AP armor build[*AP]

[Darth Clouds]

Hi all,

 

I have been from zero newbie in TK armor, and now have acquired some good armor from respectable members of the community. And have also benefited from member builders who share their knowledge and good advice.

 

This method may not be new, I decide to take sometime to document my build and share some of my modelling knowledge in the hope to contribute for the good of the community and potential fellow newbies in TK armor.

 

But in the process, if I screw up , you will know what NOT to follow and avoid at all cost.

 

And I hope that members can chip in to advise or critic the process, please.

 

I have acquired an AP set of armor and will start my build with the helmet.

 

Before I start my build, I inspected the relevant pieces and found some weak points in the vac form, mainly in the depressions and sharp corners. I hold the pieces against a light source since thinner areas will let more light pass through, and I identified these weak areas that are damaged or prone to damage, that I have to work on and strengthen later by using the God sent advise from "TI 3844" , please see this link: http://whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2041

 

Here are the pictures showing the thinner areas against the light source.

 

 

 

1) Here is the setup that I will use to begin the trimming of the eyes. I am not going to use dremmel. Just simple tools; a cutting mat, dowel, fine tamiya marker pen, tamiya modelling knife and a pair of tamiya straight side cutter. ( I am not advertising, just happen to have these from my miniature modelling)

 

Point to remember: Good tools are important, it will save you alot of efforts and costly mistakes.

Safety first, the workbench must be tidy.

 

 

 

2) Than I set out to mark the eye areas of the lid with a safety distance from the edges.

 

[Darth Clouds]

3) I begin to scribe on the lines with the modelling knife to make a light grove as a guide for the dowel pin so that I will not slip when I make the indents using the sharp pointed dowel.

 

 

4) Then I start using the dowel pin by poking through the abs, making tiny holes along the lines that I have drawn with the marker. I paid special attention to the curvatures at the corners of the eyes, the more holes the better the guide when you start cutting in the next stage. I poked from the front and back to make sure these tiny holes are dense and close to each other.

 

[Darth Clouds]

5) Then I start to use my hobby knife to press through these holes.

Point to note; if you have to use considerable amount of strength to cut, then the number of holes are insufficient and if you slip, you may damage the lid. The whole idea of the holes is to reduce the structural integrity of the surface material where you are cutting. Patience.

 

Also, press directly into the lines with holes. I use only vertical force. I avoided cutting horizontally to avoid slippage of the blade and damaging the sides of the eye.

 

 

Safety point; Where are YOUR fingers on the other side of the lid? Keep asking yourself this question to avoid cutting yourself. Having a good grip on the lid and your work tool is very important to avoid accidents. You must find your own holding technique that you are comfortable with, safety, safety. Remember, you have to use those finger to scratch you an impolite person and pull the blaster trigger in the armor that you endeavour to complete.

 

 

[Darth Clouds]

6) To save some time and effort, I applied this method to only the curvatures of the eye which I think needs special attention. After cutting throught the guiding holes, I bent the unwanted piece carefully to allow the application of the side cutter.

 

 

7) And I continue to snip away on the straighter lines using the side cutter along the line that I had drawn. Patience is the key and angle of the cutter is important. Cut small triangle pieces to remove the unwanted material inorder to make room so that you can work your cutter. And the following picuture is the mess created in this process.

 

 

8) Applying the same poke and cut technique I applied to finish up on the other corner of the left eye.

 

 

9) And here is the rough cut result which need sanding at our own leisure and preference. Remember, eyes are the window of the soul. So work it slowly and lovingly.

 

 

And I am keeping the clean abs pieces to make the "goo" to strengthen the weak areas.

 

I have to stop for now and will post more as I progress. I will continue with the right eye by using a slightly different technique because of the infamous "Bump". With special attention to the holding of the hobby knife's cutting edge inrelation to edges of the eye lids.

 

Hope this helps. And please feel free to critic and advise for improvement for the readers, because this may not be the best and most effective method but worked for me..... so far.

[Chefhawk[501st]]

i love these tutorials.

 

They are always very interesting and i love the fact that you are helping future Troopers.

I know this is one of the longest routes to take as well. But the benefit to others is worth the sacrifice.

 

 

Brilliant. keep up the good work.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Keep it coming. It seems like every tutorial offers something new - this is a fantastic start

[Darth Clouds]

Hi, Thanks for the encouragement. More importantly, I hope this post helps rather than take up valuable disk storage space.

 

Now for the right eye. Patience! Patience! Rushing and impatience causes accidents.

 

10) Using the dowel, I poked holes along the lines that I have drawn. My right palm is getting tired. So I rested rather than screw it up. Then I continued....

 

 

11) Now for the incisions... again I press the blade of the hobby knife vertically downwards into the line of holes that I made with the dowels. I avoid cutting along the line to avoid slipping. Stab along the lines. With that many holes, it only require very minimal effort to push the blade down through the holes and cut through. Therefore, keep your fingers hold the lid far away from the blade.

 

Point to note: Look at the pictures, the cutting edge of the blade (identified with a red arrow in the first picture) should always be facing away from the edges of the eyes lids to avoid accidents and the need to use abs goo to repair. Applying this technique, you are not suppose to cut continuously in one direction. But vary the facing of the cutting edge of the blade, thus having to cut in opposite directions if necessay, starting from each end of the eye lids and work toward the center.

 

Safety: Always communicate with your other hand before every incision of the blade, WHERE ARE YOUR FINGERS NOW?

 

 

12) After the incisions, the unwanted piece should fall away like this;

 

 

13) And the right eye looking like this;

 

 

And more abs waste for the goo

 

My right hand needs a massage..... before I start sanding and filing.

[firebladejedi[TK]]

There sure has been some great threads recently, carry on the good work