Scarlet Trooper

Did the second painting of my tubes yesterday. They look better than they did the first time around, but still bled. I tried the white base coat, but am thinking maybe I need to coat the whole stencil instead of trying to stay in the stencil lines. Darn my stubbornness. I think I'll just try one side and not be nice and do my husband's while I'm at it. Less to fix if it doesn't take again. I'm thinking I might "laminate" the cardstock I've been using with some clear tape. IF that doesn't work I'm thinking I'll use the stencil to draw the stripes and paint that way. I did get some awesome news about some greeblies I'll be getting for my T-21!! I might start painting the buttstock on that bad boy today, and finish my neck seal.

I opted to order black boots and paint them white. You just use acetone fingernail remover to get the shiny coat off and I painted both a pair for myself and my husband with white acrylic paint and white fabric paint (for the elastic). I recommend taping off the shoe by the upper part of the sole to keep from getting it off the leather. It took about 3 to 4 coats. Then a glossy clear coat for a TK. Mine are for a TD, so I still need to get them dirty and plan on putting a matte clear coat.http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002LZT9E0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1445326123&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=chelsea+boots+mens&dpPl=1&dpID=418gKoXNKmL&ref=plSrch

My husband had the same issues with the biceps. He glued a larger strip of abs to the inside if the gap, then once dried added abs paste to the seam. Next, he sanded that down so it looked like one piece, then glued the 15 mm shim on top. www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/33508-my-first-build-a-td-from-tm-story/ I would double check if that would disqualify from centurion level. I not sure if that counts as overlapping parts or not.

Helmet is almost complete! Have the stencils taped on, and put a layer of white as a base for the tube stripes. I got the tip for doing a base from Mr. Sandman's thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/23204-tip-on-tube-stripe-painting-with-no-bleed-through/

Worked on plasti-dipping the helmet today. First, taped it all off and used saran wrapped the outside, just in case. Sandy Pimpernel did the actual spraying.

About time you started your build thread! You forgot your DLT-19 that came today too!

Tatertrooper no more. I decided to change my display name, but of course it won't let me fix the topic I started. Thought I'd share these lovelies that came today from Hyperfirm! The T-21 is mine, and the DLT-19 is Sandy Pimpernel (my husband's). I will be working on making the stocks have a "wood grain" finish to them, adding the ribbing, the sight and figuring out greeblies.

My husband has needed to add some larger shims to some of his pieces and I had to for my thigh pieces. What I do is glue one the shim to the inside of the armor. Then, once all the sides are glued put a layer of ABS paste where there is a "seem". Next, you have to sand the heck out of it to make it look like it is all one piece. The pictures are of his bicep piece, the final shim that is the same as the ones for the arms and legs, etc hasn't been glued on yet (which will cover up the stuff in the middle). ---------

My husband has a fat head too. He does what Sonnenschein stated about putting the helmet on sideways. We did try to make his helmet a little wider than mine, but he can still put my helmet on his head as well.

There is an older thread about battle damage with some good links. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/4102-howto-battle-damage/

If you want to file the teeth more I recommend getting a set of hobby files. You can find them at any hardware store or hobby store. They worked wonders for my helmet!

Hi Mark! I would highly recommend Troopermaster. I am 5'7" and 170 pounds and I still had to trim it down a bit.

A sheet of ABS plastic for the shims.

Thanks for all the help, everyone. I will try the white coat to see if that helps, since it does clean off pretty easily with the mineral spirits. If not I might get the kit from Trooperbay. The stencil I am using is the one Pandatrooper had posted. I'll let you all know how it goes.

The black thickened a little bit once stirred, but not the blue. It bled through the stencils really bad. I am going to see if I can maybe laminate the card stock I used for the stencils to see if that helps. If not I may order the Testors brand online or try to free hand the tube stripes.

Oh ok. Thanks!!

Do the Hyperfirm weapons come painted? It's hard to tell on their Facebook page.

My craft room looks like a tornado of ABS and E6000 went through it. Glue, glue, glue. Paint, paint, paint. I'm gluing the male snap sets on to my armor. I had to add a little bit more ABS to the thighs after trimming, cause I have lady legs and a big butt. Look we started painting the helmets, FINALLY! The left one is mine, the other is my husband's. I need to fix the black a little. Found out from some research that a toothpick should do the work. I'll let you all know how that goes. FYI for those of you who have not bought your paint yet. I'd recommend the Testors over the Humbrol. The Humbrol is much thinner than the Testors brand, which makes it drip and bleed. I bought the grey in the Testors, but they did not have the satin black nor the french blue. I wanted to give my business to our local hobby shop instead of Amazon, so I opted to get the Humbrol for those colors. To be continued....

Since I have been using so much E6000 I decided to write a song to the tune of I love Paris in the Springtime by Ella Fitzgerald. Every time I smell that familiar odor Whether it is sunny or not Whether sun strikes the sky or whether dark clouds loom by More and more I do glue away E6000 in the morning E6000 in the evening E6000 on my fingers really sticky E6000 in my hair that’s really icky E6000 every weekday Glue, glue, glue on the weekend E6000 Why, oh why does it smell bad I hope I don’t get high E6000 in the morning E6000 in the evening E6000 on my fingers really sticky E6000 in my hair that’s really icky E6000 every weekday Glue, glue, glue on the weekend E6000 Why, oh why does it smell bad I hope I don’t get high

Played around with the ears a little bit. Sorry for the huge image files. My phone takes way too high res pictures. First world problems.

I've been slow coming on this, now that my husband and I are working on two sets of armor. I've got my bicep and forearm pieces glued, all of my torso pieces have been trimmed and sanded. I had to do some trimming on the thighs since I'm only 5'7", and my legs are shorter compared to a man. I've been working on my neck seal, which I need to get pictures of. Last weekend we cut a zillion pieces of abs and make them into the male snaps for the snap sets. I've been working on the ear pieces for both my bucket and my husband's. He does the outline, I do the trimming. Here are some pictures of my bucket. Please feel free to give me some feedback. I'm not sure if they need to be trimmed back a bit more or not. Front Right Front Right Side Right Back Back Left Back Left Side Left Front

Yes, he is. He is SUPER slow about signing up. I need to nag him some more. I need to start a build page on MEPD.net forum as well.

Thank you, Paul! I'm a little slow in posting, since I've been working on gluing my pieces and my husband's armor came in over the weekend. Lots of trimming again. The second time around seems to go a little quicker, or maybe it's you are less scared about cutting the pieces. Both helmets are together with the rivets, need to trim and attach the ears pieces. Gluing, and gluing, and gluing. The black (before) are my husband's and the white (after) are mine. Can't wait to get these "dirty"! Progress on my husband's shoes. Don't mind my hobbit feet slippers. My dachshund, George is always making sure I have a spot to set things.

I've been making some progress. Does the length of my forearm armor look correct or do I need to trim it up some more? I've already taken about a quarter of an inch off.

Thanks! Troopermaster's armor is something to marvel at. I have finished the rough trimming of the armor. My bucket is ready for assembly. I will post pictures tomorrow.