RogueTrooper

Nice looking E11. great weathering The only thing I see is that you still need the cylinders on top of the mag well. The cylinders are not that hard to make. You can find all that you need to make them at your local hardware/home improvement store. (pipe, caps, small nuts/bolts, and a small piece of light gauge sheet metal (that can be cut and formed into the base) or thin gauge angle iron for the base.) or buy a pair from someone like blastmaster.

The brow looks great, just like a stunt When you get the ears painted, and back on the lid, just post a pic of the full bottom of the lid, and I will help you to determine on where the neck area should be trimmed, if you want.. Tom

But it does come in bigger sizes...... how about one gallon -----

I first would try tilting the cap and back before doing any trimming. See how that does before snipping anything. Post some pix when you get a chance.

Hey Mike, You lid work looks good. If it was mine, I would probably raise the brow a wee bit, since it is a Stunt lid. As for the bottom edge of the cap/back, VT's are known for not having as much lip on the rim. There are several ways you can mask this. Just trim it smooth, like I show you in the pic below. Or if you can, weenie the cap and back slightly back and weenie the ears slightly forward. This will kinda mask the transition of the rim of the cap and back to the face plate and raise the brow slightly, like a Stunt lid would be. No matter what, you will still need to trim the bottom edge of the tubes of the face plate to make it a smooth transition for the rim. Once you get the gasket trim around the neck/rim of the helmet, you won't notice it. But the easiest way, without having to take your helmet totally apart and have to re-position everything is just ot go ahead and trim out the edges kinda like I posted in the picture below. If you have any question, just holler. If you can post a pic of the whole bottom of the helmet. I can kinda give you a guideline of where you need to trim.

