Apollo A7L Spacesuit Build

[WTCreations]

I’ve been quite busy for the last almost year.

But my EVA gloves are finally finished. I used kenlandrum’s pattern, the same nylon as the rest of the suit, RFID fabric I found on eBay, and rubber finger tips I bought from Global Effects on eBay. I’m so glad I found those finger tips, because I don’t know how I would’ve done it otherwise and it assuredly wouldn’t have turned out as nice.
I ended up hand sewing the fingers together and hand sewing the tips to the end of the fingers.
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And here’s the finished glove. I’m very happy with it.
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The shaping of kenlandrum’s pattern turned out very nice.
I had to make some adjustments to get the end of the fingers to fit my specific finger tips.

I also did some work on the PLSS. I used plastic corrugate stapled to a 1x2 frame. So my main structure is done, minus attaching the carry handle to the back. After that, I’ll cover it in a layer of batting and nylon.
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The only work I have left on the suit itself is attaching my pressure release valve, and then making the pressure gauge and gauge cover.
I’m also working on my snoopy cap and will hopefully have a post on that soon.
I might at some point buy a set of EVA boot soles, or buy a complete set of boots and rework the fabric parts with my own material.
Anything helmet-related is definitely outside my current skills and available material. If anyone has ideas there, let me know.

Hello ZachsBanks,

You said you need ideas on how to make the helmet and have an stl. I am a 3d print designer who has already taken on two commissions converting VFX helmet files into 3d prints for Machzeropoint2 here on RPF.

Those stl's you have. Are they 3d print files? There are many 3d print services out there. Shapeways is the largest 3d print service providers on the internet. They cost money, but I think all do. 3d print filament is not cheap.

 

[zachsbanks547]

Hello ZachsBanks,

You said you need ideas on how to make the helmet and have an stl. I am a 3d print designer who has already taken on two commissions converting VFX helmet files into 3d prints for Machzeropoint2 here on RPF.

Those stl's you have. Are they 3d print files? There are many 3d print services out there. Shapeways is the largest 3d print service providers on the internet. They cost money, but I think all do. 3d print filament is not cheap.

The files I have are for the EVA helmet and believe they are made for 3D printing. They’re kenlandrum’s designs.
I’ve checked out Shapeways before, but it’s definitely too expensive for me, at least right now.
I mainly want to be focused on the bubble helmet right now anyway.

 

[Billy]

The files I have are for the EVA helmet and believe they are made for 3D printing. They’re kenlandrum’s designs.
I’ve checked out Shapeways before, but it’s definitely too expensive for me, at least right now.
I mainly want to be focused on the bubble helmet right now anyway.

Do you have any idea of how you're going to produce the bubble helmet?

 

[zachsbanks547]

Do you have any idea of how you're going to produce the bubble helmet?

None as of right now.
Really the only way to do it is to make a negative vacuform mold of the helmet, which from what Nagata has said, is very difficult to get a good pull on. So I doubt it’ll be worth attempting for me. Maybe if I found someone local who’s good at vacuforming.

 

[real_ronin677]

More progress on the legs!
I got the leg pocket attached and the leg loops sewn and attached. And I decided to slip then onto the padding layer to see how they were looking.
View attachment 1302043
(and some cat tax, courtesy of Frodo)

After a few tests with some paper, I think I have a good pattern made up for the UTS cover.
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And I got it sewn together, attached snaps and velcro, and attached it to the leg (note to self: sewn velcro on before attaching snaps; much easier.)
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And then I was finally able to attach the legs to the torso! This feels like a big moment.
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I couldn’t wait and I slipped it all over the padding layer, so I could try the whole thing on.
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I think it’s looking great and I can’t wait to finally have the two layers attached.
But, I need to wait until I get the front buckle and buckle cover attached before I can do that.
I don’t have a 3D printer yet, so I ended up ordering a front buckle from kenlandrum on Shapeways; that way I can make some progress in the meantime.
I’ll hopefully get the buckle cover and zipper cover sewn up in the next couple days.

Can I ask what material you are using for the outer suit material ? I've look through your post but can't see it.

 

[zachsbanks547]

Can I ask what material you are using for the outer suit material ? I've look through your post but can't see it.

It’s a heavier weight nylon that I found at a local fabrics store, Field’s Fabric.

I believe Nagata has a nylon he recommends that you can find online.

 

[Kokanee]

Can I ask what material you are using for the outer suit material ? I've look through your post but can't see it.

400 Denier High Density Coated Packcloth Nylon Fabric

400 Denier High Density Coated Packcloth Nylon Fabric

www.rockywoods.com

 

[Galifreyscall]

Just for reference, how tall are you? Asking so I know roughly how much to scale the pattern by

 

[helloworld]

None as of right now.
Really the only way to do it is to make a negative vacuform mold of the helmet, which from what Nagata has said, is very difficult to get a good pull on. So I doubt it’ll be worth attempting for me. Maybe if I found someone local who’s good at vacuforming.

The plan I have is to 3d print it and build a silicon mold around that and use resin