It also looks pretty badass in that nice dark red color... after it dried I did a little light sanding and re-primed.
There are still a few minor spots that could use a fix up, but definitely looks 1000% better than before.
That was all Friday night, of which my good buddy James came over to once again assist me in my venture. after a quick lesson on Bondo application, he was off to work on the chest.
I didn't tell him until later that he would have been shot if he damaged it... you know, don't want an employee with bad work moral or anything ;)
After a couple hours of Bondo'ing, and a lot of talking, he left me with this.
I was really excited to see how good it looked. The front of the chest was a bit caved in on the left breast plate, and he got a good amount of even level out of it. From that point, we called it a night... and went inside and played Halo Reach for several hours...
Monday, I got back to it. I started back in on the torso in hopes of getting it done. I am sure that being an amateur I don't have all the proper tools and know how when it comes to Bondo and sanding (or at least I pray there is a better way out there) because about 7 hours of work later it looked like this:
and at that point my back was killing me! I also discovered that there are some downsides to working outside.
1) The sun is hot.
2) Hot sun equals hot driveway.
3) Bondo sets MUCH faster in the heat.
I might as well be holding a handful of quarters! (okay, so maybe its not that much... but I'm cheap!) However, I adapted to my surroundings (move into the shaded garage) and pressed on! I picked back up on Tuesday due to some other chores and things I needed to do around the house since I was off and all.
After a lot of Bondo and sanding and Bondo and sanding and Bondo and... where was I? Oh yeah, sanding! I got a good layer across the whole area.
I also had to pour some more Rondo into the piece because as I was sanding I ran across a few week points in the front of the chest and one or two in the back. After that, I decided to go ahead and see out we looked in primer.
I knew it wouldn't be perfect, but like I said earlier I can now see all the impurities in it and know where to use the spot putty at.
Throughout the day as I was waiting on things to dry, or realized I made too much Bondo, I worked on the Bi/Tri/Shoulder and the Right Thigh pieces. The arm piece is pretty straight forward, just some Bondo work:
The thigh however was a bit more involved. The edge was very thin, so I used a technique I have seen online (thanks Thorsson) where you use duct-tape to line the edge and do a roto pour so as to thicken up an edge.
I then realized that when I made these I didn't give them a good test on their size and as it turns out, now that they are hardened and more stable, I did and they are a tad bit too long! Oh the horror!!!! I tried not to panic, and instead got out the ol' Dremmel tool. I cut off about 1/3-1/2 an inch on the back of the knee because the problem I had was that I couldn't bend my knee enough to sit or squat... and as we all know, Master Chief has to be able to squat over his victims...
I might trim a hair off the top of the front as well for a good hip crease, otherwise I think it will work great!
Finally, I was done for the day. Like I said, I do wish I had gotten more done, but for me, this was a lot of work to get done all at once and I am thankful I was able to get the time to do so! Here are some final shots of everything I worked on.
And here's a nice group shot to finish it off:
If you would like to see more come together and happen a lot faster (and you know you would) send me money! =P