Devoe is well known for their expoxy and urethane paints that are used for floors for garages and buildings that have concrete slab floors. Here are some pix to give you an idea what Devoe's products are normally used for. The pix show the accent color material. My suggestion would be to stick with the normal enamel paints like Rustoleum and Krylon style. If you do have access to a spray gun, air compress and booth, then you can go to any pro paint shop and buy it in whatever size you want (pint, quart, gallon, etc.) But you can get excellent results from spray cans, if you take your time. If you are going to do the "devthane 379" then I highly suggest trying it on some scrap, before putting it on you TE2, because it sounds like it may have a urethan base to it and may have a chemical reaction to the HIPS. I don't know if you have painted before, but here are some helpful painting instructions and tips that I posted on the FISD earlier. It is helpful when it comes to painting HIPS or in general any type of paint job. To quote Master Yoda "Do or do not, there is no try". It is possible for a beginner to accomplish a skillful paint job. Let me give you some tips. Preparation is always paramount when it comes to painting. If you do get an ATA kit or any other kit that the armor is made of HIPS, don't try painting the parts before you have assembled your kit. Most glues do not adhere well to painted surfaces. So, once your kit is assembled and all is test fitted for you the way you want it to look, then follow these simple steps: 1.Lightly go over the surface of the suit with a Scotch Brite or Dooby style pad. 2.Clean the surface of your suit with a mild detergent and rinse well. This will help to remove anything from the HIPS that could compromise the paint job like oil from your fingers, and dirt. As an added step, use isopropyl alcohol 70% not 90% (like what you would find in a local drug store). 3.Once you have cleaned the surface and it is dry, go over it with a tack cloth to remove any dust or debris(available at hardware and home improvement stores). 4. Do not paint inside your house. The aerosol fumes are extremely toxic. Work in a well ventilated area, wear a dust/paint mask. Use a drop cloth or newspaper to help keep the area clean. If you do have to paint outside (like most do)then make sure you are not working underneath trees, work in an open area. Also make sure you are not near anyones vehicle because the overspray might blow on to it. 5. Anytime you are painting, the weather will affect the outcome of the paint job. Don't work in too hot or too cold temperatures. This will affect the way the paint flows. Also, humidity and rain will affect it, as well. Read the directions on the aerosol paint can and see what the manufacturers recommended parameters are to achieve the best results. 6. I always believe in priming the surface first with a good primer. This will help the paint to adhere to the HIPS better and help you spot any debris or problems with the surface before you start coating it with the gloss paint. If you do see any problems after priming, it is easier to fix before you spray with gloss paint. When it comes to aerosol primer, there are usually four basic colors: light grey, rust tone, dark grey and white. If you can get the white primer, that would be my first choice, since you are painting in white. To find white aerosol primer, you will have to go to a pro paintshop. But you can use the light grey primer. It will take a few more coats of the white gloss to cover the grey primer, but the grey is easier to find in most stores. 7. Once the primer is dry, and you are ready to start applying your gloss coat, before spraying any gloss, go over the surfaces with a tack cloth (to remove any dust or debris). Now you are ready to start spraying the gloss coat. 8.When painting or priming, always spray light, even, strokes, doing it is stages of several coats. This will help prevent any runs, overspray or splotchy looking paint. Read the directions on the paint can for the "do's and don'ts". If you do have any debris, runs, orange peel, do not try to correct until the paint has completely dried. Messing with it while the paint is wet will only make it worse. You can sand out and fix any small areas and re-paint them. 9.Once you have achieved a good even paint job, let the paint cure. Paint may look and feel dry, but it is still soft. Messing with an uncured paint job may result in getting blemishes, dents and fingerprints in the finished surface. So just set it indoors somewhere warm and safe. Do not set near any heaters, stoves, fireplaces, etc. The soft paint may need to cure for at least a week, maybe longer, depending on the temperature and humidity. A little tip; take a scrap piece of the HIPS and paint it in the same stages as you painted your suit. When you want to check and see if the paint has cured, you can test the scrap piece and not have to mess with your armor. 10.Once the paint has cured and if you see any blemishes such as dust, debris, rough areas, etc.you can wet sand the paint. Wet sanding is a process of using fine grit sandpaper with warm water. The type of sandpaper that you need is the kind that they use for automotive paint jobs (600 up to 2,000 grit). Do not use the regular sandpaper that you would use for wood, it is too harsh and leaves deep sanding marks in gloss paint. The process of wet sanding: Take the sandpaper and dip it into a container of clean warm water. Also slightly wet the painted surface you are working on. Using even pressure, go over the painted surface to take out any debris, dust, orange peel, etc. You will notice after a point, a murkiness to the water on the surface of what you are wet sanding and also on the sandpaper. Dip the sandpaper into the clean water and rinse the surface that you are wet sanding to remove this murkiness. Repeat this step often, changing the water periodically. The cleaner you can keep the surface and sandpaper, the better the results. 11. Once you have wet sanded the surface and achieved a clean even level to the paint job, you will then notice a dullness to the finish. To bring the glossy look back to the finish, there are different rubbing compounds that you can purchase at most automotive parts stores. The rubbing compounds are numbered. The number level indicates the level of the abraisivness of the rubbing compound. Usually the higher the number, the finer the rubbing compound. By working your way up to the finer level compound, you will achieve a higher gloss to the finish. Once you have returned the paint to a glossy surface, you can protect the finish by using a UV protected car wax. The car wax will not only give a lustre, but it will also help protect the paint from becoming faded/yellowed. A major tip: Always do test before painting the suit. My suggestion, if you have not done a lot of painting, is to do test to get familiar with the process. Purchase a few of the plastic "For Sale" signs that you can find at hardware and home improvement stores. The plastic "For Sale" signs are made from HIPS and you will get a sense of how the priming and painting will go. All I can say is don't sweat it if you make any mistakes. That is part of the process of learning. If you do have questions, just ask. Whatever kit that you decide on, whether it is made of HIPS or ABS, just take your time and enjoy the project. This is not a sprint, it is a marathon.

Hey Peter, here is what I see you possibly need to do to your kit to get it positioned correctly and fitting right. AM kits have a little bit more plastic to them than most guys need. Necessary trimming, please refer to the pix with the red dotted lines, as reference. Some of the places that you trim will need return edges. If you haven't looked at Panda's AM build and how to on making return edges, I have given you both the links here. Both of Terry's topics are going to be extremely helpful with you AM kit. Pandatrooper's AM build thread[*AM] long term project! HOWTO: Make a return edge on armor using a heat sealing iron Video tutorials! First thing, about your back and chest piece, the tops need to be trimmed and raised slightly, which will give you more room for the other parts to maybe fit in the right position. Take a little bit off at a time. It is easier to trim off a little bit than to have to buy a whole new kit to try to replace the parts that you oopsed on. One more thing, the pix don't show this, but you need to trim off a little from your kidney plate. But first trim a little bit off the top of the butt plate and little off the bottom of the back plate and see how it is working. If you have any other questions or need help on something before doing it just holler.

