ESB TK Helmet Build [*ATA]

[LittleOne]

You did a nice fitting of the helmet for a first timer, congrats...everyone strugles with that the first time...i had to drill a rivet out because i did not like the way my bucket turned out but i fixed it up.

 

but you are doing real good. a good site for reference on the star wars helmets is this

 

 

Star Wars helmets

 

You will learn the differences between the helmets and the helmets in the movies..i read and reread that site so many times over and never get tired of it, the best source for your general knowledge.

[Darth Ruprecht]

Yes, I have used that site repeatedly to whet my appetite to complete this helmet and even before when I was just dreaming of doing this. It is a great resource.

 

So, as of last night I have polished the helmet and attempted a set of ears. The polish looks great, nice and reflective, but the ears. . . not so great. I didn't take pictures of the ears or the polish, but I will when I return home from work. I like the look of ears with no gap, flush with the tubes and upper. I am some how not able to get them right, either taking too much material overall, or just too much in one area.

 

Thankfully, Terrell must have foreseen this problem being my first lid and sent an extra set.

 

What a great guy!

 

Anywho, I'm going to try again tonight, however if I am not able to get these just right, is there a filler I can use with the ABS that will look good and be strong?

 

Or does anyone have reference shots of their ears and the shape they used to join them?

Edited May 17, 2011 by Darth Ruprecht

[Darth Ruprecht]

Okay, here are the results of tonight and last night's efforts.

 

 

Right ear.

 

 

Left ear.

 

 

Frown.

 

 

I'm not crazy about the gaps in the ears and was wondering if I use model glue to secure them down, is there a serious issue with that? Will that damage the ear/tubes/ABS in general?

 

Is the frown good, or no?

 

Thanks everyone in advance.

[BananoPower22[TK]]

The ears look okay. They should be held pretty strong once you screw them up. What paint did you used on the frown?

[Darth Ruprecht]

Used a flat black model masters paint, last night I put a coat of semi-gloss clear over that. I also painted the vocoder and mic tips. Will post pics tonight.

[TK-2126_MD[TK]]

I think the ears look great!!!! tight squeeze. i can place loose change in mine

seriously great job for your first lid, i am on my 4th and yours is nicer looking ( the good thing is that i like it sloppy ) lol

[LittleOne]

The ears look great, there are supposed to be gaps...it was pretty apparent in ANH..cant recall if ESB had many gaps but i believe so....ROTJ was the movie wherein they got rid of the gaps but you are doing good!

 

cheers!

[Darth Ruprecht]

I have the decals on, vocoder and hovi tips painted and on. Just have to paint the ears and decide what I'm going to do about the gaps.

 

However, no pictures. My stepfather has died on Monday and my mom just had a heart attack this morning so I'm about to be on a plane to her. Needless to say I haven't been able to post pictures.

 

I'll post updates when I can. Thanks everyone for the support.

[TK_LEPER]

Very sorry for your loss.

 

Just my two cents on the lid.

 

I feel as though the eyes and teeth could be opened up a bit more, especially the eyes. For ESB they made all the eyes bigger than they were on the same helmets used in ANH. But for a 1st time lid builder, it's looking very clean. And the ears look great, I would leave them be.

 

Jesse

Edited May 21, 2011 by TK 4702

[BananoPower22[TK]]

I'm very sorry for your loss Matthew.

 

 

The helmet is looking so far so good, with the tips Jesse gave you I'm sure your helmet will look even more awesome than it looks now. Take your time with the helmet and we'll all be here if you need anything brother

[BananoPower22[TK]]

I'm very sorry for your loss Matthew.

 

 

The helmet is looking so far so good, with the tips Jesse gave you I'm sure your helmet will look even more awesome than it looks now. Take your time with the helmet and we'll all be here if you need anything brother

[Darth Ruprecht]

Okay, so some good news: My mom is recovering well and is in good spirits. I'm back home now and will be returning to work on the helmet tonight.

 

Plan for action: Open up eyes and teeth more and paint ears tonight. Then post pictures.

 

Hopefully I'll be back on track soon.

 

Thanks again to everyone for the support.

[moonwalker[501st]]

The only "Hero" is in ANH, and it specifically refers to Han and Luke when they were disguised as stormtroopers on the Death Star.

 

So no, there is no ESB Hero.

I have to disagreee with this !

 

Maybe these are not in the 501st CRLs, but in fact some of the Hero helmets were re-used in ESB

 

 

Nice build so far !

[sith_241]

Looking good! I see a pandatrooper build!

