Destroyed my ears! I hate them! [ATA]

[bigtrev503]

I recently visited a fellow trooper and he helped me finally get the two halves screwed together. He had a helmet exactly like mine that he had just finished, and his ears came out perfect. He was nice enough to let me borrow his dremel, so I could trim the ears myself. Aaaaand I think I cut too much off. I tried so hard. I spent days on them, and they still never went on correctly. This means it's not the task, it's my ability to do it. I'm quite upset and frustrated right now and was wondering if ATA still has the same email address.

 

I can attempt to take pictures and maybe you guys can help me.

 

 

Here's the right side

 

 

 

Here's the front

 

 

 

Here's the left side I am working on

 

 

 

Here's the first one I attempted and gave up on then went back to in hopes it was salvageable

 

front

 

back

 

 

Here's the one I started after I thought the first one was toast

 

front 

 

 

and back (ugly!!!!)

 

 

Luckily I have an untouched one from the opposite side so if I do have to replace the ear, I can only replace one and not a set

Edited May 7, 2013 by bigtrev503

[bigtrev503]

I know ears are the hardest part, I followed all the instructions very carefully, I trimmed exactly 1/4 inch from the mold line and I still completely messed it up. Twice! Two right ears down the hole, I might be able to make the front look just ok but the back will have a huge gap showing the seam line for the two halves. I really wish these came partially trimmed or something. 

 

Does everyone agree the ears are absolutely the hardest part?

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Show us a pic, and we might be able to help

[bigtrev503]

OP updated with pictures. Also, again, does ATA still have the same email address?

[TK-7980]

That gap is not large and not uncommon.

[Palpatine1977]

Same email address yes

[bigtrev503]

Can I see some of your gappy helmets? It might provide some encouragement

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Your ATA helmet didn't come with two sets of ears? Ears are such a pain to trim that I thought that's why they come with two sets, I know mine did. IMO, you could trim a lil more from the front part of that left ear, at least more of the flashing that's still left. Take your time when trimming the ears. Trim a lil, measure/place it against the helmet and check if you still need to trim.

[bigtrev503]

Your ATA helmet didn't come with two sets of ears? Ears are such a pain to trim that I thought that's why they come with two sets, I know mine did. IMO, you could trim a lil more from the front part of that left ear, at least more of the flashing that's still left. Take your time when trimming the ears. Trim a lil, measure/place it against the helmet and check if you still need to trim.

Yes, my helmet cam ewith two sets of ears and I started on only the right (when looking straight at the helmet) ear and messed both of them up!

 

This is truly frustrating and discouraging. I feel like I can't do it. I already messed up two ears and everyone else gets it pretty close. I suck lol

 

I have an intact, untrimmed ear for the other side, so I'm gonna go ahead and order just the ear I messed up (twice) and just work on the strapping of the suit until it gets here. I just want my ears to be decent, and I feel like the ones I did are beyond saving.

 

Maybe I can pay someone to do the ears for me. I'm gonna solicit my local garrison mates to see if they'll do it for a fee.

Edited May 7, 2013 by bigtrev503

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Plus you're going for a HERO helmet too I assume? I see the ears have the 3 bumps. Those HERO ears are harder to come by.

[bigtrev503]

ATA's got em 

[HockeyTrooper[TK]]

Best of luck! On my ATA I screwed up 1 ear for each side and then solicited garrison help as well (though for me it was a day trip of 4 hours to st louis and 4 hours back home). But it was worth it. There will be some gaps. If get your gaps pretty well taken care of sometimes a heat gun can be used to tweak things just a little bit, but you have to be careful to not melt the ABS and caused it to bubble.

 

Edit: at 2nd glance both of those ears are actually salvageable. You did a great job on the fronts and the backs can be made to where the gap is pretty minimal. 

 

 

You can either do a little with the dremel sander, sand paper, or hobby knife. Hobby knife will help you to just take slivers off at a time, sanding will also make it so you are taking minimal off each time. 

 

The fronts look great like I said earlier, so I wouldn't touch them until the end (in case you have to take a little off if they are too big or something. Also, remember that you are screwing this thing down, a small gap that shows up when you hold it up by hand will almost disappear when it is screwed down tight.

Edited May 7, 2013 by HockeyTrooper

[bigtrev503]

Thank you Bennett for that glimmer of hope. I know my garrison mate who recently finished the same helmet told me "You're not gonna get it just right in one sitting!" 

 

This is true. I work on it for about a half hour a day and then "explitive this until tomorrow." Maybe if I walk away I can resist throwing the  helmet across the parking lot until tomorrow.

[Raintrooper]

Totally agree with Bennett. Those ears will still work. Don't order new ones just yet!  A bit more fine tuning is all they need. Sand here, sand there, test fit, bolt them on, repeat...  The gaps, especially the from back, are no big deal.   YOU GOT THIS, TREVOR!!

Edited May 8, 2013 by RainTrooper

[TK5492[TK]]

I just wanted to piggy back on everyone else and say that those ears are 100% completely salvageable. If I had seen the pics first I would have had no idea what the issue was.

 

Those gaps in the back are not only common, as has already been said, but fairly abundant in alot of screen captures that you can find. Keep working on them and remember to take breaks. Sometimes when you are working on armor you can get "white vision" and it takes stepping away and coming back to see what's really going on and what needs to be done.

 

Here's a few:

 

 

 

Bazinga! Gaps!

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

try screwing them on... the tension from the screws helps a LOT!

[bigtrev503]

Thanks a lot you guys! Today will be all about the ears, and I will post updates when I get them closer. 

[Sonnenschein]

try screwing them on... the tension from the screws helps a LOT!

 +1

 

Always screw them on when test fitting it. 

[bigtrev503]

Ok guys, I screwed this one in and it sits wonky but with some fine tuning, it could be decent. Any suggestions would be great as to how to tighten them up a bit. If one of you could use your handy dandy photoshop skills to help me visualize what I need to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you need more pics or different angles, just let me know!

[DarkTrooper[TK]]

Wow, that ear looks great. Well done. Wonkiness is acceptable. Screen used buckets were that way.

[TK5492[TK]]

Looks good as-is to me. You could take a little more off in the back if you feel frosty but I'd say you're pretty much set.

Edited May 9, 2013 by TK5492

[HockeyTrooper[TK]]

I'd have to agree with the previous 2 post, unless you absolutely hate it, I think that ear is good to go. I've seen people approved with much larger gaps. The front looks amazing (much better than any of my original attempts) and the back is only off by a little. One thing to keep in mind is that almost no one will ever be looking at the back of your helmet; most people want a picture with the TK from the front, unless they are checking out your assets 

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Yep, the era looks good

[PanzerKraken[TK]]

That looks great, as others have said, gaps are ok, many folks have em and so did the screen used ones.  Heck I'm working on my ears for my ata kit now and I wish mine have came out as good as yours have!

[bigtrev503]

Thanks for the warm responses, all. Here is the helmet with ear #2 on the other side. I think it came out ok.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just my luck, the right one went on a lot easier than the left. Something to remember for you building this right now!