RainTrooper’s ATA Build

[Raintrooper]

Hello Troopers! I’ve been wanting to do this for years, and I’m finally starting! My goal is to be trooping with the 501st in time for Celebration Anaheim! My ATA helmet kit has arrived at my door, and I’m wait-listed 7 months for the rest of the kit. I guess that gives me plenty of time get this helmet up to EIB/Centurion standards! I’ll be posting pics of my progress and would love any feedback, tricks and tips along the way.




I’ve just started on the face.. Eyes trimmed, and teeth cut. Still going to do a bit more filing on the teeth.






Side note to my build: I was lucky enough to get a taste of the armor experience at Wizard World Comic Con here in Portland earlier this month, thanks to a friend who kindly loaned his ROTS Clone armor. He even had the jedi gear so my wife didn’t feel left out. We had such a blast! It was great meeting all the folks at the 501st Cloud City Garrison booth! Most of our time at the Con was spent posing for COUNTLESS photos. We would barely walk 10 feet before someone would hold up their camera phone (which sparked a chain reaction of a dozen other cameras) and before I knew it, a line-up of people would form around us, all waiting for a photo with a Clone Trooper and a jedi! The best part of it all, for me, was the reaction I would get from kids. Faces lighting up, hand shakes and high-fives all day! I can’t wait to finish my TK armor and participate in charity events the Legion is involved in. Oh, and getting to actually BE a stormtrooper instead of just collecting the figures will be pretty cool too!

Edited April 17, 2014 by RainTrooper

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, yer just a bit more on the teeth corners a little squarer. Looking forward to the rest of your build good luck

[ryates]

Looks good so far, especially after you're done filing the teeth. I was also to be able to get my ATA bucket ahead of everything else.

 

I just received my armor and trust me, you will love it. Well worth the wait. Good luck with your build.

 

-Rob

[Kessel Run[TK]]

Looking good so far. and thats a nice lookin clone you got there.

[Ravenwood[TK]]

Nice start. Looking forward to watching your progress

[Raintrooper]

Thanks everyone! I filed the teeth a bit more, although I may need to hit a few spots again. How do they look? I also rough trimmed the ears. I can see why they send two sets of ears with the ATA kits.. That’s some thick ABS! Not easy to trim..

 

Edited March 18, 2013 by RainTrooper

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Just a little more square in the corners would be good but it's only a personal thing, you don't have too. I think we are all happy we get two sets of ears, they are a pain lol

[Raintrooper]

I’ve trimmed the cap-and-back (except the bottom edge), placed the brow trim, now it’s time to line up and attach these suckers! It’s been a little frustrating trying to line both pieces up so it doesn’t look too lop-sided... I know TK helmets aren't symetrical, but it’s been a challenge with the clamps to make it look remotely close. I’ve been following pandatroopers ATA #1 HowTo. I’m trying to line up the outer edge of the eye openings just outside the temples, but lining the face up that way makes it look really uneven. It still looks like the face is jetting to the left. I’ll be honest, I’m really nervous to drill the holes! How does it look?

 

 

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, mine was the same think they are all a little lop sided, things will change a little once you pull in the sides and again when you attach the ears, but only a little, keep up the good work

Edited March 23, 2013 by gmrhodes13

[ryates]

I think it's looking good. I just finally worked up the courage to drill my ATA bucket last week so I get what you mean about being nervous.

 

Make sure you properly support the faceplate when drilling. Mine was clamped like yours and I thought I was holding the two pieces together appropriately, but the bit grabbed after getting through the first layer (cap and back) and my hole ended up being a bit misaligned. Good news is that you can drill another hole if you mess up and no one will know!

 

Good luck!

 

-Rob

[Raintrooper]

Thanks Glen and Rob! I really appreciate the tips and encouragement!

 

Whew! I did it. Drilled the holes, and attached the face to the cap-and-back. That was more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be. I REALLY didn’t want to screw it up and have to order another face.. Seeing as how (confession time) I’m already working with my 2nd cape-and-back after trimmimg too much off the bottom corners by about 1/2â€- 3/4â€.. right where the bottom rivet needs go. Oh well, lesson learned the hard way, right outta the gates! (Terrell @ ATA rules!) I haven’t trimmed the back at all yet on this one. I’ll wait until after the ears are lined up this time.

I went for a slightly lower brow-trim. Everything looking ok so far?

