McDNet

I loved the inside of your helmet so much... I had to steal it. HERE.

Sure. And thanks, I am pretty happy with how it turned out as a first time attempt. It was a standard 2 part kit. Standard assembly as most threads show. I did screw up the ears on my first attempt with them. I cut them too shallow, so I had to order an extra set from my builder. But I was MUCH more careful with the second set and they turned out much better. The mouth is hand painted, the rest are stickers from the kit. I was going to do hand painted, but I chickened out. I want to buy another helmet from my builder so I can build a hero version, so I think when I do that I will attempt the hand painting. After I had the helmet assembled I took it apart and sprayed PlastiDip on the entire inside. I really like how that turned out. It is very nice texture. As I stated previously, I saw THIS thread during my build process and really liked how it looked. I was going to do the construction helmet liner plan that TrooperBay teaches, but when I saw the motorcycle helmet idea I just liked how it looked better. Just like TJTrooper, I went to CycleGear, which had a store not too far from my house and I bought THIS helmet. The liner is buttoned in, so it came out easily. I used the small velcro squares to attach the liner to my TK helmet. When I put the helmet on it fit great on top, but when I looked down, the helmet didn't move with my head. I kept having to pull the front of the helmet down with my hand to be able to look down. So I pulled the side padding out of the motorcycle helmet and did the same velcro install. That made the fit VERY tight and the helmet now moves with my head very well. My mother-in-law sewed in the Imperial Cog. The velcro will also make it easy to take the liner out to clean it when needed. Next I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some black felt panels. They were cheap... 4 for $1. I cut out a pattern to cover the eyes and the mouth. I used a white pencil I got at Hobby Lobby to mark where to cut out the eye holes and mouth opening, then used hot glue to glue each piece down. Next I added my in helmet fan system that I got from Evilboy. I mounted the fans and the battery back with the same velcro squares. It took a bit of work to get the wires to wrap around the bottom of the helmet as well, but I used black electrical tape to keep the wires in place. Lastly was the microphone. I bought the Aker set from TK6294. I cut the wire headset down so that I only needed to mount about of inch of the wire in the helmet. I will have to run the mic wire down my neckseal to plug it into the iComm and Aker system. So I am very happy with how it tuned out. It looks good both inside and out.

TK-51508 requesting status update!! http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=16272

Yea I wish I could change the title. I started as a hero which is what I wanted to do, but I found out my builder only provides a stunt suit. So I had to change to a stunt build. I may be able to change things later if someone makes some bubble eyes and 3 dot ear kits. And gazmosis... the kit is T/MC. And the tube strips are stickers, not painted, provided in my kit. Maybe just the light, there is a lap RIGHT above the helmet.

So I admit... I am the WORST at taking pictures of this process. Pretty much a total failure. Since I have about 5 pictures of my whole build, but I am done and submitted my 501st application and pictures last night. But here are a few pictures of my helmet. Front, and the inside. This is the inside. I totally STOLE the ideas from THIS thread. And a full view of the inside. You can see the battery pack of Evilboy's fan kit in this one. The blue thing in there is the liner out of a motorcycle helmet. I have it velcro'ed in so I can take it out and clean it when needed. I will post some full armor pictures later.

Thanks TJ. There is a Cycle Gear not far from where I live, so I am going by there tomorrow. What is that on the sides of the helmet that looks like tubes? Thanks for the info!!

Hey TJ. Please post more about what you did with the inside of the helmet. I think it really looks great and would like to steal what you are doing!!! What is the item you have the cod sewn into? And talk about what you did around the eyes. I have Tray's same kit and am working on it myself. Thanks!!

Echo you are a wonderful person!!!! I looked EVERYWHERE on this forum for this!!!!! And after doing EVEN MORE searching... I finally found the thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/23605-putting-it-all-together/?p=297858

I know I am not crazy!!! Don't ask my wife to confirm this!!! But I KNOW I have seen a picture/diagram on the forms that showed a recommended count and placement of the snap location on the chest and ab pieces. It was not a photo but a Billhag kinda style of diagram. Chest and back butterflied out with specific locations of snap placements. Please help a brother out and restore my sanity by helping me locate this lost item. I have been searching and reading these forums for the last few hours looking for this one item. Any suggestions????

Will someone PLEASE come take care of these kids and work at my job so I can WORK ON MY ARMOR!!!!!!!

Ok more trimming tonight. Decided to try a handle that I bought for my dremel. Seen in this photo. I do think it helped me control the dremel quite a bit. It was like using a brush. I was able to sand down right to the line I had drawn. Then take some sandpaper and clean up the edges. Here is the pic of what I worked on tonight. The smallest pieces. Handguards, the thermal detonator, and I cleaned up the shoulder bells. The hand guards seem soooo huge, I can tell there is going to have to be some serious trimming of those to make them look right. And I think I am going to have to convince the wife I need a belt sander. I can see how much that machine would help me.

Thanks for the post Tray. The steady hand of scoring worries me as this is my first attempt at this and I don't want to ruin it. And not having a belt sander also limits my abilities. The good ol' dremmel will have to do the job. I did post in the the Hero upgrade kit in the commissary to see if they are available. But I was leaving the helmet as my last item to work on, so I have some time to sort it out. I have plenty of other work to keep me busy!! Now if I could just get a free evening to trim so things!!

Mine are 4... I will investigate.

I have the same kit (Yea Tray!! ) and have just started trimming my shoulder bells and hand guards. The thoroughness of your posts have been great and I will be using many of these as a reference. I can see we will have many similarities. Keep up the great posts!!! I'll be watching!!

First is the picture of my parts laid out and looking good!! And then I MADE MY FIRST CUT!! The picture shows the Shoulder bells I started with. I decided to get the scissors at Loews today when I was looking for other tools for my build. I don't feel comfortable with the score and snap approach just yet. I did feel I had more control with the big scissors though. So we are off to a good start.

So it begins! My box arrived today! Both excited and nervous. This project is the realization of a pretty much life long dream. And for a 42 year old that is waiting a long time! But my wonderful wife has known this is something I have talked about and wanted to do for many many years, and now the time has come! I have a great mentor here locally that has been giving me some helpful suggestions and I know I can do this build. But entering into the unknown is always a big first step. I hope any mistakes I make can be repaired. I look forward to the day of putting on the full suit and submitting my request to officially join the 501st and the Star Garrison!

My armor kit arrives tomorrow. I am very excited, but also very nervous. I want it to be perfect, but have been reading as much as possible. That first Trooperbay video was helpful to know what the small parts I need to pick up are. I will be following that list for sure.