Comfy Turtle

Edit: sucks that since i'm a late night person no ones often on to respond but gotta say, thank god for mineral spirits heres my helm where i've painted the inside black and begun painting on the teeth and vocom, a horrible mess ensued so i salvaged(IE Mineral spirits) what i could of the vocom for now and will redo it tomorrow. also i found that smudge was due to using the nail polish was acetone based and part of the face lost its shine, can i fix that with gloss enamel?

looks great, is that gloss gray? its so shiny

Anyone know a good way to get some paint off the helmet? the inside spray went well for the most part, but some got through the teeth. i'm not so worryed about the teeth themselves as i'll paint them grey tonight but theres a smudge just under it and nail polish and vinegar arn't really cutting it. maybe i should get some white gloss paint to cover it? or novus polish? as of now i painted the teeth and that went fine, but when doing the vocom i got smudges here and there and i'm in full panic mode

definitely keeping a eye on this build for future reference (late July for ATA Christmas), i've been looking at the same helmet padding the US army issue? pretty secure fit?

thanks for posting your inside paint job, my helmet is at about the same stage yours was and i felt i goofed because i already cut the eyes/teeth. everyone seems to use a blue masking tape and i just have a generic type so maybe i'll overkill on it and add more layers.

are you painting the inside black? i cant seem to find a proper guide for it, though i figure its just "masking tape all holes/edges and go nuts"

just curious what are the things on the strip along the claps? magnets?

i kid, i still have my spare set, if they come out abominations like the first set though i'll message your or ATA you just used a sanding dremel and sandpaper? i think i over did mine, so i'll go slower the second

so your going first build sandy? i'm interested in the weathering process so i'd love to see how that goes looking great, you should mail me those spare ears!

small steps today as my friend visited, distracting me from helmet work but he drove around and i picked a few things up while we went to drink. we stopped at a local shop i go to for my model paints and picked up what i need for the helmet... i think, i couldnt find the color guide i saw anywhere when it came time to buy, but i got a Model Master French blue because that was the only french blue i've seen in town. i got the spray paint and masking tape in hopes of painting the inside black, grey and black for the decals and off pic but i have various super glues laying around, dont know if the kind matters. i moved the helmet around slightly and drilled a few new holes (i checked and they were still covered by the ears), i suppose it doesnt look that much different in the picture but its better to me only issue i had is when i moved them the front left ear gap grew. but when i was talking to my friend about it, who isnt exactly a engineer but a electrician, he asked if i could use chaulk to fill the gap, now i've never read anyone else do that but i thought i'd ask if it was ok.

yeah not enough ear left to risk dremeling, i'll do it in a little bit, also going to take off all screws and see if realigning is possible.

Minor progress tonight as i want to take it slow with what ear i have left, but also noticed other things i thought i should address as the ears almost seem minor in comparison. Heres the Front Left ear Back side, Still pretty bad but much better then last night. I've not given up on fixing these ears but i think i'll move on to other parts of the build for now as i've been on these ears literally all week. atleast a chance of pace before all i think about are ears. i read up on how to apply the lens, and alot of people either seem to just Hotglue the buggers or use some weird plastic and screw method? which is "better"/how does someone get the plastic for that method? also some things i've noticed after placing the ears multiple times is my eye holes are very uneven, but i think i went to far on the Right eye and only have the choice to narrow the left as far. and another is i didnt place my cap and back placement as well as orginally thought, this is suppposed to be a full front photo but notice the right side is a bid off while the left is already showing. last in the same photo back when i did the original cap trimming i think i must of taken off way to much because my brow cant really go all the way down to the eyes without falling off, i noticed alot of people say to super glue them when you get it the way you want, but since i'm not finished yet what stage should i wait for that? are these issues worthy of disassembling and redrilling? i'm tempted to try but scared the old holes might not be covered if there is new ear placement needed. and would this effect 501st Membership? sorry for the rush of questions but my minds on fire over it, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I wondered about that top part overlap so yeah i'll try and notch, maybe light dremeling but i'll also try not to use it, not much ear left! i'll try again tonight after work but yeah take it slow,

More progress if thats what you want to call it, again with mixed results, here we go. I "finished"/AKA got fed up with the ears, i'll take them off later and "try" to fix them but i think i went to far on one and and slapped them to see how back it was, i was about to say one of them was ok but honestly they'll both give me nightmares tonight. From this pic it doesn't seem to bad but when we get closer... the problem zones get noticed. Front Left Not great but i'm to tired to continue on it tonight "Horror noises" i'm probably going to have to bust out the second set ATA gave me but i'm really scared to just mess it up again, might wait and hope for a local armor party. between this and noticing more and more imperfections are making my spirit hit rock bottom.

