MTK ANH Helmet Build

[Spectre]

I've done stuff! I just hope I don't find out now that I have done it wrong.

 

I bought pretty much everything I need, $260 at Bunnings yields a lot of nice prizes.

I cut out the eyes, teeth, the sides or the back'n'cap and one of the ears (which I think I messed up D:)

For the eyes I used the dremel to cut out the inside, then I was going to use the scalpel for the rest of them, but I slipped and made a cut on part of the front D: so I used the dremel sanding bit for the rest.

The teeth I just drilled then cut with the scalpel, it was pretty easy.

I used heavy duty scissors for the cap'n'back cutting, and trimmed little bits with the scalpel. Then I sanded it, but I think it's still a bit uneven.

The ear I think I botched, probably because I used the dremel and the angle-grinder-looking piece (cutting disc thing) so I left the other one alone for the time being.

I trimmed the brow trim a bit too, it was too long to fit on the brow. I think it might need a bit more trimming.

The helmet doesn't actually go on very easily either, I have to turn it sideways, then turn it back when it's on my head. The hole for my head is like, oblong or something lol I think I have to trim the chin, not sure. What do you guys think?

Also I sorta scuffed/cut/marked a few parts on the front of the helmet, not sure how bad they are or if they are fixable... :/

 

 

All of the stuff I bought at Bunnings. Some of it s for my blaster build, like the spraypaint, primer and grease remover. I also bought 3 packets of snaps for the armour, a pair of heavy duty scissors, a scalpel, a dremel, a bunch of different types of sandpaper, araldite glue and some other super glue.

 

Scored and drilled the eyes (although I don't think I scored them anywhere near enough). I realised after the first round of drilling that it gives off a lot of residue, so I proceeded to drill/sand the rest outside. The second picture is after I used the cutting bit to cut out the inside of the eyes. It was really jumpy, I was sort of worried for a while. Also in the second picture is the knife mark I made, you can see it pretty easily, it's about the middle of the picture.

Eyes and teeth roughly cut/drilled out.

 

The sanding bit that I used to do the eyes.

 

Left eye finished (you can sorta see the little scuff mark at the bottom of the eye, not as noticeable on the iPod camera photo ) and right eye finished (picture won't stop going sideways despite editing in photobucket :/)

 

The frown has a few scuffs and dents I accidentlly made with the sanding bit before I switched to the knife. Mainly in the big tooth.

 

The cap'n'back came up pretty well, but there is still some minor sanding and trimming to be done I think.

 

All nicely trimmed and sanded. Looks alright imo.

 

The brow trim was too long so I cut it.

 

Not sure if I stuffed the ear or not, and if I have cut too much, is it too bad to fix? or can I still save it?

 

I can get the helmet on...but not with it pointing forward. If I had no nose then maybe I could.

 

This just doesn't look right...

[BananoPower22[TK]]

i suggest that you do all your test fittings with the brow on, that way the helmet won't end up looking funky once you fully assemble it

[Spectre]

I see, that makes sense. Thanks!

[gazmosis[501st]]

Juan is right about the brow trim. It will also kind of help keep things in place so the parts don't slide around as much when lining things up. You will need to trim a bit off the bottom opening of the faceplate. You can see where the vocoder ends. When you get your ears in place, trace an even sweep from the bottom of the ear around the front and back to the other ear.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Also not many people CAN put their lid on straight. Turning it sideways and then twisting it back to the front is how they did it on set back in 76 anyway.

[Spectre]

Ok, I tried it with the brow trim on and it seems to have helped, but I think that ear is stuffing me up. I sanded it down a bit more but I still have to apply a lot of pressure to make the front and the back'n'cap actually fit together properly with the ear on. Gazmosis (FISD forum) recommended that I trim the chin once I have the rest of the helmet assembled.

Also I think that I have definitely ruined the ear, having looked at some more pictuers it looks like I have cut off way too much in some places.

 

I realise now that I didn't even have the eyes/temples lined up properly so the next few pictures probably aren't very useful. However even properly lined up and all the gaps weren't much better.

 

This is lined up a bit better.

 

With the brow trim on, and a lot of magnets holding it together, it looks better, but even putting it on sideways pretty much takes my ears off.

 

Also I took some photos trying to compare the two sides of the cap'n'back because I reckon they are uneven, but the photos don't really give the best perspective. It's hard to see in the photos but one side looks as though it has been trimmed because you can see the scissor marks, but the other side is smooth and looks like it hasn't been trimmed.

[Hedjii72]

I'm no expert. Only have one helmet under my belt. But you'll be surprised how much everything falls into place once you tighten the screws in the ears. The tension just seems to distribute evenly across the whole helmet, making everything snug.

