TK-459

Like I said earlier,the problem is not the mould it's the plastic.The ridge line you see is where the plastic has thinned out.The top part will be 2mm thick,then from the line down to 1.5mm or 1mm.I'll bet the brow area is the thinnest part of the helmet.....right? AP could also be using a different supplier for his plastic too.Every batch is different from my experience,albeit HIPS and not ABS. Interesting. My lack of understanding was mostly around the seeming reoccurence in the same locations. Kind of interesting as tells though. All and all an excellent set. I'm really looking forward to this armor.

Also, here is a camera phone comparison of my SDS (left) with the AP (right). There is an obvious color difference which isn't so noticable when I am not standing directly next to the SDS, but it brings me to the question... Are you guys painting your AP or leaving it as is?

I just got my AP (Woot) and after going through it, I also noticed the dripping on the same location from the right to front of the cap. Over all, I am very happy with the armor, but this did stand out. Its much nicer than my last set. While it is not quite as thick as FX, its thick enough in my opinion. Compared to the SDS bucket, this thing feels way more durable. The SDS is super thin in some of the areas mentioned, such as the mic area. I tried to take some pictures of the warp on the cap. I don't feel any of the warping inside, just on the outside. You cannot see it so much in most lighting but I tried to hold it so you can see it. So I'm not really sure what to think about that. I'm sure I can mask it with some weathering, but it did catch my eye.

Awesome, thanks.

I knew I should have waited to sell mine. Oh well.

I was thinking about the side pole and it also looks like some cheap little bike pumps I have seen. I don't remember where, but I know I have seen pumps with the handle that had that exact tapered shape. As mentioned before though, it is also very likely that it is a foot from some set equipment like a tripod/monopod/light rig/etc.

That's your scratch build? That looks great. Did you use any specific instructions for it?

Thanks

More updates! I love working on this pack. I cut the top half of the PVC connecting the tubes for the manifold and then epoxied the flat surface to the cap. I had to vac the cap which came out decent. I also vacced over the desert cup to size it up a tad and get rid of the texture. Almost there...

Looking great!

Definetely interested in seeing this progress. Gotta love the pauldrons.

Looks great. I'm working on the same part right now.

If you have trouble location this, I have a suggestion. You could simulate a metal cog using the method many Jango's use. Get a scrap piece of sintra plastic, cut out the cog, and use Rub'n'Buff Silver Leaf to get a nice, metal look. If you haven't used it or heard of it, it is paste-like and buffs to a very nice worn metal look (After a lot of buffing). It only takes a little using your finger and some tissue.

A few in-progress updates. Tank Dish Vac adapter Still needs the larger coin shape on the lid Finished Stinger. I vacformed the taper piece that fits on the bottom. So far...Gotta finish a cap for the manifold among other things. I think I'm gonna trim the stinger a bit more too.

You don't read aurebesh? Shame on you. Several good designs here.

Nice job.

Hey, I really like that. The control looks great and the dirt looks great too. This is gonna make it hard for me not to try out an airbrush sooner than later. Maybe combined with a little sponge, but I don't know that look has a great dusty look. Is the brim airbrushed too?

No doubt. Yours and other threads have been very helpful in getting an overall sense of the pack. That and MEPD did a great job working on parts. Thanks. :headphones::Ds:

Wow! I think you did a heck of a job. That's very resourceful and thorough. Great tutorial...I may have to start keeping my eye out for these parts. Thanks.

I would definetely like to see better pictures. The camera used does not seem suited for this.

I wanted to start posting a few pics of my pack in progress. I've been collecting and building parts for a while now, and its really starting to come together. I'll update as I finish it. I'm using the alternate upper tank. For this, I found a conditioner bottle by Tre Semme. I cut a bit off the bottom and attached a piece of sintra. Still need to work on the cap area. I built the upper box out of some scrap styrene. The upper filter box is made from two PSP boxes and a layer of sintra on the face. I cut the inner edges with a razor, glued all the layers together, filled the gaps with epoxy and bondo, then finish sanded. I then took a section of a Fram air filter and seperated the folds a bit to spread it out with less peaks. I found my frame at a yard sale. The frame had many of the shapes I was looking for, but did need a lot of modification. I cut off a section from one side, shortened an area where two parts join, put in the needed bends, and cut out about 1 inch from the width (reconnected with wooden dowels and JB Stick Weld). Most of the bends crumpled up when I tried to do them, so I repaired them with JB Stick Weld and sanding. I bolted in Seth's boxes so that just a bit of the boxes past the frame, and also bolted them together at the middle so that the boxes hold as one unit. I them put strips of foam weatherstripping between the raised areas on the bottom to keep the pack from scratching against the armor a bit. Still have to paint the bolts and add parts, but at this point these are test fits. It's always difficult to film the colors, but for the blue sections I used Kilz Satin Supernal Blue as a base and Kilz Satin Calling Bird over most of it. Combined, it gives a painted weathering that I can't really capture with this camera. Here you can see the finished filter. I let some of my parts hang off the main boxes a bit. Radio Box details here. More to come.

Wow, this is if nothing else interesting.

I'll go ahead and grab a few extras for those who have a difficult time getting them.

No problem. For install, I cut a small piece of styrene plastic to the round size of the threads, put a bolt through it with a lock nut, jammed it into the threads, and then sealed it in with some Devcon plastic welder. I also trimmed the stinger a bit.