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CONGRATULATIONS!!!

What's option three? (as indicated by the title)

Pneumatic chisel. Just got a little over-zealous...

Thanks Eric and Tim! I'm going to need a lot of encouragement to finish this. I'd rather build 10 more E-11's...plastic is an unearthly material! Hmmm...I just discovered there's an ANH Build Thread area. I didn't know that! Sorry, administrators!

I should have started this months ago, but I've been working on my armor on and off and skipping around quite a bit. I figured I'd wait so I can post in an organized manner. So here goes... obligatory brown box picture: I've seen this shot many times and it always reminds me of those old plastic "demolition derby cars" that break apart on impact. I don't really have much experience with plastic stuff. I'd much rather work with metal, but that might make for really heavy armor... I don't know if this can be done successfully or not, but since I make everything else more complicated than it needs to be, I figured I'd modify my AP armor into a Hero version. Original helmet picture right out of the box: First step was getting rid of the extra teeth on the helmet. Don't mind the pencil marks - those are initial lines I sketched out to make sure I didn't drill "outside the lines". After some patience with a heat sealing tool: Before I could start cutting, I wanted to paint the inside of the helmet parts satin black. I read it was much better to paint the inside of the helmet before cutting any holes, as masking the holes would be really difficult. Krylon Fusion satin black applied to the inside of both the faceplate and cap n' back: Now, I could drill, cut and file out the eyes and teeth. Since these photos, I've removed slightly more from each eye and all the teeth. While removing more material from the teeth, I had my first disaster. I actually filed through the ABS and hit the black paint on the interior. To repair this, I filed away the paint in a large area behind the hole. I figured I would back up the hole and fill it with ABS paste. To make matters worse, I mixed ABS paste incorrectly and actually melted the area around the mistake. What I ended up with was a crater above the tooth. Much worse than the original mistake. Unless I switch to ESB and remake the 4th tooth on each side, paint is NOT going to hide this: Went back and reviewed the ABS paste tutorial again. I mixed up another batch figuring I couldn't make this any worse and if I did, I would just order another helmet - maybe a TM Hero? NAH, that would be too easy... Sanded that down and applied another layer: Sanded to the correct shape. After polishing. This is about as good as it's going to get. Even though my mixing cup and ABS pieces were surgically clean, there's still a slight discoloration. I think this may happen as the acetone dissolves. I'll finish building this helmet for the experience, but ultimately, I'll likely end up buying that TM Hero helmet. I'm hoping the paint and other details distract from this costly mistake... Moving along to experimentation with bubble lenses. Following the lead of others before me, I decided to go the route of the dark green faceshield. I found this one for about $12 in a Grainger catalog. I made paper templates, then laid out and traced 5 of each eye. No telling how many will be ruined while experimenting... Everything in place for the first test. I found out, much to my surprise, that I was able to cut the eyes out of the faceshild with regular scissors. The plastic is sort of "rubbery" and about 1.5mm thick. This might work! That's my grandma's oven from the 60's - still going strong. Prior to boiling any lenses, I did a "dry run" with some spoons. I had to bend the spoons to avoid interference with the sides of the faceplate. At the top is a bubble lens making spoon. Normal spoon at the bottom. I tried both a teaspoon and a tablespoon. Into the boiling water for about a minute. I tried anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes - didn't seem to make any difference. Just throw the lens in long enough to make the plastic soft. I removed the first lens with tongs - which makes "tong marks" in the lens. The next one, I just used a large table spoon to scoop the lens out. Everything in the next step has to happen REALLY FAST, before the lens starts to cool. Scoop the lens out, be careful not to scald yourself with any excess boiling water, grab the edges of the lens, properly position it inside the faceplate, grab a spoon, position it correctly, and apply pressure. You have to be sure the EDGE of the spoon doesn't touch the plastic anywhere, or it will make a line in the lens. I kept applying pressure while blowing on the lens to cool it. Tip: DON'T scoop the lens out of the boiling water with the SAME spoon used to apply pressure or you WILL burn your fingertips. Here's my first two attempts with the rest of the flat "blanks". You can see the waste strips from the faceplate in the background. After a couple tries, I developed a routine and the rest were easy. I experimented with different spoons and varying degrees of pressure. Now I've got a whole pile of lenses to choose from. I've often heard bubble lenses "distort" your vision. I can assure you, these lenses DON'T distort vision. It's like wearing a pair of green sunglasses! I kept a couple "flat" lenses in case I want to try something else later...

