My tiny TK build starts! =D [*ATA]

[gattirenata]

Guess what i got today??!?!?!

a brown box!

the little one!!!

but still super exciting!!!!

 

At first all i could do was stare at it!!!!

sooooo scary!!! lol

 

But after i finally open it i could not resist it!!!!

i just wanted to work on it!!!

it looked so awesome!!

 

 

 

it is quite overwhelming and scary to just go on and cut your very first piece of plastic ever!!! intimidating!! But....

there are so many great build threads around here, with awesome pictures (yeah, cause when you have no idea what you are doing, being able to SEE it instead of just following written directions is soooo much easier!) I opened my computer on Pandatooper's build thread and took a deep breath!

 

I started trimming the sides. it seemed fairly easy if you go on cutting carefully!!!

 

 

 

to my surprise it was easier than i thought. i found a bit hard to go cutting around curves but.... my sheers are quite big. i guess having a smaller one and the ones made for curves would make things much easier. But... i don't have them... and made it work with what i had!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to sand a bit I guess.

do you guys use sanding paper?? or you sand with the dremel???

 

 

i was going to stop there, cause i just want to take my time but again... could not resist!! =P lol

so i decided to cut the eyes!

 

I marked with a pencil and used the dremel to cut it!!! i like dremels and i'm not gonna say i'm super expert with it, but... i thought i'd be better with then with the score and snap technique! lol

 

 

 

needs sanding!!!!

but i think it looks ok!!!!

 

and then i moved on to the teeth!!!!

 

 

i used the dremel on the back of it... then cleaned it up on the front with a exacto knife!!! they too need sanding... but i couldn't find the small file thingie i have...

i'm gonna get them all the same size and shape by sanding it, i was afraid of cutting too much, nd decided that would be the best way....

 

 

then after that i decided to stop. ii need to get stuff to sand it anyways... so can't really do anything else!!!!

 

well... again... i have to say!!

I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

:dance: :dance:

[xaoslord]

Looks like a good start!

[ti9327[501st]]

HOLY COW!!! You're flying through that helmet build. I need to get on the ball if I hope to keep up with you.

 

You're doing a fantastic job so far!!!

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

SUPER SWEET! Can't wait to see it finished!

[Femtrooper Julie[501st]]

Looks like a solid start!

[Quartermaster[501st]]

Hey Renatta. The dremel is the way to go for the sanding and also getting into some of those tight spots.

I also use sanding blocks. You can getthose at Lowes or Home Depot in the paint isle.

[gattirenata]

thanks everybody!!!!!!!!

i'm just loving working on it!!!! couldn't stay away again and started working on it as soon as i woke up this morning.

I found my hobby file set (you know??? with those skinny little metal file thingies???????) i'm using those to clean up the teeth and stuff, and decided to use those as well to smooth out the eyes. it's working great.

 

since i trimmed around the whole thing with sheers i don't have that many jagged parts and stuff, so it doesn''t need that much sanding. the little tiny sharp pointies i had i also smooth it out with the little files.

i'm soooo scared of end up "filing" too much with the dremel!!! so i'll probably practice a bit!!!!

 

i have a sanding block somewhere around here!!! that's an awesome idea, thanks John!!!!!

 

I ordered last night the templates (masking whatever they call it lol) for the tube stripes... cause there is no way in haven and earth i can do it free handed LOL

so i guess it doesn't matter how fast i go, i'll have to wait for those to finish it up!!!!!

 

do you guys usually paint before putting both parts together or you do it when it's all done????

[gattirenata]

so... i should have done this before... but... didn't really think of it and now.... change of plans...

i was planning on doing ANH HERO!!! but.. already messed up!! =S

(cut out 8 teeth instead of 6)

so i decided to make a little list (of what's different) here, to make sure i got all the things from now on to do the STUNT!

 

soooooo

 

ANH stunt

- 8 teeth cut out on the frown. grey (what does it mean "does not leave the teeth area"????)

- 9 to 16 medium blue tube stripes curving backwards

- i'm hand painting everything, but using those templates for the tube stripes.

- 1 or 2 bumps painted on the ear.

