Ear gap, any tips or scrap

[Ryth_[501st]]

So the ear were a perfect fit, until I felt I had to trim it more....  bad move.

Now there's a sick gap, and I'm close to scrapping it.

 

Any tips for trimming to save this is much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Looks ok to me. None of the original helmet had great fitting ears. I would leave as but others may be more pernickety than I am..

[Snaps[TK]]

How does it look from a short distance?

[Ryth_[501st]]

In front it's somehow ok, since it's covered a bit by the cheek. But it shows more in the back.

Left side is quite okay!

 

 

[LoveMonkey[501st]]

Some of the screen shots that I've seen from the movies has a gap on the sides. Looks okay to me

 

 

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[Ryth_[501st]]

Thanks guys. I'll leave this to rest and keep on painting. 

[Snaps[TK]]

Looks fine

[Polar]

I almost got divorced due to trying to get my ears tighter lol 

[hon143]

If you really want a perfect fit with minimal gap, you can also carefully heat up the ear with a heat gun and bend it slightly downward. Then, you can trim the bottom portion of the ears more to close the gap. <br><br>

Also, you can use kitchen/bathroom sealant to fill the gaps too.

Edited September 8, 2015 by hon143

[Dday[501st]]

If you really want a perfect fit with minimal gap, you can also carefully heat up the ear with a heat gun and bend it slightly downward. Then, you can trim the bottom portion of the ears more to close the gap. <br><br>

Also, you can use kitchen/bathroom sealant to fill the gaps too.

 

If you use a heat gun, be ready to scrap the entire thing and buy a new kit. When using a heat guy you go from ok to destroyed in the span of a few seconds if you're not careful. I would not suggest a heat gun on the face to any except the most advanced builders, and even then with caution.

 

 

Thanks guys. I'll leave this to rest and keep on painting. 

 

Agreed. The gaps are pretty decent. You can minimize them more by fine tuning the opposite side and the top caps, but you don't need to. Gaps are really accurate.

[hon143]

If you use a heat gun, be ready to scrap the entire thing and buy a new kit. When using a heat guy you go from ok to destroyed in the span of a few seconds if you're not careful. I would not suggest a heat gun on the face to any except the most advanced builders, and even then with caution.

 

 

 

Agreed. The gaps are pretty decent. You can minimize them more by fine tuning the opposite side and the top caps, but you don't need to. Gaps are really accurate.

 

Hence, I stated to be careful.  You can use a heat gun as mentioned on other threads when it comes to manipulating the armor.  But, you have to be be very careful.  It only takes a few second under the heat gun for the ABS to soften up.  

 

I used a heat gun on several pieces, including the ears, with my TK build.  And, I didn't destroy any pieces.  I didn't have experience with TK builds prior either.

Edited September 8, 2015 by hon143

[gazmosis[501st]]

If you are still interested in getting rid of the gap, there are adjustments that can be made but I feel it won't close it completely. 

Where the gaps are located, the only thing that will move the entire ear closer to the helmet surface is to remove material from the round portion. If you are not careful, you could end up with a poker chip for an ear cover.  

You could trim back a little from the round portion being careful not to go lower into the gap at the top of the cheek on both the front and back sides. Don;t touch the gap on the back at all but on the front, you could take just a touch off the bottom of the curve. This will suck the ear in closer when you tighten the screw. The other thing that people often do is to drill the angle of the bottom screw too steeply upwards. If you do this, you are actually compressing the curve of the ear CREATING a gap. Drill this in a more downward movement so when the bottom screw is tightened, it pulls the ear curve downward