My ATA Helmet Build

[maxsteele[TK]]

I just can't tell if the screw will go through both pieces.  Screw it (pun intended!), I'm just going to drill it out at the bump and then mark where the screw will land on the helmet.  If it doesn't go through both pieces, that's what the second set of ears are for!    Thanks Nick.

[SCTrooper[TK]]

I just can't tell if the screw will go through both pieces.  Screw it (pun intended!), I'm just going to drill it out at the bump and then mark where the screw will land on the helmet.  If it doesn't go through both pieces, that's what the second set of ears are for!    Thanks Nick.

The neck trim may cover the bump because it's so low, maybe check it before you drill.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Well, I never considered that to be an issue.  Ah well, I already drilled those holes.  I actually haven't looked at how the neck trim goes on.  I haven't really found any threads where it shows what it looks like before putting on the neck trim and how exactly to put it on.  I might have missed them because I haven't been looking for them.  

 

I might be done for now.  Good thing I haven't drilled any new holes into my helmet.

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Should be ok, I install the upper screws first then drill the lower one last.

[maxsteele[TK]]

First, I want to say to everyone following this huge thread and giving me advice on my paranoid messages - "You're awesome."

 

I have a concern about the placement of my left ear and the state of the trimming I did on the bottom of the helmet pieces.

 

Here is what the bottom of the left side looks like.  Note that my cap is up as high as it will go without the two pieces hitting together (somewhere) and stopping it from raising further:

 

 

If this looks alright, then I won't talk about it anymore.

 

 

 

Now, I measured up my left ear where it sits under the trim correctly and covers up the line where the two pieces meet.  I marked with a pencil through the three holes, and this is where they end up on the helmet:

 

 

This seems like a problem.  And if it is, I have no clue how to correct it.  From my untrained eye, this hole seems too close to the edge of the bottom part of the back.  I also don't see how the S-trim will go onto the bottom at the transition from the cap to the back, because it seems like the gap is an upside down V instead of straight across.

 

 

 

 

For comparison, here is what my right side looks like, and where the holes will go with that ear lining up properly:

 

 

 

 

This looks like I won't have any issue at all.

 

 

Advice on this perceived problem is appreciated.  I'm almost ready to drill my next set of holes, but don't want to if it's going to be irreparable and incorrect.  It's possible either the trimming I did on the bottom of my cap and back was too much, or I put the current screws that are holding my cap & back together in the wrong positions, but I'm just not sure on any of it right now.

 

EDIT:

 

I took out the screw on the left side and lined it up where the cap was more flush at the brow trim, and it actually gave me even less material to work with at the bottom, so I think I'm sticking with the current screw locations.

Edited November 1, 2013 by maxsteele

[Raintrooper]

Those drill marks look great!  The holes I drilled for the bottom part of my ears were closer to the edge than yours.  Drill away!  

[maxsteele[TK]]

I drilled more holes!  Look out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only the top two are drilled.  I didn't drill the bottom yet.  Looking at a couple of other build threads, I think the front of this right ear is trimmed enough.  Once I get the bottom hole drilled and the ear screwed down, that will bring in the gap.  As far as the back part is concerned, When squeezing the ear down, I saw a spot where I could take some more off of it and that should make the bottom part sit down better.

 

Also - do I need to have a rivet at the very bottom where the cap and back meet?  I have seen some people put the rivet there and then have the screw that holds down the bottom of the ear to the two pieces, and I've seen some where there doesn't look like there's a rivet there and the only thing holding the bottom parts together is the bottom ear screw.

Edited November 4, 2013 by maxsteele

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Looks good, you don't have to use a rivet at the bottom. The originals did have them.  If you do, the helmet will be real sturdy. 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Looks good, you don't have to use a rivet at the bottom. The originals did have them.  If you do, the helmet will be real sturdy. 

 

That's what I thought.  I found that even just adding the two screws at the top suddenly made the helmet very solid.  I also like the ability to take the helmet completely apart if I need to, and I believe adding those rivets at the bottom would prevent that from happening.

 

Now that I have the new brow trim (Thanks Steve!), I can start shaping the left ear.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I've shaped and drilled the top two holes / connected the left ear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll still have some gap in the front and back, but once I drill the bottom hole and tighten it down, it brings that gap in.  I'm certainly not going for completely flush with no gaps.  I'll drive myself crazy trying to achieve that.

 

 

 

And - here's a front shot of the helmet with the ears on (top two screws only)

 

 

 

That's how the brow trim is going to look.  If I were to try and correct it, I'd be drilling more holes, and I'm not going to get into that whole business.  I'll end up turning my helmet into swiss cheese.  I see everyone always talking about how not every helmet was perfect, and each person's helmet is unique, etc...  So to that, I recite:

 

"This is my TK helmet!  There are many like it but this one is mine!"

