Re: "It's About Time!" Starcraft II Terran Marine CMC Armor WIP *PIC HEAVY*
Thanks all! Can't say how much everyone's support helps me push thru the difficult spots in this build!
I built a PVC stand for the suit, or more accurately, two stands. The first was way too flimsy and preferred to fold in half under the weight of the torso rather than staying true to it's namesake and... standing. I rebuilt it with larger diameter PVC and that worked much better, but I still need to find a way to steady it better. the feet at the bottom aren't enough to keep it vertical, so maybe I'll add some wedges or something to the feet.
Next, I finally started on the nubby things on the outer perimeter of the feet. I know now why I've put this off so long, it's tedious and monotonous! Oh well. Gotta be done! Each one of the squares will have to be cut, glued and sanded down to shape before being attached to the foot. However, that means the feet, shins, thighs, hands, forearms, upper arms, and cod piece are ready for the battle scarring stage! I've been putting that off until they were all together so I could do it all at once. One does not simply walk into a battle with incomplete armor!
Blah blah blah detail detail detail I know what you've all been waiting for. The suit up! And yes, finally for the first time, here it is at last, the big reveal!!
My ceiling in that room is about 7' high and I was only a couple inches from it so my 6'10" guess was pretty close! We also shot a video during the entire suit up session as well as testing mobility of arms and legs. I'll edit the vid a bit before I upload it cuz it's almost a half hour long, but know that it's incoming! I'll upload my video of the hands in operation too, tho you can see a little of that in the new one as well. It's surprisingly easy to walk and I have tons of movement in the knees, ankles, hips and waist! Now that I've put on the suit I can finally see a couple areas that will need to be addressed if I plan on wearing this for any reasonable length of time.
First off, the torso itself fits nicely and isn't too cumbersome, but once the shoulders and hands are added, the weight really starts to take it's toll on my shoulders. After about 10-15 minutes I was really starting to ache, but I think I already have a solution. More to come on that soon.
Second, I don't have as much movement in the lower arms as I would like, however the range of movement in the shoulder bells are incredible. I have a solution kind of worked out for that problem too. Further testing on that later.
Third, as I suspected, this thing gets really hot really fast. I was sweating before I finished getting the second leg on. The fans will certainly help but I'm looking into a new power source that can ramp up the speed a bit. Right now I'm using 8 D-cell batteries for 12v but the amperage is still too low. The fans run but I have to figure out how to make them run better. Any suggestions??
Ok I'm rambling again, but hey I'm excited! At long last I can finally start to see the end result! Thanks to everyone for the support and comments!
Finishing details on feet, torso; building the spinal column; finish work on the pistol; main body work on the rifle; paint & weathering; completion! "Gangway! Comin' through!"