My ATA Helmet Build

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, I carved some more out of all the teeth with an xacto blade and filed them down some more.  I think this is as far as I can go without feeling like I'm doing some irreversible.

 

 

I think if anyone says something about my teeth once the helmet is put together, I'll buy another helmet and carve the teeth deeper.  I know I've seen pics of other people's teeth and they have bigger spaces, but I'm just not feeling comfortable about going that far.

 

 Also, when comparing my teeth to Pandatrooper's HOW to: assembling ATA ABS Helmet #1 , I think I'm pretty much right there with his:

 

 

So I think I'm finally done with the teeth.  I like the idea of using a dremel sand attachment once I have the general shape cut out for the ears.  I've put off cutting out the ears long enough and I should get some work done with those.  I haven't drilled the holes for attaching the back and front pieces yet either.  I might wait to have some in-person assistance for that one.

 

Special thanks to gmrhodes13 who continues to come back to this very long thread and give me the encouragement to continue.

Edited September 5, 2013 by maxsteele

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That's what we are here for   Here's my teeth, a little squarer in the corners, but what you have is fine

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

After much concern, research, worry, and some determination, I started the rough cut of my ears.

 

 

 

 

 

I won't be able to do much with these until I get the front and back of the helmet connected first.  I need to get some clamps to secure the front & back and then worry about drilling the holes in the wrong place first.  

Edited September 5, 2013 by maxsteele

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Magnets are a great help to so you can get into the place clamps can't go. You have made a great start on the ears, a little at a time, you will find when you trim the round top section it can make a lot of difference on the curved section. Another tip is to sand a dog leg into the top of the round top section as the back piece of the helmet overlaps the front (if that makes sense  )

[maxsteele[TK]]

Magnets are a great help to so you can get into the place clamps can't go. You have made a great start on the ears, a little at a time, you will find when you trim the round top section it can make a lot of difference on the curved section. Another tip is to sand a dog leg into the top of the round top section as the back piece of the helmet overlaps the front (if that makes sense  )

 

I think I know what you mean - sand in a little groove so the round ear piece can fit down onto the overlap piece of the helmet?

 

Yeah, I think it's time to get some skin-pinching earth magnets.

Edited September 5, 2013 by maxsteele

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I have been bitten by the magnets a few times. Yes you kinda got it but from where that groove is you have to sand the whole back.

 

Like this (sorry its a crude drawing)

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

After rough cutting the ears and looking at several more ATA helmet build threads, I got brave and broke out the xacto knife.  Here's my current teeth as of 5 minutes ago:

 

 

 

 

I've determined that in this pic, the left-most big tooth is just smaller than the right one.  It's how the mold is.  I've noticed this in other photos as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, the other teeth on this side look more "square" than the biggest one.  I'm not sure how to correct that, or if I even need to.

 

 

 

 

 

Kind of the same thing goes for this side also.  Did I take too much out of the two biggest teeth, or did I not take enough out of the rest of the teeth?

 

 

 

 

EDIT:  You know what?  I'm done with my teeth.    Everyone's teeth look different.  These are how my teeth will look.   I'm moving on to the ears next.  I got a sanding drum bit for my Dremel and practice on some extra ABS making rounded cuts.  Once I get the two pieces of my helmet connected together, it's ear shaping time!

Edited September 8, 2013 by maxsteele

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I think you will find that once they are painted it wont be as obvious, looking good to me, good luck with the ears

[maxsteele[TK]]

I used some magnets to hold the front and back together to get an idea of how it would all line up.  How do the cuts look?  Do I have enough at the bottom for connecting together?  The two pieces seem to curve away from each other, but they probably get pulled together once holes are drilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, the sides do sit differently so don't panic if you have more gap on one side than the other. I took a measurement from the back of the cheek trap to the bump on the side were the screw would go through and did the same with the other side. The sides will pull in more once screwed, also the ear covers any gaps still left

[maxsteele[TK]]

One 1/2" rare earth magnet on each side of the helmet really isn't strong enough to hold it together for any kind of screw drilling.  I'll need to get a few clamps to really secure it before I do that.

 

Maybe if I stack two magnets together on each side.... I'll try that next.

 

Thanks for the extra pushing on filing the teeth out.  With the back attached, they look really nice!

[maxsteele[TK]]

After spending time working on my armor, I'm starting to get back to my helmet.  I really can't do much with shaping the ears until I attach the two pieces together, so I've done some test drill holes in spare ABS.  How does this look?

 

 

 

Here are the two screws attached in their proper holes.

 

 

 

 

Here is an example of the larger hole vs. the smaller hole.  The smaller hole is what the drill bit makes standard.  I learned how to "rock" the drill bit around to widen the hole to take the second screw.

