WIP MG Sinanju Ver. Ka - Customizing the pauldrons and shoulder armor

Hi guys!

Atlast, my first WIP post. I would like to share to you guys, how I plan to customize the overall detail and look of the pauldrons (shoulder) part of the Sinanju. I am aiming to add spikes in the upper shoulder (6 spikes per pauldron), plus some pla plates (0.4mm) to the front and back sides. Definitely, the spikes that I will be adding, will be a little bit smaller, than those than come with the kit. I am afraid that when it becomes too big, it will not look natural for the overall look.

Now you might ask, how I will be able to achieve the spike details? Here is what I will be using:

If you notice, the material is wood. This is only for presentation purposes since, I do not have plastic golf tees with me last night. But I just bought them now, and I will be using plastic golf tees. We will only be using the small part of the pointed area of the golf tees, so after cutting it and sanding it will look like this:

After sanding:

Notice the little spike on the right? That is the end result after sanding. I also place a little angle to it when I cut it from the golf tee. So that the spike won't be pointing directly 90 deg. or upward. I apologize for the poor quality of the image here.

Now for the materials I will be using here are some pics:

From the left: (5mm pla rods; 2mm pla rods; and plastructs) I think that I will be using the 5mm pla rods rarely, since they are quite big for the size of the Sinanju parts.

Here is the pla plates to be used and the part to be detailed:

After some pla plating details are added, here it is:

Sorry again for the poor quality of the image.

Tonight, I'll continue with the detailing of the spikes since I already have the plastic tees. I will update this post asap once I am done. So stay tuned! :)

Thanks for droppin' by!


UPDATE 1:
I just learned that the plastic golf tees can't be attached to the kit with the use of Tamiya Cement. I am guessing that a super glue or a Mighty Bond would do the job, but for me I would just rather drop this method. The good news is that I can still continue with my spikes concept for the pauldrons, however I am forced to use the Tamiya 5mm pla rods that are very very hard to cut, and I will have to start from scratch with sanding. Here are some pictures after cutting the pla rods and sanding. BTW I used I hand drill to help me slim down the pla plate, until it looks "spikey enough", and then I manually sanded it for much smoother and better results.

Cutting a 5mm pla rod with a design knife and sanding it until it is pointed is no joke, that is one of the hardest challenges I had tonight. It took me approximately 5 hours to complete just 2 pieces.

The spike cemented has a greater height value than the one on the cutting mat. I still have to create another that is why I haven't attached it yet to the part.

So with this I'll call it a day. My hands are quite numb now from all the work. LOL But still it was fun! Stay tuned for updates to come! Til' then!


UPDATE 2:
After creating replicates of the spikes for the pauldrons, I have managed to create a total of 5 so far.  Out of the 5, only 3 are acceptable. Creating 1 replica of the spike with the use of a 5mm pla rod is quite exhausting, consumes too much of my time and electricity (because of the 500W drill I used). So after the experience today, I have decided to actually try and recasting the spike part. I read in the tutorial on Zerogunz that it is also hard to use this method, but accuracy and quality wise I would prefer this over the method I used. Can you guys suggest the materials I need so I can purchase them?


Here are some pics from today's progress:

This is me, trying to slim down the 5mm pla rod until its good enough for manual sanding.

Here is the spike I was able to create. I am really careful of this part since it is the last and only part that is acceptable and its not yet attached to the kit.

Here are the pictures of the two spikes I already cemented to the kit:

So there you have it for today's progress, 3 spikes down 9 more to go for me. If you know what materials I need for the recasting so I can purchase them either from the hardware store or Lils Futaba here in Manila let me know!

Many thanks! Til' then!


UPDATE 3:
It has been a while since I updated you guys. I wanted to post a updates but I decided to just post after I have finished a good chunk of my to do's for this project. This update includes a complete set of spikes for each shoulder (3 each). At first I was thinkin' of installing 6 each, but lookin' at it I thought it may be a bit exaggerated (What do you guys think?) I have also finished around 75% of the pla plate details on the shoulders. I am looking to finish this part this weekend so that I can move on to the arms. Here are some pics! Feel free to suggest guys!