Hey everyone, i made a build thread in assembly but figured its probly better off here and i'm in some serious need of advice, after reading such inspiring build threads like Dianas, Russellrs and Zarlons, i'm pretty embarrassed how i'm having so much trouble on just the helmet, especially the ears, and even though i've been reading guides and FAQs i still have some "moments", i've always been a computer nerd and never a actual power tool kinda guy but i ventured outside my -comfy- zone for the chance to one day be a TK. Heres a late night progress report on my Right ear and some woes i'm having on it. heres the kit as of now, not much progress but mostly late night right ear dremeling. and i've read many threads and guides on ears but they never completly stop me from making mistakes so i'm asking for advice. i've also learned its hard to keep the cameria focused while holding down the ear. heres the front side and from the back i havent gotten to the drilling phase yet but i'm noticing this side poking out at the center and i'm worried i might have taken to much off. i might be overreacting but i tend to do stuff like this at 3am,

Progress! perhaps to much so, we'll see. as of 4/27 this is my current progress on the helmet. i've spent most of the day dremeling ears down (not even kidding, my cheap 12v kept crapping out on me), and dont have it quite ready yet, but got a base going atleast. Right(or left i lost track) Left(or Right who knows) as for the helmet itself i trimmed the brow a bit and attached the cap and back, just one per side at the moment i used the nut and bolt that came with the ATA kit but plan to replace them with rivets when i get them, atleast i hope. and while no were near done i had to try it, the picture came out crap but i'll use the man of mystery excuse. sadly i'm probably way to short to be a stormtrooper, but that wont stop me from trying(maybe Scout later?), maybe once i pad the helmet or insoles. any advice welcome as i'm honestly going off what tutorials tell me but end up going a bit off path due to my lack of tools/experience/ADD.

yeah i just got to this part too and was surprised, i thought the kit came with everything we needed, but i dont know how rivets work

sadly not a real update, hopefully tommorow, but i had some late night concerns pop up again and havent dug anyone else having a related issue. i've been looking at a lot of helmets side ways now and noticed alot of the times the ear doesnt go as far as these holes i put it ages ago, when i was at a armor party the host said it was good to have those holes to make sure it didnt crack but looking now i put them way to high, am i just paranoid? and a simpler problem but one that i wanted to make sure of before i mess with it. do you normally cut the brow? unless i'm doing it wrong mine goes way over where they normally end.

kinda has me concerned but i'm really at the opposite side of that spectrum. in that since i'm only 5'4 if only trimming some bits down would be enough, i never found any of the sizes on there chart fit me in all categorys so i compromised at large suit large gloves.

i've been put on the waiting list for one of Ddays kits, they look so real

Went ahead a placed a order for a kit, while still waiting on ATAs armor for July. so at the very least i'll have a spare helmet. i'll admit i was tempted to get the completed version but since i'm only 5'4 anyway i figured i'll have to modify it alot anyway. with this and my order for TK boots and a wait list for a E-11 kit i'm well on my way.

Hey i originally received my first helmet back in October of 2014, but i hesitated alot and after one armor party didnt make much progress/put it down/forgot. After a Sunny day for the first time in a week and some insperation i literally dusted off and picked up my helmet build again. although after some progress new considerns arose. here is my current state as of now: i opened the teeth a bit and tried to line up the cap and back but i noticed a few things. here on the front tooth left side i think i went a bit to deep in the cut, i was wondering what/if there was any fixes for this. and my biggest concern. after lining the helmet up and taking a break i noticed the bottem of the helmet doesnt match well at all and i'm scared i might have cut to much off the bottem when i had my armor party waaay back in November. can this be saved or did i goof up? also as for some info i talked to ATA and he said hes running a little behind at the moment so dunno about the armor just yet, i'm really on the fence with the ANOVOS kit but need to deside before its Celebration deal ends. and for fun: some Zakus (basically the Stormtroopers of the original Gundam) thanks in advance for any help. like i said i'm most considered with the backs bottom.

Heya, so after a month of planning and another of waiting, i've begun work on my first Stormtrooper helmet. after getting it i mostly only did some light cuts around the eyes, but after going to my first armor party i was able to get some much needed progress. here was before. Here is after. i just started messing with the teeth as we were finishing up. so i'll either mess with it during the week or wait for our next armor party in two weeks. not to sure what else to put here or if i posted in the right forum, so if anyone wants extra info to give me advice just let me know.

going to have to look up those boot lifts, i'm eager to build some armor but i'm only 5'4 so i could use the extra few inches to not stand out too much.

sent ataworks a email hoping to learn the prices and hope for the best. though i'm a bit worried because i'm so short 5'4 and have little crafting skills so fixing it for my height might be a nightmare