Krisko720

The elastic straps and the adhesive backed Velcro pieces are a bit much for my machine to sew through, so I’ll have to do the Velcro pieces by hand. So here’s what I have so far. This is the upper plate with the straps and Velcro wearing my armor. Fits pretty snug. Interested to see how it handles the weight of the shield. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the back before cleaning it up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It may have been a little too thick. But I’m a big fan of over-engineering things so they’ll never break. I hate doing something twice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I’m taking Glen’s idea and altering it just a touch. I found some 1-1/8” webbed elastic on eBay. It’s almost like a belt and is plenty strong to do what I want with it. I ordered some more custom cut 1/4” plastic from TAP Plastics (thanks again Tony). This place offers a ton of variety of colors and materials. I ordered custom cuts, which are square and accurate, because I don’t have the means to cut this stuff and didn’t want excess material. I ordered the dark gray because black wasn’t an option. Shouldn’t be too noticeable once the foam is placed on top. I ordered three pieces (using two and an extra just in case). I measured and marked lines 1” from both sides at either end. Then used a Dremel router bit and a file to shape the slots for the top plate. Each plate is marked the same, except the second (bottom plate) will get cut all the way across and act as a channel for the elastic to run through. I ran the elastic through the slotted plate to get a measurement for each strap. I’ll be sewing some Velcro to each strap so that I can tighten them. A layer of adhesive backed foam will be cut to mirror the top plate and will help protect my forearm armor. The black foam with the white straps should keep this shield as close to the screen used shield as I think I can make it. I’ll follow up once I get the bottom plate completed. I will glue these together and then to the shield. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like it! I think I’ll go this route. Appreciate the ideas. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks like you have the same shield as Tony.. I’m really trying to figure out how to replicate that forearm mount. Makes it look so much better than what I’ve been considering trying to make with just ABS and foam. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finished painting the shield parts, cut the tinted Lexan, and mounted everything up. I think it turned out nice considering what I had to work with. Just gotta figure out what to do on the back side for the strap and handle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Granted I do have some adjustments to be made, but my knee plates, shins, and spats aren’t complete. Just trying on the chest piece with the pauldron and ammo pouch before moving forward. The pouch is starting to grow on me. I think it looks pretty good. The downside is that I cannot turn my head to the left. My chin hits it. Not a terrible issue as I can’t see much out of the bucket anyway. I think I definitely want to do the pauldron modification Darren was suggesting. The Trooperbay version I have is just a tad too small. I will be painting this one first just to see how it looks. Thoughts? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just received my shipping information from 3D-Props! This little box of goodies is on the way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a few small things done today. Ended up priming and painting my shield parts. And tinkered around with my pauldron and ammo pouch. I’ll share more once everything is dry tomorrow. Essentially I wanted to be able to put the pauldron and ammo pouch on and take it off without much effort. The biggest problem was trying to find a way to make them stay on without moving. Easy fix. Just use magnets. I ended up gluing the three magnets in place on the pauldron itself and then three more under the chest plate. I put some black loop Velcro on the magnets to keep things soft. The ammo pouch was a little trickier. I cut one piece of ABS that slid under the two existing pouch straps. Then I cut three small pieces glued together to use as a riser. I cut two long strips and ran those under the chest plate. To hold the pouch, risers, and mount together I drilled four holes all the way into the pouch and fed four Chicago fittings through from the inside and screwed them from the outside. After these pictures I spread the ammo pouch mount magnets out a bit more and then created some more ABS plates to house the magnets. It’s darn strong and holds the ammo pouch in the perfect position without moving. I’ll have to see how well it’ll play with my yoke once I get it. I will have to slide this mount in between the yoke and chest but it’s not very thick and is very well hidden by the pouch itself. The MP40 leather pouch is pretty darn big and I played around with the placement a lot. I actually moved it up slightly from where it is in the photo below. But it’s still a huge pouch and is a lot bigger than what the toys use in terms of proportion. I’m on the fence if I like it or not. I will suit up tomorrow and see how it all looks together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got the gaskets, straps and, Velcro finished up. After a test fit of the assembly I’m able to have a full range of motion, even doing jumping jacks, with everything staying in place and no binding or pulling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Taking some time this morning to use my new sewing skills to tidy up a few annoying things. First and foremost was shortening the four adjustable straps that attach to the thighs from the harness. Now that I have the straps adjusted to where I want, I wanted them to stay that way and also not flipping around. Easy fix. Applied Velcro to the excess strap material so it will stay put, yet be adjustable if ever needed. I’ll be going around the entire harness doing this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Added a set of suspenders to keep things in place better. I almost don’t need them as I think I’ve fit the armor to myself pretty well. But the weight of things and moving around a bit cause things to shift and get off center. And as I’ve noticed you can’t see a darn thing with the bucket on. So I would just like to have things secured enough so I don’t look like a bargain bin mess of a trooper. I ordered an inexpensive set of Dockers suspenders from Amazon. I made sure to get the set with four round clasps. Took a 1/2” paddle bit and cut the holes far enough in that the clip closure would still function. Played around with the elastic straps and found the approximate length of strap I needed to remove from each point. Then just had to cut them and sew the ends back down. And just like that, new suspenders to keep your trooper pants up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Learned something new today. My grandmother was a seamstress and for some reason I never learned. That changed today when I needed to sew up my gaskets a little tighter. My girlfriend has a machine and showed me how to do everything. Here’s my latest test fit. Starting to look good I think. If anyone has any feedback, please let me know. Sounds like it’ll be a couple weeks or so before I get my yolk/back pieces. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m at that point of needing to cut a big hole in my chest for the resin block.. I’m trying to put it off as long as I can lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

