Animated Arc Trooper Submitted 8-16-11

[Voss]

Hey guys,

First off, it was great talking to Wags, Fivezero and the other two troopers, sorry forgot the one troopers name and Bly stayed anonymous under the helm at MCCC on Saturday. The con was fun and I found myself a Leia and R2-D2 maquette to add to my collection as well as a nice poster and a signed pic from Peter Mayhew.

I'm starting work on my Animated Arc Trooper. The armor showed up Friday and I managed to get it cleaned and started trimming the Cod piece tonight. The plan is for this to be a Commander Colt build. I'll post when I update my build thread on CTN.

Here's a link to my build thread
http://forum.clonetroopers.net/index.ph ... ntry174198

[Rimshot]

Hah, I was the one you forgot

Regardless, definitely looking forward to seeing this build progress. Should you need any help or pointers just let us know.

[Ripcode]

That is a great kit. Have fun with the build!

[Voss]

Updated my build thread over at CTN with some up to date progress pics. Spent a lot of time cutting and sanding this weekend. I could barely hold a knife by the end of Saturday =/

Does anyone happen to know where I can find Vinyl& Fabric Spray paint at. I've tried the local Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards and Joann's. Menards was the only one with the actual paint but not in white.

Thanks

[Ripcode]

Updated my build thread over at CTN with some up to date progress pics. Spent a lot of time cutting and sanding this weekend. I could barely hold a knife by the end of Saturday =/

Does anyone happen to know where I can find Vinyl& Fabric Spray paint at. I've tried the local Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards and Joann's. Menards was the only one with the actual paint but not in white.

Thanks

Auto Zone or Advanced Auto Parts or Pep Boys should have that.

[Voss]

Auto Zone or Advanced Auto Parts or Pep Boys should have that.

OMG I drive by an autozone every day. So I stoppped on the way home and found a can. I could have paid for this paint easily with the gas I spent driving around town. Thanks for the tip.

[Voss]

Picture Updates!!!!

After spending a lot of time bondoing and sanding, I started getting the base coat of white on the armor. I'm not going to profess to having all of the pin holes and seams completely invisible. It was my first time ever working with bondo and I think I managed a fair job of it.



Unfortunately I ran out of flat white paint after 3-1/2 coats. Of course the local Wal-mart was out of flat white so I shifted gears and started working on the gray parts. I didn't grab any in progress shots of those. I picked up more paint on Monday and a few more coats of white later here is my current progress.





I somehow managed to misplace my can of Smoke Gray so no weathering has been added to any of the parts yet. And a close up shot of the pauldron.



Overall I'm fairly happy with the progress on the paint. The main pieces to work on are the left forearm and the helmet. I'll be masking those off over the next couple of days. And while I was waiting in between coats of paint over the weekend and the last two nights I began tackling the extensive number of ammo boxes. This is a pick from earlier in the evening. All the main boxes are now glued but I don't have an updated pic.



I also custom made an aerator for the helmet. I posted a pic in my other thread but I'll add it here. Still need to make the second one.

[Wags]

WOW!!!! Looks great man!!! Cant wait to see it!!. Your doing an awesome job so far!!!

[Ripcode]

WOW!!!! Looks great man!!! Cant wait to see it!!. Your doing an awesome job so far!!!

I agree with Wags! Awesome progress!

[Mowskwoz]

Very nice!

[Rimshot]

Impressive, most impressive...

[Voss]

Updates!

It's been a busy and productive 2 weeks despite losing 4 nights to various work functions. Here are a few teaser shots:







And then......the first test fitting of everything I have complete to date



never mind the piece of blue tape i left on my thigh...






and for all my hard work I intend to enjoy my Smarties! Comments and suggestions welcome.

