Have fun guys, wish I could go
Hopefully, next year!!

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Rob Slater
A08/TQ2.0.42136E1

Some more build photos I've been taking, since my phone's data service is working again.

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Sweet SG Romeo. Hopefully my rig will be ready by Megacon.

All I have left to do for D*C is sewing more patches.

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Lookin' good there bro, can't wait to see it!

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USCM- The Colonial Marines- A Brotherhood of Bad Asses!

Looking awesome, Romeo! It's inspiring me to move ahead with my SG plans.

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~Jay

I said the same thing after looking at Andy Gardner's "CodyCam" vest and smartgun build, not so very long ago. I couldn't have gotten this far this fast without tons of help and advice from other board members, so I'd be happy to pass it along. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Lookin' good, Sean
Jesse

Can we have a tutorial?

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I think I'm the wrong person to ask for one of those, but if you guys want I'll be happy to start a step-by-step thread about the build later on. Preferably after DCon ^_^

The skinny version is, it's a MatsuCorp resin MG-42 kit, plus M-56 conversion parts (mostly done by Matsuo as well, others are original found parts I've picked up along the way). The resin parts are cast in "aluminized resin," that is resin mixed with atomized aluminum powder, so that when it's buffed (or scratched and weathered ) it looks like real metal. I do have to say, though, that I consider it something of an honor that my kit is the first one out of Matt's molds It's been a learning process for both of us, haha!

The arm itself is based on the "CodyCam" home-build plans that you can get for thirty bucks from http://www.codydeegan.com, with some slight modifications. The most significant change is replacing the square tube bones with bar stock, so instead of a 4" wide arm you have one that's about 2" wide, like the original. The bar stock is just harder to cut and tap, is all. Credit goes to Andy Gardner (Saintadjg) for that mod.

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Just finished one of these........







It's a sticky back foamy cut to the shape of an ECG pad, with a home printed sticker of an actual pad that I got off the interwebznethingy. Just 3 more to go.


And here's the "vitals" display box thingy that the wires will be hooked into:




This is one of those "Suduko" type games- cheaper knock off version called...

Who the hell cares what it's called? It was $10.

I'm nearly ready for this drop!!

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I am finally ready!

Colonial Marine- Done! Final armor adjustment, mounted Shoulder Lamp, nearly forgot Motion Detector(!), ready to go!

Endor Commando- Done! Lot of fun building this one!

Batman- Done! Almost didn't make the cut. For a few mnutes, was off the list. Finally, in frustration at trying to get pants to match up to armored Batjacket, tried on Cyclops X1 pants. Perfect!
The whole outfit looks wicked tough! Good enough to stand next to Kevin's Robin...

Deathstar Construction Worker- Done! Almost forgot the Construction Pouch!!

My gawd, next year, gotto be ready 2 weeks in advance...

Yeah right!! Can't wait to see everyone!!

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USCM- The Colonial Marines- A Brotherhood of Bad Asses!

I am SOOOOO last minuting this thing again...

Will I ever learn?!?

Gotta hit the pillow for a good three solid hours, then it's up again to finish things up (probably a good 6 hours of work left on my gear ).

Must sleep.

Zzzzzzzzz...

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Rick "Ripstick"
A03/TQ3.0.12142E1

Good thing! Otherwise I would have given you such a pinch!!!!

Rick- when will you ever learn? Guess you work best under pressure eh?


I finished the ECG pads last night, and attached the wires. Just have to attach the ends to the vitals box, and get some kind of clip to be able to clip it to my shorts. Speaking of which; I was lucky enough to find an OD pair of swim trunks yesterday too.

All that's left is repainting my Batarang red, and packing.

So costumes for this year:

Grayson- It's had it's virginity popped at Toronto Comic Con and Polaris, so I've worked out all the kinks.

Star Trek TWOK captain's uniform- A favourite of mine since '95!

Hypersleep wear for late Friday night.

