MaskedVengeance

Hi Ron! Nice to see MidSouth represented here; I'm just a little south of you outside Chattanooga. As for your DLT-19 question, Justin is right that Praetorian has been unresponsive. If you're looking for a rubber DLT, and have the credits, you might try @Hellhounds via his Instagram Page (linked). He has a DLT in the works, though it isn't complete yet. If you'd like to see an example of his work, below you'll find a link to my photo review of his rubber E-11, and I compare various aspects of it to Praetorian and Hyperfirm, the previous old guard of rubber blasters. Daniel (Hellhounds) makes an amazing product, though they're not cheap, and also take a while to build. But he is certainly dedicated to his craft, which is why it takes so long, and you'd not be disappointed with one of his blasters. FYI Daniel has since updated certain components of his E-11s for more accuracy, including the clearing strip in the bolt and additional greeblies around the magazine.

Hi Rob! Great to see you back at it, and congrats on your little one! That's sorta what happened to me in a way; an infant, COVID, and work. I got a little obsessed with my TD build back in the fall, and below is a link to the first of my two current posts on that component. As far as your pipe size is concerned, you can actually simply pick up any 2" (which is measured as the inner diameter) PVC pipe at any hardware store. Instead of a long 8' section, I grabbed a 2' length at Lowes or HD. If you get white or black, you'll need to paint it, but if you get the gray conduit, you can likely leave it unpainted. Part 2 (at the very end of the post) of my TD build goes quite in-depth into the diameters of the pipe, and it's important to know that the original props were 68mm outer diameter, while most US and Canada makers use the imperial (haha) 2" measurements. ATA is no different, which is what my armor is, and the end caps fit the 2" pipe. As for the paint color, I initially painted mine too dark (using Ukswrath's old suggestion), but Andrew pointed out a primer (Testors 1237 spray primer, used in conjunction with a shiny clear coat). Since the TD color is meant to match the gray paint on the helmets of TKs, I actually found Testors 1238 (the spray version of the liquid 1138) to be a perfect match, though I haven't documented that on my build thread yet. Hopefully this is helpful to you! I look forward to continuing to watch your progress!

Congrats Chemi! You’ll be a fine addition to the excellent DO team, and hopefully you all will get to see my submissions in this term! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats Devin! Excellent work! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool Glen! I still can’t get over the TDs being shot like mortars. Haha. I mean, maybe with my TD obsession I should build one of these packs just for kicks... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m still constantly amazed by your masking and feathering skills. That decade of imaging work work certainly shows! Your highlights and light sources are always spot on too, which as you said, is important to get correct on the set too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking sharp, Devin! It's been a pleasure providing feedback outside of FISD, and Christine should have you approved in no time!

Here are the techniques I used in my build. First, drawing and vocoder painting practice: Then vocoder height re-adjustment. You may also find this particular post helpful for other aspects of your ATA helmet build, as I have the same kit. Finally, my actual painting of the vocoder (as well as other helmet work). Hopefully this is helpful to you, Bill! Note that the photos in this portion (page #5) of my build are quite large, so the post might take a little time to load, depending on your internet speed. I've since compressed my images for all posts beginning on page #6 of my build thread.

If your build is stop-motion, what does that make mine?! Haha. Really looking forward to following your progress, Mario!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You definitely want enamel paint, rather than acrylic, though it shouldn't actually impact approval. Trooperbay has French Blue for sale here, as well as on their eBay page I think. The enamel will be more resilient and last longer.

You will definitely want an enamel paint, rather than acrylic. Both should be very prevalent at your local hobby store. Trooperbay also carries the appropriate TK paints. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seems like an excellent idea to me, and I certainly don’t mean this as a derailment of Colin’s FANTASTIC implementation of this technique. Honestly I don’t even think walls are necessary where the magnets meet, as they’ve always been absent on Christine’s design. Just thoroughly encase the magnets in glue within their cradle/tube/base and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. GREAT work by all of you furthering the opportunities afforded by magnets!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now that’s a clean method! My guess is that the walls at the contact point would need to be even thinner, but it’s hard to gauge the scale just from looking at the photo. Are you printing in ABS? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm glad to see you pulled this out into a dedicated thread Colin, as I've now added it to the all-in-one resource compilation I have going. It was super cool following you as you pioneered this new style while you were building, and seeing it again is reigniting my consideration of going this route. Great job!

