it looks better in white..but those shooooes! hahaha
Stumbled on this listing on eBay and had to do a double take because I couldn't believe this seller is this bold. It's a Rubies suite painted up as "Supertrooper" in name only. Maybe the white dress shoes will be included to make it worth $1500.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=131516588576
I'm new to TDH and wished I spent more time in serious research inas I have also been frozen in Rubinite, a.k.a. The Rubies costume, spendinding $750. The first costume arrived in the same condition yours did, gauntlet pieces detached, rocket detached. Sent it back and the 2nd costume was "better"? I planned to rework this costume but have since scrapped the entire junk flight suit and ordered up a ROTJ version from MOW that I think will fit the bill better after dtying and some airbrushing. Th helmet form is OK but I plan to do a complete layered repaint as it looks like they had some poor kid in beijing paint the damage with a 3 inch horeshair brush. Hideous. I am going to have the flak jacket taken in and tailored with a HD zipper and pull line installed in the back making it better fitting and I hope useable. I'm thinking I'll use the industrial Magnet attachment method for the chest armor I discovered here in a TDH post. I had to replace the chest armore entirely and its being shipped as the Rubies plating was so anatomically inadequate as to make them suitable for use only as dinner plates.
the JetPack? A complete repaint is in order but I plan to use it due to the mounting and integration hookup with the flak vest attachment. I Removed the rocket from the tank as I Shipped this for use at SW Weekend in Orlando last weekend and couldnt find a suitable shipping container with enough size or length to accomodate the unit as one piece. I detached the rocket and temporarily attach and reattach using industrial strength velcro until I find a cement that will work with PVC and the molded plastic of the jet pack. I plan to insert a 4 inch OD piece of PVC and cement into against the walls beneath the hole for the rocket. I have a PVC piece that will accept the pase of the rocket and which the OD will fit into the piece I cement inside the tank but I cant find the right polymer based cement to weld the PVC to the plastic type used for the Jet Pack. BTW, the Rocket and nozzles are horrendous and require a sled full of J & B to fill poorly matched seams and round it out after sanding to even get a half way decent look.
Lesson learned. I'm not deterred , Im determined now more than ever to Fett up and do it right. Extremely gald I stumbled into the TDH universe. A ton of useful and inspiring stuff here. Thanks everyone and does anyone by chance know what bonding agent or cement type works for ployvinyl plastic to PVC?
Tyvark
I haven't used adhesive on any of my remaining Rubies parts but I have used J-B Weld KwikWeld that I picked up at Home Depot for re-attaching the gauntlet rods on my RDK right gauntlet. It's a two part epoxy that you mix up with equal parts that sets in 6 minutes and is fully cured in 4-6 hours. "Can you tell I'm reading this off the back of the package?" If you decide to keep the knee armor be sure to line the inside with tape. They are extremely brittle and I've cracked a couple corners of mine by pulling the velcro off too fast. And don't drive with them on, I made that mistake when I got out of my car and clipped the corner of the door and snapped off one of the knee darts. I used Gorilla Tape on the subject areas inside the knee armor. I'll be interested to see your mods to the Rubies vest. It was one of the worst parts of the suit IMO especially when I received my Bat-Ninja vest. The picture comparisons from earlier in the thread of Bat-Ninja's vest and the Rubies don't do it justice, it's a major difference of quality, especially the difference in color which obviously doesn't show up via my digital images.
Good luck bro! You'll need it.
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the Knee Armor. I'm looking at replacing it as you say it's completely flimsy and I already have the Velcro strap tearing away from a grommet on one of them. I just did a retro fit for the rocket onto the Rubies Jet-Pack tank to make it removable for shipping and still easily reattached and remain very stable. I'm going to post photos and instructs shortly. BTW found the perfect cement for PVC to dissimilar plastic's; DEVCON Plastic Welder, another two part epoxy mix.
Slowly the rubies will be no more!