just a matter of time to work on them. Tonight I installed my VaderDave ab buttons. The first concern, obviously, was to make sure that I got them as center as possible. I pulled a ruler and did my best to mark the center. It proved to be a bit difficult since the light was playing tricks with my eyes. I could have probably marked and done it from the inside, but I had no way of telling if each button formed the same through the vaccuform process I did not have any sort of center punch near by so I grabbed my soldering iron and melted a small hole in the center of my marks. My drillbit turned out to be a bit worn and I didn't feel 100% comfortable after the first hole to drill off that tiny dent for the rest of them. I grabbed my soldering iron and pushed it through a bit more giving me a nice little pilot hole to work with. It doesn't matter how slow I go and how much I double check my work I still am terrified everytime I am about to make a permanent modification to these bits of white plastic! I am happy with how it all turned out. I stuck a dab of E6600 on the black spacers that go on the inside and glued them down. Once those are dry I will put some loctite on and screw it all together. Next up I am going to finish stripping the rest of my haggard paint job on my lid and wait for my templates to come from Mike over at Trooperbay. Along with the templates I ordered everything else I need to reach Centurion. I am also waiting on the strips of plastic from Rob so I can really get this thing going. I picked up two 50oz bags of stuffing and plan to make some time to attempt my duct tape mannequin this weekend and possibly try and paint my vocoder. I've also been throwing aroudn the idea of spraying the inside of my armor black so the inside wont be so visible while trooping. As far as I know and have read having the interior black will not keep me from hitting Centurion..am I correct?

So I plan to install my VaderDave an buttons, and I was considering melting the holes with my soldering iron versus drilling. The only for fall I see to that is I may not be at I make them all the exact same size. Its not rocket science to drill a hole, but I used my soldering iron to put snaps on and it worked very well. Thoughts?

One step forward and two steps back.. So the plan is do it as right as I possibly can.. Soldermaster convinced me to butt joint everything so that is what I am going to do. I've spent some time stripping the pieces and removing all the E6600. I was using the Dritz pliers and snaps for convenience and time efficiency, but I have stacks of tandy leather snaps. The tandy leather snaps have a longer post allowing more metal to hold the male snap together when it is installed. The last thing I want is snap failure. I bought this suit to wear it, not look at it! Also, after discovering the duct tape mannequin DIY I decided to pick up some supplies. I was looking for a real mannequin, but I really like the idea of making one nearly identical to my body size and shape. I also placed an order with Trooperbay for a few bits to get my helmet up to centurion specs!

I wasn't quite sure if I should ask here or over at MEPD..I'm curious if any of you RT Mod owners have given this any thought or attempt?? I've been trying to rack my greenhorn brain with all the correct research to make a list of all that would needed to be done. I'm just trying to keep an open mind..though chances are I may just purchase a TD kit so my mannequin can have a friend

Thanks guys! I would remove with paint thinner and then do a once over with some rubbing alcohol. Does this sound correct? I'm going to stop by the craft store today and see if I can pick up some paint thinner, and quality brushes and give it another go.

I've opted to go for a hand painted RT-Mod lid versus stickers. The frown and ear bumps went over fairly well, but troubles came about when I was painting the rest. The first time around on the traps and everything else gray I used a #5 round with Humbrol 5. I put down a layer, but it was somewhat transparent so i let it sit for a while then added a coat and continued that process for 3 or 4 coats. I woke up the next day and it wasn't laying down evenly. I wiped it all clean and decided to try a larger brush..I went with a 5/8" flat and though it layed down flat I found myself with lots of tiny little bubbles. Any reccomendations on how to remedy my troubles?