That reminds me of an episode from the 5th season of Frasier back in 1997, called "Perspectives on Christmas" where Frasier's father, Martin, is trying to sing "Oh Holy Night". This is kinda in the same vane as how Steve Mauldin is doing it. Check out this link. Watch from the 3 minute 10 second mark and you will see what I am taking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssycwtA1l3o Like finger nails down a chalk board!

check please.

Hey, that would be nice to have along side the eFx McQuarrie/Vader Concept helmet. But, I still think that SkyGunBro Concept Stormtrooper that he did back in '07 rocks. http://www.therpf.com/f9/mcquarrie-concept-stormtrooper-1-1-wip-helmet-update-9-8-07-a-22883/ http://www.starwarshelmets.com/mcquarrie-concept-stormtrooper-armor-helmet.htm

Congratulations Thayne on your 4000th post!!! Here is to your next 1000th!!

The 12 days of a star wars christmas:

SLEIGH RIDE- C3P0 AND R2D2. Star Wars Christmas Edition:

There are several reason why the paint and primer failed to stay on the HDPE material. One of which is because of the make up of the HDPE material. It does not accept regular, normal paint, like lacquer or enamel style paints. After the helmets were thermoformed (Ainsworth used 1 mm material), certain areas of the helmets were pulled thin and that weakened the area. The weakened area will give slightly, and since the paint didn't adhere to the HDPE material, but just coated the helmet, thus the paint/primer chipped off like an egg shell off of a hard boiled egg. If you want to do any test on how normal aerosol spray paint/primer will react on HDPE, get you a milk jug or an Alberto Vo 5 shampoo bottle, because both containers are made out of HDPE and will react essentially the same way as it did the HDPE lids.

You are correct about the priming and painting of the HDPE lids. What you are seeing on the inside of the original lid is over spray. You have to remember because of budget restraints on ANH, the helmets were put together and painted very quickly without any care as to what the inside looked like. Where you are seeing the wear spot inside of the cap area is where the glue/foam padding was. With 99% of movie props out there, they only worry about how it shows up on film and not what is behind the curtain.

Here are some visuals of a few original HPDE lids showing the red primer to help you out.

Me thinks someone has been hitting the Eggnog... JK I keed! I Keed!! Nice work Tiffanie Thank you sharing!

Congratulations Daniel on your EIB! Excelente buscando ANH armadura!

Hey Rolf, have a look at what the TD's that are searching for the Droids on Tatoonie think of your work......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WC9ShVj9lA&feature=related

Merry Christmas to you Stephen, A.K.A Mr Set for Stun.

Congrats Alex on your EIB!!!! WAIT!!!!DONT SHOOT, THAT"S NO EWOK!!!

I think your vent holes will be fine, especially when you put the T-tracks on, I don't think you will notice any imperfections. But if you want to clean up the holes, try this: Wrap a wooden dowel rod with fine grit sandpaper (600 grit). Try to find a dowel rod that will fit snugly in the vent holes (but remember to allow tolerance for the sand paper). If you cannot find a dowel that fit snug, get the closest size that will fit in there and you may have to wrap several pieces of sandpaper around the dowel rod to get it so it is snug in the vent holes on the Hasbro gun. Place the sandpaper wrapped dowel in the vent holes, then make a couple turns of the dowel rod and the hole should clean up and be symetrical. Don't over do. I know it is hard to wait, but my suggestion is to hold off doing anymore modifications until you have your DoopyDoo's kit, so you know what you are dealing with and maybe not have to go back and do double work. Keep us updated.

Patience, slow the Holiday mail is...lots of boxes..lots of letters..yes..yes.. control, you must learn control!