Artshot

Okay then, here we go for the next thrilling instalment of my “Z6 – Riot Baton Build” or as I have come to think of it, “What have I started”, especially since once I got to over 150 hours I stopped counting. The images below are exploded images of the completed Baton in the “Folded” position. I tried while building this to be as accurate as I could be, based on photo's and assorted details online, I have also tried to build the potential for options into the model for people to hopefully improve the Baton. I am not an engineer and basically had to figure out things as I went, hopefully once I run the individual pieces through Shapeways I will be able to start a new thread with directions and thoughts on the Baton's construction. As always, any thoughts and comments are welcome. So, that's it, I finished it, which is as much a surprise to me as it might be to anybody following.

Wow, great work, especially on the 3d modelling, looking forward to seeing how this comes together.

Since it's nearly that time of year for present giving.....just bought myself the voice changer Stormtrooper helmet I thought I would spread a little cheer for those still following this very very long build......it's finished However, being slightly useless, I have left the files on the server at work, so I may have to wait till after the Christmas/New Years break, to share them. Doh!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Great Photos, whilst it's probably not, that TD looks a lot like a ww2 german gasmask canister.

Done!

Very Nice, Clean & Sharp

I own the AM2.0 and could not be happier, especially as it fits the larger framed person

Happy BBB Day If you cannot get the cracked piece replaced (from all I have heard, I think they will replace it), you can always patch it from the inside with a strip of surplus ABS, as long as you keep both edges of the split nice and clean and tight together, it will reduce to a hairline and be hardly noticeable, especially if its the edge your belt will cover.

Here we go then, another thrilling instalment of my Z6 Riot Baton Build, or as I have come to think of it "Bitten off more than I can chew" or "What was I thinking ?" Over the last few weeks I have been struggling to figure out how to get the rotation for the Deflectors to work, especially since I decided to be clever and not only want them to be able to go from closed to open, I also wanted them to rotate at the same speed and by a fixed rotation (180 degrees)......now you know why it's taken weeks, especially since I have mostly been figuring out how to use Sketchup as I go and I am no engineer. So, on with the pictures of the progress so far. Here we have the new rotation peg (going to call it that from now on), currently in the Baton closed position, the peg has been modelled with a slight "step out" to match a similar "step in" on the retaining ring, not only will this allow the peg to rotate by only 180 degrees, but the retaining ring will stop it flying apart. I have decided that I want the Deflectors to try and lie as fitted to the main body as I can manage, however there has to be a balance against how far they need to extend to open and maintain clearance when rotating. Here we have an internal view of the above, granted you cannot see much at this point. Similar to the first picture, here we have the rotation peg at its extended position, I am going to figure out a length of the peg that not only gives clearance, but should hopefully keep the Deflectors fitting better on the main body. Also I will be cutting a similar indentation into the interior rotation peg point in the Deflectors to make sure that the Deflectors will be locked in parallel positions, either open or closed. And again, we have an internal view of the rotation peg in an extended position. And now for something to clear up a bit of the internal mechanics, as you can see each half of the rotation peg (yup so good it comes in two parts) has a recessed "cup" that surrounds the smaller part of the rotation peg, I am hoping that this recess will allow the fitting of a spring to aid on the Deflectors popping out to extend. As you can hopefully see, but probably not make out, the central smaller part of the rotation peg locks into the opposite piece, this should make sure that when it rotates, they will rotate together and at the same speed, I have made sure that each part extends far enough that they lock when open and closed, also they are long enough to be braced through the smaller holes in the interior of the main body. Okay so here are a few observations:- 1) The sizes of the spaces inside the rotation peg are pretty small (about 2mm) wide for the space for a spring, this cannot be helped at this stage as the area is pretty small to work in. 2) The lip I have built into the rotation peg and the retaining ring is only 1mm, this I realise is pretty small for an area that could get a bit of wear. 3) Currently I have no clue how to control how to make the Deflectors spring open, I have tried a few pivot ideas, but as I was wasting too much time banging my head against the problem I moved on, hopefully one day I will figure it out, I have included helpful holes in the main body, should I ever get it sorted, I even considered having the rotation peg corkscrew open. As usual, any and all comments welcome.

Some progress has been made, after a slight rethink.....yay Some pictures have been taken.....yay Some idiot left the file at work.....drat Update tomorrow, I think I might be in the final stretch Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Lesson for self, never try to model something with moving parts

Fantastic paint job on this helmet, it really looks like it's seen action, been dropped, kicked about and had things ricochet off it, yet still retain a unique "Real World" feel. I think I need one of these just based on how good you have made it look.

