MoSc0ut

A bit of a quantum leap forward today. I actually feel like I might finish this in the next 48 hours! First I addressed that left calf that was too big. I should have known that using CA glue was going to come back and haunt me at some point. Trying to tackle this problem I started with the utility blade. Realizing that I may cause more damage (than pictured below) I switched to my Dremel and carefully took off the cover strip. I used some gaffers tape to protect the side I didn't want to scrape up with the sand paper. I then ripped it half lengthwise and used the clean edge to mark out the bit I was going to remove. I had to remove one of the eyelets that I used to reinforce the the plastic hole. Another hot water bath in my canning pot. Sorted. Jim

Race you! Lol!! Jim

Did some bicep hooks too. I just used a lighter to heat up the plastic then bent it over. The trick with a lighter is to just carefully hover just under the plastic and not let the flame touch the the plastic or you get black scorch marks. Also fire heats stuff up quick so be careful not to melt it, you just want to soften it. Then a little sanding to get rid of the sharp edges. Done. Jim

While I think about how to fix that I am going to finish up the shoulder bell attachments. First I cut 2, 6" pieces of 1" wide elastic Hand sew in the male side of the snap. Check reference photos, glue and clamp in place with magnets. Jim

Next was the thighs. Out of all the different tutorials for this I went with the one from the Trooper Bay videos. My Dad was a Police officer. When he passed away 18 years ago, for some reason I ended up with his duty belt. So using 3" elastic I made a loop and sewed it so it would slide onto the belt. I may be adding some hook side Velcro to the inside of the loop. (If I do, I'm going in the wrong order for things again!) The duty belt has loop Velcro sewn to the inside so this will prevent the elastic from sliding around. I then donned my thighs and figured out where I wanted them to hang and marked the elastic with a fabric pencil. Next I glued the fabric inside the thigh. I've been going with 3" on all elastic that is glued in anywhere as it seems like that will give plenty of holding power. Trying the legs all together. I have a problem. Now that I see them all together the Left calf looks noticeably different from the right. [sigh.] Jim

Got a few more strapping items done last night. I'm probably going about it in the wrong order and when it comes to doing the brackets I think I may have just made it harder on myself. If you're following this as a guide maybe wait and do this next part AFTER doing the internal torso strapping/brackets. [emoji846] I started by gluing in the left side shoulder elastic. Then made a snap plate for the right side and installed it. I found in the tutorials in the armor sections, how to. I'm running a little low on silver snaps and since this won't be seen I am using what ever color I have laying around. I then added the female side to the elastic. I made lines on the inside with a pencil where the elastic would over lap. Found the male side of the snap through the elastic and made a mark. I punched a hole through the fabric with my handy leather punch. A thrift store find which has been invaluable throughout this build. They sell these at Joann fabrics too in the tiny leather craft section. I got mine for cheap so it was worth it. I then added the ABS shoulder straps. and 1/4" elastic. Just a good 'ol square knot going on here. I may throw a stitch in there just to keep it from sliding around. Jim

Good call. I keep forgetting that most asking for help here have ANOVOS buckets which are a bit thinner than my WTF bucket. Sanding may not be the best idea, unless there are some real stubborn spots. Jim

No on the acetone! It will melt the ABS! You're much better off using a very fine grit sand paper like 500 down to 1500 or finer in steps then finish up with a plastic polish like Novus. Jim M.

I don't think I have, but I've heard of it! I may need to make a trip there now. Portland has sooooo many taverns and brew pubs it's hard to decide which one to go to. [emoji51] Jim M.

Thanks for the tip! The thought of gluing Velcro to my new boots makes me a bit queasy. [emoji15] lol! Jim M.

I thought it was Zoidberg helping with the boiling water! Lol! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Jim

Thanks "68"! I'm going to add some elastic in the bottoms to keep them from creeping up but they were one of the things I was most worried about. Jim M.

He used snaps! Jim M.

