Progress Report- June 12th, 2011
After a recent game plan change I have focused my sights on a Mark IV suit to be completed before Halloween of this year. A bunch of us are going as the Avengers this year so I need a costume that works with that theme. I started a previous thread as my original intentions were to build the War Machine but as detailed in my other thread http://www.therpf.com/f24/pep-talk-my-first-build-war-machine-your-help-please-117310/ I've decided to hold off.
I've been working on this project for just over a week (started June 5th) and have so far. assembled the helmet, bought a Silhouette SD at the advice of another member (Best Purchase Ever!) Built a duct tape dummy named "Buster" following directions from Youtube and just finished the chest piece today...all Pepakura of course. I will be posting regular updates of my progress, your comments are always appreciated!
My next piece will be the "Chest brace" file, I wasn't aware I actually needed this until the other day while looking through the rest of Shark's files. Does anyone know if this piece stays with the rest of the armor once completed? Or....is this just to hold everything in place while resining??
Here's a pic of the file I'm talking about:
Here are a bunch of pics of my overall progress so far...they're organized in chronological order, starting June 5th. I apologize for the image quality but they are generally taken indoors, at night, with a flash turned off iPhone camera which is why they have an orangish hue. I could edit them in photoshop but they look good enough for this purpose.
You'll notice the Silhoutte SD doesn't show up in the pics until later, the helmet(s) were cut by hand, anyone who has done this knows why I bought the cutter.
June 6th
June 7th
Still have to fix this as it was cut down the middle to fit, for some reason this piece is too small...hence the gap. Perhaps I assembled this wrong??
June 9th- Helmet done minus the small repair which will be completed at a later date, time to start on the chest armor...almost as many pieces as the helmet, grrr...but wait! Salvation! It was 8 at night and I was literally loading up the files to start the arduous print/cut process when my doorbell rang. Pleasant surprise, it was my Silhouette, I wasn't expecting it for at least a couple of days so thank you overstock.com!
I proceeded to cut 26 pages worth of chest pieces in less than 3 hours, including the setup of the machine! I think I got to bed around 3am that night, the gf was not impressed. I would be happy to answer any question you may have on the Silhouette, I'm an immediate advocate.
June 11th- Introducing.....Buster!
At this point (last Friday)I decided to put the chest piece on hold for a day or two and assemble a "duct tape dummy" to mount my parts on as they're completed. I have to say that building the dummy was more difficult than I anticipated, however the final product looks good and it's an accurate representation of my body proportions.
The most difficult part of the assembly is the amount of time that you have to stand still while being taped up...I only used 3 layers and it still took over 2 hours. The instructions I read recommended 5 layers, I would've passed out from heat exhaustion by that time and the girlfriends patience were wearing thin (as usual..haha), so we stopped at 3.
The next task which was no fun was trying to get the damn thing off. I ended up cutting it all the way down the back right to my waistline, slitting the wrists up halfway up my forearm and the feet almost up to the knee. I finally removed it 30 minutes later, along with about 8lbs of water weight.
For stuffing I cut up a bunch of old blankets and pillows (3 of each) which was just about the perfect amount. The frame was built using 20 feet of 1.5" PVC pipe. The best advice I can offer is remember to measure twice and cut once, this stuff isn't cheap ($71). When finished I only had about 8" left as I took the time to plan everything out on paper before hand.
I bought glue and primer as well but didn't end up using it as the fittings were VERY snug just pushed together...plus I'll have more flexibility down the road if I need to make any adjustments.
Overall, it's (he's)extremely sturdy and will serve it's (his) purpose, now I can focus on getting my armor assembled. I think I'll call him "Buster"
Back to working on the chest- June 11th
Here's where I'm at as of tonight! -June 12th
More updates to come soon....
After a recent game plan change I have focused my sights on a Mark IV suit to be completed before Halloween of this year. A bunch of us are going as the Avengers this year so I need a costume that works with that theme. I started a previous thread as my original intentions were to build the War Machine but as detailed in my other thread http://www.therpf.com/f24/pep-talk-my-first-build-war-machine-your-help-please-117310/ I've decided to hold off.
I've been working on this project for just over a week (started June 5th) and have so far. assembled the helmet, bought a Silhouette SD at the advice of another member (Best Purchase Ever!) Built a duct tape dummy named "Buster" following directions from Youtube and just finished the chest piece today...all Pepakura of course. I will be posting regular updates of my progress, your comments are always appreciated!
My next piece will be the "Chest brace" file, I wasn't aware I actually needed this until the other day while looking through the rest of Shark's files. Does anyone know if this piece stays with the rest of the armor once completed? Or....is this just to hold everything in place while resining??
Here's a pic of the file I'm talking about:
Here are a bunch of pics of my overall progress so far...they're organized in chronological order, starting June 5th. I apologize for the image quality but they are generally taken indoors, at night, with a flash turned off iPhone camera which is why they have an orangish hue. I could edit them in photoshop but they look good enough for this purpose.
You'll notice the Silhoutte SD doesn't show up in the pics until later, the helmet(s) were cut by hand, anyone who has done this knows why I bought the cutter.
June 6th
June 7th
Still have to fix this as it was cut down the middle to fit, for some reason this piece is too small...hence the gap. Perhaps I assembled this wrong??
June 9th- Helmet done minus the small repair which will be completed at a later date, time to start on the chest armor...almost as many pieces as the helmet, grrr...but wait! Salvation! It was 8 at night and I was literally loading up the files to start the arduous print/cut process when my doorbell rang. Pleasant surprise, it was my Silhouette, I wasn't expecting it for at least a couple of days so thank you overstock.com!
I proceeded to cut 26 pages worth of chest pieces in less than 3 hours, including the setup of the machine! I think I got to bed around 3am that night, the gf was not impressed. I would be happy to answer any question you may have on the Silhouette, I'm an immediate advocate.
June 11th- Introducing.....Buster!
At this point (last Friday)I decided to put the chest piece on hold for a day or two and assemble a "duct tape dummy" to mount my parts on as they're completed. I have to say that building the dummy was more difficult than I anticipated, however the final product looks good and it's an accurate representation of my body proportions.
The most difficult part of the assembly is the amount of time that you have to stand still while being taped up...I only used 3 layers and it still took over 2 hours. The instructions I read recommended 5 layers, I would've passed out from heat exhaustion by that time and the girlfriends patience were wearing thin (as usual..haha), so we stopped at 3.
The next task which was no fun was trying to get the damn thing off. I ended up cutting it all the way down the back right to my waistline, slitting the wrists up halfway up my forearm and the feet almost up to the knee. I finally removed it 30 minutes later, along with about 8lbs of water weight.
For stuffing I cut up a bunch of old blankets and pillows (3 of each) which was just about the perfect amount. The frame was built using 20 feet of 1.5" PVC pipe. The best advice I can offer is remember to measure twice and cut once, this stuff isn't cheap ($71). When finished I only had about 8" left as I took the time to plan everything out on paper before hand.
I bought glue and primer as well but didn't end up using it as the fittings were VERY snug just pushed together...plus I'll have more flexibility down the road if I need to make any adjustments.
Overall, it's (he's
)extremely sturdy and will serve it's (his) purpose, now I can focus on getting my armor assembled. I think I'll call him "Buster"
Back to working on the chest- June 11th
Here's where I'm at as of tonight! -June 12th
More updates to come soon....
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