Tatertrooper's ANH Stunt TM TD Build

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Hey everybody!  I got my TM armor today, and will be starting my build tomorrow!  

 

[pattrooper]

nice.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Thanks! Troopermaster's armor is something to marvel at. I have finished the rough trimming of the armor. My bucket is ready for assembly. I will post pictures tomorrow.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

I've been making some progress.  Does the length of my forearm armor look correct or do I need to trim it up some more?  I've already taken about a quarter of an inch off.

[troopermaster]

Worry about the length of your forearms after they have been assembled and strapped so you can get a feel of how much needs trimming off at the wrist end. If you feel they are already too long, try extending the trim line of the inner forearm curve at your elbow joint to allow the armour to move higher on your armour. That trim line is only a guide and you can extend the curve in 1/4" increments, but I wouldn't go more than 1/2" lower. Any further trimming should be done at the wrist.

 

Also, trim the return edges on the arms so there is small edge remaining. No need to have a large return edge on the arms or legs

Edited September 21, 2015 by troopermaster

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Thank you, Paul!  I'm a little slow in posting, since I've been working on gluing my pieces and my husband's armor came in over the weekend.  Lots of trimming again.  The second time around seems to go a little quicker, or maybe it's you are less scared about cutting the pieces.  Both helmets are together with the rivets, need to trim and attach the ears pieces.  

 

Gluing, and gluing, and gluing.

 

The black (before) are my husband's and the white (after) are mine.  Can't wait to get these "dirty"!

Progress on my husband's shoes.  Don't mind my hobbit feet slippers.

My dachshund, George is always making sure I have a spot to set things.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Tatertrooper

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Is your husband going sandy as well? Make sure you sign up for the MEPD.net forums if you haven't already done so!

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Is your husband going sandy as well? Make sure you sign up for the MEPD.net forums if you haven't already done so!

Yes, he is.  He is SUPER slow about signing up.  I need to nag him some more.  I need to start a build page on MEPD.net forum as well.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

I've been slow coming on this, now that my husband and I are working on two sets of armor.  I've got my bicep and forearm pieces glued, all of my torso pieces have been trimmed and sanded.  I had to do some trimming on the thighs since I'm only 5'7", and my legs are shorter compared to a man. I've been working on my neck seal, which I need to get pictures of.  Last weekend we cut a zillion pieces of abs and make them into the male snaps for the snap sets. I've been working on the ear pieces for both my bucket and my husband's.  He does the outline, I do the trimming.  Here are some pictures of my bucket.  Please feel free to give me some feedback.  I'm not sure if they need to be trimmed back a bit more or not.  

 

Front

 

Right Front

 

Right Side

 

Right Back

 

Back

 

Left Back

 

Left Side

 

Left Front

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Trim the ear curves just a bit, they look they are still on the thick side. The disc part looks good IMO

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Played around with the ears a little bit. Sorry for the huge image files.  My phone takes way too high res pictures.  First world problems.

 

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Since I have been using so much E6000 I decided to write a song to the tune of I love Paris in the Springtime by Ella Fitzgerald.

 

Every time I smell that familiar odor

Whether it is sunny or not

Whether sun strikes the sky or whether dark clouds loom by

More and more I do glue away

 

E6000 in the morning

E6000 in the evening

E6000 on my fingers really sticky

E6000 in my hair that’s really icky

 

E6000 every  weekday

Glue, glue, glue on the weekend

E6000

Why, oh why does it smell bad

I hope I don’t get high

 

E6000 in the morning

E6000 in the evening

E6000 on my fingers really sticky

E6000 in my hair that’s really icky

 

E6000 every  weekday

Glue, glue, glue on the weekend

E6000

Why, oh why does it smell bad

I hope I don’t get high

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

My craft room looks like a tornado of ABS and E6000 went through it.  Glue, glue, glue.  Paint, paint, paint.

 

I'm gluing the male snap sets on to my armor.  I had to add a little bit more ABS to the thighs after trimming, cause I have lady legs and a big butt.

 

Look we started painting the helmets, FINALLY!  The left one is mine, the other is my husband's.  I need to fix the black a little.  Found out from some research that a toothpick should do the work.  I'll let you all know how that goes.  FYI for those of you who have not bought your paint yet.  I'd recommend the Testors over the Humbrol.  The Humbrol is much thinner than the Testors brand, which makes it drip and bleed.  I bought the grey in the Testors, but they did not have the satin black nor the french blue.  I wanted to give my business to our local hobby shop instead of Amazon, so I opted to get the Humbrol for those colors. 

