First-timer AP Armor Build Thread

[usaeatt2]

I should have started this months ago, but I've been working on my armor on and off and skipping around quite a bit.

I figured I'd wait so I can post in an organized manner.

 

So here goes...  obligatory brown box picture:

 

I've seen this shot many times and it always reminds me of those old plastic "demolition derby cars" that break apart on impact.

 

I don't really have much experience with plastic stuff.  I'd much rather work with metal, but that might make for really heavy armor...

 

I don't know if this can be done successfully or not, but since I make everything else more complicated than it needs to be, I figured I'd modify my AP armor into a Hero version.  Original helmet picture right out of the box:

 

First step was getting rid of the extra teeth on the helmet.  Don't mind the pencil marks - those are initial lines I sketched out to make sure I didn't drill "outside the lines".  After some patience with a heat sealing tool:

 

 

 

Before I could start cutting, I wanted to paint the inside of the helmet parts satin black.  I read it was much better to paint the inside of the helmet before cutting any holes, as masking the holes would be really difficult.  Krylon Fusion satin black applied to the inside of both the faceplate and cap n' back:

 

Now, I could drill, cut and file out the eyes and teeth.  Since these photos, I've removed slightly more from each eye and all the teeth.

 

 

 

 

While removing more material from the teeth, I had my first disaster.  I actually filed through the ABS and hit the black paint on the interior.

 

To repair this, I filed away the paint in a large area behind the hole.  I figured I would back up the hole and fill it with ABS paste.

 

 

To make matters worse, I mixed ABS paste incorrectly and actually melted the area around the mistake.  What I ended up with was a crater above the tooth.  Much worse than the original mistake.  Unless I switch to ESB and remake the 4th tooth on each side, paint is NOT going to hide this:

 

Went back and reviewed the ABS paste tutorial again.  I mixed up another batch figuring I couldn't make this any worse and if I did, I would just order another helmet - maybe a TM Hero?  NAH, that would be too easy...

 

Sanded that down and applied another layer:

 

Sanded to the correct shape.

 

After polishing.  This is about as good as it's going to get.  Even though my mixing cup and ABS pieces were surgically clean, there's still a slight discoloration.  I think this may happen as the acetone dissolves.  I'll finish building this helmet for the experience, but ultimately, I'll likely end up buying that TM Hero helmet.  I'm hoping the paint and other details distract from this costly mistake...

 

Moving along to experimentation with bubble lenses.  Following the lead of others before me, I decided to go the route of the dark green faceshield.  I found this one for about $12 in a Grainger catalog.  I made paper templates, then laid out and traced 5 of each eye.  No telling how many will be ruined while experimenting...

 

Everything in place for the first test.  I found out, much to my surprise, that I was able to cut the eyes out of the faceshild with regular scissors.  The plastic is sort of "rubbery" and about 1.5mm thick.  This might work!  That's my grandma's oven from the 60's - still going strong.

 

Prior to boiling any lenses, I did a "dry run" with some spoons.  I had to bend the spoons to avoid interference with the sides of the faceplate.  At the top is a bubble lens making spoon.  Normal spoon at the bottom.  I tried both a teaspoon and a tablespoon.

 

Into the boiling water for about a minute.  I tried anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes - didn't seem to make any difference.

Just throw the lens in long enough to make the plastic soft.  I removed the first lens with tongs - which makes "tong marks" in the lens.

The next one, I just used a large table spoon to scoop the lens out.

 

Everything in the next step has to happen REALLY FAST, before the lens starts to cool.  Scoop the lens out, be careful not to scald yourself with any excess boiling water, grab the edges of the lens, properly position it inside the faceplate, grab a spoon, position it correctly, and apply pressure.  You have to be sure the EDGE of the spoon doesn't touch the plastic anywhere, or it will make a line in the lens.  I kept applying pressure while blowing on the lens to cool it.  Tip: DON'T scoop the lens out of the boiling water with the SAME spoon used to apply pressure or you WILL burn your fingertips.

 

Here's my first two attempts with the rest of the flat "blanks".  You can see the waste strips from the faceplate in the background.

 

After a couple tries, I developed a routine and the rest were easy.

I experimented with different spoons and varying degrees of pressure.

Now I've got a whole pile of lenses to choose from.  I've often heard bubble lenses "distort" your vision.  I can assure you, these lenses DON'T distort vision.  It's like wearing a pair of green sunglasses!  I kept a couple "flat" lenses in case I want to try something else later...

Edited July 13, 2014 by usaeatt2

[Tolo[TK]]

Wow, great job on hidding the 4th!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Impressive work as always Aaron (cause for the nice fix notwithstanding)! As Eric mentioned, that original 4th tooth on either side is completely erased.

