Bell

And the helmet sold for $202.50. I wonder if anyone on here bought it

Thanks for the replies and PM's regarding the lids that i found on ebay. I'll steer clear of them and thanks for the contact information which i will duly follow.

Ok so i could really use some advice on these clone trooper lids that i've found on ebay. I've become quite interested in the prequel clones and was thinking of getting a Ep.3 helmet to add to my growing collection, i already have a Jave Ep.2 lid, and so while looking on ebay for other things i stumbled upon a few buckets that caught my eye. Some I've been able to find out were recasts but i could use some advice on the ones below if there worth it or not. Don't worry I'm not going to ask about Star fortress helmets. After all the bad comments and warnings about how crappy his products are I'm not touching that stuff with a ten foot barge pole. Hence why i will never ask about there products. The first is from Germany Ep.3 Clone trooper helmet The second is from Singapore EP 3 Clone trooper lid The third is from the USA Ep.3 Fiderglass clone lid Thanks for the help

And to think i was considering buying this armour when i first got interested in becoming a TK. Still we live and learn and i learned that there are a lot better makers out there. Research was the key, oh and the very helpful people on the is board and at the UKG who showed me the light.

Thanks for mentioning that. I didn't realize and so was finding them a little snug but once i removed the foam inserts they fitted perfectly.

My boots just arrived and i am wearing them now. A nice snug fit.

That's my order sent in for a pair of size twelves. I can't wait for them to arrive as it will be one more step closer to becoming a TK.

I have sent my email and should hopefully be able to order my pair soon. I can't say enough about how well this supplier communicates and he is a pleasure to deal with. I have no worries about ordering from him.

Almost done. Well 97% done, still have the black paint on the inside and the mesh on the teeth to sort out. Lens were a bit hit and miss. the miss being that i completely ruined Smitty's lenses more or less within ten minutes of them arriving. Thanks largely in part to me thinking super glue stuck straight away. I was wrong and so a pair of fine lenses were ruined. Thankfully after a bit of jiggery pokery i was able to make some lens out of the original material that came with the kit using smitty's as a pattern. A bit of at the top of the helmet has set it to the right height for my eye line and i can thankfully report that despite my worries the ATA helmet has more than enough room for my head and glasses. So no need for contact lenses. A bit more foam and a chin strap will complete my bucket but that can wait a while or at least till i have the rest of my armour.

Here are some better picture of the weapon in question. http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a252/BROOMHALLA/image-1.jpg

Well it's almost done. Transfers went on with only a slight bit of tweeking to get them sitting right. I can highly recommend TK-4510's transfers as they sure do look great and really complete the bucket. I'm just waiting on Smitty's lenses and it's just my luck that the posties will soon be going on strike what is annoying as i am waiting on a few other items as well at the moment. Still if theres one thing i have learned in this build and that is to have patience so i will keep look forward to the postmans visit and hope that they arrive soon. On another note i must add that the recent sticky post concerning the correct humbrol paints came in very useful so thanks for the help. Below is a picture of how my bucket looks now. I still have to paint the inside black and add the mesh behind the teeth:

As stated in the title this is a noobie build. AKA it's my first proper stormtrooper helmet build. In my last post i stated i had made a quite large mistake while trying to paint my bucket. To help explain how i got so wrong and what i've done to fix the problems i created for myself here's some pictures. First off i started in the right direction. Following the instructions in some of the many great build threads. Paint below is what i used and the primer went on like a breeze. Unfortunately i completely forgot to wash the helmet what i regret since that was due in part to me wanting to get it done quickly. The gloss went on quite well but i had a few runs what is where everything started to go wrong: Now i have to say that before i started constructing my helmet i was quite good in getting my equipment together. I have a Homebase down the road so it was easy to get ready. But and this is a big but i forgot the sand paper so i used some other sand paper that i found and attached to my mouse sander. Big mistake. The sand paper was grey in colour (See below picture) and quite predictively it left grey marks on my helmet where i had sanded. Now what i should of done was take a step back and have a cup of tea to mull over the problem. But then i had a not so bright idea. Try to cover up the marks with a different primer, a grey primer. I quite incorrectly thought that i could simply stray over the primer later and everything would be fine. Well it might of worked out like that but since it was a different brand of primer it reacted with the original paint what pushed me over the edge. Hence last post. See the high level of noob because after that little stunt i sure felt like one. Now it is quite amazing what a cup of tea can do when problem solving. I'm english so go figure i like tea, hell i'm even drinking one now as i type. Now since i had to wait till the next day before i could touch my helmet again i had time to have few cups of tea (and a cider) and think about the problem and how to proceed. So instead of simply getting some proper sand paper and spraying it again i decided to go down a slightly different route. I went for the paint tin route. See picture below: Yes that is MDF primer and yes i have used it on my helmet. All week i've been priming my helmet and taking my time and not rushing it. What is why i failed so badly in my first attempt at painting it. I have also got some proper sand paper which is also visable in the picture. Below is picture of the primed helmet: After two coats of gloss this is where i am up to: Next i should be adding the excellent transfers to my bucket before gluing the trim in place. Now the moral of the story is simple. Have patience and take things one at a time and also to have the right sand paper.

Disaster. After priming it and spraying it with gloss i had runs so i sanded it down what is where things only got worse and resulted in me using a different primer that reacted with the original paint and now i'll have to sand the whole thing down. Through all of this i have found spray paint to be more of a hindrance than a help so i'll be buying myself some normal paint in the morning.

My helmet is now assembled and primed. Thanks for the advise about the ears as it is a bit off the line on bits and so mines come out looking quite good. I'll give her a coat of gloss tomorrow but for the time being I'm letting it dry and am trying not to rush it. I would paint on the decals but thats slightly beyond my painting skills so I've ordered some off TK-4510 and despite the kit coming with lens material i have opted to use some of Smitty's fine lens instead. So now it's more or less me waiting on the postman to give it the final touches once i've given it a nice coat of gloss. Pictures to come soon

Main bucket assembled. Will try and have the courage to do the ears tonight:

Thanks for the tip. I'll leave the ears till i've put my bucket together. Spent the best part of a hour this morning with a craft knife very carefully cutting out the faceplate. Picture below:

That's my intention. I should be ordering my armour soonish, just waiting for them to finish making it. Then the real fun begins as i strive to become a TK. Yep that's my refereance thread at the moment Question. I've drawn a line on my ears, as shown in the below pictures, could you tell me if i'm going in the right direction. Also this is a bit of a silly question but which of the two trims is for the brow?

Hi My ATA helmet arrived this morning and i'm still drooling over it. Over the next few weeks i shall be slowly building it up and hopefully it should be a great helmet once I've finished it. I've been reading up on ATA builds and will be using them as a base. Wish me luck.

Really noobish question but: Why is it recommended that you black out the inside of the helmet?

Thanks for the hint. I got on there website and they sell it at my local homebase which is really helpful. Although now i'm butting my head for not noticing it on my last visit.

Is humbrol gloss white acceptable or should i track down some of the paint suggested above?

Thanks for that. I'm thinking about buying my first bucket and the battle spec is looking a lot more tempting than a master replica

Just to check but is the SDS battle spec helmet up to the required standard for trooping or does it need modding like the master replica?

Great build. Inspired me to have a go. Heres my convert.

Thanks for that. I shall do more research on the forums before proceeding further.