- WHAT ARE CORRECT ANH TK DETAILS???????

- how is the neck trim of a S-type???????

- floating shoulder strap in the back and glued in front, no rivets

- (about the shoulder bell.. just an observation... did you guys notice that the CRL actually says BLACK elastic strap but in both pictures (stunt and hero) the elastic seems to be WHITE???????)

- no return edge on the inside of forearm

- elastic connecting the chest plate to back plate at the shoulders

 

- 3 blue, 6 grey buttons on ab plate

- gonna have to split ab from the "underwear part" lol

- 3 split or bifurcated rivets (5/16") on left side of ab plate, painted white.

- male snap on top right

- 1 split rivet on crotch (i thought people used snaps!!)

 

- separate kidney from butt

- 3 split rivets (5/16") on left side, painted white.

 

- 2 male snaps on the crotch area of the butt. (see??? usually those are just like the ones on the front of the crotch, and CRL says nothing about the elastic thingie i always see....)

 

- holster attached to belt with 2 snaps at the bottom of the belt.

 

i think everything else (belt, thermal detonator, thighs, legs, etc) are pretty straight forward.....

 

did i miss anything??????????????

 

sorry for sooo many many questions

[ti9327[501st]]

There is no such thing as "sooo many many questions". Especially when building something such as a TK.

 

"WHAT ARE CORRECT ANH TK DETAILS???????" --> Instead of painting the traps & tube stripes, you can use decals instead.

[Tray[TK]]

Unless you plan to go with Centurion I would consider decals for the tube stripes and traps. So much nicer than hand painted. The Empire would never hand paint there armor.

 

I would use webbing for the straps between the chest and back armor. Not elastic. It will still let you move around without getting further apart allowing things to catch easier.

 

Shoulder bells. The black strap wraps around the bicep. Not white. Not sure where you see white ones.

 

Stunt

 

Hero

Edited February 26, 2012 by Tray

[gattirenata]

webbing!!! that makes soooo much sense!!!!

thanks Tray!!!

 

and gotta stop a bit for a few days cause i needs rivets... and... to learn how to put those on =S

 

btw Tray...

i just said white cause i thought these were the elastic on the biceps!

 

[Locitus[Admin]]

- 2 male snaps on the crotch area of the butt. (see??? usually those are just like the ones on the front of the crotch, and CRL says nothing about the elastic thingie i always see....)

- 1 split rivet on crotch (i thought people used snaps!!)

You put one split rivet in the crotch, and two snaps on the butt piece, and an elastic strap with a female snap on it, from the split rivet. This strap can then be snapped onto one of the two snaps on the butt piece, both allowing for some adjustment, and also keeping the butt piece in place by being held together with to the crotch.

 

- 8 teeth cut out on the frown. grey (what does it mean "does not leave the teeth area"????)

It means that the grey paint is kept within the natural boundaries of the frown. Compare an ANH frown with a ROTJ and I think you'll see what I mean.

 

ROTJ

[Ryss[501st]]

webbing!!! that makes soooo much sense!!!!

thanks Tray!!!

 

and gotta stop a bit for a few days cause i needs rivets... and... to learn how to put those on =S

 

btw Tray...

i just said white cause i thought these were the elastic on the biceps!

 

 

Aha, I see where the confusion is. The white part you've circled is actually the pointyish tops of the bicep armor itself. The black stripe underneath isn't the undersuit--it's the elastic, overlapping the bicep armor.

[gattirenata]

You put one split rivet in the crotch, and two snaps on the butt piece, and an elastic strap with a female snap on it, from the split rivet. This strap can then be snapped onto one of the two snaps on the butt piece, both allowing for some adjustment, and also keeping the butt piece in place by being held together with to the crotch.

 

[/font][/color]

It means that the grey paint is kept within the natural boundaries of the frown. Compare an ANH frown with a ROTJ and I think you'll see what I mean.

 

ROTJ

 

WOW!!! matias!! thank you sooo much!!! i never really noticed that ROTJ was like that!!

