Bigtrev503 needs some helmet help

[bigtrev503]

Ok, I have an ATA helmet and am hand painting everything except for the tube stripes. I have pandatrooper's tutorial open, but he's painting a stunt, and I'm going for hero. The obvious differences are that the ears have three bumps, and the frown has three holes. I am wondering about the black on the mic tips. They seem to be more fully painted on heros than stunts. I think the heros had the original mic tips and the stunts had painted casts of them. How should I paint my mic tips to make them as hero-like as possible?

 

Another BIG question is for the ones out there who use a heat sealing iron. I have one and was going to do the thigh top mod, but decided against it. Can I use it to soften the extra, uncut tooth bumps on the frown? Maybe just warm them from behind and gently push them out? 

 

Thanks for your advice and help, guys. I am in the home stretch and I can see the light at the end!!

 

Photos will be posted later once I get brave enough to do something. I've been shaking this paint pot for an hour!

[bigtrev503]

Took a long hard look at the heros on starwarshelmets.com and noticed that the aerator/mic tip/ whatever they're called are black on the inside down to the circular nipple lookin part. I painted the first layer of black on and painted down to the where it looks like theblack stops on the originals. Nifty little hero detail I didn't notice until now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's the link to the originals that led me to this conclusion:

 

 

http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-ANH-hero-Stormtrooper-armor-helmets.htm

Edited May 17, 2013 by bigtrev503

[Sonnenschein]

. Can I use it to soften the extra, uncut tooth bumps on the frown? Maybe just warm them from behind and gently push them out? 

 

 

 

I often thought about doing that.

 

I'd do the following:

 

Take a plaster cast of the teeth area from the out side.

Sand away the extra tooth, make it smooth.

 

Take the iron and push the tooth out. With the outside mold, and the plastic of the tooth is deformed.

[bigtrev503]

Oooh, that is a really good idea! I think I'll try it

[Raintrooper]

Hey Trevor,  

Get in touch with Glen. He did an unbelievable job converting his ATA into a 3 tooth Hero.  Here's his helmet build thread.  

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/23694-hero-bucket-build/#entry298339

[bigtrev503]

Damn, that is very nice. I"m going to try something like that

[bigtrev503]

Here's the progress so far. Any feedback would be good. I am wondering what would be the best way to clean up the edges. Any tips on that?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Sorry had to but my hero lid build on hold as I have had so many side project, jawa's mainly, imperial binders and code cylinders. Anyway if you are gentle with the heat iron you can get most of the extra teeth to push through, once you have done this it is just a matter of using wet and dry sandpaper with soapy water and gently sand the area along the section of teeth that you want to get smooth. Once you are happy with this you will need to sand in finer grades of wet and dry until you end up using 1200 grit paper, when you are happy you can then use an automotive cutting compound to really make the teeth shine. After you are happy clean all the teeth area with warm soapy water so no greasy film reamains, let dry then paint the other teeth.

 

This is as far as I have gotten so far, I am really happy with the results.

 

[bigtrev503]

Is this your progress before or after the sanding part? 

 

 

So, I'm wondering if I can just gemtly push them 'most of the way out' and have that be good enough? There will be paint covering most of it anyway...

 

Also, speaking of paint, how is mine looking? Is there anywhere I shoud fix before doing the grey?

Edited May 19, 2013 by bigtrev503

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Just on the paint try to get the lines as straight as possible or they will show how wobbley they are once you apply the grey. My teeth had been sanded I just haven't polished them as yet, they did need a sand, even once I pushed the teeth out you are still left with some uneven sections and they can bee seen, if I was you I would sand even thought they will be partly painted.

[bigtrev503]

K, I"ve sharpened up the lines on all the black, especially the ears. They look really good. I'm really considering leaving the fourth tooth the way it is

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You will kick yourself later if you leave them, it is not a hard fix and after all it is one of the main differences between the Stunt and Hero versions.

[bigtrev503]

Ok, here goes nothin! I'm gonna heat that thing up and use it. What temp does it need to be?

[bigtrev503]

This is the best I could do without melting the whole thing. It's already riveted together so I couldn't take it apart. Will it fly after paint?

 

EDIT: that ridge on the right is extra apparent becuase it has pencil in it. It doesn't look that bad

 

 

Edited May 20, 2013 by bigtrev503

[bigtrev503]

No respone, huh? Ok, well I painted it anyway. This is coat 1 of 2. The second pass will make it look nicer.

 

[Raintrooper]

Looks ok to me..  It's kinda tough to tell in the photos just how much you were able to pull in that indention between the 3rd and 4th tooth.  This was one of the reasons I went with a stunt.. 

[Raintrooper]

Sweet new profile avatar, btw! 

[bigtrev503]

Haha thanks for that. I found it and I knew I had to have it. I know this is a bit rough, but, eh. Any more melting and tweaking and it would have been toast. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I think you could of gone a little more with the heat and you could have used the sanding method to get rid of the rest of the uneven surface, the ABS is quite thick so you won't rub through.

[bigtrev503]

Okay, I'm gonna try doing a little more. Good tip using max heat, I only hat it up to about 3 out of 5. Back to the ironing board!

[bigtrev503]

BTW, success!

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, nice work