DarthBiscuit

Thanks for the support Justin! @gmrhodes13those are the pics I was looking for, thanks for posting them here! I don't think I'll trim the lower step, as the pics aren't consistent like you said, it isn't in the CRL, and no one else has done it. I cut some off the barrel ends, slimming it down a bit for me. Then I trimmed around the bottom, so there's less overhang. Then I took the Dremel to the belt! The thing got away from me a couple times, but hopefully it's an easy putty fix... I sanded the cuts to 220 and they aren't too bad! I still need to round out the notches a little, but that'll happen another day. Tomorrow I want to tape together the chest/back/straps and fit the barrel. I'll trace a line around to give me an idea of how much to cut off the top (giving 2-3" overlap). I'll also trace the shoulder bells to even out the bottoms. I'll post pics tomorrow before I cut anything!

Just sprayed some satin white inside today. Tomorrow I'll trim and barrel and the belt halves.

Wet sanded all the putty to 220 today. Most of it went fine, except the oval spot had a few pinholes. Filled them up and set it all aside. Tomorrow I plan on spraying satin white inside the chest/back/straps. Then wait 3 days and spray gloss white outside! A few days after that and I can velcro them together!! I also marked on the barrel where I can trim to make it more narrow (but I rounded down, since I can always trim more off if needed), and on the back of the belt to make it even with the front.

Well, now you can call that whole costume "screen used" [emoji6]

After I marked up the belt and barrel, I spread putty on the chest, back, and shoulder straps. Then I applied putty to the side plates. One was WAY WORSE than the other...

So I was thinking about how to fix the belt notches and came up with the idea of cutting off what's on there and trimming down 7mm (equal to the current ones) to make new notches. That would move the belt up a little, letting me wear the barrel a little lower and still bend my hips. The belt would still be wide enough for the ammo boxes. Also, I would trim that 7mm off the barrel's bottom, and even a bit more (probably 1.5cm total). There doesn't seem to be any reason to keep the current 8cm strip across the bottom, but I'd still leave some to put a few velcro squares, preventing the belt from rotating. I didn't see anything in the CRLs regulating the width of the belt, and I figured this would allow me to make the notches fit more cleanly. What do you say?

Wow good tip! It's not too hot out, but maybe I'll just bring them in a little, to be safe. Thanks!

Wet sanded the primer to 400. Washed them off and set them in the sun to dry. Decided to wet sand the barrel's putty to 220. It worked fine, except the water stained the barrel as it dried. Next time I try that maybe I'll use running water instead of dipping sandpaper in a bucket. No worries since it's getting painted anyways! You can see how much I filled with putty! Washed it off and set it out as well. Then I wanted to get more putty on the primed pieces. I started spreading putty across some scratches on the chest, and the primer scraped up with it!? I don't know if that's from not fully drying, but it never happened before! I wet sanded it to 400 again, washed and dried. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to apply more putty. That was weird...

I had to adjust my setup so I could prime these 4 pieces. I put them each on a box and used that to move it in and out of there. I'd spray one, then switch it with another, and again, until I got them all, then wait a few minutes before hitting them from another angle. It took just over an hour but they're coated! I see a few rough spots, holes, and scratches. I'll wet sand to 400 tomorrow and putty fill again. After that, I took some putty to the barrel. I don't know what happened with this piece, but I had to fill A LOT!! I took a new approach, based on my extensive experience of puttying 5 pieces lol. I'd just rub the putty around with my Play-doh knife to spread it across the imperfections but not leave too much to sand later.

Here's a pic wearing my gloves! I applied putty to the chest, since I ran out of time Wednesday. I set it in the sun and moved on, giving it 30+ to dry. I sanded and washed each piece. I applied a bit more on the oval and to a few spots I missed on the shoulder straps. Let them dry while working other pieces, then sanded and washed again. The scratches on the chest and the oval seem flush now! I hope to prime these pieces tomorrow, since I shouldn't have to trim anything...

So, within the required hour, I sprayed some gloss into a little puddle on paper, then used a toothpick to poke some into the pinholes. It worked! They're still there, but much less noticeable since there's paint in them now. I cutout some squares of velcro (one hard and one soft) and stuck them on the hand plates. And they look great! I should've gotten a picture wearing them... I think they're a little big for me, which is obvious when I close my fist, or maybe the velcro squares should be larger, but I think they'll work. After that, I sanded the chest, back, and shoulder straps more attentively. I washed them off, and then applied putty to the back and straps (before I ran out of time). I probably could have filled a bit more resin, but hopefully this putty will even it out without cracking. I used a toothpick for the pinholes so I could actually fill them. I'll putty the chest and sand these pieces tomorrow.

Today was productive! I finished preliminary sanding! Then I sprayed gloss white on the hand plates. It went pretty well, except for a few pinholes. I'm not sure if they'll require fixing, or if they won't be noticed... I might just dab some paint onto those spots later on. I went to putty the chest, back, and shoulder straps, but saw they needed washing first. I untaped the straps and noticed a big crack on one! I'm not sure if putty will be good enough for it... Has anyone else made Jim's fiberglass straps work, or do I need to buy plastic ones? Washing off the pieces almost made me realize I didn't fill the oval!! I'm glad I didn't throw away my resin tin...I was able to drip out just enough, add a few drops of hardener, and fill the oval! I have to prop it up while drying or the resin just swaps to one side... I'll sand that down tomorrow. I also see that I wasn't too attentive when sanding these pieces (they were the first I did and I didn't have my worklight on) so I'll sand them a bit more tomorrow too. Better to start with a smooth surface than fix later!

