tarok

Manny the Mannequin has had half a Red Bull: he's got a wing! The pauldron arrived today. My initial concerns about the colour were misplaced: I think the orange is passable. What say you fine peoples?

So... here we are again Because I like to start a few dozen projects, and never finish any take a really long time to finish them, I thought what the heck, what's one more LOL To set some expectations up front: I'm not interested in taking the build to Centurion level, my HWT will mostly be clean, as this is going to be a dual TK/HWT costume. I'm also in Australia, where we don't have access to the wide range of oil pan options our US brethren have (unless one fancies paying $$ in shipping). I haven't decided which BFG I like yet. In the absence of the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon, I'm leaning toward the T-21. Realistically though I'll probably just end up submitting my approval paperwork without a blaster. The oil change pan container I've gone with is the Daytona 8L. At 325mm wide and approx. 510mm high (once the pour plug has been removed), it's about 10% smaller than the Wedco 12.5 quart pan. As such, I'll be scaling the suggested height and width measurements featured in the TIP: NOTE ON HWT PACK SPECS thread down by 10%. My pan measures 100mm thick/deep, so I see no need to scale this particular dimension, but, hey, anything can happen. One of the concerns I have is with the curvature of the bottom of the pan, but a garrison mate asked about this on these fine forums a couple of months ago, and the general opinion was that it should be fine. Hopefully that position hasn't changed. Some initial WIP photos: Razorsaw and Xacto saw blade made quick work of the long funnels/pour plugs. One of the great features of this pan is the square funnel/drip area, which slides neatly over the TK backplate box. It should make wearability a bit easier. I did a quick mock up with appropriately sized (scaled) junk lying around the garage to see how it might look. Are the visible arms of the "X" going to be an issue? I think it adds character. At this point I'm uncertain whether I'll use Eric's 3D files, or just hunt down tupperware boxes. I had a quick look online last night and I couldn't find anything within the dimensional tolerances I would find suitable. A question for those in the know: does the width of the webbing straps matter? Finally, I've ordered a pauldron from this fellow: Stormtrooper Pauldron Shoulder Pad Sandtrooper Armor (Orange) Initial thoughts? If it's too light, I can darken it. If it's too thin, I'll pad it out.

Sorry to hear you got a bump back. Not sure I understand the pauldron comment - is it simply a dressing issue that a snap is visible? The backpack issue is a bugger, but it should be relatively easy to slice the pour plug off and fit a cover.

Thanks boss!

Bit of clean up required here please: a few dead links and Photobucket watermarks etc

Really nice work. Is this for a HWT? Really surprised nobody else has commented. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice work. Are you sharing or selling the STLs? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice one mate! Been doing some local spruiking of your TK [emoji6] Consider it a complementary value-add to my usual consulting fees. This one’s on the house lol [emoji23]

Hey mate Painting the side rivets: if you’re going to replace them after approval, just use some white-out correction fluid to paint them. It’s cheap and does the trick for basic.

Looks great, Tom! Once you’re done with the TD, I think you’re ready for your basic application - caveat: it’s 11pm here and I haven’t looked at the photos closely [emoji23]lol

Tandy is an American product (IIRC) so it makes sense to be more popular there. I looked into the Tandy stuff a few years ago, and although the shop resolves with a .com.au address, I don’t the order is fulfilled in Australia. I think it still ships form the US. There may be stores like Leflers in Fitzroy (again sketchy memory and I haven’t had coffee yet) who carry a small stock. One of our UKG brethren put me onto Prymm products. I use a few more than just the snaps [emoji6]

Either Prymm or Tandy will do. If you do go Prymm, the snap tool is really useful too [emoji6]

Hey Tom Many of the snaps our haberdashery shops (Spotlight, Lincraft etc) aren’t great for the holding strength we need for armour. I ended up ordering Prymm sport strength snaps off Amazon. (I’m currently swapping out velcro for snaps) These things are super strong [emoji4]

Husky crates aren’t available in Australia, in fact I think they’re only available in North America. Stanley do a large rolling tool chest as part of their Fat Max range. Have a chat to the folks at the special orders desk of your local Bunnings. Ask them for the 30 gallon. There’s a 52 gallon too, but I’m uncertain whether it’s sold here. Alternatives are hard shell suitcases, other types of “wheelie bins/containers”, or 4x4/ute crates from Anaconda or similar stores.

Hey Eric Fantastic work! Loving it! Don’t suppose you’d consider producing a STL for the actual backpack (aka oil drain pan container)? Here in Australia, and I imagine it’s not too different elsewhere, finding the right sized pan is a real pain in the derrière. Most of the pans are too narrow or too thick, or don’t have the handle in the right place. Anywho, regardless, looking forward to seeing the end product [emoji4]

Fantastic! Looking forward to the STLs

Rivet the elastic loop to the rear of the box, then just e6000 the front to the back.

Hi Tom, As mentioned on the KFG forum, it looks like your shin outers and inners may be swapped around. I wonder it those in the know could give it a 2nd look over? @justjoseph63? For your basic approval, I suggest using the ABS hand armour. I can tell you now our GML is going to push back on the EVA foam armour. And then a trooping tip: shape the tail of your butt armour (the bit that goes down under your cheeks) a bit. Those square tips are going to tear you up fierce between your legs.

Apparently it’s been the norm since TFA.

Short answer: no

Looking forward to following your build, Tony

Welcome from Melbourne!

Looks good, Mark. The sniper plate can be tricky. Re the thigh, are the 2 sides aligned at the bottom? Don’t forget to remove some of that return edge before doing to final sizing at the rear - although as we said you’ll probably need to shim, at very least near the rear top.

Looks good, mate, but do you have your boots? It’s best to measure your shins wearing boots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi there Not sure which state you’re in (I’m in VIC), but TDK Props gets my vote too. Tom’s a garrison mate so I’m probably a bit biased. Quite a few troopers in our garrison carry his weapons and they look great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk