Emma's First ANH Stunt [WTF] - any help is appreciated!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

30 minutes ago, EmlanThane said:

Super useful, thank you!!

My pleasure, here is one on return edges which may also be helpful  

 

 

[EmlanThane]

Decided to tackle the ears...

 

 

Those familiar with this thread know that I gave up on the ears after spending hours on the right ear only to realize.... it was the left ear (I got it backward). Knowing which was which this time, I decided to tackle it again.

 

Here's the rough cut:

 

 

 

And here it is more refined- before I screw it in, is the gap still too much? I would love a thumbs up or down before I continue...

 

 

MAN the ears are challenging.... an hour of dremeling a little bit away at a time. I used a pencil to mark where the ear was making contact with the side of the helmet in order to determine where to shave away the plastic. Slowly I got a close (enough) fit.... thoughts?

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Emma

Nice start with the ears. You’re right - they can be a pain.

If I may, I’d consider lines more like the below;






What you have is probably okay for basic clearance, however, to my eye they are still a little thick (especially at the rear). :-)

[EmlanThane]

Thank you for the useful information CableGuy!

 

 

I thus continued dremeling away at the ears to get them a bit smoother and thinner- how did they come out? I ended up screwing them in too... I can always unscrew them but I felt pretty comfortable with where they were at.. hopefully they still aren't too thick?

 

 

 

 

Also began making some cover strips... measured marked and cut a 15mm strip from the spare plastic that comes in the WTF kit:

 

Dremeled the sides to 45 degree angles:

 

Applied E6000 with a popsicle stick:

 

 

 

And used clamps and magnets to cover the forward junction on one of the forearms!

 

Will do a little more later tonight... a little bit at a time... it's easy to feel overwhelmed.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Ears and cover strips looks great !    keep it up.  

 

just a Tip for cover strips :

 

Try as follows, 

1. Mark the 15mm 

2. Make a first cut with a cutter , (this is going to make a track) 

3. With hand or a plier just bend it .

4. sand it .

 

This is a fast, practical  way to make the cover strips.

 

Take a look to this screen captures from a RS Props video.

 

 

 

cheers  

Edited June 1, 2020 by TKSpartan
add photos

[EmlanThane]

Noted! I tried scoring and snapping earlier but 30 scores in the plastic was so thick I could still barely snap it off... I'll have to try again. My exacto knife came today so I thought a new sharp knife would help but it still proved to be challenging...

 

 

The WTF kit comes with butt and kidney joined together. I snipped that down the middle (not shown) and trimmed them up. However, because they were originally joined, there is no return edge on the bottom of the kidney or top of the butt that I will need for my bracket system. I will have to use heat to form a new return edge on each piece.... any resources on this process would be nice (I plan on doing a dive of the forums myself as well but if anyone knows anything offhand that's always super nice of course). Especially because even when I "fold over" the top of the butt/bottom of the kidney, there's still the dent out in the molds that will make the return edge not flat. Perhaps there is another way to do it- but I don't know what! I purchased the bracket system long ago, so that aspect won't be changing .

 

 

The good news is this shortens the butt and kidney when I fold part of it over to make a new return edge, making the back fit more friendly for someone who is 5'5".  Gotta think positive right?

 

 

My other question is what to do when the ab and kidney don't connect- they have to in the final build, so I know I have to do something with shims, but am struggling to find those resources on how to get it done. Again, any fingers pointed in the right direction are super useful.... this part of the build makes me nervous.

 

 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Emma, 

 

Well , with the cover strips perhaps your new knife help you to have a better result. 

 

May this post can help in the Kidney Return Edge issue

 

The following post may be useful for the Ab-Kidney Shims  take a look  .

 

Cheers 

[EmlanThane]

11 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi Emma, 
 
Well , with the cover strips perhaps your new knife help you to have a better result. 
 
May this post can help in the Kidney Return Edge issue
 
The following post may be useful for the Ab-Kidney Shims  take a look  .
 
Cheers 

Extremely useful resources!!! Thank you- I will make sure to use these when I come across these issues more.


 

Edited June 2, 2020 by EmlanThane

[CableGuy[TK]]

Thank you for the useful information CableGuy!
 
 
I thus continued dremeling away at the ears to get them a bit smoother and thinner- how did they come out? I ended up screwing them in too... I can always unscrew them but I felt pretty comfortable with where they were at.. hopefully they still aren't too thick?
 



 
 
 
Also began making some cover strips... measured marked and cut a 15mm strip from the spare plastic that comes in the WTF kit:

 
Dremeled the sides to 45 degree angles:

 
Applied E6000 with a popsicle stick:
 

 
 
And used clamps and magnets to cover the forward junction on one of the forearms!

 
Will do a little more later tonight... a little bit at a time... it's easy to feel overwhelmed.

Great job. :-)


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[EmlanThane]

Side note before I get to work today-

I understand that /generally/ the brow on ANH stunts sits higher than on heroes. Mine is low but that was the only configuration I could get the two halves of the bucket to fit together. How much of a problem is that?

