Smitty Posted December 12, 2007 Report Posted December 12, 2007 Oh boy oh boy oh boy! It came today! Building pics coming soon, in the meantime here's what all I got today! Excellent shipping and an awesome seller. The macadamia nuts were delicious! Quote
ItsThatGuy[501st] Posted December 12, 2007 Report Posted December 12, 2007 That looks like the helmet that was made for me...probably just a slight mix up. It's ok I'll give you my address and you can ship it to me... Can't wait to see your build-up! Quote
Smitty Posted December 12, 2007 Author Report Posted December 12, 2007 the best part is as you can see from the last pic, its wearable right out of the box! The only reason stormtroopers had faceplates was to hide the cheezy grin that is induced when the helmet goes on your head. Quote
ItsThatGuy[501st] Posted December 12, 2007 Report Posted December 12, 2007 the best part is as you can see from the last pic, its wearable right out of the box! The only reason stormtroopers had faceplates was to hide the cheezy grin that is induced when the helmet goes on your head. I always called that look the Stormtrooper mullet! Quote
TK-4510[501st] Posted December 12, 2007 Report Posted December 12, 2007 "That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world." Quote
trooperstormy Posted December 12, 2007 Report Posted December 12, 2007 yaaaaay! I cant wait to see more!! Quote
Smitty Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Posted December 14, 2007 Used the spot putty glaze and 400 grit sand paper today to fix the brow chips. Quote
Smitty Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Posted December 14, 2007 Tomorrow I'll start the eyes and teeth....I fear the ear.... Dude thanks again for your wonderful tutorial. Quote
drosch Posted December 14, 2007 Report Posted December 14, 2007 Congrats on finally getting your lid! My AP is supposed to ship this weekend! Hopefully I won't be too far behind ya. I'm starting my PVC mannequin this weekend so wish me luck! We are having a big party on Dec 22nd and I want my setup on display for all to see. Doubt I will have the new helmet done by then but it will be cool none the less! Quote
Daetrin[Admin] Posted December 14, 2007 Report Posted December 14, 2007 That's awesome! You'll be very satisfied with your TE2. Can't wait to see the build process. Are you going ANH or ESB that that bad boy? Quote
Darth Clouds Posted December 14, 2007 Report Posted December 14, 2007 Tomorrow I'll start the eyes and teeth....I fear the ear.... Dude thanks again for your wonderful tutorial. Hey dude, Fear is not the enemy, you are your own enemy, therefore fear not...just do it! And good luck with your build! But hmm.... I was suppose to get a package from THE MAN somewhere this week too, wonder if it was wrong delivery.....could you check the note in your package if it is addressed to me ? I sure you will have a merry christmas.... and please check the note.. Peace. Quote
Smitty Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Posted December 14, 2007 Im going ANH with it. I like what was done in the tutorial. Im going for the Dave M and Brian R look. Plus I think grey teeth look better than black frowns. Well I'm off to gouge out eyes and punchout teeth. Oh this one definitely mine Guns is excellent at personalizing each package. TE2 4 Life baby! Quote
Smitty Posted December 16, 2007 Author Report Posted December 16, 2007 Today I used a dremel to cut out the eyes and teeth and then used a model filing kit to round everything nice and neat. I used scissors to cut off the excess material around the top and sides of the faceplate. I dont know how common this is but on both back edges of my side tubes the styrene had pinched up during the molding process. I dremeld those pinches off and it left a slice about an inch deep into the mask. I reenforced the slices with some of the styrene that I cad cut from the excess on the top of the mask. I used a 2 part clear epoxy to attach the reenforcements onto the creases from inside the faceplate and cleaned it up on the outside with the glaze spot putty. The last pic shows the materials I used tonight with the exception of the spot glaze putty. It turned out just like I wanted. I cant quit picking it up out of the box to admire it. Next comes the ears. The pictures will zoom in very large so that you can see the details. Quote
Smitty Posted December 17, 2007 Author Report Posted December 17, 2007 I took it over to my dads house tonight to show him and my stepmom let my have a couple of stocking suffers early. She had gotten me the 4 clamps used to hold the helmet together. So the next thing I know we had clamped it all together and put the rivits in. My dad and stepmom are awesome. So here's some progress pics. *Deep breath* now its time to fit the ears. It makes a good shrine topper flanked by my Gibson and Shecter. Quote
Smitty Posted December 17, 2007 Author Report Posted December 17, 2007 The ears are done. I cant begin to explain what a pain in the butt these were. Definitely the hardest part of the project so far. I really did try, I promise, but I couldnt get the fit I wanted so I filled the gaps with bondo and spent ungodly amounts of time sanding. It looks really good though and no gaps. Having gaps would have really bugged me to no end and I would have regretted it from now on. Next step on the list is to wet sand the whole bucket with 600 grit and wipe it clean, then primer it! Quote
firebladejedi[TK] Posted December 17, 2007 Report Posted December 17, 2007 Lookin good buddy, looking forward to update's Quote
TK-4510[501st] Posted December 18, 2007 Report Posted December 18, 2007 Make sure you primer it good. Quote
Smitty Posted December 18, 2007 Author Report Posted December 18, 2007 Make sure you primer it good. I'll do my best. I've done a few custom paintjobs on paintball guns, so I have a little experience but Im still nervous about painting my first helmet. I'm ready for all the bondo to go away....still a little ashamed of the copiuos amounts of bondo I had to use on my ears Im going for a happy medium between screen accurate and what Lucas had intended. My biggest fear though is a stupid bug landing in the gloss white when I'm painting. I'm gonna paint it on a mic stand from my studio, so that way I can just carry it inside like a torch and put it safe and sound in the studio. Quote
Smitty Posted December 18, 2007 Author Report Posted December 18, 2007 Its now primed. I couldnt find the rustoleum primer at Wally World so I used Krylon H2O white primer. First I masked the back of the eyes and mouth with packaging tape and also over TE2's signature and helmet number (wouldn't want to get paint on that). For a paint stand I grabbed a mic stand out of the studio and wrapped the shaft in newspaper, wadded up a ball of newspaper and taped it onto the top to make a head. This allowed me to position the helmet perfectly and also held the helmet steady after painting it while I relocated it to the studio. The primer will be ready to lightly sand in 24 hours. I am extremely pleased with the results so far. Please no comments about yardwork Quote
Smitty Posted December 19, 2007 Author Report Posted December 19, 2007 Got it sanded today and it sure feels great! Going out in search of paint tomorrow! Quote
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