Fixing an Ebay Purchase... Left Breastplate

[clmayfield]

Despite numerous warnings here about buying stuff on eBay, I bought something on Ebay and it wasn't to my satisfaction, so I decided to fix it.

Here is what I bought... let's call it a "before" picture...

I thought it looked pretty good when I bought it. I was concerned about the dimensions of the chest display cutout... and I was right. I read about friction welding ABS plastic, so I bought some ABS filament and a sheet of ABS plastic and went to work...

 

[clmayfield]

Well, I was able to cut out some appropriately sized ABS pieces, but for whatever reason, friction welding did not work, so I ended up soldering the filament in. I didn't care how sloppy it looked because I was going to sand down the final product anyway, so I added lots and lots of melted filament. Here is the front (after some sanding)...

And the rear (pre-sanding)...

- - - Updated - - -

After sanding everything down, it was time to make my appropriate cuts for the chest display...

 

[clmayfield]

And now for painting... this is my first paint job, but thanks to all of the info provided here, I think it turned out pretty acceptably well. Here are the steps along the way...

"Yellow layer"...

And "Green layer"...

I still have to do some weathering.

 

[clmayfield]

Side by side... Before...

After...

I was thinking of doing a black wash for weathering, though I know a lot of guys use black primer misting. Most people do some sort of a clear overcoat. Is that before or after weathering? It seems like that might affect dimensionality?

I know most guys do a sealing layer over the metallic layer. I tried that and it made the metallic too dull (and yes, I used clear gloss). I ended up sanding that down and spraying another layer of metallic silver, which worked out nicely. I did do the green layer too soon and ended up with some crinkling that I was mostly able to fix.

 

[italianfett420]

Hey great work so far, I was just wondering what did you use to cut out the slots in your chest armor? The slots in my breastplate are good but need to be slightly bigger and I don't want to damage it

 

[clmayfield]

I started with a dremel (actually a Foredom tool, but same difference) to cut the slots slightly undersize and to leave myself some room for error, then I used a steel file to get to the proper size and then some sand paper to smooth it out. I did try to use a pocket knife (an exacto is too delicate), which gave me nice smooth cuts, but it was difficult to control where I was removing the plastic.

If the slots don't need to get much bigger, you could use coarse sand paper (about 60 grit) and then use fine to smooth out the finish.

 

[PropReplicator2]

I started with a dremel (actually a Foredom tool, but same difference) to cut the slots slightly undersize and to leave myself some room for error, then I used a steel file to get to the proper size and then some sand paper to smooth it out. I did try to use a pocket knife (an exacto is too delicate), which gave me nice smooth cuts, but it was difficult to control where I was removing the plastic.

If the slots don't need to get much bigger, you could use coarse sand paper (about 60 grit) and then use fine to smooth out the finish.

Sweet work!

Alex

 

[clmayfield]

Sweet work!

Alex

Thanks! I need to work on my masking fluid technique. It doesn't paint on very easily and once you peel it off, it seems to leave a bigger gap than I intended, but I am learning!

 

[italianfett420]

Alright thanks for that, I may go the sand paper route as the slots are almost good enough but not perfect for my chest lights

 

[PropReplicator2]

Thanks! I need to work on my masking fluid technique. It doesn't paint on very easily and once you peel it off, it seems to leave a bigger gap than I intended, but I am learning!

I need to buy masking fluid. I've always used lotion to mask off paint so you can wipe it off when the paint is dry.

Alex

 

[clmayfield]

This is the best deal on the Internet. I haven't compared it to Maskol. I was a little frustrated in that I had to paint again and again to get it to adhere. Maybe Maskol is better?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P1ROEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dv8r]

This is the best deal on the Internet. I haven't compared it to Maskol. I was a little frustrated in that I had to paint again and again to get it to adhere. Maybe Maskol is better?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P1ROEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Great job on your chest piece!

Regarding the mask fluid, I used Micro Mask, which worked fairly well when applying, but is pretty thin and I had some trouble getting it off. Having seen the Humbrol Maskol in build threads here, I think I would go with that if I needed to do this work again, as the thicker mask being easier to find and remove would be priceless.

 

[clmayfield]

Thanks! There is a great thread on masking liquids here:
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/masking-fluid-liquid-frisket-liquid-mask-knowledge-review-51570/

I might be trying some of the thicker / less runny alternatives.

 

[ryan101011]

Thanks! There is a great thread on masking liquids here:
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/masking-fluid-liquid-frisket-liquid-mask-knowledge-review-51570/

I might be trying some of the thicker / less runny alternatives.

Been looking for this thread for a while, thanks a bunch.

 

[clmayfield]

Search is tough here. I think I found this while searching on Google.