fishgoh0nk

I think it's time I learned how to airbrush...

So I got ABS pasting my thigh seams, but I think I should've gone the thinner seam route - I didn't know how bubbly ABS paste could be - I think I have a density problem - the shade of ABS on some of the areas seem a bit darker - would it be better to paint at this point? I thought polishing might help it, but not really

I'm with you that I should probably leave cutting till the end, I'm not super familiar with ABS paste, I've used it recently to patch some helmet holes, but wasn't sure if working on it with an exacto would cause any cracking, also I didn't account for the bottom edge when making my fake return edges since I was determined to cut it off. I thought I was pretty much done with the thighs minus ABS paste, is there something I need to look for to judge the placement/type of mobility cuts after that step?

I think need them - so far the fit is not bad, but a few bends have contact and are digging into the legs. I also wanted to make the cuts before pasting, per Joseph's comment:

I'm thinking due to how wide my thighs are, angled mobility cuts may give me a better look that rounded. Any thoughts? Rounded looks kind of weird when the curvature is flattened to not go past the raised edges. Angled, I can at least prevent going past the raised edges and stretch the cut as wide as the thigh.

Don't know yet - I'm not sure if i should cut more or cut less? (the two photos I posted have been shopped to give me an idea of what my cuts would look like - replaced blue tape color with black) I think I should cut more (2nd picture) - I think I won't care about the butt pinching as long as I'm styling' Update - Based on your comment, I took it as a good-to-go so I cut along the lines of image #2 - Currently drying some return edge reinforcement and prepping the seams for ABS paste so I can't try it on right now - hopefully it fits well.

I think i found the curvature I want - but a little hesitant to cut more than I need - asking for opinions: less cut or more cut? Less cut vs More cut

So i did some trimming today... and now I'm thinking I wasn't standing up straight when i took my previous photos, because i'm still getting a lot of "armor bite"/pinching I cut off the section masked off in blue tape When standing straight up or walking, I get a little love pinch. Here's a better pick of me leaning to fix the thigh heights - Should I trim some more? Or am i'm just wearing these too high? I wonder if this would be going too far - simulating this nice "oval" cutout?

I couldn't get the left thigh to oblong the way I wanted, but for some reason, the butt pinching is more serious on the right thigh. With the lateral elastic, the butt pinching is minimized quite a bit and I'm happy with it. How does the posterior look? If all looks ok, I'll start with the mobility cuts followed by ABS paste and cover strips

Wondering if I should've just bought a resin cast rather than an airsoft replica now Thanks for the notice! The power cylinders seem pretty convenient, I might pick up a new one from somewhere, I might be able to file and rework the grip a bit... not sure without disassembly...

So the butt flare is solved with the lateral elastic strap, keeps it nice and snug! Thanks for the idea Now, I think I need hot water bath the thighs to make room for a larger posterior. Looks like the back of the thighs are bunching me, if i change the oblong direction it might not bunch so badly. Thoughts?

I found some wire... how does this look? Insulation writing a bad feature?

Is it supposed to jiggle? I'm using the ones that came with the rifle, seems to be about 14-16g and it's coiled up pretty densely. If it doesn't need to jiggle, maybe I can shorten the coil?

ahhh couldn't wait for the rail paint to fully cure - mounted stuff anyway Did I mess up somewhere?

While the glue dries... finally filed down the fake cover in my blaster into a 3d-ified bolt with guide Before After I then wanted a recoil spring, and I didn't want to cut up any real ones I had so I made one out of a coat hanger by twisting it around a barbell bar A little uneven but I'm happy with it, if I had straight wire to start with it may have turned out better

I was referring two the two pieces, helmet (top and neck to the face), where right around the trapezoid above the ear, there's a small gap that allows room for the rubber forehead seal. I used a little bit of heat to close it off. It doesn't bother as much now. That sounds pretty nifty - unfortunately I had set the e6000 for the elastic belt - If it doesn't look good I'll give the V-tabs a shot. Do you keep the backfacing part of the tabs white? Would show at all when bending over?

Thanks for the tip! I took your advice and re-suited, but before I even put the thighs on to rotate and even out, I think I found the primary issue. I think it's the butt fat. Even without the thighs, due to the tightness of my belt, the kidney plate is cinched in, allowing any upward pressure to cause the butt plate to rise. In this case, I think it's me. I did make an elastic belt to pull the butt plate to wrap around my body a bit tighter, I think I'll glue this in and refit before I do any trimming. But in the off chance it still rises - what would be the next thing to try? I don't think a tighter cod piece elastic would work, the snaps just aren't strong enough (I tried the second snap placement and it pops off with minimal movement). Would removing some of the butt plate return edge disqualify Centurion?

bump for help

(I'm not approved yet, work in progress), But it looks like you did what I did, but instead widening the cover strip - I added a backer, shim and plan to use ABS paste to fill the seams. The cover strip will go over all of that once its filled sanded and polished. The return edges (ridges/raised edges) I fabricated from taking old scraps that had a 90 degree angle already bent and gluing them onto a backer bridge. I reinforced the gaps and wobble with ABS paste, it may crack, but right now it's pretty solid. I didn't make the edge fill all the way to the bottom, as you can see, I'm making plans for mobility cuts in pencil. I hope this would give you some ideas.

Nice exposure to a helmet alternative!

I need some help with butt problems guys! And not the kind a proctologist could solve! Here's a shot from behind. I think there's a few reasons the butt plate is riding up, The V is too wide for my thigh gap? Thigh tops are too high for my thigh length? Ab to Butt elastic too loose? I was also anticipating adding some wide black elastic on the butt plate flaps to go around waist to cinch up. As for the high ride, I would prefer to modify the thigh armor first before touching the butt plate, I was thinking about trimming the follow either one or both What do you guys think?

Decided to do some helmet reshaping and bolting. I wish I took some before photos - but I think I made a more flush fitting assembly - plus had a little polish. EDIT: Found old left ear EDIT: Found old right ear I decied I'll redo the vocoder, attempting an edge clean up didn't feel efficient.

Looks like 1200 grit + novus isn't enough to get the same sheen as the ABS - I bought some 2, 3, and 4000 grit paper, that should do it right?

@justjoseph63 sorry, off topic. but any tips for making mobility cuts? i'm assuming the thigh cuts should be similar width to the calves? Or as much as you need when bending the leg?

Kind of answered already - here we go...