 

Can you show more pics of where you think you trimmed the ear too much?

[Spectre]

I was thinking that, but I don't want to screw it until I am relatively sure it will fit right haha it's a bit of an oxymoron I guess.

The cut looks really uneven here, it's too deep at the top of the ear and too shallow around the sides.

 

 

 

The curved parts looksorta alright, the second picture is the one that I sanded back a bit more last night in an attempt to make it fit on the helmet a bit better.

 

 

This part is definitely screwed methinks, it's been cut way too much and really unevenly.

 

 

This side is sorta ok.

[TK-4510[501st]]

PM me your address and I will send you a set of trimmed ears

[Spectre]

Really? Ahh thank-you so much! PM sent.

[DudeSidious]

You should'nt touch the ears untill you put the helmet together.heres a good Tutorial on building you lid.

 

http://forum.whitear...et&fromsearch=1

Edited October 18, 2011 by DudeSidious

[Spectre]

Very true. I'll remember that next time haha

Yeah that tutorial is great.

[Spectre]

I decided today that I was going to start finalising my helmet, and seeing as it was such beautiful weather outside (and I was afraid of spending any more money if I was on my computer for too long. ) I went for it.

 

First I drilled a hole in a bit of scrap ABS offcut from my helmet, and I put one of dad's pop rivets and washer in it to see how the plastic held up. Having done that and been satisfied with the result, I drilled the holes in my helmet (hope I got them in the right spots) and pop riveted the whole thing together.

I accidentally drilled one of the holes in the tube a bit low so I drilled another one and I am hoping that the low one will be covered by the ear.

So yeah, all of the pop rivets are in, and I'm just going to go cover it in newspaper and spray the inside of it black. I have flat black spray paint, that'll do right?

Anyway, more pictures!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spectre]

Well, I wrapped up my helmet in newspaper and a lot of masking tape and let 'er rip with the flat black spraypaint. It came up quite well I think, I just gotta wait to take off the paper to see if any leaked

I don't think any would have, I think I did a pretty good job of covering up all of the holes/gaps.

 

All geared up and ready to go! (Thought I should take the necessary safety precautions.)

 

That's actually the front, believe it or not.

 

A tad hard to see, but that's the inside.

 

Also a bit hard to see, sorry bout that, but this is the left side of the helmet (from the point of view of having it on your head) and you can sorta see the tape covering the gap.

 

and the right side.

[nasigosong]

So I'm also building the MTK and noticed the same things that had you worried. Looking at the helmet from the front (face side) the right side seam where the cap n' back is supposed to overlap and be covered by the ear looks like it will fit nicely after riveting; the left side I have doubt about because of the shape of the face portion not wanting the fit nicely with the contour of the cap 'n back.

 

Did yours end up looking ok after riveting?

Did the pressure of the rivet line them up ok?

 

 

Im worried about this fit

 

 

The left side is the one Im afraid to rivet.

Also the way the cap n' back is angled in relation to the face portion has be worried as far it being hidden behind the ear.

 

 

sorry if I hijacked your thread, but since you are much further in the process I thought I would ask you.

[Spectre]

That gap on the left side (looking from the front) will be made a bit smaller by the riveting, you just need to do it a bit closer to the front, like on mine. You can't see it very well seeing as it's from the side, but the gap isn't quite as big now. The ears should fix the rest of the gap though, and if they don't I'd get a hair dryer and heat up the plastic and push it out and make it flush that way.

So while mine does look OK after riveting, what doesn't seem to fit will probably be fixed when I screw it all together with the ears.

The pop rivets did fix most of the gaps though.

Also the way the cap n' back is angled in relation to the face portion has be worried as far it being hidden behind the ear.

 

Also as for the cap'n'back angle to the face, what I did (I got the method from trooperbay's tutorial ) is I marked the front of each temple with pencil, and the top-back corner of each eye with pencil. Then I lined up the pencil lines when I held it together with magnets and that seemed to make the angle better. You can sorta see the pencil on the front of the temple in the picture below. It's not perfectly lined up but it's lined up the same on both sides and the helmet looks fine riveted together.

Is that what you meant?

Don't worry about derailing, if you've got a question just ask it.

I'm more than happy to offer what knowledge I have gained so far.

[nasigosong]

yea the left side has me worried about (green arrow) fitting nicely against the helmet. I dont know if the ear and the rivets is enough pressure to keep it from bulging.