 

I think your bubble lenses look pretty solid. Having both flat and bubble lensed helmets in my possession, I can mostly concur with you about the distortion. I see a definite "spot" mostly along the bottom of the sight line of the helmet which has a bit of distortion in it, but for the most part I can read things through the bubbles and everything. Not nearly as "crazy distorted" as I expected to encounter.

 

I'll be following along with your work!

Edited July 13, 2014 by Dark CMF

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

LoL.. Also, I just noticed that like me initially, and many others, you managed to post your build thread in the wrong spot.

 

I'm sure that a friendly staff member will assist with this in due time.

[usaeatt2]

Thanks Eric and Tim!  I'm going to need a lot of encouragement to finish this.  I'd rather build 10 more E-11's...plastic is an unearthly material!

 

Hmmm...I just discovered there's an ANH Build Thread area.  I didn't know that!  Sorry, administrators!

Edited July 13, 2014 by usaeatt2

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Haha! It is weird to have an assembly section AND a build threads. Assembly is probably for one off questions, build threads for a complete start to finish.

 

I saw your question a week or two back about your helmet. Was waiting or this thread and will be watching keenly. Join the club with the ABS paste discoloration. Luckily mine is in a less obvious area. Great job with the tooths. Good luck and try to enjoy this white plastic jigsaw.

[gazmosis[501st]]

Nice save with the tooth hole. Were you filing with a sawsall?

[usaeatt2]

Nice save with the tooth hole. Were you filing with a sawsall?

 

Pneumatic chisel.  Just got a little over-zealous... 

[gazmosis[501st]]

Ya think!? Hahahahahaha

[Snaps[TK]]

Awesome save with the tooth! Will be following with great interest!

[T-Jay[TK]]

Hey Aaron, don't worry about the tooth. If you later add some weathering to the helmet you could eventually cover (or conceal) that discoloration.

 

You did a good job so far - also on the bubble lenses! Haven't seen this before.

[usaeatt2]

Wow, 9 months since my last post...funny how "life" and other projects can sneak up on you...

Recently, I decided to make completion of my armor a priority, otherwise I might never finish.

I've commited myself to working on it whenever possible.

My "revised" goal is to achieve 501st membership, EIB and Centurion and maybe even troop it before Episode 7.

 

So here are a few shots of recent progress...

 

Helmet Ear Modifications:

 

"4 bars" sanded down to NO bars.  Hero time!

 

 

Bars area filled with Milliput Superfine White epoxy putty.

 

 

Sculpting completed.  Comparing the original 4 bar ear against the modified 3 bar ear.

 

 

Both ears done and taping up for primer (not required, but the primer helped me find and correct any imperfections).

 

 

Primer.

 

 

Painted.  Still needs rank stripe, but I had to research whether to paint the stripe semi-gloss or gloss (found out it should be gloss black - Thanks, Steve!).

 

 

After the ears were done, I completed the helmet exterior, with the exception of painting the ear screws and a possible tube stripe color re-do...

I painted the tube stripes Humbrol French Blue...

The paint probably wasn't completely dry when I discovered they should be Mediterranean Blue or a mixture of the two. 

I think the paint job looks good, but the color is probably going to bother me.  What do you think?

Beyond that, I have wicked plans for the helmet interior, but I don't want to spoil it until I have pictures to post.

I don't want to paint the ear screws until I've assembled the helmet for the last time.

 

 

 

 

 

With the helmet complete until other parts arrive, I moved onto the armor pieces I built back in March 2014.

I had to go digging through Photobucket to find original pictures...

I decided to start with finishing up modifications to the biceps.

 

AP biceps are copies of each other.  They appear to be an "idealized" sculpt.

Both biceps have a very light "thumbprint" impression.

I'm thinking AP only wanted to make ONE mold for both biceps and decided to add the thumbprint, but make it very light as a compromise.

This way the thumbprint is included on the left bicep, but it's not a deep impression since the same part is used for the right bicep.

From reading Dark CMF's build and looking at screen shots, I know the thumbprint should ONLY be on the left bicep.

In the screen shots, the impression is much deeper.  I wanted to correct my biceps.

This meant making a much deeper impression on the left bicep and removing the factory impression from the right bicep.

Break out the heat gun and a couple items from the kitchen...

 

One of my original biceps, as they arrived from AP:

 

 

Back in March 2014, I was messing around with "idealizing" the misalignment between the bicep halves.

I know correcting the misalignment is not screen accurate, but the top of the bicep will be mostly hidden by the shoulder bell.

