Lucksy31's FP3 Armor Progress

Hi all!
I've begun an armor commission for Lucksy31. He got a set of the great new FP v.3 armor, and I'll be doing it in a ROTJ paint scheme.
I got the armor yesterday afternoon, and today I've started trimming the parts. I'm using a sanding drum on my Dremel to remove most of the "rough trimmed" excess plastic. Once I've done this to all the parts (12 pieces in all), I'll go back with some sandpaper and really smooth the edges.
Just a couple quick shots to show how much material I'm removing. I'm leaving a bit around the rolled edges of the parts.

Here are the 2 chest plates.



The shoulders.



Knees.



The parts are really sturdy, and they're a lot curvier than other sets I've worked on!
It's a lot of tedious work trimming the parts, and I've already lost count of how many times I've said "Ow!" when a hot piece of styrene has landed on my hand! Still lots more parts to trim, so probably no more updates till I start priming and painting.

Do you use a sanding drum on everything OR do you trim first with a cutting disk then drum sand? can you post a pic of all the tools you use.
thx
Arnold

Arnold, I trimmed everything with the drum sander attachment.
To me, even though there was still some extra material around the edges, it wasn't enough to justify using the cutting disk. Besides, there weren't that many straight runs where the cutting disk would have been that useful. Lots of curves and corners.
Now that everything has been trimmed with the Dremel, I'll go back with some sandpaper and smooth the edges.

UPDATE: December 30th

OK, the last of the cutting is done. I talked to Scott to find out which chest light set he was going to use, and he gave me the measurements for the set.
FP's armor comes with some depressions where the chest lights should go, but they're pretty shallow, which means they can be easily customized depending on which lights you're going to put in. Very nice feature!



Using the measurements Scott gave me, I marked the openings with painters tape, so when I drilled and filed, I'd have a nice guideline to use.



I chucked a small drill bit into my Dremel and drilled the 2 slots, being careful to stay inside my tape lines. Once I had drilled a series of holes around the edges, I slowly dragged the drill bit sideways to completely clear the openings.



To complete the slots, I used some small files to smooth the edges. So here are the openings.



FP also included a small piece of 'smoked' plastic for this section. I'm holding it in place here.



So now, I'll give all the parts a light pass with some very fine grit sandpaper to make sure the primer has some "tooth." The parts as molded are very smooth, and I want to make sure I won't have any problems with paint adhesion.
The next time I post pics, the parts will actually be not-white anymore!

Great job so far bro

I am curious tho ... Who's chest lights are going in that hole ? If you want to PM it to me that's cool. But there may be a wee issue there. The impressions, or "guides" were based on Brak's Buddy's chest light measurements for accuracy. (Approximately a millimeter or so smaller for customizing).

It appears that the slots, or actually the lights that the slots were cut for, may be a little bit big. Unless it;s the camera perspective or focal length. I'm certainly not trying to nit pick anything, but if there is a discrepancy or incompatibility there, the armor won't look the way it was intended, and it may not be noticeable until later when you've already went through all the work, and someone may not be happy about it. Just trying to help

If you find that there is an issue, let me know and I'd be happy to send out a replacement plate to you for your customer.



FP

FP, I have TK409's Chest lights. As long as they fit where Eric made the cut out, I'm cool with it.

Thanks though.

Chris and Scott, thanks!
I noticed that the slot measurements were a smidge larger than the pre-formed impressions in the chest plate, but I know that not all chest light makers make their setups exactly the same size. That's why I requested the measurements from Scott before I started doing any cutting.

UPDATE: New Year's Eve!

Whew! Got a lot done. All the pieces are base-coated. I began with some primer, and wanted to try that Krylon Fusion. I've heard it's really great on plastics, so I picked up a can in a neutral gray/beige. . . sort of a putty color. I sprayed all the parts and let them dry according to the label. It worked great! Very smooth coverage, and after only about an hour and a half, I was spraying on the color coats.
I used Floquil Reefer Yellow for the shoulders and knees, giving them a couple of light coats. For the rest of the body armor, I used Floquil US Medium Green. Again, I gave it a couple of light coats rather than trying to get full coverage the first time around. I'm pretty impatient when it comes to spraying, and I really have to force myself to let things dry fully before laying down 2nd or 3rd coats!
But I perservered, and after the 2nd coat, everything looked nice and even.