I noticed the problem with the sniper plate...the third time I looked at the photo.

Thanks Chris. You've got me thinking about a display case...

WOW! Time flies when you're having fun. I thought about this about a week ago and wanted to do something cool for my 501st post...but there's something right in the galaxy when my 501st post ends up accepting your offer to post my pictures in the reference library. Thanks again - the honor is mine. Hopefully these will help troopers turn out even better blaster builds!

It's hilarious to me that your Femtrooper thread has almost 50 views and only 1 comment... I also noticed while searching the reference photos that the Princess Leia slave bikini photos have about 3 times as many views as any of the other reference library photos. Coincidence? I think not.

I would be honored to have any of my pictures in the gallery!

^^^^ Added many photos of bolt assembly and trigger group detailing to my earlier post (including extractor details to help the Doopy guys) ^^^^

Hi Pete. I've seen a link around here, but I can't remember where. You might try posting a private message to "Femtrooper Julie" or searching her threads. Another option would be the new Jes Gistang armor, although that armor leaves more to the imagination...

Marv's T-track is a "found" item in the UK. Gino's T-track is a "re-created" item, based on reference photos and possible LFL archive measurements. There have been debates about whether the Gino track is based on actual measurements or just estimates based on photos. Either way, I don't really care and I try to avoid any debate. Overall, the Gino track "looks" more accurate to me, but I don't have anything other than my own observation to back that up... That's why I ordered both...so I could do my own comparison, in person. I offer my photos for anyone considering a future purchase of either.

A little update moving towards completion... Airbrush music: Earthless - Rythyms From A Cosmic Sky Track 2 "Sonic Prayer" Coated the bolt and related parts with KG Gunkote "Titanium". Feeling sorry for the resin guys who have to mask off the Doopy T-tracks, I decided to two-tone the bolt. Masking tape hell ensues. Coated the raised strips with KG Gunkote "Brushed Stainless". Completed airbrushing. Parts are baking in the oven right now! After baking @ 325 degF for 90 minutes, I allowed the parts to cool, greased the spring cups and assembled the bolt. I purposely took several "disassembled" pictures here since a lot of troopers doing resin builds are including the shell extractor detail. This shows all the bolt parts close-up and includes sort of a step-by-step assembly. This is the side of the bolt you see through the extraction port. This is the back side of the bolt where most of the action happens. As the bolt slides forward, the two rails "push" each round out of the magazine, up the magazine ramp and into the chamber. The ejector sticks up between the rails (in the middle slot). When the bolts travels backwards, the little hook on the end of the extractor is holding the spent casing. The ejector "peels" the spent casing off of the front of the bolt. The extractor hook will only allow the spent casing to rotate towards the extraction port. In this picture, the parts are laid out in the same orientation as they will be installed in the extractor slot. Extractor spring installed in the bolt (with a little dab of grease). Next step is tough...push the extractor back against spring pressure until the holes line up, then slide the pin through the bolt and the extractor. It takes a considerable amount of force to compress the spring - but that's good. You definitely want the extractor to do it's job well, otherwise you'll have jamming. From the front of the bolt. This is a full automatic bolt - the firing pin is fixed (doesn't move). Here, I'm making sure the extractor functions. I'm pulling the front of the extractor up with my finger. This happens when the bolt moves all the way forward and there's a round in the chamber. The extractor has to climb over the edge of the round, then the hook snaps down and grabs the groove at the back of the round. You can see the tip of my finger is turning white because it takes a lot of force to pull the extractor up. You can also see the extractor pin (installed in a previous step) really well in this picture. Trigger group detailing. Just painted some parts of the main trigger group and the selector switch. Cleaned the everything else thoroughly. T-TRACKS: I've always wondered the following and haven't seen it posted elsewhere, so here goes: Comparison photos for Gino and Marv T-track. Gino track on the LEFT. Marv track on the RIGHT. Gino track on the LEFT. Marv track on the RIGHT. Gino track on the LEFT. Marv track on the RIGHT. Here are my measurements: Base width: Gino - 13mm Marv - 11.5mm Height: Gino - 7mm Marv - 9mm Bottom arc width: Gino - 7mm Marv - 5mm I've been told the Gino track is much harder to bend than Marv's. Because of this, I can only assume they're made of different types of plastic. That's next, so I guess we'll see. Right now, I'm leaning towards using the Gino track since I think it will sit "more flush" and more easily cover the Sterling receiver holes. Hopefully, I'll have the tracks installed in the next update...