The important part is, I'LL know it's fixed.  There also won't be any sharp edges poking me in the armpit... 

 

Pencil lines.  The bottom line is the intended cut line.  The rest are "extended" cut lines to allow alignment and a return edge.

 

 

Here's a great picture of the AP thumbprint.  It's pretty weak.  It kind of "suggests" the thumbprint impression.

 

 

Fast forward to today.  Biceps are done except for the outer cover strips.

"Idealized" alignment of the parts is complete, including slight return edges.

I removed the thumbprint from one of the biceps.

I used a heat gun, a measuring spoon and a baby spoon improve/deepen the thumbprint on the other bicep.

WARNING: DON'T try this unless you are EXTREMELY confident with your heat gun skills.

The potential for things to go horribly wrong is VERY high.

After the thumbprint modifications, I sanded lightly up to 2000 grit, then machine polished both biceps.

I'll probably want to do a complete fitting before adding the outer cover strips (just in case disassembly is required).

 

Clamshell alignment.

 

 

 

One factory thumbprint removed, the other deepened.

 

 

From a different angle.

 

 

Kitchen tools.  I can't believe I found a measuring spoon which was EXACTLY the right size for the thumbprint...

 

 

A couple more shots...  Improved/deepened thumbprint closeup (LEFT bicep).

 

 

Thumbprint completely removed (RIGHT bicep).

 

 

Next is digging out the rest of the armor.  I think I need to work on the abdomen before anything else.

Because I'm really short (5'4"), damn near every piece of armor will need extensive modification.

Since most of the other pieces fit in relation to the abdomen, I figure I should get the abdomen fitted, then go from there.

My plan is to "cut the cod", remove the necessary amount, then reattach the cod.

The modification will be hidden by the ammo belt.

Still haven't decided whether to reattach the cod with a "rigid" connection or with elastic to allow cod movement...

 

Please comment or ask questions.  Till the next update!  Aaron

Edited April 9, 2015 by usaeatt2

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Looking awesome Aaron! Those bubble lenses and ears are a work of art! Can't wait to see the armor completed!

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

If you're absolutely positive about cutting the cod, when it comes to its reattachment i'd say a rigid method would be for the best. When using a "soft" method, the cod might be pulled towards you by the crotch strap making an unwanted angle, and after some movements around it will most likely got stuck underneath you abdominal plate and you will suffer from the "bikini cod" syndrome. Also keep that syndrome in mind when you remove ABS from the top of the cod.

 

Very nice job on the thumbsprint!! It looks stellar.

[usaeatt2]

Looking awesome Aaron! Those bubble lenses and ears are a work of art! Can't wait to see the armor completed!

 

Thanks Brian!  Efforts are finally starting to pay off in the form of completed parts.  Closer to being a TK everyday!

 

If you're absolutely positive about cutting the cod, when it comes to its reattachment i'd say a rigid method would be for the best. When using a "soft" method, the cod might be pulled towards you by the crotch strap making an unwanted angle, and after some movements around it will most likely got stuck underneath you abdominal plate and you will suffer from the "bikini cod" syndrome. Also keep that syndrome in mind when you remove ABS from the top of the cod.

 

Very nice job on the thumbsprint!! It looks stellar.

 

LMAO, bikini cod?  Sounds like I might need some hair remover!

We get to say great things while describing our builds...I can't think of any other situation that would put those two words together in a phrase.

 

THANKS for the "stellar" compliment.  That's my word of choice when I REALLY like something.

It means A LOT coming from you, Germain, with your "otherworldly" powers of observation.

The risk of the modification was huge, but the reward is even higher!

 

I'm considering the following method for cod attachment (NOT my idea - thanks to whoever posted this!!!).

Elastic allows outward cod movement, but tabs glued to the back of the ab plate prevent inward movement and subsequent potential for LOL, "bikini cod".

 

 

 

 

What do you think?  Anybody know who came up with this idea?

 

Aaron

[Tusken RTT]

I like it!  Am debating making this change myself.  Give us a report if you go for it.  

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Yeah, i've seen it before. Credit for this goes to Darth Voorhees . However, with this method i don't know if the belt will be wide enough to hide all the cuts if the belt is set at the right height on the abdominal plate. But it definitely seems better than just "cutting it".

Edited April 9, 2015 by The5thHorseman

[PGHtrooper21]

I should have started this months ago, but I've been working on my armor on and off and skipping around quite a bit.

I figured I'd wait so I can post in an organized manner.