I was too going to go "full screen accurate" but instead I stuck to the things others would actually see. Stuff inside the armor I'm modifying for comfort. If it doesn't effect my future shot at a Centurion application I'm not going to worry about it and make what works best for me and my comfort. After all we will spend a lot more time in our armor than actors in SW did. Jim M.

As you know, it's half following what others have done and half figuring out things on your own! Jim

It all depends on the process used to dye the leather if that will work. If the dye was applied by hand this absolutely could work. If it was commercially dyed it will be mostly through the whole hide. At this point it wouldn't hurt to try as it won't work "as is". Depending on how much length you have on the straps if you trimmed off about an 1/8" you'd be able to tell what you're working with by seeing the cross section. Jim M.

Once leather is died it's that color indefinitely. You may be able to uses a flat fabric paint to emulate the natural color for a quick fix but your best bet wold be new straps. [emoji52] Check with your local Garrison as most have at least one person who makes holsters and they probably have scrap laying around they could turn into 2 straps for you. You could also try SWExpress on Etsy. I didn't buy from them (a fellow Garrison member gave me a holster!) but when I asked some noob questions they were quick to respond and also have many good reviews. I would bet they would do a special listing and send you out some replacement straps. Jim

That means it's time to sand that shimmed area! Before: About halfway: Forget this! It's time for the orbital sander. **Unless you have experience working with one of these and some 220 grit or finer pads I don't suggest doing this.** There we go. Better. But I ended up with 1 big bubble that had been buried in the mess of ABS paste I had applied. I applied a very fine coat of more ABS paste and filled the bubble and will re-sand then polish tonight. I also had some very fine bubbles in the ABS paste too that was catching some of the finer sandpaper grit and making it look slightly darker. I rinsed it really good in the sink prior to the application of the fine coat of ABS paste. Hopefully when I sand tonight that will be solved. Fingers crossed! Jim

Moving right along now. Got some more strapping installed last night. I worked on the shoulders. I used painters tape to size the chest and back to me. This helped me determine that I needed 2 3/4" of elastic between the top two shoulder pieces. I added 3" length to each side so that I would have plenty of material for the glue to hold onto. I used 2" wide white elastic. All through out the forums, some say 2" and some say smaller. In my experience the wider the strap, the more comfort on the shoulders. I used E6000 here in case I have it wrong and need to peel it off and get the right stuff. I made alignment marks with my fabric pencil for easy installation. Sewn on Dritz #10 in the center. I used some scrap ABS to disperse the clamping pressure evenly over the surface of the elastic. While that started to cure I thought I'd knock out some bicep elastic too. .....now I'm out of clamps. [emoji52] Jim

Everyones ab armor, in theory, should be virtually trimmed the same. If you need extra circumference, because it fits too tight, you add it to the kidney. Here's a pic from the inside of my kidney armor showing the shim I added to give myself a little wiggle room. You figure out how much overall you need to add, divide it in half and add that much to each side using this method. I hope this helps. Jim

If you look at the pic I just posted you'll see that the ab should be trimmed straight from top to bottom with no return edge. Here is some more pictures that hopefully will be helpful. Jim

Here's a better picture. Starting the sanding of my ABS filler now. [emoji16] Jim

It should look like this: Then you can iron over and ABS paste the gaps. It should line up flush similar to this: I'm sanding and polishing tonight so I don't have that finished image....yet! (I'm holding the ab plate a bit high in this pic.) Jim

Thanks! That means a lot coming from someone who was able to pull off an amazing build for their first time. Hopefully some day we'll cross paths. I love the plastic mat idea and I'm totally going to "borrow" that too. Jim

Indeed! Even though these are so light it feels very solid. Resin being a pourable two part epoxy will hold up to some abuse. I defiantly wouldn't intentionally drop this, or any optic real or reproduction. After all it just made the trip across the largest ocean and US postal carriers aren't known for their gentle touch. Last Christmas they left a computer I bought for my son in the pouring rain 7 feet from our covered porch! The computer survived, thankfully. Jim