 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking great, just the your outer teeth seem a bit round just nip a little more out of the corners. Hey mistakes can happen but at least you didn't stop building, you may still be able to save the other back as the bottom of the ears and s trim can cover some over trimming. Keep up the good work

[Raintrooper]

After about a week off from TK progress, I decided to tackle an ear.  After trimming, fitting, drilling and tightening down, the gap at the bottom didn’t pull in like I thought it would. I think I may have trimmied too much. I know a bit of a gap is screen accurate, but how does this look?  Any way to save this ear and pull in that gap? Would trimming more off the bottom of the ear help? I’m thinking I might start over with the back-up ear anyway.. that x-acto blade slip from scoring is kinda bugging that crap outta me...      

 

 

 

 

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Nice job on the helmet. The ear gaps are fine, but if your not happy just use some sandpaper to fine tune it. You can polish out that scratch with novus and it wont be so noticable.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

You could leave as is but I went a little further, if you take a little more off the bottom flat section and the top round section the curved piece will be brought in further. An easy way to see what you need to trim is use a pencil and run it around the base of the ear

Edited April 4, 2013 by gmrhodes13

[Raintrooper]

Alright, back at it this week! I was able to get those ear gaps to pull in a smidge after some sanding. Not completely flush, but I’m not worried about it. Thanks for posting that photo, Nick! It put me a bit more at ease seeing the same gaps on a screen helmet. I have since noticed several helmets, both screen and 501st, that have gaps all over the ears!

I’ve installed the lenses and the neck ’S’ trim, painted the mics and glued the screens in, two coats of black on the vocoder, and just finished the first coat of grey on the frown.. I need to get a finer tip paint brush for the frown corners. Coming along nicely, if I don’t say so myself! Next up.. paint the ears, Dave M decals, then star foam and strap. I can’t wait for that armor! I might have to start working on the E-11 blaster after I finish this helmet! or maybe the gloves and hand guards.. something to keep working on!

 

 

Edited April 17, 2013 by RainTrooper

[Echo[TK]]

Nice work!

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Waiting till you have the right paint brush is a good move, I found that out the hard way.   

[Raintrooper]

Thanks Francisco!   

 

I placed the Dave M decals tonight and finished the second coat on the frown.  All thats left to paint are the ears.  

I’m thinking I’ll have to glue the ’S’ trim on. I know which slot to use on the 'S' trim, but should the ’S’ go toward the inside of the helmet or outside?  I’ve been able to get it to stay on both ways, I’m just not sure which way is correct, or if it’s even a big deal.  

I still need to order the helmet padding/lining.  I’ve done my research, but I’m still not sure if I should go with the screen accurate star foam and strap, or the hard-hat liner...  Any suggestions? Pros/Cons?  

 

[Linkboy Cadet69[TK]]

Vary nice work, thanks for all the closeup photos. I can't wait too get my kit del. 

[piklz36[TK]]

Hey RainTrooper.  Your helmet build looks very nice so far.  Great work!

 

As far as the liner goes, I just did a quick star pattern out of foam from a fabric store.  The trick with the ATA helmet is that it is quite small, not the smallest, but small nonetheless.  A hard hat liner might be a little too big to fit in there (along with your head).  My hat size is around a 7, and I have a hard time finding room in the helmet. 

 

I took 1" foam and carefully cut it in half for the star pattern liner.  Of course, you can buy thinner foam, but I wanted to make sure 1" wasn't going to work before I trimmed it.  It's cheap and effective.  Plus, the more room you have in the helmet, the more air can circulate around which will keep you trooping longer. 

 

I attached the foam via velcro.  I just stuck the fuzzy velcro on the top of the inside of the helmet.  I had to CA glue the hook velcro to the foam so it would stay in place.   

[piklz36[TK]]

[Raintrooper]

Awesome! Thanks for the template, David!  I'll definitely make my own foam liner if I go that route.  I'm still curious about the hard-hat liner, though.  I like the idea of NOT having a chin-strap and also not having a helmet full of foam on the top and sides, which I imagine would be warmer and restrict air-flow more.  Mike's video on trooperbay makes it look pretty nice and easy.  Just throw on the bucket and go, without any wobble or chin-strap.  I'm not sure which helmet he's using in the how-to video.. TE2? 

[Heathen Viking]

Hey Jason,

   Thanks for posting this.  I'm just starting my ATA helmet and am also following Pandatroopers tutorial.  Considering this the first helmet I've done I'm equally as nervous. One question I have is did you have trouble pulling the cap onto the face?  I have a little more trimming to do on the cap but it seems that it's a little too wide.  I'm sure once I get the contours of the tubes cut and sanded, it will fit a little more snug.  I'll take any tips I can get.  Thanks.     

[Raintrooper]

Hey Robe,

I certainly did struggle with getting the cap and face together.  It didn’t seem like they were made to go together at all!  Once you drill the holes and screw them together, the cap pulls in nicely.