FryGuy

Glad to hear! Here is what I have so far. Haven't done the 2nd color (oil layer) yet!

If I can't find fuller's Earth, I heard that grout works. Anybody done this? What were the results? I have lots of grout around the house!

So...are you guys as fanatical as me? Every time I get a new piece done, I can't stop staring at it! Before I go to bed at night, I go into my prop room (formerly known as the dining room) and give it one last look. I went in to look at it 3 times this morning in the hour I had before I left for work! Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Could, yes...But would they? I think of it like we are kind of on our own on this hot-arsed, gosh-forsaken desert heck hole. Some drunk farmer taking pot shots at us because we are answering a domestic dispute call, or breaking up yet another fight at the cantina wouldn't have a cannon, but more likely a smaller blaster. Our armor could repel firepower of that magnitude. I guess I have been watching too much "Cops- Tattooine"

You are right. I thought troopers were durasteel, but Vader's was durasteel (and Fett's before he upgraded). Stormtroopers were plastoid, so a "Fett dent" would not happen. Blaster hits could, however, happen... (From Wookiepedia) "The most obvious function of the armor was protection against weapons fire and battlefield hazards. The armor, and the body glove worn beneath, were designed to disperse the energy of a blaster bolt and insulate the wearer, lessening injury. Although standard armor lacked the durability to make the wearer immune to cannon fire, it could partially deflect or disperse energy from low, medium, and high-energy blaster bolts; though the wearer may be incapacitated, survival would allow the trooper to receive advanced medical treatment that may return him to service. It also deflected stun beams, and served as excellent protection against explosions and shrapnel, thereby drastically reducing the effective casualty radius of fragmentation weapons used against troops wearing such armor."

Bought the good stuff and did a few pieces last night. Now THAT's what I am talking about! Works like a charm and I love how it looks so far...

Man...you must be watching on a real good HD!

Been doing some thinking. Anybody ever consider a Fett-style dent in their armor? Maybe not so much from a blaster hit, but maybe a hand-to-hand-style like "that farkhole just hit me with a womprat club" sort of thing. This been done before? I will try this effect on some spare armor parts I have and post the results.

Got pics? That sounds cool! Wonder how it would work if you used something larger like a firecracker? Might run to the store tonight!

Ok. Might be the paint I am using. I bought the cheap-o bottle at Wally Mart. I'll stop by the artsie-fartsie store tonight. Tried it on one of my bicep pieces, and it did the same thing. Wet cloth, damp cloth, and dry cloth all do the same thing. Using a washcloth, like in the video. Probably my bad choice in acrylic. I agree that it should be semi-shiny underneath, which is why I painted it gloss white in the first place. Thinking that I wanted my armor to look like it was new before I was sent to that dust bowl.

Thanks. I tried all of that (I haven't done it on my actual armor, yet. I have some large scraps left over for just this purpose) On the non-painted HIPS, it works like in the video. On the painted, it just clumps up and wiped clean when using a damp towel or a dry towel. I let it dry, like REALLY dry. I think I will try to re-paint some of the gloss white with flat white and try this weathering technique again. I want to avoid sanding if possible. I'll let you knkow how it works! Might be a neat effect with the combo of gloss and flat and different degrees of weathering.

Ok, so I wanted my suit to be nice and shiny before I weathered it, so I painted my HIPS with a coat of rustoleum gloss white. I am at the point where I am ready to start the weathering using the technique here- http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=7290 Everything works great until I do the "blot it off with a damp towel" step. When I do that, ALL of the paint comes off and the armor is shiny again. Do I need to sand my paint before weathering? Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks