T/MC bucket questions

[TheDon[501st]]

Could someone with a Tray Nichols TK helmet possibly post some pictures of it before assembly and after. I bought a set of un assembled armor, AM body and T/MC helmet. The helmet looks good but my main concern is the frown. The middle 3 teeth are clearly defined but the 4th on each side are hard to notice. Not too concerned, I'm not going for Centurion, just a sand trooper is all.

 

I think I answered my own question with this thread

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/16270-anh-frown-reference-pix/

 

Looks like some stunt helmets had just 3 cut out on each side.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[87ninefiveone]

I'm finishing up a T/MC bucket in ESB style now, don't have a pic readily available, but the fourth tooth on each side wasn't too bad to pick out on the one I have. I think the T/MC kits are made from 0.090" ABS though which is why they have a bit less detail. I can post up a pic tomorrow if you still need it.

 

 

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[TheDon[501st]]

Please do. I'm doing ANH stunt. I also need to figure out if the lenses that I have for it are the correct type for sand trooper and or where everyone gets their green lenses.

[87ninefiveone]

The T/MC bucket should have come with a piece of green acetate that can be used for the lenses. For my lenses I made a paper pattern by tracing the opening then added about a quarter inch all around. I then put the lens over the pattern, made some dots with a non-permanent market and cut two lenses to fit. Mine are just hot glued into place, a single blob on the inside and one each on the top and bottom outside corners. The other option you have is to go the screen used route. Purchase a dark green acetate safety face shield (about $10), cut about a 2-3" wide strip and mount it under tension by drilling a few holes in the face shield which will drop onto the screw posts leftover from bucket assembly. Both options are fine as long as the lenses are flat. Don't worry about having a slight opening between the lenses and mask as it will provide a bit of extra ventilation and is screen accurate.

 

On to the requested photos. ATA bucket is for comparison purposes and painted in ANH style, T/MC kit is partially finished and ESB.

 

 

[87ninefiveone]

Also, feel free to shoot me any questions you have with the T/MC bucket or kit. I finished mine for Haloween last year and am still tweaking before I apply in the next few weeks. Tray is also super helpful so don't hesitate to ask questions.

[TheDon[501st]]

Do your microphone tips sit flush in the mask? Mine came with some rather short screws and they aren't long enough with how they currently sit.

 

Frown concerns

[87ninefiveone]

On the frown, it looks like you got a slightly softer pull than I did. Although not well defined, I was able to make out the fourth area on each side from the inside and outside. On yours the last one on the mask's right isn't even really there. Maybe you really wanted to make a Hero or ESB helmet? If I were you I would start cutting the teeth out from the front side and skip the dremel sanding method from the rear. This is actually how I did my helmet and it works fine. I started with some small pilot holes and used an exacto to cut out the majority of the material and then moved on to filing and filling and filling some more for the final work.

 

Unless I'm wrong the mic tips shouldn't be flush. My ATA helmet tips stick out about 3/8-1/2" from the recessed area, The only part they sit flush with is the drooping lobes to the left and right of the vocoder when viewed from the top down. Dry fitting the T/MC ones shows the same behavior. Also note that the tips won't sit nicely in the recessed area (forget about symmetry, it ain't going to happen).

[TheDon[501st]]

I want to do ANH....some of the stunt lids show 3 teeth cut out.This helmet will work for basic entry but level 2 requires 4 teeth on each side.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[Garbz[TK]]

I have a MCT kit...

Push in the mic area so the screw can fit...

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photo updated gmrhodes13 2021

[87ninefiveone]

If you do what aaron suggested make sure you add some fender washers to spread out the load so your screws don't get pulled through the plastic.

[TheDon[501st]]

I was going to do that as well as add a small dab of E6000 onto the back of the mic tips to hold them onto the plastic, unless that's not needed.

 

My lexan cutting scissors didn't show up today...amazon says tomorrow.......

[87ninefiveone]

E6000 probably isn't needed.

[osbjdawg[TK]]

Here's my T/mc lid.  Must of got a better pull on it. My thickness is at 0.080. 

