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HOW to: assembling ATA ABS helmet #1


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"For the tube stripes, I hand cut decals from sign vinyl."

 

GREAT tutorial...

Are there any graphic designers out there that have a vector file for the vinyl masking? .ai or .eps?

I'll be doing two helmets soon, and I have access to a vinyl plotter... that would help immensely!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Awesome tutorial! Very helpful. Thanks for posting this. Made putting my helmet together so much easier. Wish there was a thread for the ATA armor like this one.....it would make my build much less stressful.

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I just cleaned it and then put the paint on.

You have to paint several thin Layers, and let the paint allways dry.

 

My paint is Humbrol, do i have to wait over night for each layer to dry ? before paint another layer ?

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Looking at ordering one of these but have a question.

 

Is it possible to attach the ear cover with out the screws visible?

 

I know its screen accurate but would rather not have them seen.

 

thanks

 

 

 

My recommendation on this:

You can taper the holes drilled so the heads line up flush with the ear cover. Then, of course, you'd paint the screw heads white with model paint.

The ear covers (especially the top two) are important for holding the entire helmet together, and for getting the ear covers tight against the side of the helmet. The "mask" part of the helmet is not as wide as the shell in the back (or at least it wasn't for me) and the ear cover screws "widened" the mask part to match the width of the back side. Hope that makes sense...

 

• Also, before you start hacking away at it, be mindful of the bottom of the ear cover and where the screw goes. That screw on the bottom needs to go through both the front and back halves of the helmet... and it's easy to cut too much off there based on the photos and eyeballing it.

 

• There also needs to be space between the bottom of the ear piece and the opening of the helmet. There's a black rubber strip that goes all the way around the helmet opening, and they look better when they don't overlap the bottom of the ear cover.

Edited by Dutchtrooper
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My paint is Humbrol, do i have to wait over night for each layer to dry ? before paint another layer ?

 

I used Humbrol too, and I let it dry overnight, or at least 12 Hours.

Be Patient with Humbrol and you get awsome results.

I painted the Helmet Day by Day and Layer on Layer. Hope that helps.

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My recommendation on this:

You can taper the holes drilled so the heads line up flush with the ear cover. Then, of course, you'd paint the screw heads white with model paint.

The ear covers (especially the top two) are important for holding the entire helmet together, and for getting the ear covers tight against the side of the helmet. The "mask" part of the helmet is not as wide as the shell in the back (or at least it wasn't for me) and the ear cover screws "widened" the mask part to match the width of the back side. Hope that makes sense...

 

• Also, before you start hacking away at it, be mindful of the bottom of the ear cover and where the screw goes. That screw on the bottom needs to go through both the front and back halves of the helmet... and it's easy to cut too much off there based on the photos and eyeballing it.

 

• There also needs to be space between the bottom of the ear piece and the opening of the helmet. There's a black rubber strip that goes all the way around the helmet opening, and they look better when they don't overlap the bottom of the ear cover.

 

Thanks Dutchtrooper, I will keep this in mind when my helmet arrives next week

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Neither on my lower screws went through both halves of the helmet. I did a low brow stunt. I agree that both sides are more screen accurate for sure but I'm a n00b and dropped in an extra screw before mounting the ears and the ear covers it so who knows right. I'm building to centurion and trying to get it all right the first time but then again how many real helmets have we seen 5 maybe 6 of what 15ish of the 50 that still exist. Who knows If somebody didn't go ape doody with yea old rivet gun right?

Edited by Valgars
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I used Humbrol too, and I let it dry overnight, or at least 12 Hours.

Be Patient with Humbrol and you get awsome results.

I painted the Helmet Day by Day and Layer on Layer. Hope that helps.

 

Thank you Mogwai, awesome info. :duim:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I drilled one just large enough so the screw could easily go though it. Try the drill on a test piece of plastic before going "live" on the helmet.

Thanks - I'll do that. Heh, power tools are a new thing to play with here, can you tell?

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Ha. yeah! You'll find that having a test piece for armor and even the belt is going to be to your advantage. Always test first on something else. I had to get creative with a mistake we did on our armor, and after that I learned my lesson!

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