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

4 hours ago, EmlanThane said:

I understand that /generally/ the brow on ANH stunts sits higher than on heroes. Mine is low but that was the only configuration I could get the two halves of the bucket to fit together. How much of a problem is that?

You've probably already seen Dan's excellent post on brow height, linked below. There were lots of inconsistencies even within the Hero and Stunt styles, so I do not believe the DOs really mind what type of brow height you have. I plan on going relatively low with mine, in fact. I like the menacing look. =)

 

 

[EmlanThane]

Alright..... right ear.... here we go....

 

As you can see the side is highly problematic- I was told that the ear would patch this gap but boy was it hard to push the two halves together to begin with let alone fit an ear over it...

 

 

 

I followed the same procedure as for the other ear- dremeled away the parts that touched the side as marked with a pencil, with a little extra pushing and squeezing while fitting because the two halves as you can see above do not fit together very well.

 

Fine here,

 

 

Fine here,

 

 

Oh gOsH What is THAT GAP??

 

 

 

BUT WAIT! I have a solution- I used a clamp and some E6000 to apply a bit of pressure.... I'm really hoping the glue will hold the gap together. The screws are in as tight as they can be, and I pulled the bottom of the ear down and in as much as possible trying to get it to pull the side tight but it still wasn't enough.

 

Let's pray E6000 is strong enough. I tried earlier with krazy glue and it wasn't enough but I know E6000 is a different type of more flexible long term glue, so we will have to wait and see. Cross your fingers everyone,  or else I may need to think of something else... I will have to re-screw the bottom screw too since it sort of popped out when I clamped the ear down (that makes sense though).

 

 

EDIT: after I remove the excess glue with some mineral spirits and a Q tip (that's how you do it right), I might go in with some abs paste just do fill in the remaining gap and cover the visible glue. Feeling a bit uncertain...

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by EmlanThane

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

It does look a little low, just slotting and slightly angling the two side screw holes behind the ears can allow you to tilt the faceplate a little which will move it down from the brow trim, that is an option, although it will change the gaps on the ears so could need some more tweaking.

 

[EmlanThane]

1 minute ago, gmrhodes13 said:

It does look a little low, just slotting and slightly angling the two side screw holes behind the ears can allow you to tilt the faceplate a little which will move it down from the brow trim, that is an option, although it will change the gaps on the ears so could need some more tweaking.

 

 

Is it absolutely necessary to adjust the brow? Especially for basic? Because I sort of just glued an ear to the problematic right side of the bucket in order to close a gap.. uh oh..

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

1 minute ago, EmlanThane said:

Is it absolutely necessary to adjust the brow? Especially for basic? Because I sort of just glued an ear to the problematic right side of the bucket in order to close a gap.. uh oh..

Check with your GML (garrison membership liaison) some are sticklers for the brow height, some not so much, it is their decision at the end of the day

[EmlanThane]

Check with your GML (garrison membership liaison) some are sticklers for the brow height, some not so much, it is their decision at the end of the day

I will open a page for the question on my local garrison forum. We will have to wait and see.... Thank you for your help!

[MaskedVengeance[Staff]]

Check with your GML (garrison membership liaison) some are sticklers for the brow height, some not so much, it is their decision at the end of the day

Yes, yes. To Glen you listen [...] save you it can...


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[CableGuy[TK]]

Alright..... right ear.... here we go....
 
As you can see the side is highly problematic- I was told that the ear would patch this gap but boy was it hard to push the two halves together to begin with let alone fit an ear over it...
 

 
 
I followed the same procedure as for the other ear- dremeled away the parts that touched the side as marked with a pencil, with a little extra pushing and squeezing while fitting because the two halves as you can see above do not fit together very well.
 
Fine here,

 
 
Fine here,
 

 
Oh gOsH What is THAT GAP??
 

 
 
BUT WAIT! I have a solution- I used a clamp and some E6000 to apply a bit of pressure.... I'm really hoping the glue will hold the gap together. The screws are in as tight as they can be, and I pulled the bottom of the ear down and in as much as possible trying to get it to pull the side tight but it still wasn't enough.

 
Let's pray E6000 is strong enough. I tried earlier with krazy glue and it wasn't enough but I know E6000 is a different type of more flexible long term glue, so we will have to wait and see. Cross your fingers everyone,  or else I may need to think of something else... I will have to re-screw the bottom screw too since it sort of popped out when I clamped the ear down (that makes sense though).
 
 
EDIT: after I remove the excess glue with some mineral spirits and a Q tip (that's how you do it right), I might go in with some abs paste just do fill in the remaining gap and cover the visible glue. Feeling a bit uncertain...
 