I know the cause is the back end of the face part of the helmet (yellow arrow)...there is, what looks to be an uncut piece, pushing the cap 'n back causing the gap. I would cut it put there is so little material left on that side as it is and I noticed in your pic that you needed every inch of material on that side just to rivet.

 

 

 

 

 

once the ears are in im assuming I dont have to worry about these parts not fitting correctly with the S-trim. There is that troublesome spot on the left again...grrr.

 

 

yea I was worried about this being too high for the ears to cover correctly and I think your pictures gave me a little more confidence.

 

Did you trim anything else before riveting? I didn't want to cut the extra brow trim in case I had to make a cut further in.

 

Thanks for help...I will be using the penciling method when I get the stones to start drilling holes and riveting.

 

I need to rivet it together already so I can finally start trimming the ears...scary.

[seantrooper[TK]]

a lot of it tends to pull itself together once you tighten the ear screws, it looks fine so far to me. So I'd get cracking on those ears Just make sure you take your time and measure twice, cut once

[Spectre]

Nope, I didn't trim anything else before I riveted.

Be VERY careful with the ears, take it a very small bit at a time. I made the mistake of being over-confident with my dremel haha and that's why I needed a replacement pair sent.

 

Where the green arrow is in your first picture, that will definitely be pulled in nice and tight by the pop rivet. as you can see below, it pulls together and fits against the helmet quite nicely. That uncut-looking piece where the yellow arrow is pointing..I had the exact same thing. I left it uncut, and yes you definitely do need it for the rivets to be able to go in. As you can see in the first two pictures below, the riveting really does pull the parts together quite nicely.

---HOWEVER: You MUST make sure that you use the washers provided on the inside of the helmet!! Otherwise you run the risk of snapping/damaging your helmet---

 

 

In this picture (below) you can see that the edges WILL need to be trimmed to fit flush with the bottoms of the ears.

Did Trooperbay supply you with the PDF on helmet assembly? It's located earlier in this thread, and you will probably need it.

 

Anyway, as you can see in the picture below, the faceplate will not line up perfectly to the bottom of the ear, which means that your job - once you have the ears on - is to mark and trim the chin so that the S-trim will fit properly.

 

Something along this line is where you will need to cut. But DO NOT do that until you have the ears on, or you might cut way too much off or cut it on a weird angle or something. When the ears are on and everything is screwed together you will be able to mark it appropriately, then you can simply use a dremel with a sanding bit or use a scalpel or whatever to cut down to that line. But yeah, the left side will be pulled in by the rivets and then again by the ears.

 

Also pretty much what seantrooper said.

Good luck! If you have any more questions, ask away.

 

Now, for my personal segment.

My new ears from Trooperbay arrived today!!

I just need to do some minor sanding and they will fit as good as gold.

A HUGE thankyou to Trooperay for supplying these replacement ears!

Not much to do.

 

[Spectre]

Ok I need help.

The ears were trimmed nicely but obviously they still need a bit of touching up to fit the helmet. My problem is that I do not know where to trim or how much...

I've put one screw in, after two attempts I think I found the right place for it. Is the ear is the right position? If it is at any other angle it won't cover the bottom pop rivet or the seam so I can't really position it any other way.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments/advice/help please. D:

[TK-7980]

Looks fine to me. For the left ear on the picture showing the bottom of your helmet you'll probably just need to trim the inside ring a little bit.

[nasigosong]

The instructions were for a slightly different model so I was weary on using it (I follow instructions like a computer program).

It's nice seeing another "non-pro" work on it because it gives me hope

 

Thanks for allowing me to hijack your thread. I will try and rivet it tonight as soon as i find my drill...hmmm the jawas must have hidden it somewhere.

[Spectre]

Yeah I think the position is ok, but I don't know where on the ear to cut.

It won't fit properly with the way it is cut at the moment, as you can see in the second picture.

So I need to know whereabouts I should cut, like, the front of the ear? Or the back? Or on the curved part that goes on the tubes?

 

Yeah I know what you mean Josh, but the concept is the same.

No problem, good luck with your build!

[TK-4510[501st]]

The ears should be angled slightly forward..and it needs to come down a small bit..

Edited November 3, 2011 by Trooperbay

[nasigosong]

Thanks for all the help and encouragement.

A big thanks to John for allowing me to hijack his thread.

 

Just wanted to show my progress one last time so I dont disturb John's thread any longer (though I may interject with questions now and again).

I didn't want to create a new thread for the exact same build and have people repeat themselves to a noob like myself.

 

 

 

 

It came out nicely I think...the brow is where I want it (the shadow makes it look crooked), and it looks like a helmet.

 

R2 approves...what do you guys think?

 

Thanks again John. I will hijack no longer....until the next problem