Joe.Gravelle's TD build [AM] [T/MC]

[TheDon[501st]]

So after about 5 years of being on the back burner I decided to go all in and build my TD armor. I was going to wait 11 months for ATA armor but read about AM's armor and an awesome fellow FL member messages me offering a set for sale. I took him up on the offer and now I'm the proud new owner of a big brown box.

 

Obligatory box photo.

 

I didn't take an boxing photo yet, I will soon. But what I've got is the following

 

AM armor V1( and off of it's stock items)

T/MC bucket ( and all stock items..it came with decals and such but I want to paint the details)

latex gloves

Latex hand guards

White belt (need to shorten it to fit)

Humbrol paint

Adhesives

ANH Hero ears ( probably won't need them since I'm doing stunt)

Accurate hovi mic tips

Garter belt

 

 

 

The plan is to build it for 501st approval and make it a generic TD. I know there are different levels I can build it to and certain TD's but this is my first one and I want to make it mine. I'll get a pack eventually. I already have DD's resin parts for a Hasbro blaster coming. Need under suit, boots, stuff for the inside of the bucket, and other odds and ends. I am going over pandatroopers build because I think we are the same build. I'm 5'10" and 145lbs so I think I need to do a little re shaping and trimming to the armor.

 

I'm attempting to sew my own neck seal currently, we will see how that goes.....

 

....sewing is hard...second try at a neck seal and the fabric keeps bunching up in the machine. I'm going to buy a neck seal.....

 

Anyways...stay tuned for more!

Edited April 20, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Woo-hoo, another dirty sandy! I'm building a sandy too! There is a ton of info here so read read read! if you haven't already, sign up on the forums at MEPD.net for all things sandtrooper. Good luck with the build!

[TheDon[501st]]

I decided to paint the inside of my helmet before assembling. I taped off the edges and used new soaker to cover the rest. I'm using a gloss black plastic spray enamel. It's worked well on other things I have done before. However, I should gave used the plasti dip I had sitting next to it. I'll spray one last coat in the morning so I can start assembling in the evening.

[TheDon[501st]]

I've trimmed most of the helmet, not sure if I need to follow the mold lines by the bottom of the rear portion or not.

 

My rear half top looks a bit odd

 

 

 

Before I get to riveting the sides together, how do I reshape this or will the brow trim sort it out?

[TheDon[501st]]

I guess I can leave it the way it is...it adds character?

[TheDon[501st]]

 

Eyes cut out.

 

The green lenses provided with the helmet dot really sit flat. I might need to heat them up when I glue them on so they retain their shape?

 

The frowns as hard to do, the soft pull made it hard, only 6 teeth. Were visible and I think I got a little too over zealous on the left big opening. Hopefully no one notices once I paint it.

 

 

 

Now to figure out the brow and start riveting it together. I think I'll trim the ears first before riveting.

 

 

Looked through the reference photos and liked the brow right at the eye lid, lids...

 

Hope it's ok, I don't feel like drilling out the rivets.

 

Edited April 25, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TheDon[501st]]

The screws that came with my ears are ridiculously short, they are outlet cover screws. And not long enough. My lowes doesn't have any flat head brass machine screws. They do have regular steel screws but all of the flat heads have a stupid phillips in it too.

 

 

Those short screws screwed me up on my ears. My helmet didn't come with a second set and I'm not very happy with them. I trimmed a lot of I think. I have a set of hero ears but I'm doing a stunt build.

I also should have just trimmed to the trim line on the rear helmet portion instead f leaving excess. Now that it's riveted together it's impossible to trim.

Anyone have a spare set of T/MC ears for sale?

 

 

Question, the bottom part of the ears looks odd to me, do I trim it flush with the bottom of the tube? I do need to adjust the right ear some more to close th gap and then I'll be good. They won't be perfectly flush , but hopefully good enough.

 

Tomorrow I paint!

Edited April 26, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TheDon[501st]]

Still talking to myself here....

 

Well the stupidly soft pull of the details of this helmet really suck for painting. The vocoder is terrible. The bucket came with a decal to put over it but that didn't really work out well and now I'm just going to let the paint dry and attempt to clean it up. Seriously..this sucks

[TrainWreck[501st]]

The beauty of going TD is you can cover some of those painting mistakes with weathering. I repainted so many parts of my helmet that you can see the different levels of paint if you look closely. But all in all after weathering it looks great (to me at least).

[TheDon[501st]]

How do I remove the black paint? I put it down and walked way because I was so frustrated and now the vocoder paint is dry and I have some paint that needs to be removed

[gazmosis[501st]]

I would think about taking a bit more out of the eye openings and massaging down that right eye bump

[TheDon[501st]]

What's the best way to take down that bump? I already put the lenses in with sugru. I kind of like the bump, it adds character. I just hope I can get this helmet looking decent enough for 501st approval.