MV (OP) Post #45: Tears and traps with traps and tears Lesson learned, folks. It pays to follow the general wisdom of painting multiple thin layers, rather than a single thick layer. I fell into the trap of following anecdotal luck and almost shed a tear or two while painting my helmet traps and tears. Don't be like me. Helmet traps Helmet tears Tips Questions Upcoming May the 4th Helmet Traps At long last I have another update, though I'm afraid I haven't really made any progress on my build, other than to finally make time to format and upload my photos, and write out this post. Continuing with my helmet, I set out to paint the black and gray on the rear traps and tears, and gray on the side traps which I had already painted black while fitting the brow trim. The perfectionist that I am, I wanted to use some form of template for the traps, but the Trooperbay masking templates didn't quite fit the bill, since I think the rear trap piece was designed for outlining with black paint after first painting the gray down. So instead I dug into my bin of supplies and found the Trooperbay decals shown in the first photo below. I had purchased these back in 2019 when I had planned to avoid hand-painting, but authenticity eventually won out in my mind. I figured that I could cut out the excel vinyl (or whatever the material is) and use it to mask my paint area. To check their size I traced their outline onto a clear plastic sheet (what I used for my eye lens template), cut them out, and test-fitted them onto the areas on my helmet. Satisfied with the fit, I traced around them in pencil to give me some guidelines for setting the makeshift templates. Below is the progression of the next steps in my process. In this previous post (scroll down) I described the paints I've been using, for late arrivals to this thread, they are Testors 1145 Gloss White, Testors 1139 Semi-Gloss Black, and Humbrol #5 Admiralty Grey. After setting the template and extra masking tape, I sealed in the edges with white, then followed up with the black. After 5-10 minutes of waiting, I peeled back the tape and cleaned up the edges with mineral spirits (end result not shown below). I repeated this process on the other trap, but unfortunately failed to realize that my trapezoid was a little lopsided, so I used some more decal cutout as a straight-edge, then added more black. After cleanup, it blends right in. If you compare the right end photo below with the one above you can see that the one above has a slightly more curved bottom edge; I will likely be remedying that in my next post. I then finished off one of the traps with the Humbrol #5 grey, hand-painted onto the black. Later on out decided that my black "outline" is a bit wider than I want, and doesn't appear quite proper with the outlines I have on my side traps and tears, so I'm hoping to paint another wider layer onto it, which I will ask questions about a bit later in this post. Next came the side traps. As already mentioned in my introduction of this post, I had previously painted the black while trimming and fitting the brow trim, so I only had the gray to do this time. I keeping with my recent success of a heavy-handed paintbrush, I laid down quite a bit of grey so as to maintain as smooth a surface finish as possible. At first everything appears perfect. But my "success" was only momentary. Actually, a couple days to be exact. I left the trap face-up to cure and it seems the paint pooled at the lowest point in the surface, at the trop right and at the leftmost edge, which I believe I discovered on the third day. The first photo of the compilation below shows the resulting wrinkles, which I was able to temporarily smooth away by rubbing it, but it always came back. The second photo shows it somewhat rubbed away. Then I had the brilliant idea of pressing that area down for the remainder of the curing time, so I found my decade-old oil-based modeling clay from college and pressed and clamped it to the surface. To protect my helmet and paint finish from the oily clay, and added a layer of cling wrap. Big mistake. In addition to clamping down the clay too hard, apparently the paint continued to shrink as it cured, so the cling wrap left a series of wrinkles in the paint. These can be seen in the last photo below, so in other light and angles, it sorta disappears, as shown in the second to last photo. To me, this paint job is unacceptable, so this is where I need input from all you experienced troopers. The way I see it, I have two options: Remove all the black and grey paint from this trap and start over. Sand down the wrinkles in the grey and paint another layer on top. To me, option #2 is attractive since I'm already very pleased with the overall shape of the black outline. If possible, I'd very much like to keep it. If I were to sand down all the wrinkles as well as the top and side edges of the grey, would another layer of grey on top appear smooth and seamless? Does anybody have any experience sanding this type of enamel paint? The photo below shows the width different between my two side traps, and ideally the second layer of gray on the right trap would have a little wider footprint than the first layer, in order to better match the left trap. Am I crazy for not simply removing all the paint (lots of mineral spirits!) and starting over? Helmet Tears Now that I've gotten that trap failure out of the way, on to an actually success story with my tears! After hand-painting both the black and grey layers, I was actually able to use the Trooperbay masking template for the lines. I followed the similar strategy of sealing the edges with the base coat color, in this case grey, then finishing with black on top. However, instead of painting the lines with the brush, I decided to try a technique that I saw @Cricket employ for her tube stripes. A makeup sponge! Essentially I brushed paint onto the end of the sponge, then patted it down in several light coats onto the helmet. This was my first time going light with paint, but it was important in order to 1) avoid excess paint being forced to break the edge seal with the template, and 2) to get a quick drying time in order to add multiple layers. After I believe three layers the black was sufficiently dark. And here were my results! A very clean hand-painted look if you ask me. I'm slightly bothered by the height difference between the left and right tears, but I've seen similar results before, so I can live with it. Besides, aren't these TK suits all about the tiny imperfections! A close-up shot to point out two things. Using the sponge left a slight texture in the lines which I'm unexpectedly happy with, since it is in contrast with the rest of the smooth surface. The raised surface of the template sticker also attracted a slightly greater amount of paint around the edges of all the stripes, which actually gives the perception that the stripes are recessed. Another accidental bonus! Yet to be determined if I was use this same method on my tube stripes, as I think I'm going to want them to be as smooth as possible. I have two pieces of advice to give, and they're very much related. Paint MULTIPLE LIGHT coats of paint, rather than a single heavy coat. I learned my lesson the hard way. LISTEN to those with more experience and wisdom. In fact, take this for life in general. Here are questions already mentioned in this post, but compiled and numbered here for ease of recollection and discussion. Should I remove all the paint on my right trap and start over, or sand down the grey and add another layer? Below are some close-up photos. If I were to down all the wrinkles as well as the top and side edges of the grey, would another layer of grey on top appear smooth and seamless? I would also like to narrow the black outline on one of my rear traps, and would like to sand down the edges of the grey to create a more smooth and level transition to the black paint before painting a second layer of grey. Does anybody have any experience sanding this type of enamel paint? Will mineral spirts be sufficient? Any overall thoughts on the thickness of my black outlines, particularly of my left-side trap and the tears, which is what I'm seeing to emulate on the other three traps? Trap paint completion Helmet face and cap assembly Finally, I thought some of you might appreciate this metal piece I saw at a local shop. It was actually reasonably-priced, but I didn't purchase it at the time, as it's not quite in the budget. But I may need to go back sometime... And I would be remiss for not making mention of today's date, so... May the force be ever in your favor. Ha. jk. May the 4th be with you. Always.

