ROTK build (so far helmet only)

[tsongololo[TK]]

Greetings everyone-

 

I wanted to share the mods I’ve done to my Black Series helmet. I’ve discovered two more ROTK kits in the works, from 850 Armor Works and Head Shot Props. The prices are reasonable too, but if the lead time is too far away I always have my ANH armor kit.

 

1. So the first thing I did was disassemble it, trimmed the rear plastic cover, removed the black teeth filler/backing, cut out the battery compartment. In hindsight I would have left the lenses out until final assembly (not there yet but getting close).

I ultimately ended up trimming the rear plastic cover leaving just the vertical part that holds the front piece to the ears.

 

I filled in the battery compartment with plastic trimming goo made by mixing acetone. Turns out it’s not a very good filler but adequate if you have a lot of patience. However, I made the mistake of getting a little bit of black rubber in it (from the vocoder) and it turned it a lovely shade of primer grey. I was hoping to avoid painting the entire helmet but I’ve tried Rustoleum 2x Ultra Cover gloss white, Testors classic white, and a can of Quick Cover gloss white (something I found at work and was terrible on all counts). I liked the Testors the best but still didn’t match enough to my liking. My last ditch effort before painting the entire thing will be to mix acrylics and airbrush to hopefully get a good match, then spray with gloss clear coat.

 

 

 

 

2. Time to trim all the vents, traps, tears, vocoder, etc.

 

I had to leave one slot on the rear traps because there’s structural material there and didn’t feel like getting that involved.

 

 

Vocoder removal

 

 

Misc

 

 

3. Vocoder detail

I decided to keep the front rubber trim on the bottom and connect the vocoder to that. I used hose for windshield wiper pumps. I thought I had a picture of the product but can’t find it. I bought it at O’reilly’s. I cut the hose in half to cover the ribs I left in place. Routing the outer ones was a bit of a challenge. I used superglue to secure everything.

I covered the hole with the outer layer of a dust mask. That was a pain. I didn’t want to use ABS because I wanted to put the speaker there.

 

4. Covering vents

I used blue fabric for the exhaust vents, black fabric for everything else.

I also cut out the black ear bars so I could mount microphones there.

This is unfortunately the only photo I have of this process. You can kind of see it here, where I added mesh for the frown, and mounted the speaker.

I secured the fabric with superglue.

 

Next post will be “functionality “ mods.

 

Jennifer

Edited February 13, 2019 by tsongololo
Testing how to post photos

[tsongololo[TK]]

ETA is it preferred to have links automatically load, and if so, how do you do that without actually embedding the photos in the post? Does the “insert media” button force the data onto the Whitearmor server?

 

Jennifer

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You need to use the "direct link" option when posting into a thread, or you can right click on an image, select copy and then paste into the post.

 

[tsongololo[TK]]

Hey, silly me. I forgot about this thread. Can it be merged with my newer thread? (Jen’s R1TK Build - 850 AW?)

[Adam]

On 2/12/2019 at 11:40 AM, tsongololo said:

Head Shot Props

For those stumbling curiously upon this thread, I thought I'd post a warning. I'd avoid purchasing from Head Shot Props. Very poor communication. Made an order for R1 back in 2018 and it still hasn't arrived (now coming up on 2020) And there hasn't been a lick of proof of significant progress. They also lied about offering me a refund since they didn't deliver.

Hope nobody else falls into this trap!

Unfortunately I'm just out of that money. ...I guess sh*t happens, and I'm a much more cautious shopper now. :)