Look Sir, Droids! MTK Build - W.I.P.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Yes just the sanding dremel and sandpaper. I commented on that one ear. It looks good just sand up to those lines I indicated. I got one ear near perfect the second try. The other I did good the 3rd and best on the forth lol.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

If time and wife permits, I'll be paiting my bucket tonight.

[Comfy Turtle]

are you painting the inside black? i cant seem to find a proper guide for it, though i figure its just "masking tape all holes/edges and go nuts"

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Yeah I'll pick up a small can of plastic-dip paint and mask everything.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

My bucket is pretty much complete. I still need to glue in the hardhat liner and make an adjustment on the "Mike" tips to get the angels right. I wanted to share and get final overall approval before I glued in the mesh behind the teeth.

 

Here's my reference as you will notice there's a lot of "imperfections" that I did my best to mimic

A bunch more reference photos can be located here: http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=10005&hl=%2Bdavin+%2Bfelth+%2Breference

 

I originally cut too much out of the eyes so I used my sealing iron to pull down some of the edges to get some eye droop

 

Painting straight lines is a pain in the an impolite person by hand. I did my best, but even in the original, you can see some variations in the lines so I am overall not too worried. Also, after about 3 failed attempts painting the tube stripes, I gave up and used my decals that came with the kit. They look great and from what I can tell, there's 15 stripes on each side. I was worried that I may need to put scratches in some when it comes to the weathering portion but the reference shows them intact.

 

Small gap on the ear, but so what!?

 

Can't seem to find the thread on MEPD but that small little tooth is suppose to be there

 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Beautiful job Jason 

 

For added effect you may want to add some white paint to the front of your mic tips.Gives the illusion they're white on the inside like the movie bucket.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

   Great suggestion, I'll throw on a couple layers and use some sand paper to scuff up portions for weathering. 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

 sand paper to scuff up portions for weathering. 

 

AAAHHH!!! no, no sand paper. lol

 

You're going to laugh but use white glue or Aquanet hair spray (or similar) to dull out the areas, then weather that. Trust me, once you scuff up there's no going back. Try the glue or hairspray, if you don't like something you can wash it off and start over. Just a trick I learned with mt TD.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Ok, I can do that. I'll raid my daughter's arts and crafts kit. I'm sure she has some elmer's glue I could use. 

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Well, unfortunately what i can say is that your tubestripes are reversed. You used the stencil for the left cheek and the right cheek and vice versa. You see, the top of the first stripes are supposed to sligthly lean toward the front, but on your helmet it's the bottom that does that:

 

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Crap! Rookie mistake. I'll get another set ordered soon and just leave them on until those come in. 

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Need some advice on how much to trim off my thighs. I REALLY am too short to be a stormtrooper... sandtrooper. I have my thighs pulled up as high as possible and they come up even with my knees.

 

Sorry, I haven't shaved my legs in quite some time lol 

 

Left: 

 

Right:

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I would suggest using a hobby iron to align the edges first then trim the return edge as desired afterwards.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I guess what I mean to say is how high above the knee caps are the thighs suppose to end? This will determine how much I need to trim off the top of the thighs. I'll take care of the return edge and recreate the top ones with my sealing iron once I get the height part corrected. 

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

I doesn't seem that bad too me. Honestly, wait for your shins and torso armor to be assembled and then you'll be able to find out if you need to trim your thighs or not. Don't forget that you can notch the back of the thighs and shins to ease your walk, it might be enough in your case:

Edited May 26, 2015 by The5thHorseman

[ukswrath[Staff]]

I'm assuming you have them pulled them up as far as they can go. There's not a whole lot you can trim off the bottom and still leave them looking accurate however, the tops you can trim quite a bit.

 

With that said I would encourage you to finish the cover strips and return edge trimming on your thighs and calves and then test fit it as an assembly with your boots on prior to making any major trim adjustments. Post new pics. This will give us a better idea of how your legs look, overall fit and suggestions we may have to remedy your situation, if needed. 

 

Edit: Yea what Germain said also haha

Edited May 26, 2015 by ukswrath

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

And this is why I ask first before making cuts! I'll do the finishing strips using E6000 instead of zap a gap tonight and start calves.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

So I've been cutting and trimming away and decided to work on the kidney and cod pieces. Realized it's a little too tight for comfort so I put some big shims on that I plan on adjusting after they are all joined completely. 

 

CA glued back support and the shim piece

 

I started off putting my abs paste with a popsicle stick and it was kind of rough, used a paint brush on later layers with better results and less sanding

 

After a lot of sanding with 100 grit this is the progress

 

I got it all smoothed out and used some 800 grit wet sandpaper to get rid of the scratches but decided to paint another layer of abs paste on. It's drying until tonight where I'll sand it and wet sand it again. I'll add a picture of the final result. I'm really surprised how strong it is turning out to be and lesson learned: use a brush to apply it on as smooth as possible. This will save several minutes of sanding! I spent about 1 hour or so sanding one side. 

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I smoothed it out the best I could put there are still a few little pockets. There's a distinct ridge but if I sanded it down further it would eventually expose the joint and leave it prone to cracking unfortunately. I'm on the fence if I should paint it white or not. The color isn't too far off since it came from the same abs my kit is made from. I'm going sandy so it may not be a big issue. Thoughts and suggestions? 

 

[LoveMonkey[501st]]

As someone who will soon be starting a TD build soon, I appreciate your effort.  It is nice to see what other people are doing!

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Thank you. My Summer I term just ended so I had to bust my butt writing essays all weekend and I haven't got a chance to do much. I was able to sand, apply another coat of ABS paste, sand and shine and I feel that it's where I want it at. I was able to drill my holes for the 6 rivets, and cod snap. My son just flew in last night and I'm going to see if he would like to help me with my build tonight. 

 

The one thing I can't find is the specific location for the right internal snap. The reference photos I've looked at appear to be between 10 and 20mm from the top and side edge. I'm using Tandy Line 24 snaps so if anyone can chime in before I drill my pilot hole I would appreciate it!

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Nevermind, looked at Tony's new thread and went with 20mm from edge and top. Now I need to buy a set kit because my dritz pliers doesn't work very well or can't reach parts of the armor.  

[Tusken RTT]

I would keep sanding that seam on your shims;  The seam might start to show a bit when you get it super smooth, but then a light dusting of paint along the line will hide it perfectly!  

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Thanks, Scott. I have it fairly smooth  now and the paint I bought is a lot darker so instead I did a very light abs layer and sanded it smooth. There's still a little ridge but no where near as noticeable. My weathering and my belt will basically cover any imperfections at the end. 

[AnjelRedemption[TK]]

Hey Jason!

 

Looking good on the build.

 

To answer your question about the thighs...i'm short as well. (5'8) and i had to trim the thighs to make walking a little easier.

 

I would say get the shins done first to see if they will rub together/hinder each other.

 

But if you do need to trim, just mark the shap of the thigh all the way around the top w/ some thin strips of tape and cut. I didn't worry about a return edge on mine, just for comfort sake.

 

You can check out my thread to see what i mean.

 

keep up the good work!