tk7602

Short story: i've got a parade coming up in a couple of weeks, and building up a highly accurate BFG in time just isn't in the cards. I spent about 3 hours last night converting a toy assault rifle into a reasonable facsimile of an MG-34. I think that putting some of the T-track stuff on there would help dress it up a bit, and help hide the fact that this was the first time I used my new drill press and the barrel holes aren't really all lined up quite as well as they should be I'm pretty sure that blasttech can get me the grip in time, but I haven't found much other than fan-made guns with the rubber on the barrel. I'd rather use movie reference if possible.

yeah, but you're talking to someone who has upgraded his fett costume more times in a year than he can count i tend to get obsessive over little things. i put something decent together to start, and then refine it gradually over time. thanks for the nice comments folks!

it's going to need a lot of upgrading as i go on, but for now, the pack isn't looking bad at all... the main things that need replacing are the main boxes. mine are only about 4" deep, which makes the pack really shallow, compared to on-screen. on the flip side, it will make moving around a con easier i still need to add the tupperware lid and thermal detonator parts to it, but the paint needs to dry a bit more. then it just needs straps.

since i don't have the pack on yet, i'm holding up the pouch where it should be, just to get an idea of the look. i've got to finish up the pack and weather all of the accessories. ah, it feels good to be dirty! once it's all done i'm going to add a bit more dirt overall... a little bit of darker stuff here and there. like i saiid befor, i want more dusty than muddy, so i'm not planning to go nuts with it. but a bit more won't hurt!

thanks! i was trying to think through what would really be happening... sand (paint) flies through the air and gets stuck in different places. wind (sandpaper) comes along and cleans a lot of it off, but some sticks. as time goes on, more scratches form in the shiny white plastoid (abs) helmet, giving more places for sand to stick. i'm hoping that the look carries over well to the rest of the armor. i'll probably start in on that later tonight, and wrap it up on saturday. i just dyed my pouches, so now that the supersheen has had time to cure a bit i can attack those with my spray dirt too

the brim didn't show up so well in those pics... this one shows it a bit: i think i may want to daub on a bit of extra paint there, since the airbrush stuff came off more there than on the abs.

last night... well, technically this morning... i took the plunge and started the weathering. the weathering is airbrushed, using primarily createx "transparent sand" airbrush paint. i sprayed it on, and sanded most off with 400 grit paper. then sprayed it again, sanded again, etc... since the paint is translucent, the layering builds up nicely over time. at one point i put a layer of light brown in there too, but i ended up sanding almost all of it off, since it was too muddy looking for me. this weekend i'll be hitting more of the suit. i don't know if i'll get it all done or not, but there's a good chance i might.

this week, just about everything i need arrived to make my sandyness a reality. i've got a target in sight: october 29. we're doing a parade, and i want to have the TD stuff set. from reading up here, i've got myself a list of things to do to the armor. anyone want to point out stuff that i might be missing? this is an ap suit i'm starting with - remove ab detail plate - replace knee plate with the diamond one - replace striped grey decals on the helmet with non-striped (is it just the teardrops?) - rip apart my butt cannister to mount parts on the pack. - dye my pouches black (brown leather currently) - pauldron - backpack (waiting on radio box, but otherwise good enough to troop in) - get it all dirty!! i've already got the flat green lenses, raised brow, and all my teeth i doubt i'll have a bfg ready for the parade. i want to do an mg-15 or a lewis, but if i have to i'll just carry an e-11.

hey, my wife wears the sexy, dirty costumes too, see: hrm... ok... so the tusken isn't exactly the hottest thing out there

i have a hard enough time remembering that i registered as bh7602 on the phoenix squad forum, nevermind having a different one everywhere other than phoenix squad, i'm tk7602 everywhere.

hello all! i'm just getting myself ramped up for going dirty! i've got an AP suit now, so the ab plate is as simple as ripping off the detail parts that were glued on (which i didn't glue all that securely!) i can build up the knee plate easily enough. i figure i'll get the backpack, pouches and pauldron together, then once i have everything get to it. i'm still not sure about a BFG. i'm definitely going to keep my E-11 around, but i've gotta do one of the big ones anyway, just figured i'd say hi, and let you know that anothe clean one is going to the desert!