Uhh... kinda forgot to update this thread
No dilly dallying this time...
First thing was that I tried painting the right chestplate which failed miserably. Bad paint reaction between the green and the silver under it.
Then, I started work on the flak vest, which I do have something interesting to say about.
Spoilers in the bottom left corner...
Anyways, my last flak vest was simply double layered so it didn't look stupid, but afterwards, it still looked stupid. What I didn't know was that you're supposed to QUILT your flak vest. That means not only dual layering it, but also putting batting on the inside. This mostly just makes your vest hot and heavy, but you have to look past that and admit it looks SO MUCH BETTER.
Then, the 1 year anniversary of my first progress photo passed, so I took this photo of the new suit to commemorate that!
And the original...
No idea how I managed to make a mostly finished costume in 90 days. I'm stressing about this suit and I'm way farther in the same amount of time!
I should also mention that ALL of the armor is printed. The only parts left are greeblies on the gauntlets and jetpack and the shin tools. Progress is being made!
Then, I started post production on the jetpack. This took so long and its maybe halfway there in this photo...
Then I did some MORE work on the jetpack, using Dupli-Color's filler primer this time instead of the Rustoleum that I usually use.
I can see the light!
Today, I cracked out the beta test files
Jurassic_Fett sent me a few months ago , and put down the yellow on the ab plate.
I also installed a piece of retro-reflective tape instead of a dental mirror because I liked the effect it had when you took a picture of it with the flash on.
I quickly realized that, first off, nobody takes photo or video with the flash on, and second, I still need to paint the green on over this... it looks cool with the flash on though!
Finally, after a month and a half of owning an airbrush, I finally completed my airbrush setup, figured out how to use the thing, and actually painted something with an airbrush.
It looks like just white with gray overspray in the pic but it's just silver.
--Boring story you can skip if you'd like--
Anyway, the reason this took so long is because we already had an air compressor, but it's this humongous, deafening thing that my dad uses to fill bike tires. I didn't want to listen to it go while I was painting, let alone be tethered to that giant thing, and my dad didn't want to get a separate air compressor. The solution was to get a portable air tank that I could fill up when I needed to and then I could have a while of perfectly silent painting before the tank ran out. The only problem was that the threads were different or something like that so we needed to buy an adapter. When the adapters came in, everything worked but I had no equipment so I'd just be sitting there spraying raw air out of the brush. I ordered a bunch of accessories, painting supplies, whatnot, and when they came in, I tried out the stuff, and I noticed that the portable air tank was not regulated. The valve was either on or off, and when it's on, it puts out all its got, which is a huge no no for painting. So we needed to get a regulator. No problem. The regulator comes in, lo and behold, everything is the wrong size. Also we put a bunch of the equipment on the wrong way I think? Anyways, we spent like two hours fiddling with the setup, including the multiple times my dad left to buy one thing, only to find it didn't work or we needed something else on top of it. Pneumatics!
--Okay story time is over--
I thought I said there would be no dilly dallying this time around?
You may be wondering why I waited so long to finally get an airbrush, and that's because I wanted this build thread to be an inspiration to up and coming costumers like myself. I can't express enough how thankful I am to be a part of this community and how welcoming it is. I know that somewhere out there is another aspiring kid who wants to make something like this, and they can't afford Archive-X paints or fiberglass helmets. That was where I was a year ago, and I feel like I have the responsibility to show people in that position that you can make incredible stuff with limited resources. Maybe it's not all that fair since I've been honing in an artist's hand ever since I could hold a pencil, and I have knowledge of color theory and paint mixing, and I only recently found out that not everybody knows to hold a spray can 8-12 inches from the surface you're painting, and to spray in light, sweeping coats... Anyways, I wish the best for you, aspiring costumer. I can't wait to see what you build. It would also be nice to have some people in this community that also happen to be in my age group. Out with the old and in with the new, amirite? Get outta here, BOOMERS.