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.

E-11 (Hasbro)

I have been tinkering on my E-11 (Hasbro) for a little while now.  I do plan to make a scratch or pipe build one day, but till then, the Hasbro will work well for my Scout Trooping.

The Blaster just as it arrived!

Blaster after a lot of sanding.  I have a couple resin parts for it already and they have been sanded and prepped too.

I will have to work on the trip next and the sight.

DL-44 Finished

Last night I dry brushed the pistol using Citadel paints.  For the silver colour I used Bolt Gun Metal.  On the grip I used a brown (the label had come off) then dry brushed with a bit of Chaos Black, then did a very light layer of Bolt Gun Metal over the top.

 

Now all I need to do is make a holster for it. :)

DL-44

For my Imperial Officer weapon I have chosen a DL-44.  The brightly coloured, blue and orange toy arrived on Friday and I have been modding it since.  Here is my progress...

The DL-44 blaster in its packaging.

I am worried by the "other play" that they mention... :S

The front was removed from the blaster tip, holes drilled in the muzzle, putty put in the screw hole, writing sanded off, and the mould lines were also sanded away.  I have painted the muzzle black already to see if it needed more work.

A bit more sanding is needed...

The gun now has had a few coats of Games Workshop Chaos Black, a good paint for plastics.

Ready for the dry brushing!

Armour!

My first batch of vac-formed armour arrived yesterday - the chest, back, and back pod. Thanks Nick! :) So exciting!

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… :)

Imperial Officer Code Cylinders

On eBay a few weeks go I came across old dosimeters for sale that can be used for Imperial Code Cylinders. They arrived this week and look great! They just need to be cleaned up a bit and have the blue top painted on.