Yeah that'd be easy enough. Shouldn't be bad since there's no return edge or anything. Thanks!

I sanded a few more things today. That's the last of the major pieces! I still need to sand the boxes and the TD. Working on the shoulder bells, I'm a little worried that Jim sent me 2 lefts, or 2 rights, and not 1 of each. In the pic below, I taped the strips together and then aligned the edges so the curve makes a circle. The lower edges should go straight across so they match in the front, and then match in the back. You can see that they don't align straight across. Even in the first pic you can see the strips going the same direction, when they should be opposites. Maybe I'm scrutinizing too closely and it'll look fine once on, or maybe it'll be more obvious to see one shoulder bell look shorter than the other... Thoughts?

Wet sanded to 400 and washed them off. Prepped to spray satin white inside. 2 coats and they're white. There are some pinholes, but I'm not worried about precision on the interior. Did anyone else fix interior imperfections? I might not spray gloss on the exterior tomorrow, as waiting only 24 hrs could affect the paint interactions (as depicted in my helmet spraying).

Thanks @gmrhodes13. Any R1TKs have input on Jim's cover strips? I only got a little done today. It's my 11-year anniversary and apparently letting her help me sand is not "romantic" :-) Sanded the putty to 220. Primed coat #2. Tomorrow I'll wet sand the hand plates to 400 and then spray satin on the interior. Then the next day I'll spray gloss white on the exterior. Last thing will be soft velcro!

I wet sanded the primer to 400 and washed them off. While they air dried, I sanded the resin and exterior of the shins. I have a question regarding assembly of the shins (which also applies to the biceps and forearms). Jim made these pieces so each half has a cover strip, which helps match the halves to each other. I have heard that coverstrips need to overlap toward the interior (so someone standing next to you doesn't see the seam). That is impossible with Jim's kit, since the left half has a cover strip and the right half has the other. My question: does it matter which way I wear these shins? Either the front cover strips face inward and the back face outward (like in the pic above), or vice versa. Am I worrying too much about something that doesn't matter? Anyways, after that, I applied more putty to the hand plates. The primer really helped point out more imperfections. I looked through my old posts and saw that I was more liberal with the putty on the bucket, to ensure it filled holes and stayed in. So I rubbed putty into the hand plates, instead of scraping it off. Tomorrow I'll sand it to 220 and prime again! I'm pretty sure that'll be enough primer on the hand plates. I was thinking about adjusting my process. Instead of doing a step for every piece (sand everything, prime everything, sand everything, paint everything), I was thinking about staggering pieces. So while I wait for the hand plates to dry, I can trim the barrel, or putty the chest and back, etc. Then I saw @11b30b4recommended that to someone else and I'm sold! That process should help give me an occasional sense of progress and accomplishment. I just need to make sure I size everything together and trim correctly the first time...

Man you were busy today!! Thanks for keeping us organized and contributing so much advice to WIPs!

I cleaned off the hand plates, set them up, and primed! I had to spin it around and get low to really coat everything. It took 5 coats, and I gave a few minutes between each. I'm going to wet sand it tomorrow, but can only see a couple pinholes that might need filling! I also sanded the repairs on the barrel and the cured resin on the thighs, trauma plate, and knee ammo.

That's a lot to consider, while I determine how to strap my R1TK. I GREATLY appreciate the time and effort you've put into this!!

Only had time to sand the putty on the hand plates today and rinse them off. Hopefully tomorrow I can spray primer on the exterior and sand them again. Nothing else got done today as we were super busy.

I grabbed the part of the sandpaper strip inside and the part outside, then filed back and forth. The strips ripped a lot! But yeah, listen to gmrhodes13 ;-)

Filled some imperfections on the hand plates with putty. Yes, that's a Play-doh knife ;-) I'll sand them tomorrow and then apply some primer to the exterior. My hardener came in, but I had just 4 ounces of resin left lol! It was enough for today, so hopefully I don't need resin for anything else! I applied some resin to a few cracks in the barrel. Then I redid the thighs. I had a bit left, so I did the thigh ammo belt, and spread the rest across the trauma plate. I still have a lot to sand, but I think I'm done for today. I've been typing up my to do list, trying to catch everything that's coming up for this armor. It doesn't seem like much until I expand each task into its parts (trimming, multiple coats, sanding, washing). And then I realize how many pieces I have to do all of that to! Good thing I have 3 months before Halloween (and who knows what COVID'S going to do to that)...

It was definitely tricky getting the cutting wheel into the tears, but I was able to get them each started with it. Then I cut some rough sandpaper into thin strips and went back and forth to open it up, until I could fit a file in...

I used some spot putty for those nicks, then filed and sanded so they somewhat blended in. Turns out barely noticeable [emoji2371]