JAFO

Indeed. Very little progress! All the usual excuses sadly but I've also had a lot of international travel to contend with. We're also having the worse run of wet weather - about a month's worth on/off. Can't find the right combo of time/weather to get to the next level.

Looking forward to seeing another great Phasma cone to fruition!

Definitely way to see. Robert ships quickly and, in the meantime, you'll have plenty of armour building to do!

If the lenses are the same as the previous standard bucket they're pretty horrible to look through. The VPS upgrade is well worth it. It will be interesting to see what ANOVOS has done with their belt for the new kit. If it's not the right thickness boxes won't sit properly and will rub armour. I've sold a few kits to existing ANOVOS owners.

Send him a message via Facebook. He can choose whether to respond.

Check out the thread by Vince (Cookie Nomster) - he has lots of pics and shared his experience of painting an FO bucket.

How are you going mate? Are you approved?

Look for vaderpainterstudios on Facebook or eBay. You'll find the aerators on sale as well as other cool stuff like FOTK lenses you can actually see through [emoji3] Robert is based in Atlanta.

Super simple! Push a little from the inside, wiggle side to side from the outside and you'll find it just pops off. Just take it slow and simple. It's only affixed with a small amount of glue.

Looking good mate! The only thing I'd call out is the left knee plate. Should be a bit higher. Hardly a problem though[emoji106]

Great work on the thighs. Not everyone gets them shaped and high enough. Working on mine at the moment...very carefully!

Well done Vince! Great to get approved - your detailed work made it easy for them [emoji106]

Feel free to sniff but please don't eat [emoji13]

A few more jobs achieved ahead of a busy weekend where no progress is likely to be made. - I sanded back the Bondo on the shin blocks and the Apoxie Sculpt in the inside leg greeblie spaces, and then got on to welding the outside of the shins. - Sanded back the Apoxie Sculpt I used to tidy the forearm greeblies. - Finished up by using some Apoxie Sculpt to fill the small gaps around the holster join. It has been a good week [emoji106]

As summer arrives in Australia I'm determined to keep momentum going. I've achieved a few tasks in the last couple of days... - I used a step bit to drill some holes in the shins to prep for my magnetic closure system. A nerve wracking experience but all turned out well. - I filled the inside shin greeblie space with Apoxie Sculpt. Will sand back tomorrow. - I attached the shin boxes. - I attached the thigh greeblies. - I measured up and completed a test fitting of the R2Dan holster. There's a little excess screw thread on the inside which I shall Dremel off and sand back. I wasn't happy with the space around the forearm greeblies so filled with Apoxie Sculpt. Not an essential mod but a detail one. Finally, with the shin boxes dried I rounded off today with some Bondo action to ensure no seams will be present. With all these little jobs getting it done it really feels like the end is in sight despite much sanding, painting, sanding and painting to come.

It's fair to say I'm probably a LOT slower [emoji6]

Great to hear your journey is underway! Exciting times ahead [emoji3] (oh, and thank you for the kind words...truly appreciated)

A cheeky bit of action today. Lots of bits. - Used Apoxie Sculpt to set in place the shoulder bell supports. - Did some wet sanding and respraying of the parts I stuffed first time. Much better outcome this time. - Sprayed some new parts. Look at the shiny codpiece! It'll get even better with a wet sand and second coat. - Used a heat gun to (carefully) shape the greeblies to the forearms, biceps and spats. Worked a charm. Then set in place with E6000. - I sized up some elastic supports for the shoulder bells then stitched on some Velcro. I glued the opposite piece to the bells. There's still PLENTY to do but it's good to see some white pieces. Feels like I might see an FOTK at the end of all this.

Exciting times ahead!