 

 

To be continued....

Edited October 12, 2015 by Tatertrooper

[troopermaster]

You need to give the Humbrol paint a good stir before using it. I only ever use Humbrol paint and never have any problems with it. I read people using two layers and it baffles me why? Once the paint has been stirred thoroughly, it is nice and thick and only one layer is needed. I have not had the privilege of using Testors paints before so I cannot give my opinion on it but I know Humbrol has worked well for me over the years. Just saying

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

The french blue is made by Model Master which is owned by Testors. Took me a while to find it in the local hobby shop because of this. 

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

The black thickened a little bit once stirred, but not the blue. It bled through the stencils really bad. I am going to see if I can maybe laminate the card stock I used for the stencils to see if that helps. If not I may order the Testors brand online or try to free hand the tube stripes.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Tatertrooper

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

Another tip it to paint white or clear using the stencil then using blue. It'll help from running. 

[Coastertk]

The black thickened a little bit once stirred, but not the blue. It bled through the stencils really bad. I am going to see if I can maybe laminate the card stock I used for the stencils to see if that helps. If not I may order the Testors brand online or try to free hand the tube stripes.

I used the stencil kit from Trooperbay for my tube stripes. They are adhesive backed decals. I've heard of some people painting a base coat of white over the stencil first, thus any paint bleed would be white. Then paint blue over that and remove the stencil.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Thanks for all the help, everyone.  I will try the white coat to see if that helps, since it does clean off pretty easily with the mineral spirits.  If not I might get the kit from Trooperbay.  The stencil I am using is the one Pandatrooper had posted.  I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Tatertrooper no more.  I decided to change my display name, but of course it won't let me fix the topic I started.  Thought I'd share these lovelies that came today from Hyperfirm!  The T-21 is mine, and the DLT-19 is Sandy Pimpernel (my husband's).  I will be working on making the stocks have a "wood grain" finish to them, adding the ribbing, the sight and figuring out greeblies.

[Airborne Trooper[501st]]

BEAUTIFUL!!!! If you haven't already, join MEPD and check the CRL. The 2015 CRL updates have just been legion approved and there's a few changes to the T-21 for the upper level requirements. Here's an awesome link for the sling: http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=4415&st=0

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Worked on plasti-dipping the helmet today.  First, taped it all off and used saran wrapped the outside, just in case.  Sandy Pimpernel did the actual spraying.

 

 

 

 

 

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Helmet is almost complete!  Have the stencils taped on, and put a layer of white as a base for the tube stripes.  I got the tip for doing a base from Mr. Sandman's thread. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/23204-tip-on-tube-stripe-painting-with-no-bleed-through/

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

Did the second painting of my tubes yesterday.  They look better than they did the first time around, but still bled.  I tried the white base coat, but am thinking maybe I need to coat the whole stencil instead of trying to stay in the stencil lines.  Darn my stubbornness.  I think I'll just try one side and not be nice and do my husband's while I'm at it.  Less to fix if it doesn't take again.  I'm thinking I might "laminate" the cardstock I've been using with some clear tape. IF that doesn't work I'm thinking I'll use the stencil to draw the stripes and paint that way. I did get some awesome news about some greeblies I'll be getting for my T-21!!  I might start painting the buttstock on that bad boy today, and finish my neck seal.

[Scarlet Trooper[501st]]

I gave up on the tube stripes letting Sandy Pimpernel take one for the team, and do those.  He did a fantastic job, and I didn't have to throw my helmet against the wall and possibly break it.  Check out his thread http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/33508-my-first-build-a-td-from-tm-story/ onhow he did the template from Pandatrooper's template. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/14867-tube-stripe-masking-templates/

 

I worked on painting the butt stocks of Sandy Pimpernel's DLT-19 and my T-21.  I put a double coat of matte black acrylic spray paint and used the same colors of acrylic we picked up for our weathering for the armor to make the wood grain effect. The colors were burnt umber and raw sienna by Basics.  I put a lighter base coat, then a darker top coat. 

The DLT-19:

 

My T-21:

 

When I see them together I think of You're My Best Friend by Queen

"Ooh you're the best friend that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
Oh you're my best friend"

Edited October 24, 2015 by Scarlet Trooper