TKheehaw

The end of the wait is near! Big box coming soon!!!!!!!

Great job on painting the tube stripes! Will give the white paint trick a try. Thanks for posting that tip!

Nope.. Not sure what kind of foam is used for that.

Have you tried a "Thick film foam tape" ? Normally available at an auto parts place.

Inside trim goof http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Facetrimgoof_zps0025d40f.jpg Teeth Trimming http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/TeethCuts_zpsf3c4dd92.jpg Paint http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Vicoderpaint_zps2b71d22e.jpg Ear notch http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Earnotch_zps2ac37b25.jpg Ear trimming http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Fronteartrim_zps9403eb7d.jpg http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Reareartrim_zps08354606.jpg And the helmet twist pic, down view. http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a628/TKheehaw/Helmettwist_zps56d4235d.jpg

Will post some more pics of the build later when photobucket or IE gets its bugs worked out. Synopsis: Build going good. Trimmed a bit too much off the face plate and the bottom inner part was a bit on the slim side, but worked OK. Teeth trimming looked pretty good and relatively even. Paint went on good. Decals no problem, Vicoder paint went OK. I'm no Van Gough... Thinking I need to drag out those left over ebay MOT ears and practice painting before a brush goes near the ATA ears... Ear trimming came out pretty decent and decided to notch the top of the ear that fits under the rubber piece to help out with consistant placement, pleased with the result of that one. Started up ye ole' DVD of ANH and took a few screen shots of the ears and looks like the artists are human just like us with good and bad ear trimming days. I don't feel so critical of my work now...

Went back to Trooperbay's tutorial and it seem that you can crank the ears down too tight and it can put uneven tension on the sides and cause the lid to go lopsided. Have some pics to post but my 'puter is having trouble getting going this morning....

Got some time to work on the bucket over the w/e and a question has come up that I'm not too sure about.... When looking down on the helmet it seems to be a bit twisted, but not too bad. What is a common mistake that wouls cause this?

Cool! Thanks Airotciv!

Out of curiousity... where is this post? Would like to read it as there really is no 100% ABS or PVC plastics. Its all formulated with other stuff for some purpose or another. Most of the time its full of fillers like the PVC pipe you get at the big orange and blue box stores.

This one was very hard to put down until everything was read. If something like this comes up I would love to help out! That little girl will have that memory for life. Big-Ole' bag of Kudos!!!!!! Geeks raising Geeks sounds pretty cool too.

Looks like ATA armor, his material is pretty easy to work with.

Purchaed the same suit also... Its good practice for later builds, but it is pretty thin and crack if you sneeze on it.

Thanks TMacken!

Kinda new to forums also. If any admin reads this.... Should posts limit the # of pics posted for data storage space purposes??? This thread may end of being a bit pic heavy at times..

Had some time over the w/e to mark, score and snap... Would like to thank everyone that put up tutorials as they are a big help to us newbies. Started w/ the faceplate marking it up... Left a bit of an edge on the eye sockets, moved tools this w/e and my small files are in a box somewhere... All in all pretty happy w/ the progress so far. Must contain myself at times due to the boy in me coming out and wanting to run through the house shouting "peew peew"! Extremely happy w/ ATA's workmanship on the bottom vacuum forming, has nice smooth tubes. The Ebay recast had a crease in the plastic that was a bit difficult to work around and cut the ear pieces. Underside turned out OK, left and right wasn't real symetrical. S-trim will probably hide this slip-up. Inside ATA cap shot.... Painter ninja temporary head band.... Ok it was just a guide to draw a line... Like trooperpanda's guide a bit better, but this one worked ok. After a score and snap. Right side needs a little attention to even it up.

4 total, 2 per side. Thanks a bunch, Sonnenchein and Troopermaster!

PM sent. Thanks for the info gmrhodes13!

As far as helmet construction goes... are the number of rivets used to attach the lid and mask sections together relevant?? And does the mesh size of the screen in the hovi-tips matter?? Noticed there is a variation between a few mic-tip producers. As usual with forums, any comments, suggestions, questions are welcome.

Howdy! Another newbie here.. Quick intro: Watched a movie in 77' and have been a nut about it ever since. Really enjoyed it when my folks took me to see a guy in a Darth Vader suit a year later. Have been looking into getting / building stormtrooper armor for some time and kinda wish I would have stumbled onto this website before I purchased an E-bay recast kit. Didn't turn out too bad and it was a good learning tool for the ATA helmet kit that just arrived yesterday. Very impressed with the thickness of ATA's material and vacuum forming skills to get the tube bottoms good and uniform. Thread may be slow as my wife and I are in the middle of building a house... Would also like to give thanks to Trooperbay and Panda trooper for all their work that went into the tutorials they have posted. Kudos Guys!

Thanks Palpatine1977, May post some pics to get opinions when this materializes.

Been brousing the local big box stores for this same thing.... Just out of curiousity... does the base for the thermal detonator absolutely HAVE to be made from a pipe???? IF not, a piece of trimcoil (aluminium) could be easily made to most any cylinder diameter. The seem could be hidden in the back and shape held by a few rivets.... All comments welcome. I'm a newb playing around with a few ideas while on ATA's waiting list.