So in the last couple of weeks - since regaining something resembling free-time - I've achieved a few random tasks. First up was to cut the EVA foam inserts for the two central belt boxes. Whilst many have opted to mask and paint the back of the boxes black I wanted to go for a little more accuracy so cut the boxes where appropriate then sourced the right material to fit in. The EVA 75 is light as a feather and looks great. This past weekend I decided to venture in to the word of painting!!!!! I was considering a professional auto spray and found someone who was interested. However, on getting back in touch they had got cold feet and backed out. I spoke to a few more auto shops but, honestly, none showed the love. So I decided rattle cans were the way forward. I have trialled a few paints along the way and based on research decided that Rust-Oleum Universal Advanced Formula Gloss White was the way to go. I found only one place in Australia that stocked it and worked with them to hatch a bulk deal. I thought I would start with something small - the hand plates. So after a good sanding and wash I gave them a go. OUCH! Something didn't work! Humidity? Solvents from the primer? I've had some great input from other members but safe to say I won't be rushing forward in the painting process and will be taking baby steps to ensure everything goes to plan. I'll sand these plates back soon and give them another go. To be updated! I cast aside the painting and decided to tackle another big job - creating apertures for the shoulder bell supports. My aim is the centre bar and two side elastics. Having measured and marked up the yoke it was time for some Dremel action. I took it VERY slowly!!!! I won't be winning any awards for my work any time soon but it turned out well and the the yoke is still intact! I will be adding the centre bar and affixing with Apoxie Sculpt for extra support. The elastic will be glued in place on the yoke but have snaps to attach to the shoulder bell. Having successfully tackled the yoke I wrapped up my weekend with a solid session of sanding and bathing. The latter refers to the sanded parts and not me! I'm hoping to make some more progress this week and look forward to sharing another update soon.

OK...so back to some of the important stuff. Time to prime some of the ready parts. I made the use of some great Sydney spring days to get the priming done. And after the primer had long dried and various pin holes had presented themselves I took to an afternoon of Bondo fun. I hadn't worked with Bondo before but really like the way it went down. It wa seven easier to work with when it came to sanding but more on that to come...

Another little side project was the Pauldron. Not essential to approval but something I decided to add in to the mix. I purchased mine from TrooperBay. Easy to work with and readily available. Some question its size but I think it's a great starting place. It arrives as a formed styrene piece that needs some initial trimming. Once trimmed I gave it a quick sand to ready for priming. I used Rust-Oleum grey primer, as recommended, and it gave a great finish. Next up, a coat of Rust-Oleum Satin Black. And then I masked off in preparation for a coat of Rust-Oleum Colonial Red. The finish was great but my masking sucked. I had to do a bit of a repair job but I'm happy enough for now.

Whilst I haven't had much time to labour on the big stuff I have spent my time tinkering. I'm a Creative Director so I'm all about the detail. One mini project I had was to take one of the fibreglass boxes and make it more screen accurate by giving it some dimension. I took the original box, as supplied, and took the Dremel to it. Suffice to say it was a very easy cutting process. Next up I measured and cut some styrene to size. I wanted to create a frame to sit inside this box and add a little height. I affixed the frame inside the box using Loctite Marine Epoxy with a little Apoxie Sculpt to add support to the corners. I then used the epoxy to affix the box lid to the frame and.....voila!

Next up, prepping the magnetic shin closure. First up, the sockets. I took some Styrene and used the amazing Tamiya ABS tool to trim the required shapes. I then drilled the required size holes in one set on styrene... ...before taking the two sets - holes and flats... ...and glueing them together. Once dried I took the Dremel to the edges to make them less square. The shins are still very much a work in progress and I haven't touched them in some time. I'll come back to this part of the thread later on.

WOW! Has it nearly been three-months since my last post. Suffice to say it has been a crazy few months. Build work hasn't completed halted but it has been less than a stellar effort on my part. Anyhoo, it is with renewed vigour that I provide an update on activity over the last few months. Grab yourself a drink and have a seat... Taking a break from agents and TDs I decided to take a look at the thighs. Have to be honest, these are the most testing part for me. I did some initial marking and then shaping. More more to be done on the thighs. They need more shape and then the edges will be sanded done. To be honest, I'm waiting to recruit a little assistance to get these completed as I'm not confident getting the shape right using my own judgement. In readiness to suspend the thighs I added a simple belt to the shoulder ig. Here's an initial test of the rig and AB piece with cod. Ignore the workbench! Next up, a relatively simple job - affixing industrial Velcro to the rear of the knee plates. I then added some small plastic hooks which will connect to thin black bungee cord that will loop behind the knee and assist in keeping the plate in place. Thanks to Evin in the Jimmi FB Build Group for this hack. OK. First post down. Time to break so I can upload the next ten images....