Ready, Aim, Thire?

[Bolt_2112]

The sides of the chest and back usually have a shim with velcro on it. They need to close up together neatly with a vertical join.

We usually don't run the thigh strap down the side of the thigh for two reasons.. the strap is not visable when it runs down the front (as the tip of the thigh should be as close as possible to the cod piece) and if you have it on the side, the thigh tends to rotate around as you walk.

[PhantomBlade]

Aaaaaah. Fair enough, I'll do some readjusting on the thigh straps. Thank you!

[PhantomBlade]

My dear mother made me a neck seal this week, will likely add some straps to attach the arms. She's finally discovered the wonders of using craft foam in sewing projects for extra substance to things. 



Next on her project list is the kama.

[PhantomBlade]

Last minute con panic has set in. Best way to stop the procrastination I suppose. My knees arrived in time luckily (they weren't ready when the original order shipped). And have been working on attaching Sanotized Creations straps to my shoulders, elbows and knees. CTPG kits do come with the straps, Sano's are just nicer. I think the knees are sitting fairly correctly, this is a tricky kit to take solo photos of. The knee has since been weathered. The side clips aren't on yet, that's a post-convention problem.



I've also been slowly working through a pauldron. Been tricky but I think I've worked it out. Plain old upholstery vinyl from Spotlight, pvc board from Bunnings (big white sheets of it live in the roofing section, I'm almost certain its identical if not very closely related to Sintra, 'Truck Bed Coating' in a rattle can from Supercheap for some texture, and E6000 to glue it all together. 



Slowly coming together

[PhantomBlade]

Been a busy week. Pulled it together just in time for FraserPop. There may or may not have been staples and hot glue involved within 15 min of kitting up. Thank goodness for the Cosplay Repair Guild! I've got an alterations list, but we took some mock approval photos to see if you guys spot anything I've missed.

1. Strapping on the ab to prevent it riding up. 
2. Possibly cut the biceps in half to add further shimming, not sure if they're up high enough? 
3. Trim more off of the upper gauntlet edge, do I actually need a return edge on those?
4. Try to widen the left gauntlet at the wrist without completely taking it apart again. It's actually painful putting it on.
5. Shoulder padding. Are they attached in the correct spot? 
6. Sort something with the kama. The integrated belt system in CTPG's kit is an absolute cow. Might have to have removable front belt boxes and just hope they don't decide to jump off at inconvenient intervals.
7. Straighten the kama, I didn't attach it to the butt plate before i put it on, so it was a guess job by the wrangler. Will generally be permanently attached from here on in.
8. Adjust helmet padding. If the helmet is sitting so I appear to be looking straight, my eyes are level with the tops of the cheeks and I can't see squat. This may involved adjusting shoulder straps and adjusting the pauldron to force it to sit lower, as the helmet is also resting on the straps.
9. No idea what the knees were doing, didn't feel them slide under the thigh. Might velcro them to the shins semipermanently?
10. Grey triangles on the holsters

[Thumb]

Appears the COD isn't weathered? or is that just the photos? Always feels good to get all the pieces together! A few dressing issues, but looking good so far.

[PhantomBlade]

Glad you like it Thumb! The cod is weathered, but I'll add some extra to it. The chest boxes weren't, I ran out of time (only so many all nighters I can pull trying to get it done). But its nearly there, depending on how much I cut down and reshim things. I didn't want to have to start again, but I think the biceps and at least one gauntlet need cutting and redoing.

I'm also going to cut into the boots, and try to pull them in a bit. I think that's what's causing the sagging, it's not the calf doing it by being too small, there's simply too much shoe in relation to me (nearly 3 sizes too big). So if I trim the extra leather out of the boot it might fix the bunching issue.

[PhantomBlade]

Unfortunately had to focus on real world stuff for the last year, but back into it. This kit is now being set up for dual kit approval, both Thire and a standard Shock trooper.

The original cod/butt with the integrated belt from CTPG is now going to become a standard Shock Trooper as I don't have to wrestle a kama onto the arrangement, so it's going to get some small patch repairs and possibly fibreglass reinforcement along with a repaint. I've also ordered another bicep as I permanently attached the ammo boxes to the original.

I ordered a new butt and cod from the UK from Takanoart, and despite him not showing up on the forums very often I'm actually fairly impressed with his work. They're HIPS rather than ABS and are a thicker pull than CTPG. I went this route because the maker actually makes all of his clone armour in 3 sizes, which has meant the large cod and butt actually fit out of the box with no added shimming. A coat of paint and they're good to go. I've paired this set up with a belt from Galactic Armory, the magnetic box attachment system is great, just need to stop the boxes from spinning, so hopefully some velcro fixes that.

(HIPS however doesn't want to melt as politely as ABS in acetone, as I've also bought thighs from him and have run into issues shimming them).

The only issue I've hit is I've still got a gap between the abdo and cod/butt and I"m trying to find a work around for this. I could theoretically loosen the abdo to pull it down more, but that's going to cause gaps up on the chest armour as I'm painfully hourglass shaped (fart arsed). Or is it less of an issue than I think?

[Bolt_2112]

Will be interested in what Takanoart's parts look like. I have never seen one of his kits approved before.

That Galactic Armoury belt kit does look very good. Just make sure you finish the 3d printed parts correctly.

As for the gap between the belt and mid-section, as long as it isn't that noticable from side on, it shouldn't be a huge issue. The chest/back should take up some of that gap.
As you said, making your mid-section bigger could help fill the gap, but that would require extending your chest and back.

[PhantomBlade]

Look what Firestorm made for me! So now we've got a local pauldron whiz rather than having to go the US route.

[Firestorm]

Let’s see if it needs any changes for approval before tossing words like whiz around lol

[Bolt_2112]

Pauldron looks pretty good from what I can see. Don't forget to weather it as it looks very shiny and the colours very bright.

My pauldron came from Sano in Germany and was much more affordable than the sellers in the US.
It always pays to do your research! But if you can get it made locally, that is always ideal.

[PhantomBlade]

Unfortunately Sano doesn't make them anymore, because I even resorted to begging and offering to pay extra. And I couldn't in a million years justify paying over $300 Aussie by the time it'd shipped for one from Neo when it's made of the same stuff my V1 and Matt's V2 is. CTPG doesn't even making them anymore, so Matt might even have a niche market.

[Bolt_2112]

Oh what, that's a shame. The CTD is loosing vendors way too quickly, Dave's Armoury used to make them too.
And yeh, $90 for shipping is brutal. Makes a $175 pauldron very expensive.

[PhantomBlade]

Squeezed some weathering in post night shift today. The kama is still a work in progress as it is definitely dirtier in person, but I don't know if its still too clean. 

Belt was dry brushed with some silver and rust spray paint. Kama was misted at a distance with brown and black paints, then I found some gunk in the bottom of my wheelbarrow to wipe it in, and some lighter coloured dirt to rub onto it. Might get really brave and hand it to the partner as a hand towel for the day in the shed.