I've begun painting the damage on a couple of the pieces already. Here's a look at the knees. It's already dark here, and these pics were taken under lamp light in my living room. Once everything gets closer to completion, I'll try to get some better pics under natural light.



(NOTE: the Reefer Yellow photographs pretty strangely. . . I haven't done any pastel weathering at this point. Even though it may look a little uneven, it's straight R. Yellow.)



Here's the first piece of body armor I started; the abdomen plate. I use the same 'reverse tracing' method on the armor as I did on my helmet. It really helps to position everything correctly. Again, the pic is kinda dark. . . sorry.



So now, I'll continue to work the damage on the chest, collar, and the rest of the body armor. I'm waiting for some decals to arrive from Scott, so for now I'll hold off on the right chest plate and the left shoulder bell, but I have lots of other pieces to work on in the meantime!

Hope everyone has a happy, safe New Year and I'll be back with more in 2008!!

WOW. Looks truly amazing already!! Decals on the way!!!

Scott, hopefully those decals will arrive soon. . . I'm gonna need 'em.

UPDATE: January 2nd

Well, I was pretty busy this (long) weekend, so didn't have time to take pics as I went. I tried to use the time as productively as I could, working on several of the armor pieces. Every day my wife kept saying, "Are you done painting for today?" Which in wife-speak means, "Get off the computer! I want to use it!"

So anyway, here's where Scott's armor stands as of this morning. I got some better shots outside on my balcony, so I'll start with the ab plate again. I still have to size those 3 holes a little better. I drilled them out to make sure I had a good guide while painting the damage.



Here are a couple of angles of the kidney armor.





This is the left chest plate.



Here's the cod piece. I always like painting that huge dent in the middle. . . I don't care what this armor is made from, that had to hurt!





The collar plate.





At this point, I've also done the small scuffs and pastel weathering on the knees. I just sprayed them with some Dullcoat, so they're drying as I type. I've also done the center chest diamond, and epoxied in the silver insert that FP included.

Still to do: right chest plate, back plate, 2 shoulders. So it's getting there!
I also will go back and black mist all the green pieces once they're all painted, and add the very fine scratches, and the lighter green "gun butt scratches" on the right side of the ab plate (and other small locations).

Looks great! Man I gotta get the FP armor.

Originally Posted by superjedi

I just sprayed them with some Dullcoat

i've never actually used dullcoat... is it functionally different from matte clear?

No, it's pretty much the same. Dullcoat is just Testors' "brand name."
It's a clear matte lacquer. It's really durable and I tend to use it more than other matte sprays like Krylon.

I have a question, the areas that have dents...how far do you trim the area?

i'm really concerned about those slots... i used to have the tk409 lights, and that just doesn't look right...

my guess is that the measurement is the full height of the "block" for lack of a better term, rather than the height of the numbers...



if you look at that, the proportions seem about right to what you've cut out (the tk409 is the one that's all on one board, the shackman is the 2 part system)

but the actual *numbers* on the 409 board are not that big... it's easier to see on the shackman, but there's a lot of negative space around it. afaik, the slot should be cut to the measure of the NUMBERS, not the blocks they are on.

it wouldn't be a big deal to fill it back in with some scrap plastic and bondo, but the piece would need a repaint (or at least touchups). so if that's going to happen, now would be the time, rather than when it's off to its new home.

Originally Posted by tk7602

I'm really concerned about those slots... my guess is that the measurement is the full height of the "block" for lack of a better term, rather than the height of the numbers...

I thought the same? I hope it's not the case? Altho if it is... FP is willing to replace the part?

Originally Posted by Mojo-Fett

I thought the same? I hope it's not the case? Altho if it is... FP is willing to replace the part?

the molded in in dent in the armor looks pretty close to what it should be. i was TERRIFIED when i cut the slots in my aluminum armor, so i obsessed over this for a bit

the shackman and tk409 are VERY similar in size. when i switched, i had to file out a tiny bit to make it work, but overall no big issue.

I'll await my Armour delivery and compare the measurements from the Shackman set I have before cutting...

I do hope that this is not the case for Lucky31...?

Hmm. . . TK7602, I see what you're saying, but at this point, I'll probably have to send the armor to Scott and have him fit the lights in place and see how they look.
If there's a problem with the cutout at that time, I'll definitely work with him to take care of it.

