TM 2mm abs Hero build[*TM]

[crafty]

Hi troopers i've been a busy bee over the holidays i've got the TM hero kit and made some progress.

I'm going for the 'Luke' look so any advice about the teeth and comms unit/ears would be appreciated. Also having problems with the bubble eyes, i've tried offering them up to the eye holes but dont seem to fit too well any tips?

 

cheers Craig

[troopermaster]

Looks like you could do with trimming a bit of the fronts of the ear caps the make them slimmer. The ear caps tilt inwards looking from above the helmet and not sit flush like you might imagine them to.

 

When fitting the bubble lenses, I find that cutting some small squares of ABS and gluing them on each end of the eye socket inside the helmet will give you a base to glue them to. You only need to glue them on each end and not all the way around. You will also need to trim around the lens to make them more like the shape of the eye socket.

 

Here a few photos of a helmet I just made up for reference.

[crafty]

Cheers Paul massive help, any pics of inside for the lenses?

[troopermaster]

I do have one on my camera that I will upload for you tomorrow.

[SW1]

Looking good Craig , wise advice from Paul , just gotta love the Hero set up a Paul

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

I want one!

[crafty]

i'm still not sure if i need to make the teeth a bit bigger?

[troopermaster]

I don't think you need to make them bigger. Remember this is a hero helmet and not a stunt. The frown is half the size of a stunt so no need to make the teeth gaps bigger.

[AJCG]

Great thread guys, perfect timing actually. I got a TM hero kit a while back ago and I did not have time at all to work on it so the holidays is the perfect time for me to relax and work on my TM helmet.

 

Looking good Craig! I agreed with Paul, the ears look a bit thicker but it is going in the right direction.

 

Cheers

 

A

[troopermaster]

Here is the interior shot for you.

[crafty]

Hi guys i've built my new hero helmet and started painting it but finding hard. I've stripped back the bits i didn't like. Most problems happening are paint wrinkling up and paint not being flat. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so want it right........any tips?

[troopermaster]

What kind of paint are you using?

[crafty]

humbrol normal colours......thinking i might need to put it down more thinly?

[troopermaster]

Yeah, you might be putting too much on. I have never had any problems with Humbrol paints.

 

Best to have two decent brushes - a thin brush and a thick brush. Use the thin one for the border to get a nice neat edge on the outside and use the thick brush to fill it in. Keep your brush strokes in one direction and try and keep an even coat of paint.

[crafty]

Update-

Using thin black line tape that i think came with a calender im not too sure. Just getting the outline sorted. was thinking of leaving these like below pic, but think it might not give it that hand painted look.

all masked up then a thin coat of gray this time. left it over night then another thin coat. Seemed to work better.

while i've been waiting for this to dry i've started trimming the armour and is going well but have same questions.

1. How much of a return edge do i leave (is there a standard diameter)

2. which parts have a return egde? all?

[crafty]

so i've been trimming and been using different tools for different parts - dremel, lexan scissors and this

think its a metal work tool i call it a chomper its really good on the 2mm ABS and good in the corners

[Spectre]

The return edges in the movies were pretty inconsistent, so it's really personal preference. Some people like to leave them on to give the illusion of thickness to the armour but others trim them off for comfort. It really does depend on how you want it to look/feel.

I'd recommend completely removing the return edge at the wrist end of the forearms to, as it is screen-accurate and makes it easier to get your hands through.

Making good progress mate. Keep it up, and keep asking questions.

[crafty]

 

Are these the right way (the two half's) because the tops don't fit so well?

[troopermaster]

Those look fine to me.

 

You may not be aware that the original pieces did not line up perfectly and you just need to trim the tallest part down to match if it bothers you, or you can make your joining strip fit the tallest side and cover the smaller side.

 

See how the tops have been trimmed inside the original thighs.

[crafty]

ok sweet ill get em glued up then!!!

[crafty]

Update this is how i'm getting on helmet done!

A bit of strapping

Any comments welcome

[Spectre]

Wow! That helmet is shiny!

Looks good so far mate. Keep it up.

[Cardiac[TK]]

love TM armor

[ObiHahn[TK]]

I'd go for a slightly lower brow for the more typical hero helmet look.

Also, the lines inside the rear traps should be more squared off than rounded.

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

I think the brow is low enough. I'm not a fan of the brow going flush over the eyes, like on the ROTJ-helmets, looks too "neanderthalian-lowbrow" for my taste.