kawnr Posted July 2, 2015 Author Report Posted July 2, 2015 What you have done so far looks really good. I'm about to put the sniper knee on, and noticed a big gap under the middle of it. I guess that gap is OK? I always thought it was flat to the armor on all three sides. You rounded off the snap plates a lot more than I did! I just trimmed off the corners with my curved lexan scissors, but left the rest of the edges straight. Not sure about the gap. But I think it looks good. The only requirement is that it lines up with the other lines on the calf. And yeah I did sand a lot. I really don't want anything snagging my undersuit. So i sanded the corners and the top so their all smooth. Quote
kawnr Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 Helmet time! Got my Plastidip and sprayed it up nicely. Word to the wise: Cut and sand your helmet before you spray with this stuff. It's a rubbery finished so any shavings you cut or sand off just stick straight to it. I made this mistake and now there's little pieces of plastic stuck everywhere! Nothing a dry T-shirt wont wipe away though. I was happy how my teeth came out. That right tiny tooth scared me. Almost cut too far and made it too big. Be careful with those dremels! I installed my lenses using this method. I wanted to go ahead and install some lenses. Ill definitely get some thicker ones in the near future. Thats the main reason I decided to use this install. Quote
kawnr Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 Then I started painting! This was probably my favorite part of the helmet so far. I just really liked painting it. I did this freehand with no tape. So I'll probably go back and touch it up with a toothpick. And now the ears! The right was so easy. The left ear was a pain. I also had to re-drill holes in the left side to straighten the brow. The pre-marked holes gave it a slightly crooked brow. Anyway I have a little bit more trimming on the right ear, but it's basically finished. 1 Quote
Kredal[TK] Posted July 6, 2015 Report Posted July 6, 2015 (edited) I put in the bubble lenses that came with the AM2 kit (for Hero purposes)... they radically alter what things look like outside the helmet. It's no wonder stormtroopers can't hit anything! I'll try taking a picture through the lenses to show what the world looks like from the inside. It would probably help if I had padding in the helmet so my head didn't wobble around so much. I'll get to that. (: Yours looks good so far! How are you planning on doing the painting? templates or decals? or just freehanding everything? *edit* ha, you posted the actual painting while I was typing this! Whoops. (: I just realized how much smaller the ATA ears are than the AM2, as well... I might end up with a full ATA bucket at some point. Edited July 6, 2015 by Kredal Quote
kawnr Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 Almost forgot! I also painted my ab buttons and trimmed up the shoulder straps. Just some easy stuff I could do while I was taking small breaks from the helmet. Partially trimmed: Measuring made easy! All done! Just need a bit of sanding. Quote
kawnr Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Posted July 6, 2015 I put in the bubble lenses that came with the AM2 kit (for Hero purposes)... they radically alter what things look like outside the helmet. It's no wonder stormtroopers can't hit anything! I'll try taking a picture through the lenses to show what the world looks like from the inside. It would probably help if I had padding in the helmet so my head didn't wobble around so much. I'll get to that. (: Yours looks good so far! How are you planning on doing the painting? templates or decals? or just freehanding everything? *edit* ha, you posted the actual painting while I was typing this! Whoops. (: I just realized how much smaller the ATA ears are than the AM2, as well... I might end up with a full ATA bucket at some point. I'm going to freehand the teeth and ears. I'll just use the decals for the tears and traps provided. They are modeled after hand painted ones so I'm pretty sure they're up to Centurion standards. About the ears: I've seen a couple of builds where they'll sand down all 4 bumps and add 3 bumps using modeling materials. It always ends up looking good after all the painting is finished. But to each their own. I've seen your build and your ears don't seem disproportional or anything. Quote
kawnr Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 More painting updates! Got the frown done and ears almost done today. Just have to touch up the ears and add a bar. Then Ill add the decals, S trim and mesh and BOOM I'll be done. My speed rivets also finally came in so I installed the thigh ammo pack as well. Quote
SeanTX Posted July 7, 2015 Report Posted July 7, 2015 Man I'm having a hell of a time with my ears. Are yours to permanently fixed that you couldn't take the left ear off and show where you drilled new holes? Quote
