Armor help for a beginner

[jimmylee7706]

I purchased some armor a month ago, not knowing much about armor I got a styrene set. Not cut, not painted, nothing, just off the molds. I spent A LOT of time with a dremel cutting everything out and painting it. I used Gorilla Glue to glue it together, I had a few issues with getting everything right but I'll get to that in a moment. I only bought a Saturday pass to Celebration V, its only an hour from where I live and one day was good for me. I had planned on wearing my Stormtrooper armor for the first part of the day and then change and enjoy the event.

 

Last night I was putting the armor on for the first time to make sure everything looked right and the glue started coming undone and my armor pretty much fell apart in certain pieces. I also painted my armor before gluing them and the the paint I used was Rust-olem Gloss white and the paint would peel right off where the glue was. Also my helmet doesn't seem to fit together right, maybe you guys have seen this before but it seems like the top is maybe too big for the bottom half? Not really sure how to explain it.

 

I ended up going to Celebration V dressed in jeans and a Tshirt which was pretty depressing because of the amount of time I spent working on the armor just for the event. I had fun there anyway and seeing all the great looking Stormtrooper costumes there I really want to get mine right to join the 501st and starting doing some local events.

My questions are:

 

1.) What type of glue will hold the styrene together well?

 

2.) Should I paint it after getting it glued together?

 

3.) What can I do to fix my helmet?

 

4.) Another other type of paint recommended other than the Rust-olem gloss white enamel paint?

 

5.) What is the best way to do the ANH strips for the armor? I can never seem to get one cut perfectly straight.

 

Any help would be appreciated, I know you guys are the experts and I really need help. I know styrene was not the way to go but I've a grand already and I'm stuck with this set for now.

[snoberg]

Some pics of the above mentioned issues would help a lot. I can't help much with painting hte armor, my suit is ABS, but the ANH strips are just a 20mm wide strip for legs, 15mm for arms. The best way to make them straight is to use a square and a ruler, mark off your lines and measure multiple times, get it right, then cut.

 

Pics of the helmet, and I can help potentially help you with that too, my helmet took a lot of tweaking too.

[jimmylee7706]

Some pics of the above mentioned issues would help a lot. I can't help much with painting hte armor, my suit is ABS, but the ANH strips are just a 20mm wide strip for legs, 15mm for arms. The best way to make them straight is to use a square and a ruler, mark off your lines and measure multiple times, get it right, then cut.

 

Pics of the helmet, and I can help potentially help you with that too, my helmet took a lot of tweaking too.

I'll snap some pics of the problems I'm having tonight so you can see.

[poisonfox]

1.) What type of glue will hold the styrene together well? <---E6000 is the "industry standard" for troopers and can be found at your local hobby shops or Michaels (if you have those in FL).

 

2.) Should I paint it after getting it glued together? <---I went with an ABS kit that didn't need painting but you want to assemble the kit completely before painting it! There are MANY tutorials to choose from on this site. Heck, I am still learning something new every time I come here!

 

3.) What can I do to fix my helmet? <---Pics please! Stukatrooper or Pandatrooper might be of some help there. (not to call anybody out ).

 

4.) Another other type of paint recommended other than the Rust-olem gloss white enamel paint?

 

5.) What is the best way to do the ANH strips for the armor? I can never seem to get one cut perfectly straight.<---There are tutorials for this as well, but I had the best luck with a ruler, blue painter's tape(as a guide to cut along) and a box cutter. I have an ABS kit so the "score n' snap" method really worked well. Not sure how it would work with HIPS...

 

Hope that helped! I found this site helpful as well. http://www.tonybarnett.plus.com/ Good luck!

[pandatrooper[TK]]

You should always glue plastic to plastic, never onto paint. It's not going to stick.

 

E6000 works great for styrene or ABS, sand both sides, spread glue on both sides, join and clamp for 24 hours.

 

Use a metal ruler and exacto blade to score straight lines in the plastic sheet to make cover strips. Then snap them and sand the edges if necessary.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

styrene and e 6000 have heat issues. paint and glue nver go hand in hand.

[SuperTrooper]

E-6000 is totally safe on HIPS, but will soften the plastic if you use too much. Seth made a tutorial about it back in the day and long story short you apply a very thin layer to each piece that you want to glue together, let them sit a few minutes and them sick them together. E-6000 can't be used like elmers or super/CA glue, it's a contact cement.

[jimmylee7706]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I can't express how much help you've been with the gluing and painting issues, looks like I need to start sanding the paint off and starting over, but until I get all that done I've uploaded some pics to my blog so that you can see the helmet issue I'm having and hopefully help me with that as well.

Photos of Helmet

Edited July 23, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[jimmylee7706]

Anyone have any suggestions on what to do about my helmet issue?

[poisonfox]

Hard to say from those shots but it looks like the face plate is just mounted too far back. You want a little space there though.

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Helmet issue: I think its mounted too far back. That why that gap is there.