Calladar's Kat WIP

[soul products]

which "felxible" putty do you use?

 

[calladar]

which "felxible" putty do you use?

here is what i am using you can get both on amazon at a decent price. on the flexible putty you have to let it cure for about 40 min and then once cured use 400 grit sandpaper. any more coarse will put deep scratches in the putty and ruin that you are trying to accomplish.

 

[bigolaf]

a truly inspiring build. i guess i will have to try foam for some new odst parts. can't wait to see it done!

 

[soul products]

hmm cool thanks for sharing

 

[calladar]

HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM?!?!?! i got home form work this morning and went to bed. slept like a baby.. got up this afternoon and went out to put another layer of paint on the thigh pieces. while paint was drying i was looking at the kit and making plans for my next move and low and behold noticed that a seam had come apart on the robot arm shoulder. after a loud verbal question (which i was glad the kids were not home from school yet) i grabbed the piece and inspected it. i noticed that the joint that came apart was at a stress area and then it dawned on me. the temp. today got to about 83 degrees and the pieces are outside in the heat in the garage / shop. the heat must have warmed the hot glue up enough for it to soften and come apart.

alot of people are moving to the foam builds but.... has anyone warn the kits for any length with the heat of the sun or ambient temperature? other forms of builds do use hot glue but are generally reinforced with resin or some other form of adhesive.. now i am concerned that just transporting a kit to a convention in the bed of the truck during a hot day may result in pieces coming apart. easy fix but still a concern. Has anyone run into this issue?

i did reconnect the piece and added a large bead of glue to the inside to add more support / reinforcement but like i said, i now have more concerns.

 

[Brandon McClain]

I have heard that heat can be a factor with hot glue. You may want to just reinforce the seam with superglue once it is mostly assembled.

 

[calladar]

yea i started checking the rest of the kit and i think what got me was that i missed some seams putting a bead on the back of the seams to reinforce them.. thus just had a thin layer of glue holding the seam together from when i first assembled it. this may be my own fault of lack of attention to detail and getting in a hurry. i went back and checked everything and double checked and added glue where it was not reinforced. supposed to be hotter tomorrow so going to leave it out and have the door open so it gets direct sunlight in heat and see what happens. would rather have something fail due to heat now and fix it and figure out a solution than when the family is out and in the heat and have it fail mid fun. (dragon con parade for example)

 

[HaloGoddess]

It still feels like winter here.............or at least a VERY cold spring. It's been in the 30's and barely making it to the 40's. :\ But the issue with thot glue and the heat, I figured that was just common sense. XD However, it DOES take some very high temps to fully melt the glue of a glue gun, so........your concern with transporting the armor in the truck on a hot day may not be a huge concern. BUT as you mentioned the concern for being outside in a parade on a hot day and wearing it, the temp outisde and body heat that is being given off could be a slight concern.

As long as there are no very tight spots when your wife wears it to cause stress on the seams it should not fall apart, however, the glue might soften up and enough stress on a seam may cause it to come undone. I would keep this in mind. Just be sure that your wife is not encountering any very snug, tight spots. If you have to, have your wife suit up and give it a stress test outside. Have her walk, run, kneel and do all sorts of positions in the armor to see how well it holds up. I've sort of done that with my leg pieces because my thigh pieces are pretty snug around the area right above my knee, but I will be inside a cool building when I wear my armor and with the way weather is around here, it might even be a cool day on the day of the convention.

Hope that helps you out and let's you know what to expect.

 

[DETHANIEL]

I should have warned everyone, sorry. Few months back, i did leave my chest piece (with collar on) in front of my mini heater by accident. came back 10 minutes later, and half the project was melted and warped.

 

[calladar]

I should have warned everyone, sorry. Few months back, i did leave my chest piece (with collar on) in front of my mini heater by accident. came back 10 minutes later, and half the project was melted and warped.

ahh.. i should of thought about it.. it's obvious with a glue such as hot glue. says it all in the name. lol..

well it's late and i worked some on the grunt since i am still frustrated with the shins.. after working on the grunt i decided to work on the thigh attachment. i started building and since i was building from scratch i just started and went with it. i did not look at any references and just went from memory. got into a grove and didn't even think about looking at anything.. my memory is good... i was wrong. after getting it done i looked at reference pics and i was a little off. oh well call it creative license.. going to go with it.. here is what i came up with.

tired and going to bed have to work this weekend. yay me.