Eric,
TK7602 is correct. The dimensions I gave you were for the entire "block" and NOT the length up to the actual LED number. I actually never knew the "blocks" didn't protrude through the armor. Is that true?? All that you're supposed to see through the bottom slot are the LED numbers?? and NOT the edges of the blocks?? ****!!! Should I contact FP for a replacement, or wait to see what it looks like?? Whatever you think is OK by me.
-Scott
P.S. those progress pics are AWESOME!!!

Originally Posted by superjedi

Hmm. . . TK7602, I see what you're saying, but at this point, I'll probably have to send the armor to Scott and have him fit the lights in place and see how they look.
If there's a problem with the cutout at that time, I'll definitely work with him to take care of it.

Scott,
I would say wait till you recieve it and see how it looks.
If I'm understanding the pic of those TK 409 lights, the front face of the blocks/lights should be sort of flush with the inside surface of the armor piece. They shouldn't actually fit into the slots to be flush with the front (outer) surface of the armor.
Does that make sense?

If it needs to be redone, of course I'll redo it.
Glad you're liking the progress so far! Today I also did the lower part of the right chest plate. Just waiting for the decals to finish up the upper part of that plate plus the shoulders.

in my totally unsolicited opinion, i'd see if there was any option of getting a replacement part. if not, you can patch it up. little scrap plastic, little bondo and some touch up paint.

there isn't a lot going on at the bottom of the slots, so it should be fairly easy to blend it in.

Originally Posted by tk7602

. . . little scrap plastic, little bondo and some touch up paint.

there isn't a lot going on at the bottom of the slots, so it should be fairly easy to blend it in.

But that's the thing. With such a smooth expanse around that area, it would pretty much necessitate having to repaint the entire piece.
A touch up would stand out fairly obviously.

Originally Posted by superjedi

But that's the thing. With such a smooth expanse around that area, it would pretty much necessitate having to repaint the entire piece.
A touch up would stand out fairly obviously.

yeah, i'm trying to be optimistic.

sorry to be the one to start y'all down this path...

Thanks for the backup Brian I tried to speak up before it was painted

I knew something didn't look quite right. But nevertheless, the offer of the replacement part still stands. On me. I can have it shipped immediately due to your time constraints if this helps.

And just a note for "GP", the slot "impressions" even though a general guide to cut, they are more based on Shackman's lights. That's what was available at the time. Of course, they're made to Brak's specs. When you said they were Chris' lights, I shut up and "moved along" ... as I've never owned a set and didn't know what to say Glad to know that it was just a simple misunderstanding. I wouldn't have thought Chris' would have been "off" at all. Good to hear

My goodness the forum is really "choking" tonight ! Internal server errors up the wazooo !!! It's taking me forever to post this !!!!!!!!

FP

FP, you ARE the man!! Many thanks for your generosity and your superior products!!!

PM sent with the addy!!!

Hi Scott,
If you're getting a new chest piece from FP, here's a little diagram I made to take the chest light measurements. Hope this is understandable.



When you're measuring the bottom segments, just measure the part where the LED segments will actually show. Does that make sense?

OK, here goes:

A= 1.63in
B= 0.15in
C= 0.35in
D= 0.30in

I double checked these numbers, so hopefully this is on the money.

Originally Posted by superjedi

Hi Scott,
If you're getting a new chest piece from FP, here's a little diagram I made to take the chest light measurements. Hope this is understandable.



When you're measuring the bottom segments, just measure the part where the LED segments will actually show. Does that make sense?

Cool! Thanks for the new measurements.

UPDATE: January 3rd

Well, it's way too late for pics tonight (I'll get some tomorrow or Saturday at the latest), but I've pretty much completed everything I can do until I receive Scott's decals.
I have done the right (dented) shoulder, and half of the left shoulder. I'll have to wait for the decal to place the remainder of the damage.
Same thing with the right chest plate. Just waiting for the decal to finish detail painting the upper portion of the piece.

I could do the black misting, but I'm also waiting till the new left chest plate arrives. I like to mist all my pieces at the same time. That way, it'll be consistent.
Hopefully the decals will arrive soon!

Hey guys, the left plate replacement was sent out yesterday ... it should be there no later than Monday. But I would think there is a good possibility it could be there Saturday, it's a particular zone that's pretty speedy, and it's west coast like me, no brainer



FP

FP, it's been said before but YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Thanks again!

