My ATA Helmet Build

[maxsteele[TK]]

Here we go!  I have started the construction of my ATA helmet build.  With very large moral and in-person support by Raintrooper, I have started on my ATA Helmet build!  Here are a few photos of the progress I made today.

 

 

Here is the current front of the helmet.  I was trying out a way to start the teeth, and it proved harder than expected, so I'm going to wait until I get a decent sander barrel for my Dremel to follow Pandatrooper's teeth removal process.

 

 

 

 

 

I trimmed a little too much off of the ridge on the right eye.  Oh well - nothing I can do about it now.  Hopefully it doesn't cause much of an issue.

 

 

 

 

Right side of trimmed back helmet piece

 

 

 

 

 

Left side of trimmed back helmet piece:

 

 

 

I really do hope I didn't screw up the right eye trimming.  It's not really noticeable from the front, but this is my first time doing it, so I don't know how much it matters.

Edited August 11, 2013 by maxsteele

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, don't think the eye screw up will be much of a problem I would probably try to sand a little bit more off on the sides so it matches, if you have a small gap it will help with ventilation. Keep up the good work

[maxsteele[TK]]

Looking good, don't think the eye screw up will be much of a problem I would probably try to sand a little bit more off on the sides so it matches, if you have a small gap it will help with ventilation. Keep up the good work

 

Do you mean sand down the ridge above the left eye so it's shorter than it is now to come more in-line with the right?

[TK 27513[501st]]

looking good pal

and dont worry about the eyes i did what you have done and mine looks alright

[maxsteele[TK]]

looking good pal

and dont worry about the eyes i did what you have done and mine looks alright

 

Thanks for the reassurance.

 

I sanded the left eye last night and smoothed out the line on the right one and placed the untrimmed lens inside for a quick look, and yep it looked fine.

 

My next two challenges are cutting out the teeth and shaping the ear pieces.

[23vince23[TK]]

I just followed PandaTrooper's ATA build to the letter and everything worked out great...

 

Just like the others said, just sand down the plastic and make it even, other than that looks good, take your time

[maxsteele[TK]]

I just followed PandaTrooper's ATA build to the letter and everything worked out great...

 

Just like the others said, just sand down the plastic and make it even, other than that looks good, take your time

 

When you say to "sand down the plastic and make it even", are you saying to get the top of the left eye to match with the top of the right eye?  Or are you saying to sand the right eye so the entire top bridge is the same thickness?

[naatsirhc[TK]]

I would suggest you get your hands on a small file set. This will work great to do your finish work, plus you have more control of how much material you remove. You can then follow up with a fine sand paper to smooth the edges and debur.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I would suggest you get your hands on a small file set. This will work great to do your finish work, plus you have more control of how much material you remove. You can then follow up with a fine sand paper to smooth the edges and debur.

 

Thanks, I'll look for a set.  Do you have any suggestions on a particular set, or what size files I should get?

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, here we go.  I've put it off long enough.  It's time to start on the ears.

 

My workspace is ready.

 

 

 

 

Here is my first trace:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will I cut tonight?  That question is still unanswered....  How do the lines look?

Edited August 17, 2013 by maxsteele

[Echo[TK]]

Feels like too much on the lower part that goes around the bulge.. Might want to cut less and test fit before cutting that much.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Feels like too much on the lower part that goes around the bulge.. Might want to cut less and test fit before cutting that much.

Oh, yeah. I'm following pandatrooper's ATA build, which he drew the line there, but cut 1/4 inch below it on the bulge, but then cut on the line around the circular part.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I'd like to get some suggestions on how best to carve out the holes for the teeth.  I know about the Dremel sanding barrel option.  What other methods work well?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I started with a small dremmel tip then finished of with small files to get right into the corners. Take your time with the ears and trim a little at a time, the less you take off the more you have left to play with

[maxsteele[TK]]

I started with a small dremmel tip then finished of with small files to get right into the corners. Take your time with the ears and trim a little at a time, the less you take off the more you have left to play with

 

There are 1001 dremel 'tips' to choose from.  Could you link me to the type of tip you used please?

