Jump to content

Suspend's AP ANH Stunt Build


Suspend

Recommended Posts

Using a small (model-airplane size) paintbrush, brush some acetone into the crack and hold it together.  This will fuse the crack.

 

Then, cut a sliver of ABS maybe 1/8" wide and 1/2" to 3/4" long.  Mix up some ABS paste.

 

Dab ABS paste on the underside of that return ridge and press the small piece of ABS into the goo from underneath (quickly!!!) and press it up into the ABS paste.

 

Now, dab a bit more ABS paste over the the small piece that's now on the underside of the return ridge.

 

Finally, dab a small amount of ABS paste on the top of the return ridge right on the crack.

 

Let it cure at least overnight.

 

Sand the top smooth with the surrounding area of the return ridge.  Work up through grits to as fine a grit of sandpaper that you have, then follow with Novus 3, then Novus 2.  (Don't worry about the underside of the return ridge; nobody sees it.)

 

The crack is not only gone now, but that area will be stronger than before.

 

A.J.

Edited by A.J. Hamler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the suggestions.....I managed to fix the little crack forming in the corner of my right shin.  Here we go:

 

Chop Chop Chop...

 

30649410798_59e5b3939c_c.jpg

 

Poured in some acetone.  Spilled some on my cutting mat and immediately lost the paint off the mat.  Wow, this stuff is strong.

 

I waited a few hours, splashed in a bit more acetone.....waited longer.....mixed with a stir stick....

 

30649416618_538077b161_c.jpg

 

At this point it was getting late and the ABS paste was still pretty lumpy so I splashed in a bit more acetone and covered it to sit overnight.  The next day it was nice and pasty...

 

29597338577_0648b03bbc_c.jpg

 

I quickly put a blob of ABS paste on top of the crack and below it.  I was amazed how quickly it started to set.  You have to work fast.  Then I waited a little more than a day to make sure it was hard.

 

29597345027_1df729c865_c.jpg

 

The next day I sanded and polished the ABS Blob.  Wow, good as new....

 

44629938431_36cbe7b8a9_c.jpg

 

43910674724_f3d07b8482_c.jpg

 

Next I heated up a small piece of cover strip material and shaped it to fit the area.  I glued this in place to help re-enforce the shin hopefully stopped that area from continuing to flex when I am putting on the shin.

 

42819641420_2c10bcde3e_c.jpg

 

It's not the prettiest but you can't see a thing from the top or front.  It's all inside the shin and will be covered by my leg.  :-)

 

Mark

Edited by Suspend
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Helmet Time!!!!!

 

Here's the untrimmed AP helmet.  I love the fact that it has the trim lines molded into the ABS and approx screw locations too!!

 

30590972188_65bf966609_c.jpg

 

29522721377_001de0e7f8_c.jpg

 

29522738817_91477aa48c_c.jpg

 

No wonder the stormtrooper's couldn't hit anything they shot at...

 

42651627690_88f0d50131_c.jpg

 

So I started off drilling small holes in the eye sockets with a dremel and then moved the drill bit sideways to connect the holes and cut out the eyes.  After that was a lot more sanding and filing than I expected.  It took a long time to get the eyes looking the way I wanted.

 

29522748427_db9bbe7b40_c.jpg

 

30591007988_ea40093b57_c.jpg

 

Mark

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coming along nicely.

 

You could also add some abs paste behind the crack so it gets right into that area, it will be a weak spot when continuing to open and close them so every bit of extra support will help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Coming along nicely.

 

You could also add some abs paste behind the crack so it gets right into that area, it will be a weak spot when continuing to open and close them so every bit of extra support will help.

Thanks, I did indeed put ABS paste on the top and underside of the crack.  I sanded and polished the top but left the underside "raw" as it won't been seen.  I also tried to get a bit of acetone right into the crack with a small paintbrush.  I will see how it holds up over time.  :duim:

 

Mark

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Helmet Continued....

 

Worked on the teeth next.  Lots of filing.  I started trying to use a dremel with a sanding drum from behind but it freaked me out so I went back to drilling a small hole and expanding it outward using the needle files.  Once I had the teeth gaps mostly out THEN I went from behind with the dremel just to smooth and gently enlarge the hole from behind by sanding away at the bulge behind the tooth gap until the spacing looked right.

 

30591011998_393c4ec7ca_c.jpg

 

29522766757_de7cf8af55_c.jpg

 

I think I forgot to take a photo of the end result.

 

Then it was onto painting.  First coat....

 

42651667580_177a11a9c3_c.jpg

 

And the rear decals while waiting for the paint to dry.  Humbrol takes a LONG time to dry.  :-/

 

44460579621_d4a048b9b0_c.jpg

 

Mark

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

You’ve made a great job of the frown paint, Mark. Not tempted to paint the whole lot? ;-)

Ha ha!!!!  Not a chance.  Decals are your friend.  They should make frown and vocoder decals!!  :0Lighten:

 

Mark

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuing.....

 

First pass of satin black on the vocoder.  Still need to straighten the lines a bit on the second pass...

 

29522794347_6caf886302_c.jpg

 

I haven't done the extra tooth yet, Daniel.  :duim:

 

Then I decided to do something a little different for the ears.  Since the decals for the tears and cap are so clean, I didn't want to mess things up by trying to free-hand paint a black border around the grey of the ears, so I decided to try pin-stripe tape for cars.  I imagine it should stick pretty well.

 

I started by painting the ears grey.  I used a pencil to follow around the edge first so I knew where to stop painting.