 

 

 

Is it time to graduate to holes in my helmet?  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, you can also use a larger drill bit by hand to make a tapered recess for the tapered screw

[maxsteele[TK]]

You replied quick Glen!  I had seen people mention about making a tapered recess for the tapered screw, but as of yet have no clue exactly how to do it.

 

 

I was going to upload one more picture and edit my last post, but I'll just make it a reply instead.  

 

 

Is this the spot to put the screw that holds the two pieces together?  The screw that will be hidden under the cup of the ear?  I marked the spot with pencil:

 

 

 

If that's it, then that's where I'll drill the first hole.  I read about a technique of drilling the hole on the back piece first, then fitting the two pieces back together like I have, lining it all up, marking with a pencil through the hole onto the front plate, then taking it back apart and drilling the hole on the front plate.

 

Does this seem better than keeping the pieces together like I have now and drilling the hole through both pieces at once?  It seems like a piece could slip while trying to drill both holes and cause an issue there, which isn't an issue if I drill the two holes separately.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

That is the spot, I held my lid together with magnets and claps and drilled straight through, you can also adjust the position of where the brow sits by slotting these holes slightly. None of the fit is final until you add the ears and they are tight. You can just make out the other holes for the ear screws but I just made the holes in the ears first, positioned them tightly onto the sides of the lid and drilled in that position, some like to just use the original holes. You can't go too wrong, putting these pieces together isn't as hard as some make it sound, good luck

[maxsteele[TK]]

It's been a long time coming, but I have drilled the first two holes and attached the face and cap pieces together!

 

 

I think head-on it looks excellent.  That's about where I want the brow trim to be.  I like the lower brow vs. the higher brow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I may have matched up the right side a little low in regards to the brow trim and the eye.  I'm referring to the eye corner in relation to the brow trim.  In order to correct that I'd have to drill another hole into the face piece to adjust it slightly higher, which would just end up turning the current hole into a bigger hole, and I don't think I want that.  Is this alright, or do I really need to correct it?

 

 

 

 

 

One concern I had - on the left side, I didn't have the face / back pieces completely flush with each other at the brow line.  In order to correct this, I'd have to do the same thing that I'm describing for the right side to the left side.  Is this too much of a gap, or does it not really matter?

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the right side for reference on how much closer I have it there.  It's completely flush here.

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I myself wouldn't bother changing anything, the buckets are out of alignment from the get go so a small difference either side really won't be a problem. A small gap between the faceplate and back will help circulate air

[maxsteele[TK]]

I myself wouldn't bother changing anything, the buckets are out of alignment from the get go so a small difference either side really won't be a problem. A small gap between the faceplate and back will help circulate air

 

You are my voice of reason Glen!

 

One thing I did notice though, I have a tear at the bottom of my rubber brow trim.  It's about a half-inch split at the bottom on the right edge.  I'll most likely need to get a replacement trim.  It's workable now, but I'll want to get it replaced soon.  Fortunately it doesn't prevent me from continuing the build or even wearing it, as it's hardly noticeable, but I know the tear will get longer.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Is there such a thing as having your ear sit too high?  This is where my right ear wants to sit in order to cover the seam between the front and back:

 

 

 

It feels like it's sitting a little too high, but moving it slightly downward nothing really lines up the way it should.  I feel like I'm at a point where I should find the "spot" where the ear piece covers all of the seam nicely, then drill my top hole through my helmet, and start shaping up the ear to fit that exact point, but if this ear cup is too high, I'm going to have to re-evaluate how the ear is shaped.

 

Or, is my problem I didn't trim down the round part of the ear at the top enough, and the piece that's "sticking up" is a part I'm supposed to trim down more?

Edited October 31, 2013 by maxsteele

[gazmosis[501st]]

it is sitting just a bit high. The top of the ear should rest right under the brow trim

[maxsteele[TK]]

Hm, if it's not a cup trim issue, then that it a little concerning. It might be that the ear is in the right spot, but my brow is too low with where I connected the cap and back....

 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk now Free

 

 

[SCTrooper[TK]]

The right ear is really close to where it should be, if you angle the ear more that will lower it a tiny bit, or you could drill another hole in the face plate and raise the right brow slightly.  Also as you can see the right ear sits a tad lower, its all good and wonky.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I think I fixed it!

 

I did a combination of three things:

 

1) I could still see a little bit of a "lip" around the ear cup, so I trimmed that off and sanded it all flat.

 

2)  I have a small split on the bottom of the brow trim right by that ear, so I swapped the brow trim sides (I'm getting new brow trim)

 

3)  I shaved off a little more from the ear curve close to the cup to make it sit down a little lower.

 

 

Here's the result:

 

 

That looks like the right spot to me.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Should the bottom screw hole for the ear piece go where the raised bump is at the bottom?

 

[SCTrooper[TK]]

I installed mine a bit higher so the screw would go through both pieces. If you do this, you'll have to remove the bump. 

Edited October 31, 2013 by SCTrooper