 

I took all I could from the eye openings, went right to the mold lines. I guess I can remove the sugru and use plastic blocks to mount the eyes after trimming a bit more.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TheDon[501st]]

The beauty of going TD is you can cover some of those painting mistakes with weathering. I repainted so many parts of my helmet that you can see the different levels of paint if you look closely. But all in all after weathering it looks great (to me at least).

Is it ok to trim the bottom of the ears flush with the bottom of the tubes? My ears flare out a bit.

 

 

 

 

Also, hand painting is difficult! Good brushes do make a difference.

 

 

TK4510's videos on painting are great. I'm going to use some mineral spirits and remove the vocoder if tooth pick chipping won't do it. I hope I can use that method to clean up a lot of my helmet.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TrainWreck[501st]]

I actually went back and painted over mess ups with white enamel (instead of removing paint). That's how I achieved that "textured" look.

[chrskmbr]

I would consider signing up on the MPED site as well, that is the site that is meant for the TD's.   http://www.mepd.net/

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I'm still not finished with my helmet (mostly due to family obligations and little time). If you haven't riveted the bottom by the tubes yet, I would suggest you raising the brow a bit. TK troopers have low and flush brows, TD have it raised from a little to a lot. TrainWreck's for example. Also, definitely sign up at MEPD.net even if it's just for references as they are the all encompassing experts on sandtroopers. 

[TheDon[501st]]

I did rivet the bottom on but I need to remove the rivet and place it elsewhere. I'll raise it up a little

Bit. I do need to post on MEPD about my build, haven't gotten to it yet.

 

Painting over with white enamel sounds like a good idea,get that real screen used look. I already dropped it once on the concrete floor,weathering!!

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I know it's a PITA just drill a little at a time to not overheat the plastic. My bucket looks like Swiss cheese but luckily the ears cover it up. I've got a jar of ABS paste sitting for when I am completely done and need to patch things like this up. If you need more ears, hit up your Garrison's forums. FL has a ton of members so I'm sure there's members with extras laying around. 

[TheDon[501st]]

Repositioned the brow. It's TD now

 

 

So I think I'm goin to strip the paint off the details and just use decals. I have TD traps but the tear drops have lines so I need TD tears. I did clean up the vocoder and I'll clean it up some more. Same thing with the frown. That's cleaned up.

 

I used my heat gun to heat up the lenses and have them a little bit of a bend so hot glue can easily hold them now. Before the sugru had to fight the lenses.

 

At least I tried painting. Next helmet will be hand painted for sure.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

I would recommend not using decals. The reason being is when you weather you may want some scratches and imperfections in the paint that will be hard to do on a decal. 

[TheDon[501st]]

I'm going to go with them for now. I have spare decals I can experiment with to weather them and what not. I'll get creative.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TheDon[501st]]

 

Trimmed my shoulder bells an inch and gave them a return edge. I practiced with some scrap and did alright. I need to clean these up with the dremel and go over them with progressive grits of wet sanding and then a little polish. I think I did ok especially with the thick park on the bells.

[TheDon[501st]]

I had two cracks form on the bells return edge on the center portion where the raised bump is. I flattened it out with the iron and cut some thin strips of abs and used some gap filling CA to form a patch across the back so they don't flex.

 

I need to get a for sale sign so I have decent abs scraps to use. I need to figure out how everyone attaches the elastic that goes across the bottom of the shoulder bell. It looks like everyone just cuts a strip and uses E6000 to glue it to the elastic and to the bell.

 

I did sand the edge down with 80 to 1500 grit sandpaper and I will say that really makes a difference, cleans it up nice. I got some more sanding to do to make it nice, or not since it's going to be a sandy and I need some real battle damage/weathering.

 

This morning I also bought some of the last stuff I need. TK boots, Darman neck seal, ICOMM, and aker voice amp. Last thing I need is a pauldron and then I'll have everything.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[TheDon[501st]]

I've started on the biceps. I have one side trimmed and almost ready to glue. I'm going to use the trimmed off pieces to act as a shim for the back so it's easier to glue. Once I get the other side somewhat trimmed I'll post up pictures for you guys to tell me if I messed up.

 

I test fir them and even flexing my massive guns ( joke) it's good. I just want to make sure it will look correct when done.

 

Also, e6000 will be good for glueing up how I proposed?

 

Thanks

[chrskmbr]

Hey, just wanted to let you know somebody is following this post. That is the kind of glue I've seen in all of the other build threads though.