merkava74

Yeah, paper backdrops tend to get dirty where we usually stand. The back should be relatively clean. Vinyl drops are easier to maintain, but you're right... the price does not justify it.

Oh! I am not approved yet! Just submitted my photos.. haha! Thanks, anyway. I'm using studio paper backdrop for my shoot.

SUITED UP PHOTOS Here are some shots fully suited up to show fitting, proportions and overall look. Forgive the somewhat droopy front scope. I would need to heat bend it back. Probably due to old resin...

COMPLETED PHOTOS HELMET NECK SEAL CHEST, YOKE AND BACK THERMAL DETONATOR SHOULDER AND ELBOW GASKETS SHOULDER BELLS BICEPS FOREARMS GLOVES AND HAND PLATES ABDOMEN COD AND POSTERIOR BELT UNDERSUIT THIGHS KNEE GASKETS KNEE PLATES SHINS ANKLE SPATS BOOTS That's all the completed photos! As mentioned, blasters builds will be detailed later when my parts arrive.

Finally finished repairing all the broken photo links! Have migrated over to imgur, and all is good! Have submitted my photos to my GMLs for approval, and will be sharing the photos here as well for a complete reference of all the different parts. I am waiting for BlastFX to send me the electronics for my SE44C, F11D and F11D heavy before I start my detailed build for the blasters. In the meantime, I am getting approval with an old Justinian F11D that I had for a couple of years now.

Thanks! Ok I'm set! Now to start repairing!

TESTING IMAGE HOSTED BY IMGUR Please let me know if you can view this so I know my privacy settings are correct. Thanks!

Thanks. Am switching over to imgur right now, and will repair all my photos here. Give me some time.

What the hell is wrong with Photobucket???? Several of my photos have gone missing and are also not showing up here! WTH!!!

Yes. The thermal detonator MUST be removable, as you need to hide the seam of your abdomen under it.

ANKLE SPATS PART 2 First, I drilled 2 holes slightly larger than the intended magnets. Then I backed up the 2 holes with a thin piece of acrylic. Glued 2 magnets from the inside where the holes are. Then glued the 2 corresponding magnets to the other clasp, and this is how it looks like completed.

LEGS ASSEMBLY Time to assemble all the components of the legs together. First, I made 2 straps with buckles, one for each leg assembly. Then I glued one end to the inside of my abdomen piece, between boxes 1 and 2, and 6 and 7. The buckles will be just below the belt, and inside the thigh armour. The other end was then glued to the inside of the thigh, after measuring how high the thigh piece should be on my leg. 2 elastic straps with velcro was glued to the inside of the knee gasket, and the corresponding side on the inside of the lower thigh. This is how it looks assembled. The same thing was done to the Shin piece. Next, I used a thin elastic cord and stuck it to the back of the knee armour, and also glued a piece of velcro in the center. I later realised that the velcro was not even needed, as the elastic cord rested snugly in the rib of the knee gasket and held the knee in place very well. Finally, this is how the whole set up looks. Only thing missing is the ankle spats. Did another test fit with everything on, to see that the distances and proportions are correct.

SHINS PART 2 This is the step where I added the magnets to hold my Shin seam together. First, I have 5 points that I want to use magnets to clasp the shin. I drill holes into acrylic plates. Then I added a thin acrylic sheet behind it, to hold the magnet, and then glued the magnet into the recess. This is how it looks on the other side, showing the magnet that will be glued to the other side of the shin seam. And here they are trimmed to size, edges rounded to prevent catching any body suit. I glued then onto one side of the seam, thin acrylic sheet facing up. If you understand what I am saying, when clasped, the magnet will be pulled against this layer, and you won't run the risk of magnets popping out of their recesses. Also, the thin acrylic creates a softer clasp then directly with magnets, as these magnets tend to break when the impact is hard. And this is how it looks on the inside. A nice seam when clasped. So repeat for the other side, and shins are done! Oh ya, back the pill button with black gaffer tape.

FOREARMS PART 2 Nothing much to add here, except that I got my Forearms back, installed the 2 boxes, and stuck on the vinyl stickers. Here they are finished.

Thanks Boss!

GASKETS PART 2 And my arm pieces are back from the painters! Couldn't wait but to test fit my gaskets with the armour to see how my measurements were. It looks good, and this is before I strapped the gaskets across my body, which is why you see a little section near the top of my shoulders where there are no ribbing. So, strapping! After measuring the distance I need, I made 2 straps, and 2 more rectangular pieces. The rubber will be sandwiched between these 2 pieces of strapping, glued together, and then sewn. In this way, when there is tension, the strapping won't pull and tear the rubber. They would pull against strapping. And here they are glued and sewn together. For the front, I made a simple clip so I can get in and out of the gaskets. Did the same thing as the back: sandwich the rubber between 2 pieces of strapping glued together. And here it is completed. Notice that the ribbing now sits beyond the top of my shoulders, so when I wear my chest and yoke piece, only ribbing will be revealed. Calling this part done!

Oh they’re back? Awesome!

Thank you! Yes, I am hoping to bring this to Centurion level. Keeping fingers crossed!

