DarthBiscuit

I use a skivvy shirt (olive drab Marine Corps t-shirt). I think it just picked up some lint and stuff from the dryer. So sanding didn't help, some of it is too deep. I'm going to spray white on a few spots tomorrow, then start over with clear. Extra work, but it was just too noticeable. Oh well.

Damn, I screwed up. I sanded those few spots to 1,000 which went fine. Then I wiped the bucket down with a rag that I put through the wash. I sprayed a coat of clear and inspected my work. Tiny threads EVERYWHERE! Looks like more sanding once it's dry, then really clean it off and spray some more...

That's upsetting. Glad you could take care of it! It's great when they're interested in helping...ish.

Today, I braved the clear coat! The first coat went well and evenly! I also coated the interior of the vocoder with PlastiDip. Then I gave 30 minutes for both to dry. I applied the 2nd cot of clear, feeling much more confident in its application! So I did too much and got a run under a cheek. No worries, I'll sand it 1,000 tomorrow and spray again.

You were right!

Thanks for all the input Justin!!

I finally did it! I sent Jim my down payment on his R1TK armor kit and undersuit!! Now...the wait... I have a pretty good supplies list going, I just need to finish it up and order everything. I do have a few questions/points, if you all wouldn't mind offering some input. - We don't need rivets on the R1TK, right? - I haven't decided on E6000 or PC-7 to adhere parts to their other halves. - I plan on doing mostly snaps to attach parts to each other through small lengths of webbing or elastic. What material can I use in the snap to then E6000 to the armor? I thought about using squares of webbing but that might be too thick to punch through. - I've also considered velcro or elastic for some parts to ease stress and donning. Does anyone use magnetic strips? - I'm going to use fiberglass resin on the interiors, and maybe also apply cloth to certain stressed areas. - I'll spray the interior flat white. - Should I fully paint and finish the exteriors before assembling and strapping? I know I'd have to tape off a lot if I assembled/strapped first, but that might give me easy ways to hang pieces. - Where do you guys put your phone when trooping? What about wallet, or a few cards? I briefly wondered if there was extra space in the abdomen to make a little pocket... @11b30b4 can I get added to the R1TK WIP? Does anyone know how I change my thread's title to "DarthBiscuit's R1TK Build (Jimmiroquai kit)"? I didn't realize that I couldn't just edit it when I created it. I really hope I can get this done before Halloween! I really want to patrol the neighborhood with my kids :-)

Wow good pointer! Thanks!!

Since I'm waiting 1 more day before spraying clear, I decided to get a coat of PlastiDip on the outside of the vocoder. I sprayed a bit thick to get in the crevices, but it seemed to go on fine. I'll spray the back tomorrow since I think it might be somewhat visible once attached. Do I need to sand down between coats of PlastiDip?

So I spent yesterday cleaning up. I sanded the runs to 1,000. It took a while, but smoothed it out without taking off a layer of white. I see why that's what everyone recommended! I also brushed some white in the tube vents again to cover some missed spots. Today I was patient. I set a stopwatch and waited 3-4 minutes before spraying anything. I got close enough to apply paint, but kept it moving. And I'd go to opposite sides to avoid spraying on a fresh coat. Thankfully, all of this together worked! I think I ended up with 2 tiny runs, but nothing too visible or worth redoing. Now, I'll wait 3 days. The can suggests 2, but I've seen forum recommendations for 3 to avoid oranging or peeling. Better safe than sorry! This is what I'll use: After 2ish cots of clear (hopefully without repeating) I'll peel off some tape, tape up the white, and get to work on other areas. I kind of think the flat gray primer I used could work for the ears, tears, traps, and teeth. What do you guys think? If so, all I have to paint is the black PlastiDip!

Glad to hear you're making progress again! Too bad it's mainly fixing imperfections :-( Waiting for those pics!!

So, today went better (that I can tell, for now). I sanded some more, first to 220, then smoothed it out to 1,000. I washed it off with soapy water and a scour pad. Then, I sprayed... I kept my distance at first, but nothing was showing up. So I got closer, but kept the can moving quickly. That seemed to help! Here's a pic of that eye I touched up yesterday. I def think brushing some white on there helped! I'm not sure I can recreate these conditions though, since I think it's due to my can of spray paint being nearly empty haha! It must have been spraying so little out that it helped prevent runs! I did cause a few runs though, at the end. I needed to touch up a few spots, but the can wasn't spraying enough so I got pretty close. Hopefully those are the only issues that I'll sand down tomorrow and apply another light coat with another can of paint. It's not as frustrating knowing that I am capable of applying a good coat! There are also a lot of little fuzzies that stuck to the paint. I'm not sure I can do anything to improve my paintbooth, so hopefully I can take care of them without messing up the paint.

