Jedisaber

Who is going to SDCC next week!>!@?#!@3 Im flying in from Montana and will be sporting my Grand Admiral Thrawn (see below) on Friday. My side of the country doesn't have much of a garrison presence so far south so if anyone has any need for a GA or would like to meet up or suggest things to do or people to hang with etc, I would love the tips.

If anyone is going to SDCC next week and you see me, stop and say HI! I'll be in Blue again!

Wow, forgot I put this thread up as I spent most of my Thrawn build updates over on IOC. Well here are a few picts from Celebration where I finished it and had a blast!

Well, its a bit late on the traps, they are already painted and using the template i had 10 was the most i could squeeze in. If I have to redo them in the future and remove all the paint/repaint i guess its not the end of the world. I am leaving town friday driving down to Cali for two months of training. Wanted to try and get the helmet done before Celebration. I know its normally the ear bump closest to the rear, but was just curious what it meant. I have seen some where other bumps were painted and was curious if the different bumps meant different things. Its for rank right?

So anyone else care to comment on the number of stripes in the rear traps? If 10 works I would love that cause thats why i got. Also does it matter which ear bar is painted black? the CRL just says one painted, not which one. I know the most often seen is the rear most ear bar. I was wondering if they meant different things for different ranks?

Question about the rear trap stripes. I put the template I got from trooper bay on my painted traps last night and turns out its bigger than the traps I painted. I put it on anyways and painted the lines that fit inside. I will get pictures up later but i wanted to know how many stripes need to be in each trap. The CRL just says with appropriate ANH details.

o So I looked in michaels today and only foud. Brush cleaner and turpentine substitute. Are these the same as mineral spirits or should I ne looking for something else? Also, anyone wanna point me in the right directions for white gloss paint that would be super helpful. I also looked in michaels and couldn't decide if I should buy oil based, acrylic, or what.

Thoughts? Advice?

Here is the right one as viewed from the back. I think this one is perfect. And the other one. This needs some work if you ask me. the rounded top right corner and the not so straight left angle line. You can also see the little smudge underneath from the acetone. Not really noticeable from farther away. And then there is both of them. You see what i mean about them being drastically different?

I will get a photo up tonight after work. Not looking like each other. By themselves they look fine. Andy o me when looking at the paint inside the raised lines of the trap they look good. But when viewing both from behind they look way different.

Luckily it was very very little on a piece of cheesecloth and on a very small spot. I didnt have anything else on hand and thought the paint would be harder to remove if it dried. Anyone got any about the question above about the traps not being symmetrical?

I have tightened them quite a bit and was afraid to do more. If you look at the picture above you will notice on the left rear trap there is a little bit of a smudge underneath. I got some paint there and freaked out thinking it would be hard to remove. I had some cheesecloth ready and the only chemical i had to do the trick was Acetone. Turns out thats a little bit too strong. Its not too noticeable from a distance but if you really inspect it up close you will notice some roughness and still a little paint smudge. I think the acetone might have rubbed off a bit of the gloss from the ABS. Also, the two rear traps look good when you look at the individually but when you look at both at the same time they don't look exactly symmetrical. Is that normal?

Also, anyone got a good solution to cleaning paint brushes. The Humbrol paint seems to be oil based? I dunno it was a paint to get off my hands and brushes and was wondering if there was an easy way.

So, I started painting today. If I might say, it didnt turn out as bad as i thought it would. Swore i was gonna muck it up. Any who, here are some picts. Thought for sure this would be the hardest one seeing as how it didnt have any real lines attached to it. Wasn't half bad. I might try to clean it up on a second pass. followed the painting tips from Pandatroopers ATA build thread. I kinda wish I had filled that trap in all the way because as you can see below... There is some weird paint cracking lines? that came through on the first coat. Hopefully the second or third coat will help hide those. Thoughts?

Anyone else want to show off? I'm trying to get some ideas.