Thanks, Steve! You must be the "other" Steve I've seen referenced in other threads...

You're rockin' this build, Kyle! I'm enjoying every post, but I should probably stop reading them...you're making me want to build a Hasbro blaster now!

Email sent!

Two words...Thanks, Stefan!

Thanks, Mathias!!! Thank you for your "epic" comment, Mark. It's quite humbling. I just welded a few pipes together and drilled some holes. Having the right machines and lots of reference material from the FISD makes the difference. I took welding classes on my G.I. Bill at the local community college - one thing I can say: no matter what skill you learn, nobody can ever take that away from you. From there, practice and experience only makes you better. I only wanted to learn how to TIG weld, but as it turns out, I had to take all the other welding classes as "pre-requisites" - gas welding, brazing, stick welding, MIG welding and finally, TIG welding. An interesting thing happened in my classes too... a girl cashier from a local convenience store ended up being the best welder in all the classes. What the? And she's still a cashier, years later. She should be doing metal sculptures - she made some of the most beatiful welds I've ever seen, but she had no interest in it as a profession... like me, she just wanted to learn a new skill. Huh. Good luck with your shop. If I could rebuild my shop from scratch, I would install air compressor plumbing behind the drywall. Oh, and I'd have an air conditioner or at least more ceiling fans. And a urinal. Do yourself a favor and calculate square footage and heat loss for the correct size heater/furnace. My first shop furnace was WAY too big...100,000 BTU for 1500 square feet. The furnace would kick on in the winter and the shop would be 80 degrees in like 3 minutes, then a long cooling period. When the heat exchanger cracked in that furnace, I asked an HVAC friend to do the calculations - he recommended 60,000 BTU maximum. Now, when the furnace kicks on, it runs for awhile, but the temperature stays much more constant - my shop is almost more comfortable than the house during winter. One time, the house furnace went out and my wife and I just slept out in the shop until we could get the house furnace repaired. Ah, those were the days... Thanks again for your compliments!!!

You're progressing at a blistering speed! And doing a great job! = You're really making me look bad! Nice work as always, Tim! I wish you the best with your looming deadline!

No problem - I hope it works out!

Won't have any trouble seeing those numbers... If it helps for comparison, an original Hengstler window is 9mm X 35mm. Looks like you're about 15mm X 40mm? I don't know if it will affect getting centurion. Could you fill the excess with putty and file to the correct size with needle files?

Thanks, Tim! I still haven't addressed the demilling...which may be a problem at this stage. Maybe it will just stay on display at my house because at about 15 pounds, I certainly won't be trooping with it!

Thanks, Ian...I think. Yeah, I wish it were that easy, especially for what $$ I've got in this, becasue I would have jumped on that deal. I saw a $10,900 price tag on the Wiselite Arms replicas...if I had that kind of cash laying around, I probably wouldn't be building props...

Hi Ed, I'm sure others will chime in on this, but here are the basic differences between hero and stunt (as I understand it): Hero has 6 teeth total (3 per side) while stunt has 8 teeth total (4 per side). Hero has 3 bumps on each ear while stunt has 4 bumps on each ear. Hero uses bubble eye lenses while stunt uses flat eye lenses. From what I've read, when ANH was made, 50 stunt helmets/armors were cast. Late in the game, someone decided to have hero helmets. By then, the moulds were in bad shape, so they were reworked and 6 hero helmets were pulled. Some people claim the back of the hero helmet has more of a 'V' shape than the stunt, but evidence of this isn't 100% clear. I've searched countless screen shots and I can only find one shot from the whole movie that supports the 'V' theory. Could just be the camera angle and/or lighting.