After a very long day with some sandpaper, glue, and file set I was able to complete a few more things. Used my small round and flat files to cut out my pill holes on the chest and biceps. Glued the rails and screen cast clip greeblies on my forearms. And worked a little more on finishing up the recessed line on the TD. KB does not include that detail on this for some reason. As a side note, finally heard back from 3D-Props and he is printing the last couple of parts for my rifle and pistol. Said they will ship out tomorrow. That’s all for today! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I will definitely do that. I always like seeing these recorded line audio systems. I was hooked after visiting Galaxy’s Edge and watching their troopers interacting with people. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Took a little time this morning to do the modification to my MiCom setup. It came with a 8-button pad with an elastic strap to go around your hand. This works well with a bare hand but with my glove on and the buttons being so close on the board made it difficult to trigger the correct ones. Taking an idea from other push-button setups, I took the board out of the equation and added separate push-buttons that I will be attaching to small elastic loops that will go on my fingers, two on each finger. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok, so maybe I won’t wait to post pics.. Just drilled the holes and test fit the corner pieces. Is there a proper name for these? I think they’re supposed to be lights.. have yet to see them light up on screen. I’m liking how this turned out. Pretty clean looking even with the bolts and nuts. Way more work than I wanted to do, but I had to work with the parts I got. I’m using 5/16-18x1-1/2 nylon bolts with nylon nuts and washers. Same hardware I used on the ab boxes. Just have to complete mounting the trim and glass next. Then figure out what I want to do on the rear with the strap and handle. Finished applying, what I hope is, the last coat of XTC-3D on the trim pieces. I sanded them down and found a few spots that needed leveling out. Once dry I should be able to mount everything. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And just like that we have some lollipops that should stay in place. Once they fully cure I’ll be able to sand away the excess material on the bases and mount them. I will advise that if anyone uses the XTC-3D as a filler for hollow 3D printed parts like I did, that you coat the outside first. This will give you a hard shell around the part allowing it to hold in the chemical when you start putting it inside. I had one tiny hole that gave me some trouble, but not near as much if I had not coated the exterior first! Here are the triangle trim pieces for the shield view port. I will be sanding these down to remove the coating and to even out the inside cut I made on the original piece. Once that is complete I’ll have to create a step in the both pieces of material to allow them to sandwich the glass securely and provide an attractive look both inside and out. I’ll report back when the items above are complete, possibly this evening... with pics of the completed shield of course! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is my first build. A heck of a lot more work than I ever expected, but now that I’ve learned all these skills.. and have lots of tools and extra supplies.. I wouldn’t mind doing another one. It’s completely overwhelming yet oddly satisfying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a few more items done today. Sanded up the exterior of the shield parts and began filling them with the XTC-3D like I did with the triangle trim pieces. This will give them some strength and will allow me to recess the bolts that I will be using for mounting them on the shield. I used my small Dremel and cut out enough of the internal honeycomb support structure to recess the bolt, then mixed up the XTC-3D and filled up the interior until it met where the bolt head will sit. On my next pass I will insert the bolt and add the XTC-3D to secure them. The ABS part is to help hold the bolt up straight when curing. While those cure, I worked on securing the holster I got from Dan. Also attached the resin strips to the forearms. And last but not least, I was able to mount the ab boxes. I used the same procedure that others did by using bolts that were glued to the box and mount through a hole drilled into the armor. Seems like a very secure and tight fit. That’s all for now. I spoke to KB a little and it may be a week or a few weeks before I get my hands on the chest/back and shins. Also waiting to hear from 3D-Props regarding my weaponry. He’s been a little hard to get in touch with, but he finally wrote today saying he’ll get me an ETA later today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely not going for 100% accuracy. But I do appreciate the little details, especially if they’re easy to execute. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Did a small forearm screen accuracy modification. Used a couple of M5 bolts kindly supplied to me by Darren. (Thanks again!) Decided against any sort of zipper though. A little beyond what I want to tackle! First I drilled out the resin bolt. Then used my small Dremel with a grinding bit to create enough room for the real bolt head. I’ll remove these for now and put them in once I get it all painted. Sent from my iPhone using The Force

Got a few things scratched off the list this morning. -Trimmed up all of the greeblies. -Completed my belt along with all of the boxes. -Mounted my thigh holster from Dan Waiting on some different bits to be delivered for the 6 point security screws. I ordered 5 point bits by accident because someone suggested it in the holster thread. For some reason 5 doesn’t work on a 6... Those should be here Wednesday, along with the nylon bolts and nuts I’m using for the ab boxes. Sent from my iPhone using The Force