 

I have noticed that the right ear is thicker than the left ear.  I also noticed the molds for each ear are different, and the right one is squished in more down at the bottom, where the left one is flatter at the bottom.  I don't think I need to worry about either the different thickness or the bottom details.  I do know I'll need to trim up the bottoms of both ears so I'm able to get the S-trim on, which I'll take care of once I drill the bottom holes and cinch the ears up, so I can really see where they sit and how much I need to cut off to get that S-trim on there.

[maxsteele[TK]]

After measuring and sizing up for about an hour, I drilled the bottom holes into my helmet.  I had to really work it in order to get my right screw to line up for both holes, but damnit!  I made it fit!  There's probably a little bit of stress at that screw join, but I think the ABS can take it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not really sure how I could bring the bottom of the rear right ear in more.  I'm not sure I really want to fight it, because it was hard enough as it was to get the damn screw in.  My wife and kids didn't even notice it until I pointed it out.  heh...  

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is my S-trim installed - did I do this correctly?  I think I could get rid of a little bit of the bunching seen in the bottom right corner if I trimmed a little more from the S-trim.  Does it matter or is this fine?

 

Edited November 7, 2013 by maxsteele

[Raintrooper]

Those ears look awesome!  Great work! 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Those ears look awesome!  Great work! 

 

Thanks Jason!  Those ears are a slave Leia to shape.

 

I just noticed from another thread - the gap on the back side of my right ear looks really close to this one:

 

 

 

That makes me happy to see.

 

Question regarding the mic tip installation - do I drill the holes where the indents are?  It seems like that's where to put them and it will be very simple to just drill right where they are.

 

Also - I'm kind of feeling like I don't want to polish my helmet or my armor.  Is this something people do?  I don't want to get dirty like a TD, but I don't need to be able to see my reflection in my helmet or armor.  I'm thinking the current sheen of both the armor and the helmet look fine.

Edited November 7, 2013 by maxsteele

[DroidHunter]

Looking good!

[maxsteele[TK]]

Initial mic tip hole drill and installation:

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, I've painted the Mic tips and installed the screens.

Question regarding the black outline on the side and rear traps - do I start the line inside the indent, on the middle of the curve of the indent, or on the outside of the indent where it begins?

Also, once I have my lines to paint in order, should I mask off next to the lines so I can paint and not worry about having a shaky hand for getting a nice straight line exactly where it's supposed to be? And if I do mask, do I take the tape off shortly after painting, or wait for it to completely dry before pulling the tape off?

 

EDIT:

 

I'm highly considering painting the gray on the traps and tears, but using black pin striping for the black outline.  

 

http://trooperbay.com/stormtrooper-ear-pinstripe-tape/

 

I'm also considering using the Trooperbay templates to keep a consistent size and make the vertical stripe painting easier:

 

http://trooperbay.com/stormtrooper-helmet-masking-templates/

Edited November 9, 2013 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

Vocoder painted:

 

[maxsteele[TK]]

Frown painted:

 

[Cantina Security[501st]]

I believe I seen when people use cut out vinyl stencils, they wait until the paint is not quite dry to remove stencils so it doesn't peel the paint when the stencil is removed, this was on the tube stripes. Looking fantastic BTW.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, I have masked off my tears to paint in the black lines.  I think I'm going to go for the "paint in the black, then fill in with gray" approach.

 

 

 

How does this masking look for making the black outline on the tears?

 

I'm not sure how I'm going to paint the gray in and keep a nice straight black line.  I might mask over the black line a bit the way DroidHunter did.  It seems like that would be easier on the traps, but I can attempt it....

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Don't bother with pinstripe tape. Its not going to hold its shape around complex curves. Just hand brush the black and gray, no need to mask it.

 

Personally, I think where you have masked for the black will make the black shape too big. Should be black inside the curves.

Edited January 13, 2014 by pandatrooper

[maxsteele[TK]]

Nah, I'm not going to use pin striping.  I've moved on from that idea.  

 

I was masking it because I don't believe I have a steady enough hand to do straight lines for the black.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by the black shape will be too big.  I masked it so the tape comes down to the indent of the tear.  That's where I'd be putting the black outline.  

 

Both tears have an outward curve halfway down that dips back in before the raised part on the edges.  I have the tape edge dipping down into the first little valley before it goes back up again.  

 

Here's where I have the tape edges coming down to:  (sorry for the large images - that's all I had right now)

 

 

 

 

 

Is that not where the black outline should go?

[gazmosis[501st]]

Sometimesit is about the brush you use and not the steady hand( though a steady hand does make it easier) Anyway, if you find a brush with 3/4 to1 inch bristles this will help you maintain that pinstripe effect. Practice following a line on scrap abs. With longer bristles, they tend to stay in formation better even if your hand pressure wavers a bit.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Sure, I can try a longer bristle brush and see how that goes with practice.

 

Do you suggest painting the black line first, and then cutting in the gray, or painting the gray and then creating the thin black strip?

 

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

[pandatrooper[TK]]

If you look at the original helmets, the black is on the flattest part of the tear ducts. So on your first photo you posted above, I would bring the lines deeper in about 1/16" all around.

 

Reference pic