Cutting the armour

Last night I started to cut out the chest panel of the armour that has arrived. As I could see the boundary a lot easier on the inside of the ABS plastic, I drew my lines with a 6B pencil then slowly, using a Olfa craft knife, I scored the lines, then cut deeper into them till I went through.  I have not done the upper part that joins to the back yet as I need the back to see how much I need to take off, but once I do that I will sand the edges with wet and dry sand paper so they will not only have a better shape, they will also not be so sharp.

It was easier to cut out then I thought it would be!

I also need to add a little hole for the strap near the bust line.

Cummerbund Revisited

During my last troop (with borrowed armour), I found that my cummerbund started to slip down after about and hour of trooping. I kept thinking about that rather than concentrating totally on the troop. My pouches also need a larger area of tethering rather than just the upper hinge too, especially as I was carrying most of the troops wallets and keys in them!

Here are my solutions to my two problems.

I bought a pack of four black military shirt stays to act like suspenders. They have clips already attached, they have adjustment clips, and are shorter then suspenders. One would have been enough on each side, but I wanted there to be room for adjustment, so I neatly joined two together using a decorative zig-zag stitch. The zig-zag keeps the edges from fraying and allows a bit of stretch in the joint. I made small button holes directly on the cummerbund for the stays to attach.

When I put on the cummerbund, I just undo the main Velcro on the back, leaving the under-strap still attached to the Velcro, and the stays in place, and climb into it.

More on my helmet

I have been continuing to work on my helmet, doing more sanding, trying to get it smooth. Since these photos were taken, I have sprayed more primer, added more putty in the low areas, and started sanding again. It is getting there… :)

More work on the helmet

I have been working more on the helmet, and this is the first filler base coat on the front plate. As I had adhesion problems on the main part of the helmet I used paint stripper to get it back to the resin and worked from there.

The next bit will be to get the upper part to be smooth like the movie prop, then to file and dremel the lens area to the correct shape (and flat to allow a lens easily). I am also trying to get the helmet to close properly, so more sanding. :)

This is the helmet prior to stripping the paint off.  It sanded up ok, but with bubbling and adhesion issues with the old paint, stripping was the best option.

Total work time: 5 hours

Working on the helmet

I have been working on the helmet a little, trying to sand the bubble out and smooth out a few other bumps. Laying on a lot of putty is the next step.

Total time spent on helmet: 3 hrs