The Best Laid Plans...

I know... I take forever to post new content.
I have an excuse.
I'm currently working seven days a week in a push to drop the hammer on some student debt.
Worry not, though... I'm reducing it to six days... when work starts interfering with my capacity to hit the gym, I start getting cranky.
Gotta keep perspective!
(Yes, yes... I know I was injured... shush! LOL )

In terms of the armor, my work schedule has interfered with THAT, too... but fear not, True Believers! I may have stumbled upon something that could simultaneously solve my surfacing issues *and* my joint material issues...
... I just need to talk to some plastics experts in regards to adhesives and painting options...

The BAD news... is that the armor isn't going to be ready for Hallowe'en... it's a bit of a low-expectation year this year anyway...

So I'm re-evaluating.
The armor WILL be completed... but I've decided to de-emphasize the 'huge con-stress' style of smashing everything together and hoping the glue holds it long enough (I have NO idea how people can be happy with Plasti-Dip... =/ ) and focus more on assembling the pieces to last longer than the time it takes to put it on and then tear back out of it.

(Worry not Toronto Ironman... I'm leaning back towards metal again... but in a slightly different direction. =D )

I've been drawing up plans... and I'm starting with the feet.

Side-benefit... this will allow me to take more pictures.  =)

Metallic... uh...

Yeah... in adding to the laundry list of 'Things I should Have Thought About Before I did Them..." 

... I now have six sheets of 2' x 4' 1/16" thick aluminum.

"WHY?" you ask?

As I said... it's Toronto Iron Man's fault. (Curse you, Robertoooooo!!!!)


(j/k... Roberto's a kick-ass guy. Props to him for the idea!)

This is him: https://www.facebook.com/TorontoIronMan?fref=ts

See... he cut the Mk VI out of foam (via the pattern - the same one I was using before I started the Mk VII) and then turned around and cut the same pieces AGAIN out of sheet metal... and hot glued them to the foam.



It WAS working... kinda... then I ran into a few snags... namely the little pieces, the unwieldy-ness of the cutting of the aluminum and the pointy edges.
I'd rather not snag someone else just brushing past them. =(

So - for now - I will be resuming my foam + white glue + polyurethane process... and I'll likely re-examine the metal process after Hallowe'en.

To that end, though... I've taken to pouring miniscule (like capful-sized) amounts of 'Part A' and 'Part B' of the polyurethane and mixing them, pouring them in small dollops onto the armor pieces... then smearing them around with my fingers (in rubber kitchen gloves).
Seems to be working... the urethane spreads thinly enough so as to not drip all over the place, gets spread evenly and is spread soon enough within the urethane's pot-life of three minutes that I can get it all ON before it starts congealing.

Sometimes over-thinking is actually not the best thing to do.  =)

Stay tuned!