My, getting this armor together, thread

[Drgnfly]

Where did you order your chest armor from? I am small and mine is very big on me. I need to find something smaller that is easy for me to move around in and not bump my helmet all the time.

I got the TA. So far I have held it up to see how it looks and it seems like it will do great.

[Lady Luck]

Okay Thank you. Will look into that armor

[Drgnfly]

Helmet got sanded all over. Now I'm waiting to get the stuff to fill in the "ears" on the sides...



Also worked on the box. Got the hole in the back cut out. I really want lights in my chest box. And I like that it gives the an option for putting fans in there too! Getting the two halves together isn't too bad so far. I used tape to hold the two parts together and glues long pieces of plastic on the inside on bottom and sides of the two halves to hold them together.

[Necrodiety]

I am getting my T/A kit soon and will be putting fans, a fan controller, and lights in mine. Since you are in the area we could meet up at an AP and work on yours. Targ is sending me a huge parts kit at the end of the month so I will be putting it together then.

[Lady Luck]

You are on your way. I remember doing that some and its a never ending task.

[Drgnfly]

Rubber shoulder straps trimmed!

[Blackwatch]

i like the rubber straps. Do those have nylon inside to carry the weight?

[Drgnfly]

i like the rubber straps. Do those have nylon inside to carry the weight?

They don't. I was thinking of putting something like that underneath them just to be safe and make them a little stronger...

[ptbenz]

If they were made by Kai, they should have the mesh on the inside

[Targ]

You can tell that they have the mesh by looking underneath. The whole Idea was to eliminate the need for elastic between the armor and the ABS straps which can break under stress.

[Drgnfly]

Did a lot with the chest box and other parts today!

Trimmed the little parts so they can get ready for paint.


Holes cut out on the side for the doughnuts.


Pvc tube cut to the length needed.




Pvc cut...


Not glues yet but wanted to see what it looked like put together...


Side view to see the inside a little better...


Then put holes in the doughnuts.

[Blackwatch]

you have done good work here.

You might want to reduce the weight by cutting out the mid section of the tube. Ive got PVC pipe couplers in mine, so the fans only mount directly into the end of the pvc coupler. This also gives me clear access to the LEDs and wiring.

give your resin parts a good scrubbing with 409 or other detergent to get rid of any mold release agents. Apply two thin layers of primer before you paint and you *should* have no problems with the paint sticking. Sometimes we have issues with uncured resin or silicon release agent left on the part, sometimes we dont, it just depends.

For the edification of others, how did you mark, and cut, the holes in the chestbox?

[Targ]

Boy does that ever bring back memories. You are doing a spectacular job.

[Drgnfly]

Cutting out the middle of that pvc is a good idea. I wasn't going to cut as much as I did at first until I felt how heavy that piece of tubing really is.

For the edification of others, how did you mark, and cut, the holes in the chestbox?

I measured the distance from the "bend" right above and the sides of where the holes would go. Then I used the pvc pipe to draw an outline of the circle with a marker. Then I used a dremmel to cut into and make the hole. I have gotten really good with the dremmel, lol. I hope that helps

Thank you for the advice with the resin parts! I was wondering what to do to them before I painted them. They are so smooth and thought I was going to have to sand the little boogers, lol. That would have been a pain in the rear...

[Blackwatch]

thanks!
sanding with fine sandpaper is not a bad idea. Resin can be so slick that the paint doesnt have anythign to grab onto.