kawnr Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Posted July 7, 2015 Man I'm having a hell of a time with my ears. Are yours to permanently fixed that you couldn't take the left ear off and show where you drilled new holes? The new holes are below the original ones ~2mm and to the right ~1mm. Just far enough so the holes don't overlap. I'd take it off and show you but getting that bottom hole was quite the struggle. Really makes the helmet tight though. Quote
SeanTX Posted July 7, 2015 Report Posted July 7, 2015 Hmmm. Did you fill in the old holes? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk Quote
kawnr Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Posted July 8, 2015 Hmmm. Did you fill in the old holes? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Tapatalk Nope! They don't show so I didn't really see any reason to. Btw I only drilled new holes on the faceplate, not the back. Quote
kawnr Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Posted July 8, 2015 Finished my helmet last night! Also made my first mistake The area to install the mic tips is SO thin. I've been drilling all my holes with an exacto knife and when I placed the blade on the spot I wanted to drill the knife slipped right through! Be careful on those mic tip areas everyone! Anyway, here are the final pics of my bucket! Also I know the tube stripes aren't even, I fixed it after I took these pictures and forgot to take more. Quote
kawnr Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Posted July 8, 2015 Oh and another heads up to you AM 2.0 people out there. The decals that come with the kit are labeled LEFT and RIGHT. These are referring to the sides when you are LOOKING AT THE BUCKET. Pretty confusing if you ask me. My traps on the sides are on the wrong side. But you can't really notice unless you really look closely. 1 Quote
kawnr Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Posted July 28, 2015 Going to be updated again soon! Currently busy moving. Everythings pretty much done except snaps and strapping. Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted July 30, 2015 Report Posted July 30, 2015 I'm not sure if it's the kit or if you needed the extra room but you have a lot of ridge line exposed on the thighs. Quote
kawnr Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Posted August 5, 2015 I'm not sure if it's the kit or if you needed the extra room but you have a lot of ridge line exposed on the thighs. Can you explain? I'm not sure what you are referring to. Quote
Kredal[TK] Posted August 5, 2015 Report Posted August 5, 2015 The amount of raised edge that's in the front of the thigh, and not covered by the cover strip, between the lines in this picture. (and presumably on the other side of the cover strip) 1 Quote
kawnr Posted August 6, 2015 Author Report Posted August 6, 2015 Oh gotchya. Didn't even notice that when I was putting them together. I don't need the extra room, I just took more off the back. I kinda like the way it looks. I mean, theres no standard for how much ridge line is exposed is there? Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted August 6, 2015 Report Posted August 6, 2015 In theory you should cut equal parts or as close as possible off both sides. So for forearms as example, cut and leave 7mm on one ridgeline and 8mm on the other. Leaving exactly 15mm when butt joined and perfectly fitting a 15mm finishing strip on top. Quote
Kredal[TK] Posted August 6, 2015 Report Posted August 6, 2015 Here you can see how much ridge I have exposed on my thighs beyond the cover strip... This is probably about the most that should be there... (and some would probably say even I left too much exposed!) Quote
CRISTONAMO Posted August 6, 2015 Report Posted August 6, 2015 I think there is a standard for how much ridge could be shown. It kinda looks funky that way Quote
LoveMonkey[501st] Posted August 9, 2015 Report Posted August 9, 2015 Your build looks amazing. How much did you end up shortening your thighs? I'm starting mine and I think they will need to be shortened just a little bit. Quote
kawnr Posted November 3, 2015 Author Report Posted November 3, 2015 Hey guys. Sorry for the looooong absence. I started a new job and moved to a new house. So my armor sat in a box for a good two months before I was finally able to make time for it. I finished up almost everything. Here are the pictures from my first submission to my GML. Since then I've trimmed the thighs a bit more as well as the shoulder bells. Right out of the box the AM2 shoulders are pretty big for a guy my size. Anyway, I know not everything is perfect. The thighs have that ridge and I don't see how I can fix that. I trimmed way too much and they are already pretty tight. Maybe Ill be able to tackle that sometime in the future. Anyway. Its been so much fun. Here's to getting approved! Quote
Airborne Trooper[501st] Posted November 3, 2015 Report Posted November 3, 2015 Looks awesome! Might want to think about some foam if that sniper plate is catching the thigh. Quote
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