I've got some tweaking to do based on the test fitting. The velcro on the cod piece is interfering with the attachment of the ammo boxes so I have to work that out. I've got shoes on the way from crow62 so I can put the finishing touches on foot armor once those arrive and of course my back pack and guns. The kama is my big problem point at the moment. I've got some material I like and it looks good with the armor but I don't have anyone I trust to put it together so my next goal is to find a good seamstress.

I've got a mod planned for the helmet as the recess in the back is digging into my skull so I intend to cut that out from the inside and make it much more shallow. I'll get some progress pics up as I start that process.

[Pesci]

LOOKS AWESOME!!! It's hard to believe you accomplished all this in a little over a month!!! WOW!!!

[Fivezero]

That's incredible! Nice Job!!

Fivezero

[syntax]

Totally kick ass.

[Wags]

BA man... B.....A.... Killer job on this I dont think there are many of these clones out there right now either. I know Evo has his done. Way to set the bar man!!!!! Oh, and I didnt get to enjoy my smarties... my kids at mine.. lol...

The only thing I see is the blue tape, which you already pointed out... , and your straps for your thigh boxes on your butt seam to be a little crooked. Maybe put something to hold them so when you walk they dont shift on ya.
And your UA logo on your pants... hehe.. black magic marker. Did that on mine 5yrs ago and it hasent washed out yet. Other then that... killer man... just killer

[Voss]

There are a few fitting issues I need to address with the build. One of the things in particular are the forearms. I was barely able to remove my helmet with the forearms in place. I pretty much dropped it on my head to get it on. Does it effect approval at all to make cuts to allow for easier movement? I'd have to make a small crescent moon cut at the inside of the elbow. I've see it done on other suits but as this is my one and only suit at the moment, I don't want to sacrifice approval.

As far as the thigh boxes are concerned, I think the main problem is that one of the straps is longer than the other. They came pre-cut and I assumed they were the same length. Should help a lot to even them up. I do like the thought a adding a little stitch to the crossing in the back to help them though.

I was wondering who would mention the UA logo first

[Voss]

Well, I did a quick mod to the helmet today to correct the issue of my face hitting the visor. Not to mention the slight bruise in the back of my head. Here are a few shots. I used a hacksaw blade to cut off the recess from the inside. I used a bit of tape along the rim of the helmet to prevent any damage during the process. I then glued in a bit of the flashing that I had cut off from trimming my armor. I'm very please with the result. The helmet now feels incredibly roomy. I just need to figure out padding and wait for Evo to do his aerator run. Mine are screwed in from the back side at the moment.





and the finished product.





Now, as far as my gauntlets are concerned I was taking a look Waxer's pics from his recent troop and the paint damage that occurred during my test fitting and I'm thinking of cutting both of the gauntlets at the pencil marks shown below. I wanted to get some opinions before I make a drastic cut. I assume these types of cuts don't effect the approval process?

[Mowskwoz]

Great job so far, It looks amazing. It makes me want to do a Animated Clone.

Now, as far as my gauntlets are concerned I was taking a look Waxer's pics from his recent troop and the paint damage that occurred during my test fitting and I'm thinking of cutting both of the gauntlets at the pencil marks shown below. I wanted to get some opinions before I make a drastic cut. I assume these types of cuts don't effect the approval process?

My initial thought was that it should be ok. But since this is a fairly new costume in the Legion, it is approved by the Legion Membership Officer (LMO) team and not by me. I have sent an e-mail to the LMO team to inquire about your proposed modification. I will post up their thoughts once I receive an answer.

[Mowskwoz]

I received a quick reply from one of the Legion Membership Officers. His response was as follows:

That seems like a big cut to make... I usually go the opposite route and trim the wrist. But, with the ARC forearm that's not an option. I wouldn't deny that, but I'd suggest making a smaller cut at first and gradually stepping it up.

You may only need 1/2 that to get it to work, and it will look better with less of an arc sliced out.

I also find that making sure the biceps are pulled up high enough helps. If the forearm hits the bicep when you bend you are all done.

I hope that helps.