TFU Royal Guard from Oz

[Sith Lord]

A mate was following WTF's facebook page, saw a post about a new run if TFU kits and sung out to me. A good deal was struck for 2 kits shipped to the same address and so the build begins...

Well, the waiting begins... 10 weeks apparently. 5 or 6 of them down so far.

While waiting I started with the jumpsuit. Bought a Dickies branded one. (I hate buying online being unable to try on for size). Guess what, it was waaay too big. Not too bad if I was wearing it for painting, but too big for a costume. Sorry, no pics of my pencil markings, but I laid it flat, drew a line up the inside of the legs, outside of arms, down the side effectively thinning out the suit, making it more form fitting. Much better and more comfortable now.

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

(No, it's not my bedroom. Daughters room is the easiest to take full length photos in )

Oh, and got the belt in.

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Will wait till the armour is received and built before I cut the belt to size, and see if I need to remove the chest pockets or not.

Thanks for checking in.

[Sith Lord]

BBB arrived from WTF. HIPS helmet and ABS body armour (everyone keeping up with the acronyms)

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Starting with the helmet, I taped it together.

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Couldn't see, to get it lined up perfectly no matter what I did, so did the best I could. Glued together with acetone, using offcuts of helmet as 'coverstrips' inside. I then laid some mesh tape along the seam and coated in epoxy (sorta the same as fibreglassing) to add extra strength.

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr
Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Then onto the bondo. The sanding process begins...

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

[Sith Lord]

First round of sanding done

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

[Sith Lord]

A couple more passes of sand, prime, sand, prime and I come up with this. Pretty happy so far.

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Will wait till I get the rest of the armour ready before I paint. Speaking of that, armour marked for trimming

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

Trimmed, then sanded/scuffed ready for paint (new and fresh on the left, sanded on the right)

Untitled by Ian Naden, on Flickr

[Gree23]

Looks great so far. If you don't mind me asking, what did it run you for everything from WTF?

thanks!

[Sith Lord]

Shipping to Australia is always a killer. Bought two kits at the same time to save a little bit of postage - came in at USD$1000- for the 2 kits. Can't remember, but maybe $450 each plus postage.

[Gree23]

Shipping to Australia is always a killer. Bought two kits at the same time to save a little bit of postage - came in at USD$1000- for the 2 kits. Can't remember, but maybe $450 each plus postage.

Cool thanks. He had a kit ready to go so I got it for 500 shipped. Can I ask what kinda primer did you use. That looks smooth!

[Sith Lord]

A local auto store (Supacheap Auto) has it's own range of primers/paints, etc. Limited colours, but goes on great.

[Shadowhawk01]

Looking great so far! I have the same kit minus the helmet and I am doing mine as a shadow guard, your build so far looks really great.

[Talmor]

Looking good so far! Do let us know what color red you go with!