 

Aha, I see where the confusion is. The white part you've circled is actually the pointyish tops of the bicep armor itself. The black stripe underneath isn't the undersuit--it's the elastic, overlapping the bicep armor.

 

aaawwwww now i get it!!! hahahahah thanks rachel!!!!

 

 

well... Yesterday i sanded everything..... and then tried to put both parts together. i'm following Pandatrooper's tutorial by the letter!!! it's my Bible! but the clamps i got were too small and were not going over the eyes. i was so scared of breaking it or something so today i got 2 bigger ones.

 

I also got rivets, split rivets (still not sure how to put those on!!! =S )and a rivet gun thingie...

I was soooo excited to come home today and work some more on it but... =S well... nothing went as planned!

 

First... i cut my thumb pretty badly...

then... the clamps are sooo freaking hard to open.

i can't hold the helmet and open the thing with one hand.

and the helmet is sooo slippery!

 

well... i guess it just took 2 days to be very clear that i have no clue-what-so-ever of what i am doing!!

 

but... i'm not giving up!!!

got some tips about using earth magnets instead of clamps. i will try tomorrow if i have some time...

right now i'm just licking my wounds and crying over my first failed building day

[jnnfr72[TK]]

Hi Renata,

How is the bucket assembly going? Sorry to hear about your

thumb. I've had a few bad cuts, too. It stinks! Hope all is well with you!

Cheers! Jenny

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

When you say "Tiny TK" do you mean kid-sized or just that you're uber petite?

 

Don't be discouraged, by the way... by cuts or failures or frustrations!!! I nearly lopped off my thumb at one point - I think it was trimming my ear pieces... I had rivets jam in the tool and have to cut them off carefully... had lots of bad scoring and clamp-glue-slippage and so on...

 

I put one snap on the cod to connect to one of the two on the butt plate, by the way. I don't like anything too permanent, especially elastic in my crotch area!

[Tray[TK]]

Renata is a uber petite.

[gattirenata]

Hi Renata,

How is the bucket assembly going? Sorry to hear about your

thumb. I've had a few bad cuts, too. It stinks! Hope all is well with you!

Cheers! Jenny

 

hi Jenny!!!! well... now i'm stuck on the ears. that round part is just a pain to fit. one side looks nice but then theres a huge gap on the other. =S tried for 2 days in a row and then now i'm bringing to the guys in my garrison to help me out. even if i messed up completely i got the extra pair. so hopefully everything will be good.

 

besides that... i finally made peace with the clamps and mixed it with the magnets and all was good. tucking a sweatshirt inside the helmet sort of help too!!! but before i did that... the helmet slid a bit when i riveted it both parts together, and that forehead part was too low! way too low!!!

 

so a friend helped take the rivets off and i did it again and it looked better.

 

i am def bracing myself for more bad cuts. i'm not very good with sharp things. =S

 

When you say "Tiny TK" do you mean kid-sized or just that you're uber petite?

 

Don't be discouraged, by the way... by cuts or failures or frustrations!!! I nearly lopped off my thumb at one point - I think it was trimming my ear pieces... I had rivets jam in the tool and have to cut them off carefully... had lots of bad scoring and clamp-glue-slippage and so on...

 

I put one snap on the cod to connect to one of the two on the butt plate, by the way. I don't like anything too permanent, especially elastic in my crotch area!

Renata is a uber petite.

 

hahaha just for the record... i

m average height in Brazil and since i'm Brazilian... i'm not UBER petite! hahaha just shorter than you guys!!!!! =P

Ingrid, thanks for the tip on the croch snaps. that makes a lot of sense (not having something permanent and stuff)

 

ouch... yeah... i know i'm gonna get hurt. i'm just glad hot glue and irons are not involved, cause i always burn myself. oooh yeah... ok i got that little iron, but hopefully it wont be as bad! lol

 

OH AND GUESS WHAT!!!!!!

 

I GOT MY BOX TODAY!!!!!!!!

 

i'll post pics later.

you guys have no idea how much i screamed!!! hahaha and i got stuck at my front door with the box and it took me LITERALLY almost 5 minutes to get in cause i refused to put that beautiful wonderful box on the ground!!!!