[TheDon[501st]]

Yeah....this one isn't as clean as that. I'll get an ATA helmet in the future to replace the one that came with the armor I bought.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Joe.Gravelle

[87ninefiveone]

FWIW my ATA helmet is a much softer pull than the T/MC. There's very little definition of the traps and mid helmet ridge on the back part of the helmet. The ATA is also noticeably yellow-ish compared to T/MC stuff. Faceplate pull and the build kit Terrell gives is top notch though.

 

 

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[Nicky]

I also have the T/MC, softer details than Jeremy's. The definition of the last teeth didn't really bother me. They'll just be holes and once you drilled, filed into a rectangle and painted, it doesn't matter where the bumps/cravices were exactly.

 

 

On 7/29/2012 at 7:52 PM, Nicky said:

 

[TheDon[501st]]

I feel like I royally screwed up my frown now. My teeth have no depth like yours.

 

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From far away it looks decent....I just want to appease the 501st approval people.

 

Excuse the crappy paint job. I have no detail to work with and will use more tape. The tooth pick scraping method has been useful. I should have drilled into the frown first instead of sanding from the back. If I square off the rest of the teeth and use a tiny drill bit for the last two teeth with a small file I can probably make it work. My neighbor has an RS set I can measure off from to get an idea of tooth location.

 

I'm very upset now looking at all of your T/MC helmets.

 

Tomorrow my hobby iron comes in. I can use it to bring the eye bump down a little not really sure how much more I should trim from the eye sockets.

Edited March 6, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed not working

[87ninefiveone]

Hi Joe, I think you've got a good start so far. I wouldn't worry about the depth of the teeth so much, between having a softer pull and thick ABS like the T/MC has it would be hard to retain a lot of the depth and still get the right shape anyways. Here's what I would do to clean it up for approval.

 

1. ANH Stunt helmets must have eight total teeth cut out. Some movie used helmets did have three per side, and some had five per side, but the current CRL states four per side for approval. http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TK_anh_stunt

2. You're teeth need squaring up a bit. The holes should be rectangular, not ovoid in shape. If you're in the US you can pick up a set of needle files from someplace like harbor freight for about $5-8. Use the needle files to come in from the front of the mask rather than the back and file the corners with the square shaped file until you've got a more rectangular shape. Here's the set I got http://www.harborfreight.com/needle-file-set-10-pc-69876.html

3. In order to clean up the paint job skip the masking and go free hand. I can't recall seeing a single thread where someone used masking tape and actually had it turn out decently without a lot of clean up work. Instead, go to a hobby store and pick up a good detailing brush. A proper brush in this case with be long and skinny and have bristles which are at least 1/2" in length which come to a fine point. It sounds counter intuitive but the longer bristles actually give you more control and lead to a smoother line. Something like this http://www.hobbylinc.com/tamiya-high-finish-pointed-paint-brush-ultra-fine-synthetic-87048. This brush will also come in handy when painting the vocoder and trying to get straight lines and nice curves.

4. If you're going for stunt don't worry about the right eye bulge. This is normal and perfectly acceptable (and probably not a good area to test out your new iron on).

 

Good luck and keep posting questions. There's a ton of people here to help.

Edited May 1, 2015 by 87ninefiveone

[TheDon[501st]]

I have needle files. I'll square them off.

 

I'm goig to do the 4th tooth on each side carefully this week.

 

I did free hand the frown.

[TheDon[501st]]

Well I drilled the 4th holes on each side. I looked at the ANH stunt reference photos and did notice a slight dip on either side of my frown and measured and marked. I can't go any bigger so hopefully this will do.

 

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I'll let the paint dry for a day before cleaning up the edges. I didn't use the smallest detail brush I had in the left side point.

 

I also touched up my vocoder. That's honestly as good as I can get it. I'll let the paint cure, chip away any extra and hopefully call it good.

Edited January 12, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[Nicky]

It doesn't look too bad.

 

There's a thickness to the ABS, that thickness gives you room to make the corners and depth. If you zoom in on mine you'll see how I worked it. It wasn't easy, or quick, I had to put on a tv show.

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Edited January 12, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[87ninefiveone]

Any final shots of your bucket yet?

[TheDon[501st]]

waiting for my decals to finish it off and potentially new ears but I might just roll with what I have for now. The left ears lower screw hole lines up directly with the rivet I used to join the two helmet halves so I need to drill that out so I can just use the screw to hold it all together at that spot. That and glue the lenses in and the frown mesh.