DarthTaiter79
Hunter
I don't believe I posted a thread for my own WIP armor over here, so here goes...I posted this at Mercs too.
Anyway, I wanted to get a thread started for my own armor progress, starting with pics from the beginning:
As you can see, I basically just started out with some trash cans, used WOF's templates, traced them--fitting as many pieces onto one can as I could. I kept in mind the curves of the can in association with what piece went where. I does help down the road when it comes to bending/shaping if necessary.
Got the pieces cut out:
And started shaping:
I basically just used a nice heat gun to soften the plastic a bit, curved it the way I wanted, then held that in place with tape (would have used duct tape, but had clear packing tape on hand, so used that instead).
I also have the "belly" piece cut out and an actual coat of paint on it, but I don't have a pic yet. I don't have every piece of armor from the templates cut out yet, I believe, though I'm not sure what I'll do as far as a full cod piece goes anyway--probably just use what I have cut out so far. I'll hold off on any further progress with the body armor parts until I get my helmet done. I want to try to keep focused on one area at a time .
And here's more updated pics:
After bending the collar and shoulder parts (what is the official name for those, anyway?) This also includes my belly piece with a coat of hammered metallic paint:
Close-up of belly part:
Right shoulder part after base coat of metallic paint (not the hammered style this time) at the bottom of frame. I found a really cool metallic spray that apparently I bought back with my blue, so I tried it out, and it looks nice! It actually matches the gray parts of my Jango two-piece perfectly.
I decided to add some scratches to my right shoulder part--used a trusty dremmel tool! Man, those things are fun!!
...and I decided to try my hand at adding a dent to the collar piece. I used a heat gun to soften one place on the plastic (almost too much--nearly melted on me), then used a rounded screwdriver handle to press a dent into it. I wanted to use a ball-peen hammer, but couldn't find one in my stepdad's stuff at the time, so I'll try that on it some other time:
Dented Collar (though will make more of a dent before painting):
Right shoulder part after top coat of paint and before using a razor blade to scrape away at the existing scratches to make more prominent: (I need to get a pic of the finished piece--thought I had one...
I'm going to paint the left shoulder part red, so that's why it isn't in the pics yet. I have to find some Fusion in red, or I had a nice discovery that Rustoleum now has paint for plastic, and it's cheaper! I found an awesome copper metallic (SHINY!! ;D ) that I want to use, and I finally picked up a dark blue to use on my helmet mandibles. I did sand down the edges of the shoulder parts, and will do so with all of the pieces eventually before doing any more painting. (i.e. the collar and belly piece aren't done yet)
Big thanks for FettFullof Dollars and WOF for the trash can info and templates!!! Awesome work, guys!
Anyway, I wanted to get a thread started for my own armor progress, starting with pics from the beginning:
As you can see, I basically just started out with some trash cans, used WOF's templates, traced them--fitting as many pieces onto one can as I could. I kept in mind the curves of the can in association with what piece went where. I does help down the road when it comes to bending/shaping if necessary.
Got the pieces cut out:
And started shaping:
I basically just used a nice heat gun to soften the plastic a bit, curved it the way I wanted, then held that in place with tape (would have used duct tape, but had clear packing tape on hand, so used that instead).
I also have the "belly" piece cut out and an actual coat of paint on it, but I don't have a pic yet. I don't have every piece of armor from the templates cut out yet, I believe, though I'm not sure what I'll do as far as a full cod piece goes anyway--probably just use what I have cut out so far. I'll hold off on any further progress with the body armor parts until I get my helmet done. I want to try to keep focused on one area at a time .
And here's more updated pics:
After bending the collar and shoulder parts (what is the official name for those, anyway?) This also includes my belly piece with a coat of hammered metallic paint:
Close-up of belly part:
Right shoulder part after base coat of metallic paint (not the hammered style this time) at the bottom of frame. I found a really cool metallic spray that apparently I bought back with my blue, so I tried it out, and it looks nice! It actually matches the gray parts of my Jango two-piece perfectly.
I decided to add some scratches to my right shoulder part--used a trusty dremmel tool! Man, those things are fun!!
...and I decided to try my hand at adding a dent to the collar piece. I used a heat gun to soften one place on the plastic (almost too much--nearly melted on me), then used a rounded screwdriver handle to press a dent into it. I wanted to use a ball-peen hammer, but couldn't find one in my stepdad's stuff at the time, so I'll try that on it some other time:
Dented Collar (though will make more of a dent before painting):
Right shoulder part after top coat of paint and before using a razor blade to scrape away at the existing scratches to make more prominent: (I need to get a pic of the finished piece--thought I had one...
I'm going to paint the left shoulder part red, so that's why it isn't in the pics yet. I have to find some Fusion in red, or I had a nice discovery that Rustoleum now has paint for plastic, and it's cheaper! I found an awesome copper metallic (SHINY!! ;D ) that I want to use, and I finally picked up a dark blue to use on my helmet mandibles. I did sand down the edges of the shoulder parts, and will do so with all of the pieces eventually before doing any more painting. (i.e. the collar and belly piece aren't done yet)
Big thanks for FettFullof Dollars and WOF for the trash can info and templates!!! Awesome work, guys!