Replacing The Mictip - Anovos First Order Stormtrooper Helmet

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

As many of you guys know, the 'standard line' version of the First Order stormtrooper helmet by Anovos has a weird looking mictip attached. It's pointed slightly downwards, it's strangely elongated when looking at it from the side, and it's missing details compared to the screen-used helmets.<br><br>

I think Anovos did a great job on this helmet, it looks cool and very accurate in most places. But the mictip area always bugged me. And I knew that if I ever was to buy it, something needed to be done.<br><br>

As soon as I got it, I began looking for how-tos and alternatives to the Anovos mictip. But I couldn't really find any threads here or anywhere.. just one where people were asking for help with the same problem.<br><br>

After a bit of research I went to Phoenix Props, who's making his own FO helmets. I asked if I could buy just the resin mictip from him, and fortunately it wasn't a problem. The next challenge would then be to prepare the helmet for the swap.<br><br>

The cavity in which the mictip resides, was a seperate piece - but I wasn't sure if it could be easily removed. To my luck Anovos hadn't used very much glue, so it came off quite easily. I brushed a tiny bit of acetone on the glue around the edge to dissolve it a bit. But I don't think it's necessary. It's also very risky bringing acetone near any plastic product, so I wouldn't recommend anyone doing so. Only if the cavity is completely impossible to remove otherwise.<br><br>

Next I removed the mictip from the cavity - it popped right off with a gentle push and a flat metal object to wiggle it loose.<br><br>

Now I just need to clean the cavity of glue and silver paint, sand and shape the new mictip to fit, and then paint and install it all.<br><br>

Hope it turns out good. Finger's crossed...

[bluefunoodle311[501st]]

Definitely interested to see more on this and how it looks finished up. I received one of the standard line helmets today and pretty happy with it but the mic tip is driving me nuts.

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

Finished the mic-tip replacement today! <br><br><br>

After PropShop announced their Finn helmet "replicas" and a few nice close-ups were shown, I found that the original Anovos mic-tip wasn't all that inaccurate - it just needed to be cut and sanded down a bit, besides from being placed in a different position of course. So the one I bought for this project won't be needed anyway.<br><br><br>

The paint on the mic-tip looked a bit plasticy and fake, and I considered doing a chroming of it and then weather it. But I tried weathering it first with a black enamel paint wash just to see how it'd look, and it actually made the thing look more real. So no need to repaint.<br><br>

I'm very satisfied with the look now. <br><br>

Now I'm just considering weathering the entire helmet to match the Jakku troopers look.

Edited July 4, 2016 by TheRealAnakin

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

Definitely interested to see more on this and how it looks finished up. I received one of the standard line helmets today and pretty happy with it but the mic tip is driving me nuts.

Congrats on getting the helmet!

And yeah, the helmet looked good in every other way, but the mic-tip area really bothered me.

But something can be done, and the good news are that you don't need a whole lot to correct it.

[JAFO[TK]]

Great work! I'm looking to replace my aerator with VaderPainter Studios aluminium version. When you popped the Anovos section do you push inward or outward?

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

Great work! I'm looking to replace my aerator with VaderPainter Studios aluminium version. When you popped the Anovos section do you push inward or outward?

Thanks

I was actually looking for an accurate one in metal for a while, but couldn't finde any, and had to settle for resin.

I haven't seen VaderPainter's version, and can't seem to find it - do you have a picture of it?..

 

Well, I was able to remove the cavity without too much trouble, thankfully it wasn't glued on too extreme.

I tried to dissolve the glue a bit first, but I'm actually not sure if it did anything or it was loose enough to pull off to begin with.

The aerator part was quite loose, I only had to push it gently from side to side to make it pop out of its socket.

 

There's a small flat piece inside the cavity part securing the aerator's (wrong) position from behind. I cut that piece off, and then I used acetone for removing the remaining and smoothen things out.

Be careful when using acetone on any plastic parts, it will melt the material very quickly!!

But you can actually use it at your advantage to remove unwanted parts, glue residue and paint.

 

I started with sanding the hole in the helmet to a more uniform and accurate look, then I sanded the cavity part to fit snugly against the hole and when it looked good I began preparing the aerator to be refitted. I filled the back of the aerator with putty and pushed it inside the cavity to make it conform to its shape, creating a larger surface to apply glue on.

 

And yeah, that's about it.

[JAFO[TK]]

Here are some pics for you...

 

[JAFO[TK]]

And here is a link...https://www.facebook.com/VaderPainter-Studios-104963979653289/

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

And here is a link...https://www.facebook.com/VaderPainter-Studios-104963979653289/

Thanks! And thanks for the pics!..

 

Well.. darn it, looks like I'll have to get a metal one now.. It looks so cool!..

[JAFO[TK]]

Sorry

[vettereddie[TK]]

Just got the vaderpainter in yesterday, were you able to pop the aerator out without removing the indent from the helmet? Not sure what the weird tab behind it is either.

[JAFO[TK]]

The weird tab was used to secure the aerator - along with a little CA glue I reckon.

 

I held the inside of the helmet (the piece where the aerator sits) then just gently twisted the aerator back and forth. It popped off easily after a few turns.

 

FYU, the screw supplied with the VPS aerator is not long enough to do the job. I just used some Apoxie Sculpt. I'm sure other welds would work as well. Just make sure you can use with ABS!

[vettereddie[TK]]

Not a problem, mine didn't come w/ a screw.

 

Thanks for the epoxy tip, JB Weld plasticweld epoxy putty worked great to hold the threaded posts to mount the lenses in the ANH helmet, should work well in the FO TK bucket.

[TheRealAnakin[TK]]

Finally got my metal aerator pieces today. Looks so much better now!  

I highly recommend this upgrade to every standard FO helmet buyer out there.

[fn32940[501st]]

I agree

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[buccaneer[TK]]

On 7/16/2016 at 1:06 AM, TheRealAnakin said:

Thanks

I was actually looking for an accurate one in metal for a while, but couldn't finde any, and had to settle for resin.

I haven't seen VaderPainter's version, and can't seem to find it - do you have a picture of it?..

 

Well, I was able to remove the cavity without too much trouble, thankfully it wasn't glued on too extreme.

I tried to dissolve the glue a bit first, but I'm actually not sure if it did anything or it was loose enough to pull off to begin with.

The aerator part was quite loose, I only had to push it gently from side to side to make it pop out of its socket.

 

There's a small flat piece inside the cavity part securing the aerator's (wrong) position from behind. I cut that piece off, and then I used acetone for removing the remaining and smoothen things out.

Be careful when using acetone on any plastic parts, it will melt the material very quickly!!

But you can actually use it at your advantage to remove unwanted parts, glue residue and paint.

 

I started with sanding the hole in the helmet to a more uniform and accurate look, then I sanded the cavity part to fit snugly against the hole and when it looked good I began preparing the aerator to be refitted. I filled the back of the aerator with putty and pushed it inside the cavity to make it conform to its shape, creating a larger surface to apply glue on.

 

And yeah, that's about it.

 

Thank you for sharing how to remove FOTK helmet  aerator