Scout_Troop3R

Went and redid the tear paint on both sides, they look way better now! (just one spot of white paint there on the left side that needs some black) I also started on the stripes for the right side, the white paint layer for that is just drying for now, gonna put the blue on in about 20 minutes. The ear is just taped on for reference while I fix it, didn't want the hassle of screwing it up all the way just to unscrew it right after.

yeah.. i'll probably have to redo the whole tear and I think for the bleeding I just added too much paint thinner

Well I got back into this a few days ago and got some painting done, did the right side tube stripes the other day, started with a base coat of white and went over again in blue, real happy with those, and started on the tear stripes. I think I made the paint a little too thin because it leaked just a bit, but overall it's came out great, I just have to go over once again with grey on the smudged/chipped bit and boom. Working on getting the ear fixed still, I'm fairly certain I have to make another batch of ABS paste (I think it's dirty, definitely gonna wash everything before I make the next batch.) because this one is just slightly darker when it's dry and leaves a visible line, oh well.

Today was pretty good, I'll start with the small thing. I got the three screws that are loose for the moment in their second layer of white paint, they're coming along fine. Now for the good stuff, the ABS paste after a bit more meddling got to the consistency I wanted, and I was able to attach the part back to the ear piece, very happy with that. I haven't done any sanding or polishing thus far so the area doesn't shine like it should but that's a tomorrow problem, found a nice tutorial that I'll have a look at for it. First thing I did was secure the piece to the front with tape, and pasted on a piece of scrap support ABS on the inside to keep things stable. Then going slow with a toothpick I put on about 3 (or more) layers and without sanding or anything I'd say this looks pretty clean, pretty darn good for my first time using this stuff I'd say! Anyway that's all for today.

Yeah I'm definitely going to be doing that painting tip, local garrison members have also been quite sure to remind me of that lol As for the stencils I made sure to only slightly curve them and keep the stripes in-line with the helmet while also actually being able to press it flat, before with my first version the paper around the stripe cut-outs was totally straight so it didn't want to conform to the helmet's shape and wouldn't do it's job correctly, second version was too curved but this one is just slightly so that the stripes are still straight and that it actually fits.

On my first version of the bar stencils I totally forgot to account for the curved surface it's going on, and it totally didn't fit lol Therefore I made another version, which ended up having too much of a curve, and then the third version which I'm satisfied with. I also got to work on some definitely not basil (ABS) paste to attach that part to fix the ear piece, and anything else that gets messed up badly enough to warrant it. It's not quite at mayonnaise consistency yet but I have it just where I want it for now, it's gonna sit overnight and I'll check on it in the morning. Good day today I'd say.

Yeah I'm fine with a few small gaps, adds character and whatnot, it's just that really big one that definitely needs fixing (it's probably big enough to prevent my certification), did a whole lot of slow shaping to get that, all I have to do now is bend it to match and attach it. Honestly aside from that when it's all screwed down the ear pieces fit great, that second picture was after I'd taken the screws out.

Today now that it's warm out I cleaned up my garage, got my paints clean, and got to work. Cut out 2 stencils for the blue helmet stripes, 12 bars each, they're probably a bit rough but I'll make the curves nicer tomorrow or something. I also cut out that missing piece on the right ear, so hopefully I can finally fix that gap. also woo progress

Decided to get some painting and some minor repairs done today and yesterday on my bucket after doing nothing for a while, feels good to work on it again. My speaker system's audio jack broke so I tried soldering a new one on the end, electricity can flow through it but I must've screwed up the audio connections or something because when plugged in they do nothing, still it was fun learning how to solder and attach different kinds of wires together even if it didn't work, I'll fix that another day. A while ago I painted out all the base black lines on my helmet aside from the ears, and today I masked over them (not sure how thin the black surrounding stripes had to be so I just eyeballed it from the photos gmrhodes13 sent earlier) and added the first light layer of grey, I'll probably only need two layers and then I'll clearcoat it, so far I think it's coming along pretty good, painting is fun too. Anyway that's all for today, peace out.

Hey there, been a little while! Not much to say about my absence other than it's been a busy 2 months, but now I'm back with a quick question. I wanted to start painting the vocoder today and I'm just unsure if I should use the glossy or satin black (I think it's satin but I'm still not sure after looking around some other posts), so I figured I should get some answers.