Amazing design, and congrats Eric! Now I just need to get back to my build and get approved in time to snag a couple of these. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was curious about this myself, since that’s my story too. I’m a forum member, but not a Legion member. But I wouldn’t have had a design to submit anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Saw your post on fb. Looking forward to following along on your HWT build! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It didn't look like anybody ever answered this question regarding the "fall" of the tube stripes, so here it is. The "fall" actually refers to the lean/sweep of individual stripes, not the distance of the stripes from the cheek crease above. Screen-used stripes had a forward slant at the top, which the photos below illustrate. I've also added a link to Dan's thread below, which has these same illustrations. For your particular situation, since your stripes are symmetrical, with no lean/fall, so there's no need for you to take the fall into consideration. And all the stripes should be equidistant (a pencil's width) from the side of the cheek, as opposed to angling further away as you originally interpreted the fall. No worries though, wording can often be confusing, and you're doing a great job on your build! Keep it up!

In case you're interested, I used t-nuts found at my local Ace Hardware, but those linked standoffs also look good. Having the base on the nuts I used enabled me to (I think) mount them well to my bucket.

Congrats Trina, and way to represent Filipinos everywhere, and as Justin said, also our outstanding female troopers! I'm a dual citizen living in the States, and eventually after getting Legion approval I'm going to be seeking out some Philippine and Cebu Garrisons merch. Again, excellent job on your build!

Congrats to all you fine troopers! Excellent work by all the builders and troopers helping them along the way! I intend to join the club in this next 500, and in the meantime, I think we're all also anxiously wondering who will be the 501st Centurion.

Tim - With no Celebration this year, do you expect a larger than normal contingent of 501st members to descend upon DragonCon this September? At only two hours away, I'm wondering if I may need to attend for the first time to meet some of you fine Legion members (also for the first time).

Congrats Grave! Well done with your MTK build! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I LOVE the idea of getting the Troopers Helping Troopers theme in there. And your mock-up is AWESOME, Greg. It’s going to be impossible for Command to choose. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk