Elumusic

Last year I purchased a set of AM armor for my personal build. Also I intended to use the armor for massing comparison to create my own armor to which I wasn't too keen on finding out that AM is for larger people. Thank you Vern. I am 5'-9" and weigh 168 pounds. So based on this knowledge and watching a few skinny guy modifications to the AM armor such as Panda's build I have completed my first mold. AM's original back plate shape is not the greatest. the arm cut out shape is off and the square on the back is way out of proportion. The area under the arm-pit on the AM armor is too small meaning the arm holes on the AM armor are way big. So here is my attempt in plaster. Unfortunately due to the nature of plaster and the huge mess I made I refused to touch my phone until I took my first break. So these pictures start at about the 10th iteration in the sculpt process. It took me 4 hours to this point and another 2 hours to get it close to usable. I purchased a 50 lb bag of pottery plaster and mixed it thick. I put a large blob on a trash bag and let it dry and then added another blob and then another until I had the basic shape I wanted. IThere were lots of air pockets with this process and every time I scraped it down I had to fill the gaps and voids that were created by working this thick pile of goo. I measured the AM armor back and made mine about an inch smaller in width and about 2" shorter from shoulders to bottom edge. Even though the AM armor is large, it was still helpful to have it for reference. I also used a few screen images to get a better idea about how this was supposed to look. I used a rasp to take down the plaster and get the basic shape. I used a wood chisel to get the detail on the arms and neck. The wood chisel was a slow process. Small shavings at a time. Plaster is super soft and I gouged it numerous times and had to refill it over and over again until I got it right. I added another blob for the square and took a rasp to the sides and top and then the wood chisel to the interior until I had a decent looking square. It is important to note that a close up picture would show just how lumpy this is. The square is a little wavy and it's not smooth yet. But plaster is pretty unforgiving and I can only take it so far in this form. The next step is to put it on the vacuum table and make a HIPS pull of this shape. I will then use Ultracal 30 to recast my shape so I can add bondo and sand a durable surface. Ultracal 30 is what they make dental molds from. It is a concrete based plaster. It's super tough and can be sanded and sculpted with a dremel tool and bondo sticks to it. Stay tuned.

Ill be submitting my own application soon so we will see how the approval goes. Working on my 2nd DOTD hamlet now. DOTD armor to follow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hate to say this but Anovos is screen accurate. Or so they claim. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those who don't know any better may be dissuaded from attempting something they may want to do based on this How To.. I don't believe my comment was aimed at ruining anybody's day. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It says it is a How To. Not guidelines. How To suggests it's a requirement. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would ask that you edit the list as well. One does not need to order the kit from a vendor if one can make it themselves. This list is very misleading especially 3 thru 6. None of those is required. I can see you adding a clause to those stating that if you need armor and do not want to build your own. But all should know that they can attempt a sculpt or a build on their own. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wouldn't say mass produce because I only do a handful at a time. But I do make them available if anyone is interested. I am getting ready to post one of the finished helmets for sale in the For Sale or Trade section. Here are a few finished helmets.

How comfortable are you with Adobe Illustrator? I created a tube stripe template so I could get them cut out of vinyl for my helmets. I use them to paint on the blue tube stripes. Basically removing the striped pieces as a template and applying paint to the removed stripes. You could use it to create a longer run. I would suggest having a sign company cut it out of blue vinyl the length you need and you can apply it to your case and leave the stripe stickers as you peel it off. Opposite of how I do it. Does that make sense?

Are you concerned about how the paint will rub? Well let me say this. Whatever color of white paint you buy will surely not match the color of the ABS. Which means that the overlapping parts will probably scratch the white paint and show a different hue of white of the ABS underneath. A clear lacquer if scratched wouldn't really show any different. That being said I'll have to let you know how it works out after I pull my armor and lacquer coat it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have been using a glossy clear coat lacquer over my HIPS helmets. Looks wonderful.

I suggest the magic sculpt as well. The issue with bondo is it does not stick to certain types of plastic very well and the water smoothing thing that magic sculpt can do would be perfect for messing with resin fills, etc.

Added tube stripes last night to 6 helmets. Trap stripes, lenses and mic tips next up.

Tube stripes are next and then the final trap stripes. More to come.

I shot it with a glossy lacquer clear coat prior to adding the color. And I did some polishing. They look spectacular.

Here are the pulls. The before pull on the bottom and the after pull on the top. The proportions between the two are very apparent. The photo angle makes some distortion, but they really are very different. Here are a few pulls. Ready to trim the ear buds. I have started pulling two helmet tops for every helmet I make. I use one as a doner insert so the helmets have double thickness in the top portion. This is the part that always gets a little thin even with .093 HIPS.

The helmet bell was also adjusted.

I recently made a few modifications to my original helmet molds. For one, I increased the tube widths and opened the mouth up a little more. I wanted a little more accuracy when compared with the screen helmets. Here is my original thread from pepakura to final mold. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/27185-albuquerque-storm-trooper-helmet-mold/ Some smoothing with the sander and dremel tool.

Gaps are definitely necessary. But it's not so great to see the construction underneath. And I do not know of a chin vocoder template. I usually just paint it like the screen shots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope it's a quality product. If so, then my efforts to produce my own armor were futile as I would have paid that small fee to purchase the armor in lieu of making and modifying my own. This will put the fan builds out of business most likely as we can't compete with the pricing. I am not keen on their trimming. I think they are sloppy with their work, but a kit would allow the purchaser to have control.

I hate stickers...I would peel the sticker off as best as possible. You might be able to soak it off in warm water. Use goo gone to remove residue, clean it with alcohol and then paint it back on.

I have done about 20 of these. So yes, you are going to have to sand down the round portion of the bud. I use a dremel tool. Pay special attention to what portions of the bud are touching the helmet and which areas are not. You also need to look at the back side and take down everything that touches. Again, only take down the areas that touch until it starts to fit better. I usually trace the contour of the helmet onto the bud. So take a pencil and set it against the helmet with the lead touching the bud and run the pencil along the helmet tracing a line onto the ear bud where the touching areas are. You will need to tilt the pencil so that the line is traced close to the bottom of the bud so you dont take too much off. Just a little at a time until it starts to fit. And it's gonna take a while. The issue you are going to have is that is a big gap and your ear bud is going to be almost flat by the time it works. I would be prepared to live with a little bit of a gap...but that is way too much for my taste as well.

You are correct on the trimming issue.

Yeah....I hear you, but based on every screen reference I have seen this is way over the top. ANH helmets were fresh off the mold. No warping. I have looked at every sand trooper scene...and not one of them looks this bad. The problem is if they are selling ANH helmets they would be straight and only slightly a-symmetrical. There is no way that the backs of the helmets would have drooped. And if they are pushing the more wonky versions, then they need to be labeled as ESB or ROTJ. They didn't re-use helmets until ESB and then recast for ROTJ. And the re-used helmets suffered from use. I think these are absolutely awful.

I know the parts for my helmets run about $50/$60 raw. So $100 is a deal for a kit. I couldn't compete with that. I sell mine for $170. I guess if that's all you do then it is an easy process. I know it takes me 6 weeks to make a finished helmet and I am charging $300 plus shipping. Again...I can't compete. That being said, the one thing I will say is their helmets are a little wonky. Crooked from the back. That would be enough to keep me from purchasing it.

3M makes a glue for ABS/Polystyrene. I've used it with another piece of poly and glued it behind the crack and then fill the crack with polystyrene paste.