Hey Eric, being a fellow AM2.0 owner I had the same problem with the back plate in that it did not reach high enough on my back and sort of bridged out rather than lie flat, I got around this by reducing the return edge to about 5mm and then doing the boiling water trick to flatten the upper shoulder strap area, making it lie a little flatter against my back. Also when looking at your photos, the two snaps on your butt plate are in the incorrect place, the spur that you have them fixed to should be removed and the snaps attached to the curved area, you will find that the fit improves when you remove the spur. Have a quick look through my build if it helps, granted I have not finished yet, but I think I fought the same things your fighting with.

Hoorah! I have managed to get rid of my backlog of deadlines, so it looks like I can eventually finish this thing Thanks for the patience if your still out there.

I am just about at this stage, my shoulder straps are attached to my chest piece, however they are not centred on the back plate area, which bugs me and my OCD :/ After looking at your photos it definitely looks like another quirk of AM2 armour. I have been thinking about boiling the back plate connections and gently squeezing them in, just doing a test with my hands and flexing the armour looks to do the trick without deforming the shape. Yay, more slightly poached hands.

Great work on the boiling, armour....not hands

I did it with the completed biceps, that way each piece was going to hopefully be shaped and still fit together, doing the pieces separately might change how they fit together. I did wait a couple of days to make sure the E6000 was well set to avoid anything popping undone. Once you hold the new shape and dunk your hands into cold water to set the pieces you should see a difference, just take it slowly and more importantly carefully as boiling water and hands do not normally mix well. Try to keep the pieces in the water and not touching the pan as that could burn your armour. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Being the owner of a set of AM2.0, I had to use the boiling water method to make my biceps rounder and fit better as they were slightly rectangular once completed. Another thing I did was reduce the return edges to about 5mm to free up more space. If after trying all of the above you still need more room and have to remove the cover strips, I would increase the interior cover strips to about 30mm if you can, then when putting the biceps back together I would try and glue the inner and outer armour pieces to the interior cover strip, leaving about a 10mm or so gap between each side, so that you have a sort of recessed trench, then fill this trench with a strip of surplus ABS, that way if your external cover strips are 15mm, you can attach them over the top and not have any obvious shimmed areas, this can obviously be sized according to your outer cover strips. Then use ABS paste to fill the ends where they join the return edge. Doing this could free up 20mm or so of extra space. Hope that makes sense ? and more importantly, helps Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As usual, another fine read.

Excellent Once I get home from work (and Facebook is not blocked) I will have a look.

Doh! Yup, I am a member, just never go there much, cheers for the heads up, will go and have a look around

Since I have lost a bit of interest in finishing my Doopy E-11 Blaster and my Sterling was never going to be a trooping weapon, I am curious to know what the availability of a Hyperfirm E-11 in the UK is ? Since there is currently an overly complicated law in the UK concerning weapons, Deactivated weapons (easy to buy), Replica/Fantasy weapons (banned by customs), this makes buying a Hyperfirm from the USA a bit of a risk. Unless there is a similar type of E-11 out there......something that bounces

Stunning, looking forward to seeing the rest of your tutorial.

With your set of AM2.0 armor you can go for centurion, the reference in the CRL is for the original older sets of armor (I am currently building towards Centurion), the problem with the earlier sets was that the chest and back plates did not meet the standard, however since the pieces have been remade, then your good to go for it. So far in my build I have used the score and snap method, always measuring twice, I prefer to have the tighter control, but then I tend to over analyse my build, I spent hours filling in the seams on my forearms with ABS paste (small scraps of ABS mixed with acetone to create a very handy filler which sets just like armor), I also found a set of jewellers files were invaluable to blend the edges of the paste into the armor, the files will also come in handy when you build a blaster I had never used E6000 glue until I started my build, after 7 attempts to get one of my forearms to a fit I was happy with, I can attest to it's forgiving nature, easy to remove with no damage to your armor, ready to try again. Whilst I have not finished my armor yet, happy to answer any queries you might have.

Don't forget clamps, you can never have too many clamps. You may also need more magnets as they have a habit of randomly flying together and smashing themselves to pieces. The occasional finger nip with the magnets is also to be expected. Oh, and expect to draw blood, luckily those little red marks stand out really well on the armor.