JAFO

Having tackled the belt I occupied myself with a few upgrades, mods and other random tasks. Here we go. To aid the forearms from slipping I added some 12mm foam strip around the wrists... And to assist keep the shoulder bells in place over the biceps I cut some webbing and affixed some Velcro to create simple straps... And whilst waiting to tackle another couple of major steps I decided to kill some quick time adding some adhesive rubber seal to the back of my Officer's pauldron to give it some support on the shoulder and padding to stop it scuffing the armour. I also added some magnets which will be used to keep the pauldron in place. We'll come back to the pauldron and it's fitting after the break!

It has been a little over a week since my last post but, rest assured, I have kept a laser sharp focus on getting this build over the finish line. There has been a lot of activity and that means a few photos too so I'll split the next couple of posts to come bang up to date. Having completed the test fitting my main tasks were to create the belt and the garter system for the thighs. Let's start with the belt! This is a kit I know given I have been creating and selling these since March 2016. It is constructed of three layers - the inside webbing layer which connects to the buckles, the middle 'spacer' layer which is made from high density closed cell sponge rubber and the outer heavy duty ribbed rubber layer. The first job is to size/trim the webbing making sure for allowance over the cod and butt. Once sized I stitched on the male buckle before setting to work on glueing the three layers together. To glue the pieces I used Loctite 60sec which seems to work very well... It's important to get a good coverage of sticky stuff on each layer for a good bond... Once the three layers had been glued it was time to reinforce and leave well alone for a good 24hrs... Allow the ribbed layer to cover the buckles in half/half fashion so it creates a seamless look once the belt is put on. This section is ultimately covered by one of there soft pouches. Once dried it was time to measure the belt boxes and create the necessary holes to secure them using the Chicago screws I had affixed to the back. A hole punch was the perfect tool for the job. Once all the holes had been created it was then time to screw the belt packs in place. Notice how the two vertical boxes step down a little. This is a detail I picked up on having reviewed tons and tons of photos. I have to admit, having completed the belt and trying it on I did return to adjust positioning of the two centre boxes as once on they do splay out a little and I wanted to bring them closer together. And the completion of the belt concludes this first entry for today! Standby for the next one...

Found time today to do some test fitting. This fitting aimed to assess general fit/placement and help with sizing for the belt, finalising placement of magnets for the chest plate fixture and for adding Velcro for connection between the shoulder bell and biceps. Overall I'm pretty happy with the first fit. Minor refinements required. Experienced some issues with the magnets on the ab socket closure. These need to be redone with a stronger adhesive. Thighs were not included purposefully at this stage but I hope to have the harness sorted for these in the coming week. On a side note, I've always wondered why I've never seen Troopers smile in test fits pics. I always thought I would do it differently but my pictures show that I failed. I now realise there are equal measures of anxiety and focus at play when it comes to a test fit. No wonder we look so serious!

Thanks Tony! Good to be moving forward [emoji106]

Well, as expected, the rain hit Sydney in a big way today so I'm glad I got the painting finished in the nick of time. Today offered up the chance to get a few simple tasks done. First up I added Chicago screws to the various belt boxes. I used industrial strength Velcro to affix the female end of the screws to the boxes. These will be secured to the belt once sized and completed. Next up, the simple task of measuring and cutting some 2mm elastic cord which will be used to give extra support to the knee plates. I've also spent some time today revisiting the harness I constructed and figuring out whether it's the right design. I need to attach the thighs and I'm just struggling to decide the best way forward. If you're reading this and have any ideas, feel free to share! I'm hoping to do a test fitting over the weekend so this will highlight other areas that need attention - including finalising how the chest plate and yoke will work best.

I am using magnets in many ways - shins, yoke, ab, TD. Initial trialling is very favorable. I have a build thread going if you want to take a look [emoji3] Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just takes a little patience and a lot of wiggling! There's not much glue holding it on. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It has been a BIG week for sure and today I was ecstatic to nail my final painted piece - the yoke. After a week of frenzied painting/sanding/painting my pop-up paint shack has now come down - just in time as are due for a 'big wet' over the next few days. Lucky we're getting our backyard done - the landscaper said I would need to kill the grass. Mission accomplished! Whilst the yoke was drying I did a quick mod on the shins that had been suggested by a few Troopers. To save scuffing and discolouring the boot tops I added a layer of felt inside each shin bottom. I also started the process of working through the chest plate to yoke connection and started glueing rare earth magnets in place. There's more work to come here. Finally, the last chore for today was to add the black decal disc to the yoke/backplate. A simple thing but a moment of real satisfaction - the last decal to go on!!! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170518/cffbd9b7693502c577b0552fd2ea5843.jpg[/img So, now what? Well, there's still a list to check off before submitting approval photos. In no particular order the list includes... - finalising chest plate to yoke connection - add foam to yoke shoulders (many Troopers have suggested this for comfort) - add Velcro connection from shoulder bell to bicep - measure/attach leg straps for thigh connection - measure/construct belt and affix boxes And then, of course, there's the test fit and adjustments. Doesn't seem like much but there's a bit of time here in magnet placement, glueing and drying. I'm hoping another 1-2 weeks before it's time to submit!