 

sometimes it feels like i'm not going to survive all this excitement!!! hahahahahah

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

Wow, that's excitement we can all share!!!

 

As for the ear pieces, well, if they're "closer to good" in the front, and a little less perfect in the back, that's okay. I've seen plenty that aren't 100% flush. Mine are about 95% in front and wonky in the back.

 

[2155TK[TK]]

Wow I remembered my first time to build my bucket 3 years ago!! I was really as excited! I'm watching this build from start to finish!

 

BTW who made this bucket? AP? TE2? Hehe i'm kinda old school on the bucket makers nowadays ;D FX still had FX buckets!

Edited March 30, 2012 by LUIS TK-2155

[gattirenata]

I'm still trying all my options before I even think of using the second set of ears or think of closing the gap with abs paste! But is a good tip about the front and the back!!! Im bringing it to my garrisons prop night tomorrow and lets see what they can help me with!!!

 

This kit is ATA! It was the fastest shipping ever. I sent the PayPal on Monday morning and got the box yesterday!

 

I'm so glad it came on a thursday and I have nothing to do this weekend, otherwise I'd be going insane here.

 

Well I am! I can't wait to go home!!!

 

[gattirenata]

how cool it is to open that box for the first time???

so cool!!!!!

i could NOT believe that all that is mine!!!!

 

and here it is!!! everything lay out!!

at this point i started getting extremely anxious cause i realized there are some pieces there i have no idea where they go! lol or what to do with them!

 

 

 

the hand plates are huge. actually... everything is huge!!!! hahaha

 

 

i had to go to sleep, although i really wanted to play with it, do something... try cutting it. but i had to work today early in the morning so i put everything back in the box and went to sleep.

 

Today i finally got the lexan scissors. the one i was using before was pretty with with the helmet, but last night i tried cutting a little of the hand plates and it was a disaster.

 

so i got home after work and decided to get on trimming.

i guess everybody trims those extra edges before trimming it again to fit???

i don't that was the impression i had, so i just trimmed on the lines.

 

the score and snap thingie was much easier than i thought it would be and in some parts the abs is soft and cutting with the scissors is a piece of cake!!! =P

 

tools of the day!

 

 

 

 

 

this is a humangous butt!!! hahaha

 

 

i left the larger parts for last

 

 

that crotch is so big i'm really thinking of using the extra room for storage!! hahahahahah

 

 

the end of the day i have a bag full bits of plastic!!

and a bunch of parts nicely trimmed.

 

 

i can't really feel my fingers but... i am very happy that i didn't hurt myself very badly, which honestly it is a miracle. all i got was a tiny cut on my thigh! (my poor unlucky thigh. always gets hurt lol)

 

tomorrow if i have time i'm going to cut the strips i need and try to figure out HOW in the world im going to make it fit on me!!!

 

:P :P :P

[bigironvault]

Watching this build closely! Nice job so far!

[gattirenata]

thanks Keith!!!

 

well... yesterday we had prop night so i brought the helmet for the ctg experts to take a look!

right a way they found out the main problem!

i had put the wrong ear on the wrong side!! hahahahahah

 

so after we fixed that, the gaps didn't look as bad!

we tried to do as Ingrid suggested, and they all said their own ears are not 100% perfect!

 

with loads of Gary's ad Charles' help finally the ears are on!

 

 

 

i need to take better pics of the front and the back, but these you can see a little bit!

 

i'm painting a bit today and also cutting all the shim strips while the paint dries.

i'm super excited to paint it cause little by little it looks more and more like a REAL stormtrooper helmet!!! YEEEEEEYYYYY!!!! lol

 

but it's also soooo nerve wrecking! each brush stroke i think "ill punch myself in the face if i mess this up!"

hahaha

thank goodness haven't had to punch myself... yet! LOL

 

 

[gattirenata]

oh yeah! there's a screw missing... cause my friend lost it! =S

we are runnign to home depot in a sec to buy another one, and also some more nuts, cause they told me it's better and more secure to put 2.

and that's great cause i want to put the lenses attached on the screws inside, so extra nuts will be needed!!!!