 

So here goes...  obligatory brown box picture:

 

I've seen this shot many times and it always reminds me of those old plastic "demolition derby cars" that break apart on impact.

 

I don't really have much experience with plastic stuff.  I'd much rather work with metal, but that might make for really heavy armor...

 

I don't know if this can be done successfully or not, but since I make everything else more complicated than it needs to be, I figured I'd modify my AP armor into a Hero version.  Original helmet picture right out of the box:

 

First step was getting rid of the extra teeth on the helmet.  Don't mind the pencil marks - those are initial lines I sketched out to make sure I didn't drill "outside the lines".  After some patience with a heat sealing tool:

 

 

 

Before I could start cutting, I wanted to paint the inside of the helmet parts satin black.  I read it was much better to paint the inside of the helmet before cutting any holes, as masking the holes would be really difficult.  Krylon Fusion satin black applied to the inside of both the faceplate and cap n' back:

 

Now, I could drill, cut and file out the eyes and teeth.  Since these photos, I've removed slightly more from each eye and all the teeth.

 

 

 

 

While removing more material from the teeth, I had my first disaster.  I actually filed through the ABS and hit the black paint on the interior.

 

To repair this, I filed away the paint in a large area behind the hole.  I figured I would back up the hole and fill it with ABS paste.

 

 

To make matters worse, I mixed ABS paste incorrectly and actually melted the area around the mistake.  What I ended up with was a crater above the tooth.  Much worse than the original mistake.  Unless I switch to ESB and remake the 4th tooth on each side, paint is NOT going to hide this:

 

Went back and reviewed the ABS paste tutorial again.  I mixed up another batch figuring I couldn't make this any worse and if I did, I would just order another helmet - maybe a TM Hero?  NAH, that would be too easy...

 

Sanded that down and applied another layer:

 

Sanded to the correct shape.

 

After polishing.  This is about as good as it's going to get.  Even though my mixing cup and ABS pieces were surgically clean, there's still a slight discoloration.  I think this may happen as the acetone dissolves.  I'll finish building this helmet for the experience, but ultimately, I'll likely end up buying that TM Hero helmet.  I'm hoping the paint and other details distract from this costly mistake...

 

Moving along to experimentation with bubble lenses.  Following the lead of others before me, I decided to go the route of the dark green faceshield.  I found this one for about $12 in a Grainger catalog.  I made paper templates, then laid out and traced 5 of each eye.  No telling how many will be ruined while experimenting...

 

Everything in place for the first test.  I found out, much to my surprise, that I was able to cut the eyes out of the faceshild with regular scissors.  The plastic is sort of "rubbery" and about 1.5mm thick.  This might work!  That's my grandma's oven from the 60's - still going strong.

 

Prior to boiling any lenses, I did a "dry run" with some spoons.  I had to bend the spoons to avoid interference with the sides of the faceplate.  At the top is a bubble lens making spoon.  Normal spoon at the bottom.  I tried both a teaspoon and a tablespoon.

 

Into the boiling water for about a minute.  I tried anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes - didn't seem to make any difference.

Just throw the lens in long enough to make the plastic soft.  I removed the first lens with tongs - which makes "tong marks" in the lens.

The next one, I just used a large table spoon to scoop the lens out.

 

Everything in the next step has to happen REALLY FAST, before the lens starts to cool.  Scoop the lens out, be careful not to scald yourself with any excess boiling water, grab the edges of the lens, properly position it inside the faceplate, grab a spoon, position it correctly, and apply pressure.  You have to be sure the EDGE of the spoon doesn't touch the plastic anywhere, or it will make a line in the lens.  I kept applying pressure while blowing on the lens to cool it.  Tip: DON'T scoop the lens out of the boiling water with the SAME spoon used to apply pressure or you WILL burn your fingertips.

 

Here's my first two attempts with the rest of the flat "blanks".  You can see the waste strips from the faceplate in the background.

 

After a couple tries, I developed a routine and the rest were easy.

I experimented with different spoons and varying degrees of pressure.

Now I've got a whole pile of lenses to choose from.  I've often heard bubble lenses "distort" your vision.  I can assure you, these lenses DON'T distort vision.  It's like wearing a pair of green sunglasses!  I kept a couple "flat" lenses in case I want to try something else later...

Nice Tip. This needs to be pined as a Tip!!!!

 

Andy

[PGHtrooper21]

Nice Tip on making Bubble Lenses!!!

This needs to be added to the Tip's and How To'S!

 

Andy

[SlyFox740[TK]]

Can you explain how you removed the extra teeth from either side of the helmet? I really wish you showed more photos of that process. One photo it's there and the next it's gone. Any info on this?