Finally Finishing the First Build

[Driel71]

First time posting, welcome any feedback of how I can be doing better! Started my armor journey hoping to wear a full kit at Emerald City CC in March 2023. Was unaware of the 405th at the time and just kind of winged it. Used the template from Aguilar Workshop on Etsy and my brother (bless him) 3D printed, sanded and base painted the kit for me. The pic with the lightsaber is what I was able to pull together for ECCC 2023. We couldn't get the legs to fit right but was proud to wear what I could! We worked thru the summer and I attended my first meet up at Rose City CC 2023 (red background pic). We had all the pieces printed and even some detailing but a lot of it fell apart lol so more work needed. At that meet up I was introduced to the 405th by Kahn319 and have been lurking since. I was able to get some more detail and soft parts together for ECCC 2024 and was able to be in my first ODST group photo. After 18 months of trial and error and a lot of lurking in 405th threads I'm diving back in to hopefully have a re-made kit with a fresh look for RCCC 2024. In the next few months hoping to tackle a fresh paint job with upgrades to soft parts and infrastructure. Wish me luck!

 

[Driel71]

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to add the detail and lettering? I tried doing hand painting on the previous paint job (below). I've seen people use stencils with spray paint and Cricut, are there advantages to one vs the other? The Cricut option seems less messy but I'm having trouble finding a suitable vinyl.

 

[Billbill36]

What I did for my suit for the lettering is print the text on a piece of printer paper with masking tape placed on it. The UNSC logo was printed on top of the tape, I cut out the text, peeled the remaining tape off, and then sprayed with a white spray paint. It worked out well for me : )

 

[Driel71]

What I did for my suit for the lettering is print the text on a piece of printer paper with masking tape placed on it. The UNSC logo was printed on top of the tape, I cut out the text, peeled the remaining tape off, and then sprayed with a white spray paint. It worked out well for me : )

Thanks, I will have to mess around with that.

 

[Driel71]

SANDING!!! I’m so glad to be done with this part

this was a repaint I didn’t have to do all 5 stages except on my new shoulder pieces but it was time consuming.

 

[Driel71]

Now paint! I decided to go with a naval color scheme which will go over solid black soft parts. We did 2 coats filler primer, a gun metal coat for weathering and then top coat color. At my brother’s recommendation we went with matte Rustoleum for everything. Spray painting done courtesy of my brother and his garage Now we’ll clear coat, add decals and then finish with a matte coat and black oil wash for that good grime feel.

 

[GarrisonHoard]

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to add the detail and lettering? I tried doing hand painting on the previous paint job (below). I've seen people use stencils with spray paint and Cricut, are there advantages to one vs the other? The Cricut option seems less messy but I'm having trouble finding a suitable vinyl.
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I saw a while back that some people were making stickers for the shoulder and lettering on the chest plate. I would imagine if you want to buy a cricket or know somebody that has one they could print and have those cut out very easily. Then just apply them in the right locations and then hit it with some clearcoat.

 

[N8TEBB]

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to add the detail and lettering? I tried doing hand painting on the previous paint job (below). I've seen people use stencils with spray paint and Cricut, are there advantages to one vs the other? The Cricut option seems less messy but I'm having trouble finding a suitable vinyl.

Cricut machines (or more generally, vinyl cutters) can cut vinyl lettering to stick directly to the armour, or cut out a stencil to use for spray painting/air brushing the lettering on. Vinyl cutters can be used for both methods.

In my experience, paint will endure longer than the adhesive on most vinyl's. Spray painting the letters with a stencil is also advantageous if you're putting designs on rounded surfaces, where it may be tricky to evenly apply Vinyl lettering.

For both methods, the lettering will hold up longer is you give the armour a light sanding to roughen the surface before applying. When looking for Vinyl's, look for anything that says weatherproof and/or permanent. Some vinyl's are designed to be removable and therefore have a less powerful adhesive, which is not ideal for you. For the spray painting method, be sure to clear coat the letters thoroughly afterward to prevent them from wearing off.

 

[Driel71]

Cricut machines (or more generally, vinyl cutters) can cut vinyl lettering to stick directly to the armour, or cut out a stencil to use for spray painting/air brushing the lettering on. Vinyl cutters can be used for both methods.

In my experience, paint will endure longer than the adhesive on most vinyl's. Spray painting the letters with a stencil is also advantageous if you're putting designs on rounded surfaces, where it may be tricky to evenly apply Vinyl lettering.

For both methods, the lettering will hold up longer is you give the armour a light sanding to roughen the surface before applying. When looking for Vinyl's, look for anything that says weatherproof and/or permanent. Some vinyl's are designed to be removable and therefore have a less powerful adhesive, which is not ideal for you. For the spray painting method, be sure to clear coat the letters thoroughly afterward to prevent them from wearing off.

Thank you so much! We did try the cricut stencil but the computer program was a little outside my skill set. Hoping I can figure that out for next time. We ended up hand painting part of it and then sealing under the oil wash and clear coat. Should have pics soon!

 

[Driel71]

Delayed but here is the finished product, I didn't get enough pics at comic con but at least it was done! Looking to add foam to the neck and thighs and touch up the wording and "stencils". The color and weathering came out great, inspired by the "watery grave" armor skin on Infinite Multiplayer. Ended up using a bronze Sharpie paint pen for the wording as I couldn't find a paint I liked. Hoping to showcase a polished version at HCS 2025. I wanted the soft parts to mimic a wet suit for the water feel. Top and bottoms are the Under Armor Heat Gear. They were about $100 total but worth every penny as I didn't overheat at all.

Open to any recommendations on patches or finishing touches!