Hey Bryan! The resin wedge is designed to be used for the pistol only so I left it out so I can suspend either the F-11D or SE-44C. If I added the wedge I'd be limited to pistol ONLY. I'm decided against cutting the spats as they slip over my foot and in to place very easily. Thanks for the pump up!

Some have suggested it might have been applying paint before the previous layer had dried. It could also have been a bad can as I also used it on my SE-44C build and had a similar problem in some areas.

Final post for today....SUPER pumped three more pieces are complete. The shin and bicep that were causing me so much paint grief are now done! And the biggest piece - the ab - has come up really nicely. I've added the Trooperbay decals to the ab and, well it's looking all First Order like! The final piece to be finished in the painting stakes is the yoke. It's looking really good but there are just a couple of areas I'm not happy with. This will be my task for tomorrow. BRING...IT...ON!

When it comes to the holster I have seen some fix it with Torx screws than paint over. I don't believe this to be screen accurate so during the holster install I held it in place with some temporary screws and bonded it to the thigh prior to the painting process. The result was a 'clean' holster ready for the Torx screws to be added. R2Dan's holster is a great piece of kit. I opted to add it without the resin wedge so that I can choose to suspend either the F-11D Blaster or SE-44C pistol. Adding the Torx back in to the mix was easy as and I'm very happy with the final result. Another job done!

So, it has been a BIG week and today has been a particularly rewarding day of the build as I get closer to the finish line (seemingly!). Whilst painting and repainting continued on a few pieces I took time to put the finishing touches to some of the completed kit. Namely, it was time to work on the the pill boxes, vents and holster. For the various pill boxes and vents - biceps, shins and chest - the main accessory required is gaffer tape. Black is used behind the apertures and I opted to use white tape as the 'fixer'. The process is simple...cut out a suitable piece of black gaffer to cover the aperture then use a piece of white gaffer to back it and stick to the inside of the armour. For the chest pill boxes I used a piece of mesh that I sourced from Asia and based on the material used/sold by Tony (Ukswrath) in his lauded bible of the FOTK build. Once in place I backed the mesh with black gaffer then applied the white gaffer tape to secure. The chest vent is backed with just gaffer tape per the bicep and shin pill boxes. With all of the pill boxes and vents taken care of, it was time to take on the holster....

Another day and more progress! A few more completed pieces but also a couple that suffered paint issues so will need a wet sand and respray. It's both a challenging and frustrating process but the reward of a piece turning out well gives the necessary boost to continue.

Depending on the kit/print you use it's a very simple build but shout out if you have any specific questions [emoji106]

Good to get a little more work done today and some shiny white goodness to show for it. Even managed to get the Trooperbay decals on to the firearms which is another job off the list. Looks like a good few days of weather ahead so more painting - and updates - to come!

A big afternoon of wet sanding yesterday and then the small job of applying some decals to finished pieces today. It's nice to see some black and white together - it's starting to look like a trooper kit!

Hey Randall! Hadn't seen these pics before now - great work! You look awesome. Congrats on approval.

Everything is getting trashed! I'm trying to get all this painting done before we get the landscapers in for a new backyard. I have only a week or so to get this done so here's hoping the weather continues to be fine!

A bit of action over the last few days as I make the most of some free time and good weather. Gave a few parts a second coat... Sanded back the pieces I had gone over with Bondo... And set-up a 'pop-up paint shack' to give me an area to work under for a few days. First job was to tackle all the sanded pieces and give them their first coat. After allowing sufficient time to dry there will be some wet sanding to do then, hopefully, just one last coat before assembly and test fitting. I can almost smell the end...of that could just be the paint fumes [emoji23]

Great feedback! I've put some Velcro on the elbow gaskets and gauntlets. Helps keep them secure.

Great work! How did the kit hold up? Any mods you would suggest?

Good to get back in the game over the last couple of days. Great to have some time and good weather! Priming the big pieces one day followed by some Bondo action the next.

Many have painted their ANOVOS kits to cover glueing, etc and to give an overall better finish. Would be interesting to hear if anyone got away without any painting.