And huzzah! I think functionally it is complete! (aside from paint and fixes of course) Yes it's a bit of a mess but hey it works, and I can make it pretty after comic-con. Really happy with it, it's a good fit, and it stays on my head properly. That other velcro patch is for a battery pack that I have charging currently, and I definitely need a new microphone, the current one is crap.

I got the left ear installed in record time with zero problems, good day! I also got the visor finally installed, no more tape, better day! And man is this awesome. Aside from painting and fixing the right ear piece all that's left is installing padding, electronics, and the s-type neck trim.

looking at these now I see where I need to trim more trim trim trim

I did some trimming and I think it helped but I'm not sure. For tonight it's good enough.

I was just planning to cut a piece to fit that gap and ABS paste it on but trimming and then doing that (if I need to) is probably a better idea lol. I don't mind having the little gaps, it's just that big one which bothers me.

I got the last screw and rivet in for the right ear and it looks great with only a small thing or two to be fixed, mostly just that gap by the ear, which will be easy to mend. Tomorrow I'll see about getting the left ear and the visor done, then all the basics will be ready for Comic-Con and I can spend the last two days on the extras. (Audio, padding, etc.) Painting will come later when I actually get my paints in the mail.

Today I got started on the screws, and got the right ear piece screws countersunk and it is looking quite nice! I'm having lunch now but I'm going to trim some more off the back helmet piece so the ear sits more flush, and get started on the rest of the rivets/screws.

Update time! The past two days I've hardly been able to do anything because of work, and a visit to my grandfolks, but I'm very satisfied with what I got done in that time. I finally got those rivets secured thanks to a little advice from my grandpa, and it really looks way better now. Now that the rivets are secured I can also get started on the screws, which means I can also now get the visor secured, which means hopefully I can actually get it mostly done (minus the paint) before Saturday.

I'll do some more testing and read those threads again when I get home for sure.

Today has been less than productive, I think I'm a bit burnt out. Only thing I managed to get done today was practice on countersinking some screws which went great That was as close as I managed to get with various methods, so that means I'll probably have to go to home depot again and get a countersink drill bit.

Yeah I didn't mention this but on Thursday I put it together with the brow strip and electronics and showed it off, there was enough room for the brow to sit nice and snug, and even with the electronics there was still plenty of room I wasn't able to put the foam in though lol, that definitely needs some shaving down.

Right so I've figured out where I want to have the ears placed, and I'm going to cut the back plate to the profile which I'm outlining in pencil once I get my nerve up. then hopefully everything will sit much more flush and I can start putting the rest of the screws/rivets

Hello again! No update yesterday because I had a gamenight, and worked on my bucket right up to it. I assembled the front and back halves with loose-ish rivets so that I could take it apart if I needed to, and the visor anchor also works quite well, for the ends of the visor I'm just gonna have the ear screws hold them in place because that's easy and secure. Today I want to try and get the ears situated (or started on that), and considering these pieces do not line up at all I have a lot of reading and testing to do. Hopefully I can get something successfully done before work.

Not too much progress today, which sucks, but I have to wait for glue to continue. The visor anchor finished gluing together, so I drilled a hole in that and the visor for the screw. Now I'm just waiting for the anchor to glue to the faceplate, and I can't do any helmet adjustments of the front and back together, so I also marked out a line with a ruler from the traps for the screws. Once the helmet is situated properly I'll get to work on the ears. Also I figure my paints aren't coming until after comic con considering they're in LA right now, so oh well.

After lunch I got back and drilled the ear holes with a 3/32 drill bit in the faceplate and rear bucket, to then discover I didn't have the right size attachment for my terrible rivet tool, which thankfully hasn't been used, so I'm gonna return that and get better one that can actually fit these rivets While waiting for the visor anchor piece to glue I figured I could get something else done, and I want to wait until it's assembled to paint the stripes, so I installed the hovi tips. The ones I have are ukswrath's hovi tip speakers so I had to drill rather than just glue them. I think in the end they turned out pretty good, even if drilling the holes was worrisome and less clean than I would like, a good washer and nut shores everything up nice and tight.