 

[HaloGoddess]

I'm trying to work on the thigh attachment myself. I am having issues with how I really want to go at it. Forged is having computer problems like me so he is running behind on getting the models done. I only have like 3-4 more pieces left and about 20 days left to finish it! I've come this far and can't stop now. It will be my first finished costume!!! D:

 

[calladar]

I'm trying to work on the thigh attachment myself. I am having issues with how I really want to go at it. Forged is having computer problems like me so he is running behind on getting the models done. I only have like 3-4 more pieces left and about 20 days left to finish it! I've come this far and can't stop now. It will be my first finished costume!!! D:

"you can dooo it!!!" wow i felt pressure with 120 days left. lol..

i am going to do some adjustments to the thigh piece to get it a little closer to the game but not much. either way i am going to run with it. still working out the opening to make it work for a pocket. still will not be able to put much into it cause it is thin.

 

[BLACKULA727]

Man, I haven't check your thread in a while, but I got to say the Kat armor looks fantastic. Great job!

 

[thorn696]

I'm Loving you're build. I'ts coming along so nicely. You're foam work looks very nice and clean. Can't wait to see how it all looks when done.
Keep us posted.

 

[calladar]

thanks guys.. well i finished the thigh attachment and halogoddess comes out with an amazing file for the thigh attachment. figures. got all done painting and also realized the clipy looking things that are to be holding the attachment on. they are sitting on my work bench all nice and pretty.. so i have to put those on re-paint. waiting to see how halogoddess does on the attachment with her file and i will probably be redoing it anyway. but here is where i stand.

i have to stay up tonight so i an work tomorrow night. going to go try and make another shin piece for the third time. fingers crossed.

 

[HaloGoddess]

For being a blind scratch build, that tactical case isn't that bad. But now with my apparently awesome model I made, you can make it look a little more accurate. haha

Since I seem to be understanding this modeling thing enough to where I can successfully make a model, I may model the other pieces I need since ForgedReclaimer is starting to have his computer bug out like mine did. D: Don't know if he has the same virus I did/do, but there is no telling when he will be able to get them out. I also have a little secret up my sleeve for something I am going to model. You may want to build it for your wife's costume as well.

 

[SkullBoy13]

did you buy that manikin from singapore??

 

[SENTI3NT6]

Wow! Mondo tactical case bro!!!! Dude!!!!! Bro!!!!!

 

[calladar]

did you buy that manikin from singapore??

ROFLMAO.. no i made it.

 

[calladar]

For being a blind scratch build, that tactical case isn't that bad. But now with my apparently awesome model I made, you can make it look a little more accurate. haha

Since I seem to be understanding this modeling thing enough to where I can successfully make a model, I may model the other pieces I need since ForgedReclaimer is starting to have his computer bug out like mine did. D: Don't know if he has the same virus I did/do, but there is no telling when he will be able to get them out. I also have a little secret up my sleeve for something I am going to model. You may want to build it for your wife's costume as well.

yea i have been playing with blender just having a hard time getting through the control scheme. i know it will take practice. but when i do anything i have the tutorial video going at the same time to help me remember the controls and how to set it up lol.

Wow! Mondo tactical case bro!!!! Dude!!!!! Bro!!!!!

thanks getting there. only have the shins and boots left and one down.

not going to get much done my first day off. i have to work the Locust Grove Day festival directing traffic for the parade (my least favorite task) but on the up side was asked for my son and i to walk around all halo-ed up for the kids after the parade. sooo had to break out Snow Chief and Blue Tiger Chief and do some quick repairs and touch ups. also added a little here and there now that i have discovered the foam build. redid the inner thighs and the seal in the arms. then had a few cracks i had to fix here and there from wear and tear from the last time we wore them. now that i have that all done they are loaded in the truck and ready to head out in the morning.