This is some great community spirit right here!! nice one guys...

Mojo,
In my short time here, i've seen NOTHING but UNBELIEVEABLE community spirit. FP and SUPERJEDI are just (2) of the many class acts that I've had the pleasure of dealing with. Thanks again guys!!
-Scott

I know what you mean Scott...
Your a lucky fella, (2) guys like these looking out for ya. Your Armour is gonna look so sweet bro.

UPDATE: January 6th

OK, didn't get a chance to get any pics yesterday, but things wouldn't have looked too different anyway. I got Scott's decals yesterday, and applied them to the shoulder and right chest plate. After applying them, I was able to finish painting those 2 pieces and continue on into the final weathering phase.
Here are the shoulders. These pics are outdoors, but it's pretty cloudy today and I don't know if the colors will translate like they should. The shoulder bells have been shaded with a mix of orange/reddish-brown pastels, and then sealed with dull coat. The bell with the decal was "reverse masked," leaving the decal exposed so I could mist it with some gray-brown and a little flat black. All I have left to do on this is go back with some flat white and do some final detailing on the decal.





With the decal in place on the chest plate, I finished painting the silver/yellow damage, and black misted it. (I went ahead and black misted all the other 'green' armor, too.)
Same as the shoulder, I'll go back with some flat white and paint some small details on the decal.



So if it weren't for the fact that I'll be redoing the left chest plate, this set of armor would be done tomorrow! Hopefully the new chest plate will get here tomorrow and I'll be able to finish up within the next few days.
Almost there!

Excellent paint job man, it gets excitting when you know you'll be done in a matter of days dosen't it?

Very nice job Superjedi! You did an amazing paint job also!

Eric,

You're a madman with the paints bro! I said it before, I'll say it again, sweet work! marry me? LOL!

Keep em coming bro!

Stay safe,

Tim.

Looking great Eric!

Eric,
These look just outstanding. It'll be x-mas in Jaruary for me!!

great work as always eric! were u going to weather it strictly w/ pigments or will there be a little variety??

Thanks guys! It's almost done now.
The weathering on the shoulders/knees is just about done. Now that it's clearcoated, I'll go back and add a couple of small silver scratches, but that's about it.

UPDATE: January 7th

While I'm waiting for the new piece, I did some additional work on a couple of the pieces.
On the shoulder and chest decals, after they were misted, I took a very fine brush and some flat white and did some scratches. This finishes those parts.





I also added the lighter green scratches on the ab plate. I really like the look of these.





Once I get the new left chest piece, it will have a couple of these lighter scratches as well.

Looks great Eric. Are you painting the backplate as well?

Yeah I'm doing the whole armor set. . . guess I hadn't posted pics of the back plate yet. I'll have to do that.

QUICK UPDATE: January 7th

The new chest plate is here! Yay! FP even "final trimmed" the piece instead of letting me have all the fun of doing it. All I need to do is use Scott's new measurements to cut the light slots, and then paint it up.
Wish I didn't have to go to work soon! I'm anxious to get started.
Thanks for getting the new part out so quick, Chris.

Saweeet ! Thought I'd try to save you a little time since you already got a little behind because of it

Looking amazing bro !

FP

Those light green scratches bro......Are awsome!!!!!!:thumbup

:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup too awesome

Very impressive paintjob, cant wait to get mine!!! Where's that **** mailman!!

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

Very impressive paintjob, cant wait to get mine!!! Where's that **** mailman!!

Ditto on both counts...

Lucksy31's gonna be one happy Fett pretty soon...
More pretty pics!

UPDATE: January 8th

Just a quick one today. I trimmed out the light slots on the new piece, got it primed and base coated.
Here's how the slots compare on the 2 pieces. I think the proportions look more correct on the new piece.
More pics once I start the detail painting. . . this is the last piece!

Just to add to the list of complements about wonderful work... Great job!!! Must get armor and have you paint it....

Geo

How the heck did I miss this thread???...great work so far Eric..
Love the close-up shot of the misting, most people tend to just blackwash it instead of getting that fine mist spray over it....

Thanks, guys. Yeah, for the armor, I'm a big fan of black misting. It gives a nice subtle change to the tone of the colors.

UPDATE: January 9th

Aaaaaand. . . done! Yay!
Got the new chest piece finished up over the course of last night and today. Added those strange lighter green scratches to this piece also.
Here's a shot of both of them together. I really had to get the camera up high, otherwise the curve of the parts made them look strange! These things are really curvy.