GASKETS PART 1 Had a set of Imperial Gaskets back when they were still in operation. Now that they're not, I was really worried when tackling this in case I made an irreparable mistake. But all is well, and here is how I did it. First, measure the inner circumference of the following parts of your armour. Do not measure your arm, as if you have skinny arms like me, your gaskets will look shrunk under the armour. I wanted the gaskets to fill out the armour nicely. A. Inner circumference near top of Bicep Armour B. Length from your armpit to your mid forearm. C. Inner Circumference around middle of Forearm Armour Then I proceeded to cut my gasket according the the dimensions: Once, cut, I started to join the ends RIB BY RIB using CA glue. I wanted to create as seamless a joint as possible. CA glue cures fast, and actually holds the rubber really tight. The problem is that they cannot flex, and the whole joint would need to be reinforced from the inside with a shim using flexible glue. Here you can see the mid-progress of the CA gluing. Tedious, yes, but the end result looks great. And here are both arms done. I have not glued the shims on the inside yet. As my arm Armour pieces are still with the painters, I want to have them back for a fitting before I finalise the gaskets and shim them permanently. Also, I did not cut the gasket into "Shoulder" and "Elbow" pieces as many others have done, as I want to see how it all fits with the armour before I do that. Remember: MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE. Same with the knee gasket. Measure the inner circumferences of the bottom of the thigh armour and the top of the shin armour, and join the 2 ends together. I was pretty confident with the thigh, so I shimmed it. Here are both pieces done. And I also test fitted my arm gasket to see how it looks. Pretty happy with it. Strappings and final adjustments if any when my armour pieces are back from the painters.

CHEST PART 2 Another tricky part. The problem for me as I am 170cm (5'7"), which means I am a smaller size compared to what the armour is meant to be for. As such, I need to make my chest more snug than it is meant to be. With the girth of the abdomen piece with the TD, I had to make my chest piece wrap around these snugly, almost no play. If I give some gap, the chest would look oversized. The lucky thing about my size is I am able to glue shut one side of the chest and still squeeze my head and hands through, so I only have to make one side functional, which I will do with magnets. So here is one side glued: And this is how it looks from the outside. On the other side, I indicated where I would drill 3 holes for the magnets to be insetted. And here they are drilled. They are 22mm holes, and I will be using 20mm magnets, so I needed the holes to be slightly bigger for the magnets to go into this recess easily. Next up, I fabricated the "female" magnet holders. I drilled an acylic plate with a 20mm hole to snugly fit the magnet, and another plate wth 22mm hole which will be glued above it, forming the recess of the female magnet. After I glued the magnet into the 20mm hole, I glued the plate with the larger 22mm hole over it, and sanded and rounded the sides. Had to make 3 sets of these. Then I glued these sets below the 3 holes I drilled on the back piece, and then added a thin layer of black foam into the recess, so that when the magnets clasp, the force is cushioned and I don't risk breaking the very brittle Neo-dy magnets. Finally, I glued the "male" magnets on the end of the chest piece. The joint is snug and strong. The photo below shows the inside of that clasp with the 3 magnets. And this is me test fitting it again. As mentioned, notice how snug I need the chest and yoke set up to be around my abdomen piece. But I think it looks sleek. Next is the covering of the pill boxes (with mesh and gaffer tape) and the centre vent (with gaffer tape). They are both secured with Duct Tape. How both looks from the inside,. And how they look from the outside. And finally, can't help to assemble what is completed onto my manny. Getting excited now that it is looking more and more like a Shiny!

Thank you guys! Means a lot for you to say that!

SHOULDER BELLS PART 2 A simple step of making the snap straps, and attaching them to the yoke. Gentle reminder to install only the one on the yoke first, slot the strap through the slot, AND THEN install the snap at the other end meant for the bell. If you install both ends at the same time, you'll realise like I did that they wouldn't fit through the slot. Noob mistake. Then it is a simple task of positioning the corresponding male snaps on the shoulder bells. Here's the whole set up. And here's how it looks. The length of the straps are critical to ensure that the bells are exactly resting on the shoulder tabs, which will ensure that they are lined up with the yoke nicely.

Most welcome! That’s what build threads are for! I learnt from @ukswrath and @JAFO’s builds too. Glad I could share! Yes that is the Empire 3D, but I hooked up with them over FB. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/Empire3d/

I didn’t know they strapped it like this too in the movie! I guess it’s logical then... Thanks for the reminder on the slits. No, they’re very far from any edge to have any flex, so I think they’re good. Thanks anyway!

ABDOMEN PART 2 Sewed 4 webbing onto the slots on the top of my abdomen. This will be the straps that will hold everything up. The abdomen is going to hold the weight of the belt, cod, posterior, 2 thighs, and 2 knee rubber gaskets. Next up, to tackle how my abdomen will close behind. I wanted it to be a super snug fit so it can help to hold everything up. I drew 4 lines which I will cut into slots for webbing to pass through. And here they are cut. Next, I fashioned 2 webbing straps with velcro sewed at the ends. I glued one end on the left side of the back, slot it through the slot, glued the back on the inside, and come back out the slot on the right. This is how it looks when my back is closed. Neat! And this is to show that once the TD is installed, the straps are all hidden. So, with the Ab, TD, Belt, Cod and Posterior done, I wanted to do an interim test fit to make sure that everything looks tight and good. I installed the boxes onto the Ab, except for box 1 which is still at the painter's. Here's how it is looking, and I am happy with the overall fit and look.