And of course my PIG Gunner impression. Really looking forward to the new, lighter look!



ALL MY LIFE IT WAS MY DREAM!!!


TO BE A BAD, MEAN, GREEN, COLONIAL MARINE!!!

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

RRTS, packed.
USCM, packed.
MI, packed.
Icarus II, packed.
Rifle and pistol, packed.
Body armours, all packed.
Jaffa cakes, packed.
Cherie's Commander Bly bust, packed.
Socks, undies, t-shirts, packed.
Toothbrush, packed.

Two suitcases, a gun case, all done. WHOOOOOO!

Packed all the gear for Ang and I last night. So ready to go for Dcon 07...

Ang: Queen of Hearts, Gorgo, Sailor Moon, Dee Dee from Batman Beyond, Scarlett and Lime Chiffon.

For me it's a Grammaton Cleric, a Spartan, Law, Dante and of course my Colonial Marine!

Phew...too much?

I'm finally done as well.

USCM - Done
3 Battlestar costumes - Done
Eric Cartman - Done
Toga and Hypersleep (No ECG pads, but I'll live) - Done

Let's just say today won't be too productive at work.

Transport departs in 13 hrs. Hoooo Rah!

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Schwartz
A05/TQ1.0.72150E1

"He's just a Grunt, no offense." "None taken..."

Marine - Done
BSG - Green bdus done
Star Wars - Rebel Fleet Trooper done, Endor Commando 98% done.

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Picked up my Service Charlies from the Tailor. Need to fix the Sulaco patch (sewn on top of the flap instead of under) and sharpie the tags (camo-tech had an 8 week wait) and it will be ready. Packing things tonight for a 1000 departure in the morning.

Had a near-disaster today that almost sank the entire project It's fixed, but it cost me a lot of valuable time that I had been planning on finishing the arm with :/ Right now it's the arm that has the most work left to go.

Oh well... not givin' up! I'll be finishing up the last of the work tomorrow, come Hell or high water.

Hypersleep duds... check.
Smartgunner duds including flak vest.... check.
Smartgun... in the vise while a metric crap-ton of super high strength epoxy cures in a crucial spot (the aforementioned near-disaster that had to be repaired).
Vest... 100% ready to go.
Arm... 95% on fabrication, about 50% on assembly. Once the last of the fab is done (getting steel angle cut tomorrow morning), the rest of the assembly won't take long at all.

I've been runnin' myself kinda ragged trying to finish in time - came down with a NASTY flu bug last night, the kind where you go from being fine to feeling like you're on death's door two hours later. This is going to be so worth it, though

Can't wait to meet all of you characters. OO-RAH!

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Looks like you'll be giving Rick (Ripstick) a run for his money!

He's been "Mr. Last Minute Miracle" the past two D-Cons.

See you in Atlanta Bro!

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Everyone one has gone.......place will be quiet for a while.

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I'm still here... It's quiet, almost... too quiet... argh!

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Well the UK guys, Russ and Joe are still here as well as many others.

It's just the loud ones who have gone.

At least while they are gone we can empty their garbage and clean under their chairs

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Had to add to the thread with the cr@p I did once I got home from D*Con.

Sewed on name tapes - the proper kind this time
Remade shotgun sheath out of softer vinyl, not the hard crackly stuff
Found 2 cracks in my armor around rivets Gotta fix those (epoxy right Spat?)
Hole in BDU pants, needed repairing.

I also threw all my unit patches etc into a frame for my wall.
I'll post some pics shortly on that as I think it looks awesome.

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Tony, what works awesome for repairing the armor is JB Weld. They make two versions, you want the one that works on plastics. I had to do a pretty serious repair job to my chest plate (my fault, dammit!) and I now cannot reccomend JB Weld enough. Two part epoxy, brown, it's awesome!!

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USCM- The Colonial Marines- A Brotherhood of Bad Asses!