::update (possibly final):: 11/16/23
Hello everyone!!! Been hard at work with some updates to my armor that were needed.
Here in KC planet anime, which is a new con, took place a couple weeks ago.
SpartanSweed CherriDragon and i gave it a visit in suit to basically get a feel for the con and show KC’s 405th presence. With that, I did a fell test run on the new armor, dubbed “Ranger Spartan Blue”.
Learned some things….
-Boot strapping tends to wear over long walking distances, popping toes over the top of under shoe. (Fixed)
-Pistol magnet spins making it easy to hit by people who walk by (fixed and printed a new pistol)
-Shotgun magnet can be finicky if hit at the wrong angle. (fixed)
-Helmet fogs up from electronics heat and breathe. (Fixed)
-Printed AI isn’t safe to carry around. (
SSGLordErne found a solution and hooked me and Elmo in on it)
-Undersuit armor tends to pull up and belt tends to fall down while walking (fixed)
So the pistol was an easy fix. I just printed a little slot piece for the magnet attached to my hip, that way the pistol locks in place with minimal spinning.
The shotgun was a bit trickier. Walking back to my truck after the event, my shotgun was tapped by a passer by and offset the magnet. Which caused the shotgun to fall and land on the butt and break. I have since fixed the shotgun with JB weld and print a piece that blends in with my back armor that props the shotgun at a better sitting angle. Took three tries but I got it.
The boots were the fun one to figure out. After walking all over planet anime, the strapping that went under the front toe of each of my boots wore down and snapped. Which led to the toe popping over the front of my shoe exposing the actual shoes I was wearing. So I did some thinking, with also an idea inspired by Spartansweed (said something about replacement boot soles). I went to my local Menards and bought some rubber floor tile used in workout rooms, cut it to size and epoxied it to the bottom of each piece. Creating a faux sole to the boot. And boy did it turn out great. No more plastic slapping the ground sound or anything like that. I also updated the paint job so that all my blues and whites match.
So fresh and so clean clean.
The helmet needed freshened up for sure. I wasn’t ever 100% satisfied with the paint job, let alone the fogging up that I discovered at planet anime. So with some inspiration from my fellow SSG boys, I added some stuff… I used paint markers to draw on what look to be the triceratops horns from the actual blue ranger helmet, and then to replicate the golden eyes of the OG helmet, I put 4 golden LEDs ran off AAA batteries on the upper vents. I also drilled 24 holes in the front vents for better air flow for breathing and stuff. Take a peak at the new and improved.
As for my undersuit, it kept riding up while my armor belt would slide down. So my beautiful wife broke out the sewing machine apparatus and sewed large Velcro pieces right where my belt hits the undersuit. Then I placed the opposite side of Velcro on the belt, and the weight of the belt help hold down the undersuit while the undersuit keeps the belt from falling. No clips or anything visible, which is what I was going for.
Well I think those updates should do it for Columbus. Can’t wait to see everyone and unveil this thing to a larger group.
….oh I also have stickers!!! Printed a little dark but are still really damn cool!! I’ll be handing them out at galaxy!! See yall there!!