And here's a detail shot of the upper portion.



So now, everything is sitting on my dining room table, waiting 24 hours to make really sure they're good and "gassed out" before I wrap them up for shipping. I'll be mailing the armor to Scott on Friday!

Eric,
These pieces truly look like works of art. Your work is amazing man, I can't thank you enough. Now, do I actually use these "works of art" for trooping???? Of course I will!
Thanks again for all of your efforts, and to FP as well for sending that replacement piece. This is really an amazing set of armor, I can't wait to see it. I'll Post some pics of what it looks like on my manequin when I get everythinig re-assembled.
You da man Eric, and best of Luck on your upcoming overseas adventure buddy!!

Update: Jan. 15th

The armor got here safe and sound, and i'm ready to put it back onto my Fett Manequin. Before I do, i'd like to take a minute to thank SUPER JEDI for doing just an AMAZING job with this armor. Eric's work is just tremendous, and better than I could have imagined. If you ever have the chance, and priviledge, to have Eric paint something for, you will NOT be dissappointed!! He's IS truly one of, if not the best on these boards.
I'd also like to thank FP also for his unbelieveable V3 armor. It's accuracy is just stunning, and his craftsmanship is out of this world. Thanks guys!!
Anyways, here's the first few pics until I can get all of the velcro onto the armor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yay! Glad it got there OK. And very happy that you like it. :o
Be careful around that mannequin. . . looks he's trying to goose you!

superjedi, is there any way you could post some hi-rez pics of all your recent boba related paint jobs? i'm thinking that those would be as useful (or maybe even more) as the reference cd/dvd from brak's for a painting guide.

Hi Saint N,
Wow! Although I think that's really nice of you to say, I don't think I would recommend using any member's paint job as reference when there are so many pics of the real deal available.

As I think I mentioned in another thread it's always going to be subject to a little bit of interpretation, because painting a helmet or armor comes down to a matter of taking a 2 dimensional reference picture, and transferring that by whatever method someone chooses to a 3 dimensional object. Even if the reference shots are really large and clear, you still have to "make it fit" the piece you're working on.

I have a slew of pics of the helmets and armor I've worked on saved, and most of them have been posted in my progress threads at one point or another. Some of them were taken with my older 4 Mp camera, and some with my newer 8 Mp camera, but none of them are nearly as hi-res as any of the pics from the TDH Archive, or the reference CDs. I'm happy to share my pics, but again, I would certainly recommend using the pics of the real items as reference.

Originally Posted by superjedi

Hi Saint N,
Wow! Although I think that's really nice of you to say, I don't think I would recommend using any member's paint job as reference when there are so many pics of the real deal available.

yeah... it's like copying a copy of a tape. over time, it will degrade.

i know when i paint armor/helmets/whatever... i don't do *every* detail 100% spot on. i try to get the overall feel of the original, but without spending a year on it.

so if someone used mine as a reference, they'd cut a few corners off of my cut corners. eventually you're out of corners!

i was looking at FP's rotj helmet when i started on my latest one, but just as inspiration. it's an amazing paint job, but i didn't want to copy from it for just that reason.

Great Job!

That turned out great, nice job man!!!

Originally Posted by tk7602

yeah... it's like copying a copy of a tape. over time, it will degrade.

i know when i paint armor/helmets/whatever... i don't do *every* detail 100% spot on. i try to get the overall feel of the original, but without spending a year on it.

so if someone used mine as a reference, they'd cut a few corners off of my cut corners. eventually you're out of corners!

i was looking at FP's rotj helmet when i started on my latest one, but just as inspiration. it's an amazing paint job, but i didn't want to copy from it for just that reason.

lol, you looked at fp's rotj too? i cross referenced between that and any of the exhibit pics i could find at the time for my rotj.

Originally Posted by saint_nasty

lol, you looked at fp's rotj too? i cross referenced between that and any of the exhibit pics i could find at the time for my rotj.

of course! it's one of the best out there!

Oh man... Looking at this makes me nervous to attack my own fp3 armor. I have never painted stuff like this. I think i need to practice alot before i go for the real thing.
Love the endresult

KoRn3000

get your self a couple of sterilite trash and WOF's templates, cut out a couple sets of armor from and practice on those first.