*Deep Inhale* "Ahhh... Good 'ol H2O!"

Well, I got a few things done today. I managed to make it back out to the store and blow some cash on some essentials. I figured I would buy a few more brushes, and some more resin. I picked up the quart of resin and was about to walk away when i saw a few shelves over they had a gallon of resin, for only twice as much as a quart!!! For those of you who aren't down with measurements thats four quarts for the price of two ;)

I also managed to find myself a respirator. I had to go to 4 different places before I found one. I went to Lowes expecting them to have one and when I couldn't find them I asked these two girls behind the counter... and they didn't even know what a respirator was... lol, they definitely were only hired because they were relatively attractive, because they were no help for anything! Anyway, I finally wound up at Tractor Supply and they had one left, so I got it and it helped a LOT. I didn't notice the fumes at all.

Sidebar, don't drink a beer and then put on a respirator, because it will not filter out the smell of you burps and breath when it is already inside the filter!

I decided to work on the two arm pieces tonight and finish coating the exterior of the cod piece. I tried coating the exterior of the pieces first and then doing the fiberglass work...

Problem is, I coated it, then immediately expected it to be dry/stiff enough to put in the fiberglass, and it probably would have worked out best had I coated the outside and then waited, but I didn't because I'm impatient...

I also wanted to point out, it may be a good idea to go ahead and cut up a lot of the fiberglass before you touch anything else. that way your hands wont be sticky while handling the fiberglass and if wont be sticking to your hands the whole night driving you crazy.

And if you don't already know, which if you don't know this you had better go read some more on fiberglassing... but fiberglass will get all over everything... So wear cloths that you don't mind getting a little messy (which you should already be doing due to the resin).

Y'all Wanna Get High?

I finally got out to work on fiberglassing the suit and while I made quite a few mistakes, I think I learned a lot of useful information. Not to mention considering I have never worked with fiberglass before I think that I did a pretty kick ass job!

"*schick* Ahh, thats the stuff..."

A shot of after my first few ounces of resin and fiberglass.

I took off the bottom support (actually one side fell off when I picked it up because it couldn't hold the weight...) which was not good because it wasn't sturdy enough to hold its shape, so I had to hold it for like 30 minutes to make sure it dried right.

 

Overall I probably about 2/5-1/2 a can of resin on the inside alone, I also used up all the hardener that came with it (so my drops may have been bigger that recommended) and I still have to do the outside of it, so I am gonna have to buy a LOT more resin... but I did only use like 1/10 a bag of fiberglass but I will probably use more ;)

A few things I think I did wrong:
- I poured more resin in my container than I could use at a time and it hardened, so I had to throw it out...
- I should have waited to remove the supports until AFTER the resin and fiberglass had dried enough to hold shape, I took one of them off for easier access but I think it caused the piece to loose its shape a little.
- I didn't plan well enough for cure time while I was working on it. I would recommend doing a few pieces at a time so while one is wet and drying you can work on another piece.
-Try to keep the weight balanced, I went around from the front to the back and the weight wasn't distributed well so it couldn't stand up which made it hard to stand up on its own.
- And last but not least... I didn't use a respirator. WARNING: If you have never worked with fiberglass resin and you are like me and think "oh, they say I need a respirator but thats just for legal purposes or something, and I can get away with just something covering my mouth..." You are wrong! I am an idiot for not wearing one (pretty sure I will be buying one tomorrow) because that stuff smells STRONG! Not to mention I was working outside in the open air and I could still smell it...

You Live, You Learn

So I walked out into my garage today to head off to work, to find that I am an idiot. One of my pieces of armor had folded in on itself on the bottom side from the weight of itself... now you may think I am being hard on myself calling myself an idiot but, I work with paper all day every day because I print books for a living! I know better than to leave a paper object sitting around in a place subject to temperature and humidity change... Now I have to remake the waist piece.

Moral of the story, start fiberglassing or strengthening process shortly after you finish a piece of the armor and don't wait around letting them sit unsupported until you finish all of them. So more than likely I am going to have to man up and do some fiberglass work this weekend. Stay tuned!

(This could be a disaster!)

Details Details Details!

So I finally finished the left forearm piece and holy crap! There is a good amount of detail placed in that piece. Nevertheless, I finally finished it. The biggest thing I am worried about with this piece is making the mold for it. I am not sure if it will form properly with all the details if I only make it a 2 part mold, so i may have to go to a 3 piece, but I don't know for sure yet, I am still researching it. Anyway, here are the shots from tonights accomplishment!

Obviously I had to start the night off right ;)
Lucky for me I already had about 80% of it done, so I didn't have too much left to do to finish it.

I tried to take some extra shots that were closer up of some of the detail in it, but I don't know if the pics will do it justice since all I have is a cell phone... (Yes my wife is a photographer with a kick ass camera, and no I don't know how to use it...)

Obviously, I have been working on this for a while now, and I am getting close to finishing the first step and it wont be long before I am on to the next step, but for now, its more cutting, scoring and folding for me!

Bi/Tri/Shoulder Piece Build

I finished my bicep piece last night around 1:30am, I am surprised I was still awake because my new workout regimen has been killer! This piece wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, there were a few areas that caused me some trouble that i will probably just have to fill with bondo later and carve out. But here are the shots i took of it:

I found it rather difficult to properly mold the oval on the back of the triceps. There are a lot of little tiny cuts and folds on the bottom side of it and while I didn't do a bad job, it just didn't turn out great.

and of course, I had to take a goofy pose shot wearing it...

Up next, the forearm...

Cod & Butt Done

I got the cod piece done last night, came out really well I think... however I am DEFINITELY going to have to get back on my diet and workout program because its gonna be a tight fit. Not to mention the fact that I have put on 35lbs since this time last year when I dropped out of CrossFit... but that's another story. Here are the shots of the whole waist band:

Back Side

Front Side


I am starting to get pretty pumped about this project again as i near completion of the cutting, scoring and gluing phase. I cannot wait to move on to the next steps (I am pretty nervous about it though...) stay tuned!!!

next up................. the arms.

FINALLY DONE.... Putting the Chest Together...

That's right, last night I FINALLY finished gluing together the final pieces of the chest armor for the suit. I have been working on this piece for a while and had some issues along the way, but a lot of things resolved themselves once I got the support struts in. All in all I think it came out pretty well, but I can tell there are a few areas I am going to have to do some work on. Word of warning to anyone who may attempt this piece, it is not at all easy. there are a LOT of little pieces and it will take some time. Also, I would HIGHLY recommend keeping your computer close by with your pep viewer open because it will save you a lot of time figuring out which piece connects to what.

Here are some shots of the finished product:

The back is definitely the most difficult piece to work with, the center of the top and bottom have a ton of little pieces that have to squeeze in together just right which is just absolutely irritating if you don't have everything lined up just right... It helped the time go by watching some football in the background too...

Here is a shot of my table in the garage with all the pieces on it that i have done so far.

So far I have been able to make the Helmet, Chest, L&R Thigh, L&R Shin, my EOD Shoulder, and the Hand piece. (the stuff on the right is mostly waste)

I also started work on the cod piece, I got about 60% of it cut out last night and may try to work on it some more tonight after everyone goes to bed!

Fun Fun Fun!!!