tompko Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Two brown boxes, one large, one small arrived from RS for me today, unfortunately the small brown box with my tools in is still on its way, so after a quick inventory all the pieces went back in the box for another few days. Boots, holster, neck seal, and undersuit are all still winging their way to me too. I'm aiming for Centurion, and I've been poring through the EIB, and Centurion forums trying to pick out every little detail I'll need to have. If you have any hints or tips, or notice me doing anything not quite right I'll gratefully accept your advice. Hopefully the tools should arrive before the weekend so I can get started on the helmet then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollowbodies[501st] Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 (edited) Congratulations on your BBB!!! RS suits a really great. I guess you must be really happy and excited! That's a perfect mindset to look ahead and plan what you'll have to do for reaching EIB and Centurion. And don't hesitate tp ask any questions you want, as we'll all be here to help you along the way if you need! Welcome and good luck on your build mate! Edited June 12, 2018 by hollowbodies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank75139[501st] Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 BBB day!!!!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableGuy[Admin] Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Welcome aboard, Chris. That’s a beautiful suit of armour contained in those BBBs. Let us know if you need any pointers along the way and we’ll do our best to get you to Centurion. Best wishes Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted June 12, 2018 Report Share Posted June 12, 2018 Happy BBB-day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket[TK] Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 Congrats on your BBB day! RS makes amazing armor, and I'm sure you will be quite happy with it. Looking forward to watching the build! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretzel[TK] Posted June 14, 2018 Report Share Posted June 14, 2018 Ah, BBB Day. Takes me back. Congratulations! This is a happy moment. Happiest moment of your life. haha. Now, we look forward to your progress. Post lots of photos and ask questions when needed. We are here to help you a long the way. Remember, this isn't a race. Measure Twice, Than a 3rd time. Cut once. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Nothing like the smell of fresh plastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Nothing better than a big brown box or two, good luck trooper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wook1138[TK] Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 So awesome! You are in for an amazing journey. Going for upper level approval out of the box is the way to go. Post lots of pics, we’re here to help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tompko Posted June 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 Thanks for the encouragement one and all. I managed to get some time to work on the helmet today, started out giving it a rough trim and then riveting it together. Then I trimmed the ears and attached one of them, unfortunately one of the long bolts won't accept a nut, so the other ear is still loose. I think the other ear is probably still a bit thick, but I'll wait till the new bolt arrives before having another go at it. Finally I outlined the traps, tears and ears, and painted the vocoder. Tomorrow should be more painting, and maybe a rough trim of some of the rest of the armour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted June 16, 2018 Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 Great work in putting the helmet together one suggestion though - the vocoder would like some touching up to make it look more like this: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tompko Posted June 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2018 You're right, I was following the contours on the RS vocoder, but I can ignore them and sharpen it up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tompko Posted June 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2018 After TheSwede's suggestion I stripped the top half of the vocoder off with some white spirit and I'll repaint it when I do the vertical lines in the traps and tears. Today I got the grey done on the traps, tears, ears, and frown. I used pandatrooper's tube stripe templates to create a mask and painted the tube stripes, they still need a little tidying, but I'm pretty happy with them overall. Finally I trimmed down the pieces of the thermal detonator and glued the panel and one end cap in place. I'm not sure how much time I'll get during the week, but hopefully I can get the painting on the helmet finished, and maybe start on the forearms. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableGuy[Admin] Posted June 17, 2018 Report Share Posted June 17, 2018 Hi Chris,Nice work so far. If you haven’t seen these already, TK4510 has some brilliant videos on lid painting. Here’s one that I followed for the vocoder paint. Having the right brush shape plays a big part in this. Best wishesDan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tompko Posted June 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 My armourer at the UKG reckoned that my tube stripes were a little large, and after a bit of trawling through here it looks like pandatrooper gives a different size for the templates than they should be. The template thread reckons they should be 13/16" (~21mm), but the desired size seems to be about 15-16mm. Are they different for different films? Are mine now too small? Are pandatrooper's too big? Is the RS helmet tiny? Are my measuring instruments too big? If anyone more knowledgeable could chime in, thanks! I finished most of the painting on the helmet today, the vocoder, tube stripes, trap and tear stripes. I could probably spend the next few weeks tweaking the painting, but if you see anything particularly egregious please let me know. I also made a start on the strapping in the back, it'll soon be time to break out the sewing machine! For the screws on the helmet the CRL says "Ear screws shall be slotted, flat topped, countersunk and painted white.", which mine are but, should they be countersunk in to the plastic? I looked through the helmet shots in the gallery and starwarshelmets but couldn't find a clear answer. Some of the helmets look like the screws have been left proud, and some look like they've been countersunk and then painted in place. I have the same question about the screws for the strapping, again I've looked through the galleries but couldn't find shot which makes it obvious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableGuy[Admin] Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 Hi mate,Tube stripes - yours are looking good now. The tube stripes were pretty consistent across the original trilogy, although the ESB and ROTJ lids used stickers/decals rather than hand painted. A very popular style of template is the Dave M style. Here’s some dims for your reference. Regarding the ear screws, a little bit of countersinking is good, just be careful not to go through plastic to a point where the screw won’t have resistance. You can see here on the “Dave M / set for stun” helmet that the screws are countersunk - not all the way but just enough not to be poking out. Hope that helps. Keep up the good work. Dan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwede[TK] Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 2 hours ago, tompko said: . I have the same question about the screws for the strapping, Dan covered most bases so my small contribution will be about this: making the screws more flush is only a good thing (less prone to catching each other or the plastic) but like Dan said about the ear screws it’s important not to go to heavy, some choose to reinforce the return edge with plastic tabs were the brackets go. And - great job 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tompko Posted June 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 Thanks for the pointers, I didn't get a huge amount of time today, but minus the internal padding the helmet is done 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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