Hi Emma

You could consider trimming the ear some more, then sanding the inner curve for a smoother appearance. Approximation below;




Regarding using ABS paste around the ears, personally, I’d highly recommend against this. As above, the ears were not glued or bonded to the helmet - many from the movie had slight gaps, and that’s perfectly fine. In fact, it’s a part of their charm. :-)

[EmlanThane]

 Hi Emma

 

You could consider trimming the ear some more, then sanding the inner curve for a smoother appearance. Approximation below;

 

 

 

Regarding using ABS paste around the ears, personally, I’d highly recommend against this. As above, the ears were not glued or bonded to the helmet - many from the movie had slight gaps, and that’s perfectly fine. In fact, it’s a part of their charm. :-)

 

The problem is most of the gap is not from the ears fitting, it was because of the gap in the faceplate and back of the helmet that required extreme force to close. So I /could/ trim the ear some more, but I’m not sure that’s the root of the problem.  

I think if the glue doesn’t stick I’ll use mineral spirits to remove as much of it as I can and just keep the gap for now...

 

And if it Does stick I’ll clean it up to make it not visible, and I can always use mineral spirits later down the line to remove it completely.

 

Thank you for your advice! It definitely feels wrong to be gluing this part of the build...I sort of panicked and did what I thought was right. Sometimes it’s okay to be wrong!

 

Update: the glue did work, which is great but I’ll remove the visible portions with some mineral spirits and clean it up... Worst comes to worst I can still remove the rest of it later.

[EmlanThane]

Started on the eyes. I used some screws in putty sockets. The problem is, the eye lens doesn't lie flat. I only did one eye to see how it turns out once the glue holding the screw in putty cures. Is it acceptable for the eye lens to not bend with the face plate? I'm pretty short so there won't be that many people looking up at me... I tried to use a putty ridge at the top of the eye as a glue point but it turned into a mess.... currently removing the excess glue from the right ear as I type this (sort of... I'm not /that/ great at multitasking).

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by EmlanThane

[Cricket[TK]]

I'm agreeing with CableGuy here on the ear.  That right ear looks like it could stand to be trimmed down a bit more, especially on the round area (it looks a little on the thick side). 

It looks like the round parts of your ear are all trimmed flat.  Remember that for the round parts (the tops of the ears with the rank bars), they typically aren't trimmed flat across the back of the piece.  Often you'll see a 'step' carved out to make the ear fit flush on the face and cap/back.  This is due to the gap between the front and back halves of the helmet.  The front of the round part of the ear usually ends up thicker than the back of the round part of the ear.  Jeez, I hope I'm making sense here.  :p  

I also had an ear issue with my last build.  Turns out that I attached the face plate lower than I needed to, which threw the side tubes out of alignment. It was making getting the ears lined up extremely difficult due to the gap.  As a result, I had made my ears very thick in the front to cover the gap.  Once I realigned the face and cap/back by moving the face plate up, everything fell into place (no pun intended), and I was able to trim the ear and fit it properly.

Before and after pics:

[EmlanThane]

8 minutes ago, Cricket said:

I'm agreeing with CableGuy here on the ear.  That right ear looks like it could stand to be trimmed down a bit more, especially on the round area (it looks a little on the thick side). 

It looks like the round parts of your ear are all trimmed flat.  Remember that for the round parts (the tops of the ears with the rank bars), they typically aren't trimmed flat across the back of the piece.  Often you'll see a 'step' carved out to make the ear fit flush on the face and cap/back.  This is due to the gap between the front and back halves of the helmet.  The front of the round part of the ear usually ends up thicker than the back of the round part of the ear.  Jeez, I hope I'm making sense here.  :p  

I also had an ear issue with my last build.  Turns out that I attached the face plate lower than I needed to, which threw the side tubes out of alignment. It was making getting the ears lined up extremely difficult due to the gap.  As a result, I had made my ears very thick in the front to cover the gap.  Once I realigned the face and cap/back by moving the face plate up, everything fell into place (no pun intended), and I was able to trim the ear and fit it properly.

Before and after pics:

Alrighty- thank you! I unglued the ear and unscrewed it and am re-dremeling! Will follow your advice as best I can.

[Alay[TK]]

Great progress Emma!

I'm surprised the ab and kidney from WTF have that much of a gap between them.  Shimming can be a real pain in the neck, just take it slow and make sure to sand with 1000 grit to finish!

[EmlanThane]

Just now, Alay said:

Great progress Emma!

I'm surprised the ab and kidney from WTF have that much of a gap between them.  Shimming can be a real pain in the neck, just take it slow and make sure to sand with 1000 grit to finish!

Thanks! I'm trying

 

I know the WTF kit is notoriously skinny but don't be fooled- I've got a bit of a stomach myself, it's hard to tell from the photo 

[Cricket[TK]]

5 minutes ago, Alay said:

I'm surprised the ab and kidney from WTF have that much of a gap between them.  

The WTF kits are really, really small.  I didn't have to trim anything but flashing on the ab/kidney on the WTF kit I owned, and it fit with little space.  I'm just 5'4" and 110lbs, so not a big person at all.  

Contrast it with an RS kit- I can almost fit one of my kids inside while wearing it!

Edited June 3, 2020 by Cricket