So, here's what I'm trying: The spray paint didn't get into some areas, including pinholes, tube vents, and ear seams. So I brushed this white acrylic in. After drying, I sanded those spots, and the runs and cracks, with 220. Then I sanded the whole bucket with 1,000. You can see a big pinhole by an eye in the left, after brushing in the middle, and post-sand on the right. Tomorrow I'll clean it off and spray white again, with several SUPER light coats. Hopefully this helps...

But if the white I paint the greeblies is close enough to the ABS, then I don't have to paint the whole suit. Right? Or does the ABS have to be painted?

Sprayed white again today. Went just as poorly as before. Quick sprays from a distance sometimes barely adhered, sometimes looked perfect, and sometimes left huge runs. I'd spray like 3 light strips (across the top, middle, and bottom), then wait 2 minutes and spray another strip across a different spot. Didn't help. Eventually I got the thing fully covered in white, but there are runs everywhere and even a few cracks. I guess I'll try wet sanding with 1,000 tomorrow and then add even lighter coats with longer in between. I think some of the problem was angles... I really think, if I can convince my wife, I might have to go with 850AW ABS so I don't need to worry this much about painting...

Sanded the runs to 220. Filled some pinholes with putty. After they dried, sanded to 220 again. Tomorrow I'll wipe it down and spray an INSANELY LIGHT COAT of white.

Thanks man. Glad to hear the pros are going thru the same thing! And I'm a half mile from Monterey Bay, so the humidity isn't going anywhere...

So today DID NOT go well. I sanded the runs to 220. I wore gloves since my buddy mentioned oils after my daughter decided to touch it. The runs looked much smoother with some spots down to the primer. I wiped it down with a rag and sprayed a 2nd coat of gloss white. I kept my distance and only went over some key spots, then gave a few minutes and went over some other spots. Cracks, runs, and pinholes EVERYWHERE. I don't know what to do. I guess tomorrow I'll sand the runs to 220. Then I'll sand the whole thing to 1,000. Not sure about the pinholes, but hopefully sanding will help. I'll spray more white again after that...

Thanks Justin!

I sanded that spot and primed it again. Looked decent enough. Taped off the non-white spots! Setup to start my first coat of white! It went on CRAZY UNEVENLY. I was around one foot away and steadily moved while spraying, overlapping, starting before and ending after. There were strips of primer showing through, runs of white in some spots, just bad. I guess tomorrow will be sanding down the clumps with 220 grit. Then I'll sand the whole thing down with 1,000 and apply a thin coat. I'll wait for it to dry before trying to go over the missed spots. Hopefully it'll go better that way. Any better suggestions for spray paint?

Taped off the bottom and realized spraying will probably go best if I spray from this angle, and then hang it on the stand! Sprayed as evenly as I could... I noticed a few runs, so I gave it 30 minutes to dry. I then tried gently sanding with 800. It worked in a few spots, except for this one... Should I just spray some more primer? Should I sand to 1,000 instead? Will I need to do glazing putty again? It's pretty upsetting cuz I was hoping to paint tomorrow.

Sanded the black interior to 800 and applied a 2nd coat. Tomorrow I'll tape off the openings from the inside and spray my last coat of primer!

My paint finally came in last night! Applied the first coat. My paintbrush BARELY held together...it was the widest one in the house. I think I have a foam brush I can use for the 2nd coat tomorrow. I am VERY HAPPY with a black interior and glad I postponed my last coat of primer so I didn't have to worry about overpaint!

Easy enough! Do you know how thick those ABS sheets were? What size snaps did you use and did you have any problems punching through and snapping?

What did you attach the snaps to? I'm looking at the little rectangular pieces that the snaps are punched through, and I assume those are then adhered to the fiberglass. I don't want to drill into the fiberglass to punch snaps, so your method looks like my plan. I thought about some nylon/polypropylene webbing, but I don't know if that'll be too thick for 5/8" snaps.