 

I have noticed an issue with my helmet that when i assembled the lid and faceplate i did not have enough material over-lapping to allow me to place the bottom rivet. Hopefully, the ear pieces will hold it all together, especially the bottom screw.

 

 

My guess is a trimmed further back than you did.

 

 

Worse case, i will jam some E-6000 inside and clamp it up if the edges dont meet well.

Edited May 31, 2011 by sith_241

[Darth Ruprecht]

Hey Dan, yes, that is correct. That's the guide I've been following. I've seen helmets with square teeth but am not a huge fan of the look of them, then I saw Pandatroopers build and really liked the "twinkie" look of the holes he made for the teeth.

 

When I get home tonight I'll definitely open the eyes more, but am going to look at the teeth one last time.

 

I looked at the center front tooth last night and realized there was a bit of texture to the acrylic paint I used, as if it didn't dry smooth. Anyone know how to clean this up?

 

I'm considering sanding it smooth and painting it again, but is there an easier way to do it than that? I would like to avoid sanding the helmet around the tooth accidentally.

 

Thoughts?

[sith_241]

Hey Dan, yes, that is correct. That's the guide I've been following. I've seen helmets with square teeth but am not a huge fan of the look of them, then I saw Pandatroopers build and really liked the "twinkie" look of the holes he made for the teeth.

 

When I get home tonight I'll definitely open the eyes more, but am going to look at the teeth one last time.

 

I looked at the center front tooth last night and realized there was a bit of texture to the acrylic paint I used, as if it didn't dry smooth. Anyone know how to clean this up?

 

I'm considering sanding it smooth and painting it again, but is there an easier way to do it than that? I would like to avoid sanding the helmet around the tooth accidentally.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Maybe you can scrap the high spots in the paint off with an exacto blade or razor? Sanding would be tough in that area unless you masked off the "lips"

[Darth Ruprecht]

Okay, I opened the eyes up a bit more, closer to what I see when I look at the reference photos.

 

 

I also taped off and sanded the questionable tooth.

 

 

This is the result, looks much better now, I think.

 

 

I have the black layer down for the ears, though I'm not happy with the shape of the black layer so I'm going to probably clean it off and start over. Rawr.

[Femtrooper Julie[501st]]

Very nice!

[TK_LEPER]

Have you looked at this page before? Has some great reference.

[Darth Ruprecht]

Thanks Jesse, I've seen that site and am using it as a reference for my build. I'm not so great with free-hand painting so the ears are giving me fits.

 

Any tips on how to paint them correctly?

[Darth Ruprecht]

I have a very odd request;

 

Will someone take a picture of their helmet from the top? As in, from the crown of the helmet down onto the top. I would like to see how the helmets should look because I'm afraid something is terribly wrong with mine.

 

 

I realized this evening that the faceplate doesn't face directly forward, but actually is askew. Is this normal? I know they are asymmetrical but surely not THIS much.

 

Thanks, and HELP!

Edited June 3, 2011 by Darth Ruprecht

[Darth Ruprecht]

After thinking about this over night and looking at the reference pictures, I believe that the faceplate is attached incorrectly.

 

Here is my reasoning:

 

In these reference pictures, there is a fairly short distance between the tears and the ear piece.

 

LEFT

 

 

RIGHT

 

However, on my helmet there is a larger distance on one side.

 

Right: Shorter distance

 

Left: Larger distance

 

My concern is this; if I correct this distance and shift the faceplate back on this side, there is going to be a gap at the brow trim, no? I considered just rotating the faceplate, however the shorter side is at the edge of the faceplate beneath the back, so no shifting can be done there.

 

If I move the longer side in more, and tilt the faceplate down to bring the top back in contact with the brow this will work. This is, however, just speculation since I'm at work and can't test it.

 

I am also going to need to remove and replace the tube stripes once I do this. Ah, the joys of being a newb.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[TK_LEPER]

It's fine dude.

 

These helmets were "wonky" to begin with. It's not you, that's just how they were originally sculpted.

 

Jess

[sith_241]

My ATA i am building looks almost the same from the top. I can take a photo this evening if you want.

 

Compared to the AP i built before this, the ATA helmet was a struggle to get even-ish...as there were still gaps and i hat to futz with the ears a bunch to get them to conform. It has its own fun character though.

Edited June 3, 2011 by sith_241

[Darth Ruprecht]

Wow Dan, really? Well I feel better about that now, but still that's not cool. When you say gaps, where were they on the helmet?

 

If you could post a pic or two tonight that would be awesome.