Hellraiser

I talked 2/3rd's of the family into the theme this year but my daughter wouldn't do it..."too nerdy"! We had a blast & got a LOT of attention at my son's school costume parade...he's now officially 'cool' with most of the kids in his class!

Just one question...and a curiously asked question. WHY paint it?? Whats wrong with the way it comes? I have 2 AP armor sets (1 TD & 1 TK) & they seem just fine right out of the proverbial box.

Yep...that's what I used for mine based on TD-1536's recommendation (via his excellent site ) and it works perfectly!> Once it's on there...it aint comin' off unless you take dremel sanding wheel to it! Good stuff, and cheap too.

I just finished a set of AP myself. I wouldn't use a high speed cutter (dremel)....wayyyy too easy to slip & make permanent mistakes. Just use a utility knife (razor blade) and take your time. All you need to do is score it along the lines and it snaps easily and accurately along your cuts. Just sand the edges or use a dremel with sanding wheel to fine tune after scoring/snapping but under no circumstances would I use a dremel to cut/trim the pieces initially. Just my .02

I used 2" white elastic attached with E6000 adhesive (from WalMart) ...works perfect and gives a little flex.

Hey thanks guys! Figured I'd do the TD first because it would be weathered and would likely hide any 'problems' with assembly but it went together very well with NO PROBLEMS! I have another set of AP in a box waiting to be assembled into my TK suit. My main interest lies with TD's but I realize ya gotta have a TK suit for some events. The AP helmet in particular assembles very easily into a great helmet. Having no prior experience with these armor kits, I was a bit nervous but once I got into it, everything went smoothly. It REALLY pays to do your homework and research everything with the many excellent tutorials and help threads on the various sites.... MANY thanks to all who have posted that stuff for reference. In particular I found the TK1536 and TK409 sites invaluable. Thanks again to Nathan (Slave1Pilot) for all of his help!!

My newly finished AP armor & helmet with the Sandy treatment. Thanks to Slave1Pilot for the GREAT job!

I used the Tamiya brand 'Neutral Gray' . For my TD helmet, I actually used it to paint OVER the fine inside lines on the back trapezoids and the teardrops. The color match was perfect.

It's the box that my .45 caliber Glock pistol came in! ...and actually now it's TWO Glock boxes (9mm Glock 19 and .45 Glock 21) screwed together for added depth! I've have these laying around since I bought the guns in 1996 and I DID think twice before using them but then I realized I hadn't touched them for 10 years!! So why not use them!?

Ok I have been meaning to ask this question for a while now... Is there any reason you couldn't use the end caps from the thermal canister on the mortar tube as well as the detonator plate? To me they look perfectly accurate and they fit perfect too. I've heard some say the mortar tube should be 2.5 inch PVC and that looks too big to me. The screen shots I have look to be 2 inch tubes.

I ended up getting the Hatch Nomex gloves from OneStopKnifeShop and the Promate brand scuba style one piece zipper front undersuit with stirrups and thumb loops from unrealfind.com in San Diego. They both look to be perfect choices. I'm really happy with the quality of both. Got 2 suits for $92 shipped!! I'm only lacking a neckseal now. Your thoughts on the best of those available?? Thanks in advance!

Looks pretty **** good to me! It's interesting to see all of the different takes each pack has.

Looks great! and comfortable. I'll probably do this too.

I'm looking for comfortable and reasonably accurate. I bought a set of the Hatch Nomex gloves from One Stop Knife Shop and am looking seriously at Under Armor for the suit. Anybody know anything about these 1 piece suits with a zipper in the crotch sold by 'Trikstoys' on ebay? They seem nice, if a little pricy.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys! Very helpful & much appreciated.

One of the last things I need for my suit is the undersuit & gloves. What works best? What's a reasonable price? Where can I get it? Thanks in advance!

Heh...believe it or not, for the radio box I used a Glock 21 box!! The U-shaped pump is also funny. I was leaving Lowe's after striking out on finding parts to use for that pump. I couldn't find anything close for the oval shaped part at the top. On my way to the car I saw an empty 'Gumout' Fuel injector cleaner bottle on the ground (trash!) and snatched it up! I didn't think it would work but I cut the bottom off and then cut the long neck off and then fit them together to create the oval main body. 2 pieces of 3/4 PVC capped & screwed to the main body at the top. For the ribbed 'nozzle' section I used part of a Master Plunger handle. That part is not accurate but I liked the look of it.

Those are close but not the same ones. Lowe's sells a 'Plano' brand box (@$3.87 each) that is the same size/depth and identical to the ones I used with the exception that the latches were not as nice/strong. They would be fine if you glued them together (closed) permanently. You need 4 total. 2 screwed together for both upper & lower boxes to get the correct total main box depth. Yes, the ones I used could be used to store things in if needed. Aother side note: I painted them inside and out. That way if they scratch...and they will...on the outside, it's not as noticeable.

Thanks for the welcome guys and for the props about my prop! This place is really cool with lots of great info that helped me a lot in assembling my pack. Now I just gotta get my new AP armor all trimmed & assembled. Should be fun.

Thanks! Heh...I bought 3 or 4 different kind of boxes before settling on these, they just felt 'right'. Some of this stuff is a ***** to find and have it look right. The main boxes are 'Plano' brand clear fishing tackle/storage boxes painted black and slate blue. Not cheap, but they work well I think. You can't tell from the pics but there are 2 of each screwed together to give the right depth.

My first post here but I've been lurking for awhile now...soaking it all in. Here's some shots of the pack I just built. Not completed totally yet, still in parts as you see. I'm going for a "screen-similar" look with some small adjustments to fit my taste without straying too far from the real deal.