Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Neck, Sleeves, Pouches

Today saw me knock another bunch of little todo items off the list. Sort of tiny tasks, but all of varying degrees of importance. I really like solving mechanical problems in interesting and durable ways, so this phase of the project is really fun for me. It's more about coming up with unique solutions to unusual problems, as opposed to just following directions.

I flipped the cowl inside out so that I could dremel away some excess material around the eyes. They were kind of digging into the area around my eyes, so they needed a little smoothing out. I also tightened up the chin strap. It seems to be holding together pretty well. I cut it with scissors, then removed a little material. I used Dap to glue the two parts together, then soaked a little strip of material in dap and glued that in on the inside. Then I sprayed the inside of the chin strap with plasti-dip to hide it.



I added a big slab of velcro to each of the sleeves. This will hold the gauntlets securely in place, and stop them from spinning around on my forearms. Not like they were going to be whipping around, but they could slowly slip as the evening progresses. This should keep them VERY firmly in place. They are held in place by Dap, which is my new favorite product evar.



I also FINALLY finished the hood. I built a piece out of the mesh material using the same pattern as the milliskin hood. I was a little worried that it would be too small, but it fits AMAZINGLY. It also hides ALL of the imperfections that I was so worried about in the milliskin hood. Lesson learned, silly boy. Notice that the entire head is not covered by the mesh, just the neck. I didn't want the cowl to fit my head any tighter than it already does, as it's pretty much the perfect fit right now.



The bottom line is that the neck turned out rediculously good. though there is ONE major flaw in it. I pinned part of it wrong, and consequently, one of the seams is on the outside. I was going to fix it, but then figured because the neck armor will be covering it, I just don't care. Nobody will ever see it. I MAY re-make the entire hood after halloween, as I learned so much from making this first one. Namely that the under-hood doesn't need to look very good at all, as you're not going to see it at all. I was getting very worried about making it fit perfectly, and not getting any ripples or gathering in the fabric. Turns out, you can't even see it. Doesn't matter.

Here is a picture of my KB V 2.0 belt that arrived in the mail the other day. It's just stunningly beautiful. Rediculous. The guy who did the build up is just an artist. No doubt about it. I NEVER could have done the kit the justice that this man did. I am DEFINITELY not going to wear this on halloween, as it's just too pretty. This belongs in a display case, not around my waist.

For better pics of the belt, check out this blog post.



Another item on my todo list was to make sure my camera pouches fit on my belt. Well, they do! I sort of wish the Sony one would fit around the wider part so that I could put it in the back, but that's a minor detail. Besides, it IS a utility belt.



Only a few tiny items remaining on my todo list. I need to get some eye makeup, I would like to buy a new camera for the event (since both of my current cameras have not been serving me well lately) and I need to attach the neck armor. Other than that, I am done. I will do one final suit up to make sure all the parts fit together properly, but that's it.

I am DEEP in internal debate about the cape. It drags on the floor. As does the screen used movie cape. But I'm not sure if I want that for halloween. It looks great though. But I know it will get dirty, and maybe a little trashed. I think if I hem it up, I run the risk of doing it wrong. If I wear it out and it gets damaged, I can always hem it up AFTERWARDS and hide the damage. I'm just worried that I will do it wrong and ruin the cape. It's just so beautiful, and I love the fact that it's screen accurate at that length. I will have to think more about it.

That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for all the supportive emails and comments. I appreciate it!

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