Hey BigbisonT,
I've been watching your vids over the last days, and this is excellent work! Thanks for sharing. It inspires me to build an alu armor by myself! Thanks for that!
Thanks to all great women an men that built cool stuff and posted pics! Excellent community!
Ice

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17 days? 17 days?

Thanks man!

Speaking of which, I finished the most recent video. Was waiting on some paint and some webbing, but I am good to go and this sucker is wearable!
In this video I do final prep on the finished (but still raw and bare) pieces then get it fully strapped up.

I took a few liberties with button snaps in order to be able to take it apart for repair/repaint/cleaning, but none of it is visible when worn. Overall I am really happy with how things turned out. This one clocks in at just over 46 mins, but has a nice 'rapid fire' tempo that I think makes it more fun than the others.

Video #14 - Final material prep and strapping!
https://youtu.be/QCVLwlbojX4

Coming up next is paint and finishing touches.

Really enjoyed watching this project evolve. Great inspiration for anyone wanting to tackle building armour thanks for posting.

Thanks and really hoping it inspires others (even if not in metal exactly).

Here are some quick pics for people not necessarily watching all the videos.


Here is a pic that might be useful in general to anyone trying to strap up the shoulder pads.

This is insane. I love the idea of making a star pattern with a dremel wheel before drilling through the helmet. Making those holes was the hardest part of my helmet build, broke probably five bits.

Oh man, that just looks so beautifull! And what i really like is the sound of it! That alu armor sounds like a symphony to me!
Have to go to workshop and begin...by the way: where did you get the templates for the parts? Is there a link or something?

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17 days? 17 days?

I am afraid there are no templates online (that I am aware of). I essentially came up with mine via evolution. Counting my plastic and mixed media sets, this is the 5th overall armor set that I have built for myself, so I have evolved my patterns to be a better fit and more accurate each time. After my 4th set (my first metal set) I was able to compare my finished bits to actual Terry English bits and discovered I was actually REALLY close on most items. This latest one I tweaked things just a bit more based on that info. One thing I will stress is that the number one change to every single one of my 5 builds is that each time I realized new bits needed to be SMALLER! I see it over and over again with props, costumes and armor where people (self included) want to make everything too big right off the bat.

I don't really have the ability to do scans of my own templates, but I will try to post up some general measurements/reference on some of the more prominent features so people have a starting point. (Then of course adjust to yourself from there).


***EDIT/UPDATE: I did post pictures of my patterns straight on, which Martinr1000 was able to convert into CAD.
Downloadable 'starting point' patterns are now available in this thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18692 ***

Had a long stretch of non-productivity, but I'm moving again!

I finally knocked out the paint after a very productive weekend. Forgot how long this process takes...but overall I am pretty happy with it.
I used the "original Humbrol" colors, and like most, I just despise the "Matt Sand". There is nothing "Sand" about it!!! It is bright yellow!!!
All that said, there are plenty of pics showing a yellow color from surviving screen used sets, so I guess it simply 'is what it is'.

In the video, I document the effect of a clear matt coat over the paint vs leaving it bare, talk about different weathering techniques and decided to go with the liquid form of 'grate/stove (black iron) polish'. I also am documenting the 'scratch build' of the webbing/grenade straps and neck bindings. I am still editing up the video but should have it either later today or tomorrow morning.

In the mean time, a little "before and after"...

"BEFORE" (does have a little charcoal on the 'matt sand' and a "matt" clear coat on everything)


"AFTER" (liquid "Imperial" brand stove polish treatment)

Glorious! It has been so much fun watching this come together.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

daaamn dude, thats amazing

Thanks everyone.

Video #15 "Paint, weathering and Trim" is finally UP! I also scratch build some neck bindings and grenade straps here too.

https://youtu.be/vvEfoOjj9x4

This guy is damn near ready to go. I will do one more video in this series based on "optional" accessories. In that I will touch on the various 'other stuff' that completes the marine such as pouches, knives, weapons (briefly), watches, belt tools, shoulder lamps and all that jazz. Nothing new for you guys, but just some of the fun stuff that will flesh out the costume and make it more 'complete' just to finish off the series.

So "creation" is over and done, though. 10 weeks of effort have led to this:

That looks top notch. I still need to watch the video but I appreciate the still shots!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Wow this is superb. Great work!

Great work. Love the camo painting.

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Excellent work! Thanks for taking us with you on this journey!

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17 days? 17 days?

Few quick updates.

No new videos, but improvement overall I think. My dissatisfaction with the mustard color of the "matt sand" has only grown. I finally snapped and had to do something about it. I grabbed a bottle of the Tamiya XF-59 "flat desert yellow" (which is often referenced in old posts here as an humbrol matt sand crossover).

First I had to clean off the 'grate polish' weathering, which I eventually got done with Acetone. Regular mineral spirits were not enough to to remove it. I think if I had used mineral spirits with some steel wool it might have worked better but, but I was not being very patient. The acetone worked much faster but you had to be careful as it could remove paint as well (which in some spots it did! But in a way it helped the overall weathered look I think).

Back to the color, I think "Desert Yellow" is a decent enough improvement. Seen in this picture working from far-to-near, we have my metal "matt sand" helmet, a tweaked stephen210 fiberglass helmet with the Tamiya, and a Terry english helmet with presumably a custom color.


The results were decent enough that I did the rest of the armor. Here you see the Desert Yellow on the greaves (unweathered) and the pauldrons (weathered).
Further, I discovered during weathering that you can get better control over everything if you dip the rag/paper towel in mineral spirits first, THEN using the same wet rag dip it in the stove polish. The diluted effect is really much easier to control the darkness.


Finally, since I went to the trouble to strip it down, I figured I better add some graffiti. My wife has a pretty accurate Vaz setup and my son rolls with a Hicks look/armor, so I decided to do a movie character rather than my 'own thing' as I've typically done. Might as well make it a crowd-pleaser. I really wanted to do Ski or Crowe! But alas, in the end I suppose I'll just give the crowd what they want and it makes more sense given my family's gear.

unweathered Tamiya


Weathered and complete

That looks great! The weathered version of the tan is a big improvement, and you are getting really good at painting the Hudson graffiti (third time counting the wooden wall plaque?).

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thanks, and yeah def feeling comfy with the skulls as of late.

And the re-work is now complete. I have added the various acoutromon and am ready to rock.

That looks fantastic!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Amazing work!