pandatrooper[TK] Posted March 12, 2011 Report Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Here's some tube strip masking templates if you want to cut your own. I made these in Adobe Illustrator from scratch, they are not based on any specific trooper or design. Print them out to size, then place them on top of sign vinyl, etc. Cut through the paper and vinyl (ideally without cutting through the vinyl backing paper) and simply weed out (remove) the inner bits on the vinyl to create the template. You can use sign vinyl, masking tape or airbrush frisket. Use a sharp Exacto / hobby blade. Here's how I paint them: http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=14806&view=findpost&p=179529 When printing these out, they should be 13/16" (@16mm) tall. Modified version, front stripes fall forward Paint options http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=8117 Edited January 23, 2022 by gmrhodes13 photo updated 3 Quote
budspencer1971 Posted March 12, 2011 Report Posted March 12, 2011 thanks Panda this is very much appreciated! cheers! Quote
DarthVeach Posted March 12, 2011 Report Posted March 12, 2011 An extremely valuable post! Thank you so much!!! Quote
vecspeed12 Posted March 12, 2011 Report Posted March 12, 2011 Awesome! I always wondered how they did it in the 70s? Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Posted March 13, 2011 Awesome! I always wondered how they did it in the 70s? They've always said they were "hand painted" but looking at the various photos I think they at least used masking tape to keep the top and bottom of the lines sharp, then just used a 1/8" flat brush or the like and "hand painted" the stripes, then peel the tape off. That's what makes them look irregular and uneven. Templates like this just make it a little easier and less chance of screwing up your lid or making the lines TOO crooked, etc. Quote
budspencer1971 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) Hi again Panda, ------- the question i am trying to find the answer for is this... going with the your photo how long should the tube stripes be from one end to the other and how wide or tall should the stripes be? i am supposed to get an ATA (yeah!) helmet so you may know roughly the proper size for the measurements of the tube stripes. i can resize them in gimp after... thanks for your patience... Edited December 6, 2020 by gmrhodes13 link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020 Quote
Sonnenschein Posted March 13, 2011 Report Posted March 13, 2011 oh my.... When printing these out, they should be 13/16" tall. Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Posted March 13, 2011 Width is approx 4 3/8" for these stripes, but keep in mind that there are more stripes on this strip than required. It will depend on if you're trying to replicate a specific helmet (specific number of stripes) and the amount of space between the ears and the end of the cheek tube that can help you determine how many stripes you need. Quote
Clonecollector[TK] Posted March 14, 2011 Report Posted March 14, 2011 Might your "idealized" stripes work for a clonetrooper helmet? I'm not sure how many striped clones have but this is an excellent starting point. Can anyone chime in? Thank you! Quote
v7sg[TK] Posted March 15, 2011 Report Posted March 15, 2011 Might your "idealized" stripes work for a clonetrooper helmet? I'm not sure how many striped clones have but this is an excellent starting point. Can anyone chime in? Thank you! No, clone stripes are not curved, like Stormtroopers, they're straight, at an angle. Most Clones have 9 tube stripes. Quote
Clonecollector[TK] Posted March 15, 2011 Report Posted March 15, 2011 No, clone stripes are not curved, like Stormtroopers, they're straight, at an angle. Most Clones have 9 tube stripes. Thanks Christian... my eyes couldn't tell the difference really. I thought the Stormtrooper stripes curved because of the shape of the helmet, but after looking at some side by side pics now I see what you mean. Quote
Dutchtrooper[TK] Posted March 7, 2012 Report Posted March 7, 2012 Just made some of these. they worked great. Although they seem longer and less curvy than the stencils from trooperbay. Ended up not using the trooperbay ones. Quote
TK5492[TK] Posted March 31, 2012 Report Posted March 31, 2012 These are amazing and I can not believe that I did not know about these before. These are 100% invaluable! This may seem very stupid to everyone but how should I print these? Do i just right click and select "print picture" or should I save the picture and then print it into a certain format i.e. 5"x7" , 4"x6" etc. etc. Any help would be great! Quote
dinkyfish Posted April 30, 2012 Report Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks Panda for the templates. Are the right and left as you see the helmet , or from the helmets point of view? Quote
Dday[501st] Posted September 6, 2012 Report Posted September 6, 2012 Panda, you're the bomb. I just used your guide, made it a little bigger in word and cut mine into my blue masking tape, put it on the helmet, pressed it down good to stop leaks and painted, worked like a charm. Waiting for a second coat right now. Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted September 8, 2012 Author Report Posted September 8, 2012 Glad they are helpful. Quote
DroidHunter Posted March 26, 2013 Report Posted March 26, 2013 I don't even have my bucket in hand yet, but still trying to get everything lined up. I have to repeat what others have said and thank Pandatrooper for this. I know this post is old, but since its pinned, I thought it might be okay to still comment on it (no necroposting here). As with the others who have commented in the past, I'm trying to figure out exactly how to reproduce these files at the right size. Without a bucket, I cannot be sure. However, Panda notes that the stripes should be 13/16" high. So I messed around with pasting these into Word and came up with this: The picture is a bit off, but this was about as close to 13/16" as I could make it. I'm also attaching the word document with the scaled templates. If anyone has the opportunity, let me know if these come out to about the right size. Tube Stripes.pdf Quote
DroidHunter Posted March 26, 2013 Report Posted March 26, 2013 Wow. Not sure what the heck just happened to make the post come out that way..... Quote
Brody Posted May 19, 2013 Report Posted May 19, 2013 These are wonderful! Do you have stencils for the tears and traps too? 1 Quote
Force95B Posted November 1, 2013 Report Posted November 1, 2013 I've perused the how to's, tutorials and ran a search for it but I can't find what type of paint is the best to use. I've seen Humbrol being mentioned and I see they have a few US stores where you can buy, but I'd like to spray paint the entire helmet, even though I have decals and I just want to know if there is specific color of gray, black and blue. Figured this topic was as good as any to post this under. Quote
spoudastis Posted November 10, 2013 Report Posted November 10, 2013 Thank you for this,very very helpful! Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted November 10, 2013 Author Report Posted November 10, 2013 (edited) On 11/2/2013 at 7:54 AM, Force95B said: I've perused the how to's, tutorials and ran a search for it but I can't find what type of paint is the best to use. I've seen Humbrol being mentioned and I see they have a few US stores where you can buy, but I'd like to spray paint the entire helmet, even though I have decals and I just want to know if there is specific color of gray, black and blue. Figured this topic was as good as any to post this under. There's a guide right here. ----------- Edited December 6, 2020 by gmrhodes13 link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.