 

30591060338_6a802e7678_c.jpg

 

The thinnest black pin-stripe tape I could find was 1/8 inch and I think I'd want closer to 1/16 of an inch.  I pulled out about 5 inches of pinstripe tape, leaving the backing on the tape.  I placed the tape, face down, on my cutting mat and put a piece of packing tape over top to hold it to the mat.  The packing tape stuck to the paper backing of the pin stripe tape.  I then used a knife to cut down the centerline of the tape vertically, cutting it into two long strips.  It's ok if the cut wavers a little because the same thing would happen if you were free-handing the paint job.  The black lines would be slightly thinner or thicker.

 

44460621561_d33d0b4a48_c.jpg

 

I peeled off the packing tape and peeled the pin stripe tape off the paper backing.  Then I wrapped the tape around the grey of the ear.  It even covers up any slight imperfections you might have in the edge of the grey.

 

44460628761_736424cbeb_c.jpg

 

Then I cut one more short strip and left it at 1/8 inch thickness and used that for the ear bar.

 

42651733580_0d165ed934_c.jpg

 

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Way better than I could do by hand.  :)

 

Mark

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So the plastidip spray worked out great and I added a few more decals.

 

42651742590_742da63340_c.jpg

 

And installed the frown mesh...

 

30912267918_1bfd5977fe_c.jpg

 

Extra tooth painted, Daniel.  ;-)  Next I went to mount the hovi-mic tips.  I didn't see any indents for hole locations but I've since seen other people mention indents for the holes.  Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I ended up drilling my own holes.......which were ever so slightly too low....causing the mic tips to point upward.  Grrr...

 

I had read about people using a piece of black hose, cut at an angle, to get the tips pointing in the right direction.  I tried this but I couldn't find hose that was the right diameter and the hose I did try didn't really work that well.  So I decided to make my own shim for behind the mic tips.

 

I stole some of my daughters white playdoh, made a small ball, and stuck it on the end of one of the mic tips, working it around the bolt shaft.  Then I installed the mic tip with the playdoh into the helmet and angled it to the correct position.  Finally I removed the mic tip and the playdoh made an imprint of the recess.

 

43873640295_37d6404f0b_c.jpg

 

Next I cut out three ABS disks the same diameter as the mic tip.  Basically the size was the same as a Canadian quarter.  :-)

 

43873630805_32348e27e1_c.jpg

 

I glued these together with Zap-a-gap.

 

43873648985_26c987ff05_c.jpg

 

I drilled a hole in the center for the bolt shaft...

 

29846898327_0a6fb63c30_c.jpg

 

Then used my dremel to shape the ABS shim edges similar to that of the playdoh.  It took a few test fits and some more sanding but soon it fit well.

 

43873675815_45a50cf345_c.jpg

 

I painted it black and installed it behind the mic tip.  Then I did the same for the other side.

 

43873680405_f17fde3ec2_c.jpg

 

43873686635_29eee31474_c.jpg

 

Mark

Edited by Suspend
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, leaving the helmet for a minute, I need some help / suggestions on the belt.....which I kind of messed up a little bit.

 

Here's the untrimmed AP belt...

 

29851181827_c6501d4a01_c.jpg

 

The belt has the sides on it, where it was molded.  From the inside, I scored the edges and snapped them off.  Then I could still see where the ABS rounded over the edge so I sanded that mold edge off.  I vaguely recall one end not being quite square, so I sanded a little more......and it still wasn't quite square.....so I sanded a little more to square up the end.  Can you see where I'm going?  I SANDED TOO MUCH.  When I went to see what it looks like with the little button covers, I then noticed that one end has a lot less room than the other.

 

I spoke with Mr_Fahrenheit because I know he has a "trimmed" AP kit.  I asked him to measure the distance from the last ammo bump to the end of the belt.  His "professionally" trimmed kit measured about 3cm from the bump to the belt edge.  I have about 3.2 cm on one side and more like 2.5cm on the other.

 

If I may be so bold as to use Mr_Fahrenheit's photo....this is the "professionally trimmed" belt...

 

42984980220_f31d698395_c.jpg

 

 

 

And this is mine.  This is the good side which still has room to spare...

30916881748_c1e5b554be_c.jpg

 

And this is the "sanded too much" side with a button cover added for scale...

44792218951_ff1f25831b_c.jpg

 

Now I'm not entirely sure what to do and could use some suggestions...

 

My options are:

 

1) Its probably OK and nobody will notice.  Just trim both sides to 2.5cm and install the button covers like the above photo.  Yes there should be a bit more "belt" after the button cover, but it's alright.  Here my question would be : is it still good enough for centurian?

 

2) I messed up and it doesn't look right.  I need to order a new belt and be more careful when I sand.

 

3) I guess I could try to "shim" one side to add an ABS strip to take it back to the 3cm again, but it would be difficult to conceal as it would alter the thickness of the belt in that area and the shim would be under constant pressure from the curve of the belt.  It probably wouldn't hold.

 

Thoughts?

 

Mark

Edited by Suspend
Added additional photos
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so I've cleaned up my belt mess.  I trimmed the longer side to match the shorter side and did the 45 degree corners to meet the canvas belt.

 

43940162845_25120126e1_c.jpg

 

Now I have another question....

 

I've been reading a bunch of threads on the belt.  Ukswrath seem to have the "goto" build thread which shows 15mm up from the mold line and 28mm over on the right and 59mm over on the left for the snap locations on the AB.  However, those measurements are for a 100mm (in height) ammo belt.  The AP one is closer to 90mm....which makes me think the height up should probably be closer to 20mm instead of 15mm.  Then Wook and Bud mention that for themselves, 40mm over instead of 59mm (left side) worked better for them.  I was getting pretty confused and I'm thinking of marking my own hole locations......which brings me to the age old question:

 

How close should the ammo belt sit to the button panel?  :-)

 

I've seen mention of just touching the button panel, I've seen a few mm under the button panel and I've seen touching and partly covering the bottom button.  Help...

 

Thanks,

Mark

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...