The Thigh Re-Re-Master Pt 2: Mr. Sandman

It took longer than I wanted to finish this project, but other events took precedence, such as preparing for my century ride for the Tour de Cure in Long Beach and, of course, my family and home. However, once the Tour was over, I was able to finally finish these pieces.

Before I moved on to the final paste layer and sanding, I needed some build-up on the edge of my fabricated piece, as it was too thin and especially thinning near the edge due to sanding. What I did is used ABS paste build-up by scraping the paste off on the back edge of the piece. The considerable layering and build-up required me to wait until the next evening, after the paste had hardened, to sand and shape the build-up to match the desired edge shape and thickness.

That was the last of the major work needed to be done to the pieces, and all but exhausted the "build-up ABS" I had been using to this point. For the final front layer of paste, in order to get the best color match to the rest of the pieces, I whipped up some new, pristine ABS paste, making sure to use only fresh scraps (and ensuring that none had the terrible film that sneaked into my last batch and had to be fished out of my work constantly) in a new glass jar. This mixture was more liquid than paste to help ensure the coating was more uniform and less thick to reduce the amount of sanding required, since it was only being applied superficially and not structurally.

Once this paste was ready for application, I applied it using my fingers (using clean, washed hands) like one would do when finger painting. I dabbed a bit onto the seam area and spread it with my finger until the paste started to set, then I would repeat until the entire work area was covered. After coating the entire work area of one thigh, I moved to the other. When that thigh was done, as the paste set up fast due to its thin coat, I started sanding the first thigh with 150 grit paper to remove streaks, and repeated on the second thigh. I then repeated this entire process to add a second coat. Overall, it minimized the seams between the pieces significantly.

With that process done, it was now time for final sanding and polishing. this was accomplished using the following sandpaper grits and processes:

• 350 grit
• 600 grit
• 600 grit wet
• 1500 grit wet

For the wet sanding, for those unfamiliar with the process, I simply dipped the sandpaper in a plastic bowl of water to get the paper wet, and then sanded with the paper and water. This method helps to polish the area before final polishing, and is also used in automotive finishes.

As I sanded, I took care to look for deeper scratches (drying off wet areas with a paper towel to inspect work areas). If need be, I'd drop to a rougher sandpaper or start over on certain sections to help remove deep scratches.

Once I was satisfied, I applied Novus 3 and then Novus 2 plastic polish until the thigh was nice and shiny.

The above processes where also applied to the strips simultaneously. Satisfied with my work thus far, it was now time to re-apply the strips. I simply needed to cut a small amount from the top of one strip, notch both strips with 45 degree angles for aesthetics, and re-attache them to the thighs using good old E6000 (this gives me the option to replace the strips with new ones in the future). 24 hours later, and the pieces are fit for trooping once more.

There are still some scratches to remove from the multiple sanding sessions, but nothing more than what would be considered normal scuffing in most spots. In any case, I wanted to at least get the strips back into the pieces so I can continue removing scratches so I con polish them even further.

Overall, this rebuild took a bit of work, but I would have actually been finished earlier if not for the tour Tour most of all (as I had to get my gear ready for the century ride). I'm now ready, I think, to start pursuing my first 501st troop.

Obviously, there are still tweaks I'd like to make;with the addition of my HyperFirm E-11 blaster, I may end up replacing the limp ANOVOS belt with a more firm belt sooner rather than later, which will be a bit of work removing the plastic parts from the current ANOVOS belt due to the rivets and the dreaded pink glue on the rivet covers (I'll probably opt for another method to fasten the plastic to a new belt, as other troopers have). After I make some minor tweaks to the bottom of my shins (to further reduce rub against the boots), my hand guards (adding a second elastic loop to prevent slipping up or down my hands) and my abs plate (retouching button paint due to minor scratch), I'll through all the armor back on along with the new blaster and see how things go. And I still want to Plasti-Dip the inside of the bucket so I can work on future mods there.

Until my next update...