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pandatrooper

501st Stormtrooper[TK]
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Posts posted by pandatrooper

  1. Just mocked this up. An element I like is how the eye holes are kind of joined together, and the mouth is seamless with no teeth, much like the original Liz Moore sculpt. I personally like the functional tube stripe vents. Blue paint / decals were only justified in '77 when you couldn't see the detail on film.

    I understand the need to streamline the design somewhat, so it has less "sticky outy" bits than the original TK. I do agree with some people that it looks like it was designed by Apple or something. Rather Tron like.

    evolution_stormtrooper.jpg

  2. Draw some pencil guidelines first matching the screens or photos from original helmets. Starwarshelmets.com is a good resource.

     

    Don't prep your surface with alcohol, use dish detergent, rinse and dry. Watch out for lint.

     

    Use a flat brush no wider than 1/4" and paint up to the pencil lines. Do black first for the front traps, tear ducts and rear vents. Do one coat, then let it dry overnight before you do another coat. Top coating right away will lift the previous coat.

     

    After the black is done then do the gray the same way. 2 coats. Then do the lines with a round brush like a 0 or 00.

     

    Tubes stripes I cut from vinyl and airbrush them but they can be done with a brush if you're careful.

     

    Check my Ata helmet build thread, lots of pics there.

  3. I've built plenty of ATA lids and have never had issues with the trim.I actually prefer it over many others.

     

    The trick is you need to work the trim into every nook and cranny along the bottom edge of the helmet. Push the trim into a dip but never let it stretch out, if anything condense the trim back in the direction of where the trim was first laid down. When you get to the end cut it a half inch longer than you need it to be, so that there's tension on the trim.

     

    I have never had any come off when doing this method.

  4. I still use rivets on my snap plates instead of the ones that come with the snaps. Way more surface area for gluing, just tap the back with a hammer and hammer the inside of the snap / rivet end and it sandwiches tight and the back goes concave, making a flush surface for gluing.

     

    I've built several sets of armor this way and never had a failure. Or if your armor has return edges that can take it, use the screen accurate wire brackets / elastic.

  5. I usually trim the round part flat first, then scoop out the cheek tube area. Do a rough trim and leave more plastic then you need and trim a little at a time. The front of the ear usually has a little more plastic left on it than the back. If you "scoop out" the same amount front and back, you'll have a gap.

     

    I use a pencil to make marks of where to trim and just take off small bits at a time. After I get a rough fit, I drill the holes in the ears and the bucket and use them as alignment guides for test fitting so that they are sitting in the same place each time.

     

    Then its final trimming and sanding to get the fit perfect. Tightening the screws also closes up small gaps.

  6. I'm just a large guy overall (6' 3", 230) and will probably need to go with RT's suit. I had been looking at Cap-W's buckets and was just curious what the effect would be if I mixed and matched. I'm hoping to get to meet some of my local garrison in the next month or so.

     

    Thank you for the picture!

    Keep in mind that plastic color might not match. If that matters.

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