LVLAsian's Imperial Surplus Praetorian Build

[LVLAsian]

Going to try logging my Build Progress of my Imperial Surplus Praetorian build here.

Parts
Helmet - Imperial Surplus
Armor - Imperial Surplus
Undersuit - Crowprops
Gloves - Crowprops
Shoes - Crowprops
Skirt - Field Fabrics (Ultrasuede(R) HP (Ambiance) #1367 Red Fabric)
Weapon- TBD




I per-ordered the helmet a year ago before the armor came out. Great resin casted helmet, came with the visor and everything. Not much to it aside from cutting out the visor and cleaning up the bottom edge of the helmet a little.

[LVLAsian]

Wanted to get his knocked out

I want to do the Electro-Halberd as my primary. Downloaded the V2 of the Empire3D model but added more details that IMO is more accurate to what it is in the show as well as adding a metal stock through the blade and handle (orange thing) to make it durable.

[LVLAsian]

Got some time to work on my forearms, trimming is straight forward and easy. Surplus supplies resin greeblies for the T-tracks and cover strips to be glued on.





T-Tracks Glue on


Next Coverstrips



Leaving on side open to fit my hand through


Gluing on the other half


Repeat on other forearm and calling it done for now, going to fill/bondo the seams later down the line

[LVLAsian]

Also asked KW/Imperial Surplus for calcification on the chest plate this was his reply. I have fully built his previous FOTK so some changes to his previous molds




The Bottom "Lock"


Also for this part too as this is new to me.



I drew a quick sketch to see if this lines up with what he says and aside from the velcro needing to be closer to the edge, this is how it is intended to be


Now not sure if I'll will be doing/using the top two "pins" to lock in the chest because the hole for the yolk doesn't fit my head at the moment.... so going to revisit later when I decide to assemble the yolk itself as it comes in 3 pieces

[LVLAsian]

Spats are easy enough, may try hot water bathing them to close it easier before painting





Very little flashing I had to trim for the shoulder and biceps so it was mostly marking it with a pencil and grinding it down with a dermal



Only concern I have is the bicep wall that holds the cover fabric is a bit thin compared to the rest of the pieces, may reinforce later so going to think about it later.

[LVLAsian]

Hip plates

I decided to go with resin printing my own box that goes on the top plate, as the vac formed one feels like it will be a bit of a pain to glue and stay on.










Shins

My bad habit kicked in and forgot to take a pic of how I clamped it while the glue was drying. But it's straight forward, only glue shut the outside of the shins. The insides needs to be the closing point



the "Kit kat" I glue one of a time. There are arrows on the flashing to show which way to point them, marked them with a sharpie to make sure it's correct





Used JB Plastic Weld to make sure it doesn't go anywhere




I glued the rear kit kat the next day after sanding off the glue that might of leaked out

[LVLAsian]

Abdomen

Comes in two pieces and need to take the belt skirt off as it's not a FOTK





Assembly feels almost the same as the last one I did (Previous one didn't have the belt skirt)

How I did mine was mark off the join points with a sharpie and use the #1 box (Right side) and #7 box to make sure the closer is correct before gluing it down. The box location sticks out and the boxes should fit into the slots so easy to tell if it's correct or not.





Gluing it down with JB Weld again



I only did one side at a time (per night after work) to make sure it bonds, I do not recommend cutting the back slot until you do the sides first. I plan on doing the boxes later down the line

[LVLAsian]

Yolk/back

Now I don't think I have that big of a head... but the yolk barely fits to the point it's a little painful to take off...

My head is 6.5" across for comparison



Otherwise the Yolk/back comes in 3 parts



For the connecting parts I would sand down the return edge expect the outside. It doesn't serve a purpose far as I can tell and doesn't line with with the front or back. It makes it easier to glue and wont dig into you wearing it



The "fun" part, I used almost an entire tube of JB weld for his to make sure it bonds because you want to make sure this part is strong from the amount of stress is takes, plus allows me to shift it around before it hardens



You will need a lot of very strong magnets, clamps and duct tape to hold everything down





Will cont. adding the Back to the Yolk later

[LVLAsian]

Yolk/Back Cont.

As I said in my previous post, this is the reason you really don't need/want a return edge (in my opinion) on the connector



Left the connector return edge "raw" so I can sand down to the same edge of the main yolk





Sanded down the connector again to get rid of any glue that may have leaked out


A lot of JB Weld again, don't forget to add some to the return edge too



Again, get you magnets, clamps and duct tape. The duct tape really helps with forcing the edge to line up the back to the yolk as it's hard to find good clamp/magnet placement.

[LVLAsian]

Back/Yolk Assembly

Post gluing not perfect but it's on there, sanded it down a bit







Before I use bondo, going to try closing the gaps up with ABS paste I made with the scrap, had issues with my previous FOTK Back/Yolk cracking along the seam so want to see if this will make it stronger