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I use this one for teeth and eyes, then get into the corners with either a square or triangle file

 

And this one for straight cuts and for most of my armor trimming

 

Edited August 16, 2013 by gmrhodes13

[maxsteele[TK]]

I use this one for teeth and eyes, then get into the corners with either a square or triangle file

 

 

 

 

Ah, ok.  I believe this one came in my set.  Did you use it as a drill to poke holes in the teeth area?  Or did you get a hole started in the teeth and then slide it left / right / up / down to make the hole bigger?

[maxsteele[TK]]

So, me and power tools don't really go together.  I received a tool with my lexan scissors, called a "Body Reamer" (yeah, I don't like the name of that either).   It looks like this:

It's the piece on the far left.  The description says it's used to "create and enlarge holes in ABS", which it certainly does well.  That small hole in my tooth seen in the first set of pics was created by this tool.

 

Could I simply make a hole like that, and then file it open and shape it?  I don't have a file yet, so I don't know how much material filing takes off.  I'm ok with spending a bit of extra time filing open the teeth if it avoids using a power tool.  

 

EDIT:

 

I've definitely been able to open the hole more with that tool.  I tried using a hobby knife to go in and carve out the opening more, but that tool is not cooperating with me.  I haven't slashed an irreparable cut in the mouth or anything, but I can feel it trying to!  I'm hoping I can just file away at the hole I have made and open it right up.  I need to figure out what type of file to get for that....

Edited August 16, 2013 by maxsteele

[maxsteele[TK]]

Alright, I'm going to step away from tools and cutting.  I used the reamer on a second tooth, and I feel like I cut too much off of the left side:

 

[bigtrev503]

Nah. You didn't cut too much. Cut the teeth from the back using an x-acto knife. I used a dremel for the rough shape and fine tuned it with the x acto but you can approach it however you want. I would make pencil marks on the inside and follow them

 

 

Halfway down the first page is a picture of my rough cut teeth

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/19562-trevors-tk-build-caution-question-heavy-ata/

 

 

Use these to figure out what your eyes should look like

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/image/2068-a-new-hope-stunt-helmet-eyes-01/

 

 

Use these to figure out what your teeth should look like

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/album/36-helmet-frown-a-new-hope-stunt/

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Ah, ok.  I believe this one came in my set.  Did you use it as a drill to poke holes in the teeth area?  Or did you get a hole started in the teeth and then slide it left / right / up / down to make the hole bigger?

Both as a drill and slide around

 

Looks a little much on the left but don't think you will notice it once all the rest are cut and painted

[maxsteele[TK]]

Both as a drill and slide around

 

Looks a little much on the left but don't think you will notice it once all the rest are cut and painted

 

Yep, I thought there was a bit too much taken off there.  I had used that tool from the back and twisted it in, boring a hole into it.  I think I'll just be able to file it up a bit once I have the other sides in the right shape and it won't be noticed.

 

I was also looking at those pics that trev posted, and I saw some pretty gaping holes on those teeth!  It made me feel better about mine.

[Punkers]

Looks ok just even them out some. Here again is the method I used:

 

I first used a dremel to punch two holes in the big teeth and one in the smaller ones. Then I used an exacto knife to cut out the remaining plastic with small scooping motions being careful not to cut out too much material. Then I used some needle files to sand down the interior edges and shape it.

[maxsteele[TK]]

I've seen people recommending using files to shape the interior edges.  Could someone link me to the type of files they recommend?  I'd like to pick up one (or a set), but I just don't know what to get.

[maxsteele[TK]]

Success!  I have learned how to carve out the teeth.  Special thanks to Punkers and LeMaxim!  I can simply pierce the tooth from the back with my reamer tool, then slowly carve little triangles out of the teeth looking from the front, and then clean it up as I go.  Slow and steady. 

 

 

 

The left tooth only has a tiny cavity now!  That'll clear up when I hit the edges with some sandpaper after I'm done carving.