drscifi[TK] Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Like many other TK builders this project has happened in spurts. First raising the money, then acquiring the suite, research research research and then finding the right tools and time to get started. My goal is Halloween 2014 and I will also be documenting on my blog at drscifi.com/stormtrooper. So I started with the helmet, knowing that once it was done I would be HIGHLY motivated to finish the rest of the armor. I made sure to rivet it up tight since they will be covered by the ears. Spent much time and care cleaning up the eyes and frown. Almost got too carried away with trimming the ear but it turned out just fine. Trimmed all the pieces for the Thermal Detonator, just need some grey paint. I'll continue to post as I work along. Today was a good first start. And this forum has been invaluable with tutorials and images so thank you thank you to everyone for this community. -Darren Future 501st and SCG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaeatt2 Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 NICE! Love your username! I'll be following your build as I'm slowly building an AP kit right now. There don't seem to be many AP build threads, so this is invaluable to me. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmosis[501st] Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Welcome to the build world! Nice job on that bucket so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Welcome to the build world! Nice job on that bucket so far! NICE! Love your username! I'll be following your build as I'm slowly building an AP kit right now. There don't seem to be many AP build threads, so this is invaluable to me. Thanks! Thank you! Like I said it's spits and spurts getting this done. But i'm very excited to put in a little work each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techne[TK] Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Nice work so far--I am always impressed by people who take on the helmet first, I was so intimidated by it that I waited to do that last. It will be a great thing to have all done and staring at you while you do the rest of the build! Have you given any thought about going up for EIB or Centurion? As long as you take the guidelines into consideration as you go through the build, it's not much extra work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aicire Posted April 11, 2014 Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 Looking great! I am working on my AP kit too! Cant wait to see your progress Darren! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 Nice work so far--I am always impressed by people who take on the helmet first, I was so intimidated by it that I waited to do that last. It will be a great thing to have all done and staring at you while you do the rest of the build! Have you given any thought about going up for EIB or Centurion? As long as you take the guidelines into consideration as you go through the build, it's not much extra work. I may go for EIB, since it would be easer to shoot for now then mod'n later. The way I see it, the helmet only has 4 plastic pieces, and most of those don't need to be shaped for a specific person. The legs look pretty tough, but I'll get there when I get there. Thanks for the pops. Looking great! I am working on my AP kit too! Cant wait to see your progress Darren! Im hoping to keep up steam and get little bits done each day. I picked up gray paint, and some progressively finer sand paper sponges for the detail work. And some replacement bolts for the ears. Really need to find those and my hovi tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) So excited! I found my Hovie tips! I thought I had lost them. I also tracked down my ear bolts but had already purchased some longer ones with locking nuts. Now I can finish my ears! Edited April 13, 2014 by drscifi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaeatt2 Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 If you decide to go for EIB, you'll have to replace those tips since they're not Hovi's... I've never understood why AP doesn't include the correct tips with the kit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techne[TK] Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I may go for EIB, since it would be easer to shoot for now then mod'n later. The way I see it, the helmet only has 4 plastic pieces, and most of those don't need to be shaped for a specific person. The legs look pretty tough, but I'll get there when I get there. Thanks for the pops. Yeah, EIB is nice because you feel like you lived up to a consensus of what a good set of armor looks like and reached a clear-cut goal. The most detailed parts of the EIB application are related to the helmet (although they're not hard), and then there's getting the sniper knee fixed, which is a pain. Other than that there's not too much different from the basic level of approval. The reason I was worried about the helmet was because I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to correctly cut out and shape the teeth and eyes. One screw up there and you're done for. But it looks you did a really nice job there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 If you decide to go for EIB, you'll have to replace those tips since they're not Hovi's... I've never understood why AP doesn't include the correct tips with the kit... Thats good to know. I'll hold off on installing them until I get accurate ones. Do you know of a good resource? Yeah, EIB is nice because you feel like you lived up to a consensus of what a good set of armor looks like and reached a clear-cut goal. The most detailed parts of the EIB application are related to the helmet (although they're not hard), and then there's getting the sniper knee fixed, which is a pain. Other than that there's not too much different from the basic level of approval. The reason I was worried about the helmet was because I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to correctly cut out and shape the teeth and eyes. One screw up there and you're done for. But it looks you did a really nice job there. Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I just read about the sniper knee. No visible rivets! so just use the force to hold it on? Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaeatt2 Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Look for a thread named "MIC TIPS MIC TIPS MIC TIPS" by keith in the ongoing sales area. Keith's mic tips are cast from an original and have the "Hovi Mic" script. The sniper knee should be held on with glue only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Look for a thread named "MIC TIPS MIC TIPS MIC TIPS" by keith in the ongoing sales area. Keith's mic tips are cast from an original and have the "Hovi Mic" script. The sniper knee should be held on with glue only. I'll have to get some pretty strong stuff. But I suppose it is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxsteele[TK] Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 I'll have to get some pretty strong stuff. But I suppose it is possible. e6000 works fine if you get some good plastic-to-plastic contact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holnave (evan_loh)[TK] Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thats good to know. I'll hold off on installing them until I get accurate ones. Do you know of a good resource? CFO (ID: sskunky) on the forums here does hovi mic tips Name is Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techne[TK] Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thats good to know. I'll hold off on installing them until I get accurate ones. Do you know of a good resource? Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I just read about the sniper knee. No visible rivets! so just use the force to hold it on? Ha! Pretty much. The force and lots of glue and maybe a heat gun to get it into the right shape. I got my hovi mics at Trooperbay, and they were fine; I believe there are also others you can buy them from here on this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DroidHunter Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I just read about the sniper knee. No visible rivets! so just use the force to hold it on? Ha! A little E6000 in the middle and on both contact points on the left and the right makes it sit nice and solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) More progress! I've ordered my E-11 Hasbro blaster and a Doopey Doos addition/conversion kit. I liked this method best as the bulk of the blaster is there but I can tweak and finalize it to a much more screen accurate configuration. I also ordered correct Mic Tips as I still plan to go for EI status. As my helmet progresses I've set a self imposed deadline to finish the bucket by May the 4th. We will most likely have a local event here and I'd love to show it to the local 501st representatives. I got to meet them last year which was cool. They were very supportive. I started on attaching the ears and got both placed on nicely in only two days. Right Left - I'm really happy with how it butted up tight to the side. Bolts - I also splurged on these and got the locking kind with the plastic in the middle. I also painted my thermal detonator and plan on finishing that up when I get some metal clips. Thank you again to everyone for your support and comments. Only 196 days to go! Edited April 18, 2014 by drscifi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 So I haven't been posting in a while, but I have been making progress. A big thanks to the Endor Party Crashers (EP!C) for their support and encouragement on Facebook. And to everyone who has commented or posted on this thread. As I continue to post with more frequency I hope others will aid me in my construction questions and continue the support that White Armor is known for. Now on with the progress pics. My Hasbro blaster arrived and about a week later my Doopy Doos kit joined it on my work bench. I will set these aside for now until I can acquire some Bondo. I penciled in the black areas for the helmet, having decided to paint my details instead of using decals. It was a bit harrowing but I am glad I did it. I felt the experience connected me more with the build and my helmet. Yes there will be small flaws and hand drawn wavy bits, but this is still screen accurate and more personal. I at first made the mistake of buying flat black and gray, but caught it and was able to get some gloss black and gray before reaching the gray level of paint. I am really happy with how my frown came out. Also I received my screen accurate Hovie Tips from Captain Keith! For the cheek tubes I had printed out a template on sticker paper, then cut out the marks and placed it on the sides. After masking it off and applying some coats of paint. Well..... it didn't work. The sticker was too sticky. So I scraped all of the paint off and buffed the remnants away. I looked back at my sticker pack and realized to my joy that the cheek tube stripes were individual stickers on a transfer paper. I had believed they were a single large rectangular sticker which I was desperate to avoid. They turned out beautiful, even better than I could have painted. In adding the black details I first painted the traps, vents and tears black then filled in the gray. I used a sharpie to fix up some of the black edges and to draw in the vent stripes on the tears and back vents. This was much easier than using a fine paint brush. The last stripe was the rank stripe on the ears. So now the exterior is finished. All that is left is the interior components. Fans, padding, head straps and the frown mesh. I am very excited for the build and will be tackling the score and snap of many components this week. So look for more updates with more frequency and some questions as I progress. -Darren (Dr. Sci-Fi) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Nice ear trimming. Don't forget to paint the rank black bar on each ear, and the head of the screws in white Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxsteele[TK] Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) Great job Darren! I'm almost finished painting my helmet, having decided to go with all paint as well. I used flat black for the vocoder, and gloss black for the pinstriping. I thought I read somewhere very early in my build to use flat black instead of gloss on the vocoder. Not sure if that was correct, but it looks alright. I found a great method when using templates to first paint down a base coat color of whatever you're painting on first, let it dry, and then paint the color you're using the template for. In my case, I have tube strip templates from Trooperbay. I'm going to put down the template, then paint a layer of white over the template. Once it dries, I'll paint the blue for the stripes and that will prevent any bleedthrough. I did the same method for the stripes on my rear traps last night using Trooperbay templates and painting grey first to prevent the bleeding. They came out great! I won't flood your build thread with my pics, I'll just link to my ATA helmet build: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/24746-my-ata-helmet-build/?p=345862 Edited May 15, 2014 by maxsteele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drscifi[TK] Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Nice ear trimming. Don't forget to paint the rank black bar on each ear, and the head of the screws in white It is on both, just not in the pictures. And yes, I still need to paint the screws white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkFan24 Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Awesome work Darren!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The5thHorseman[TK] Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I thought I read somewhere very early in my build to use flat black instead of gloss on the vocoder. Not sure if that was correct, but it looks alright. No flat black for the vocoder. It should gloss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxsteele[TK] Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Ah well. I used flat black. Probably won't paint over it unless it costs me a cert. That vocoder took some serious concentration to get painted correctly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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