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

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Yes, exactly what Jim said.

Currently what you have is known as "twinkied" teeth for the frown, which is ok if it is your preference, but if you are going for screen accuracy then they need to be squared off (like Jim showed above)

[EmlanThane]

Actually, I WAS going for Twinkie teeth! I guess that's the name for it. I was using reference photos that indicated that I should round the edges. Nonetheless I think I will still shave some more off the top and bottom of each tooth to make it seem just a little more square.

[illusionz_09[TK]]

Actually, I WAS going for Twinkie teeth! I guess that's the name for it. I was using reference photos that indicated that I should round the edges. Nonetheless I think I will still shave some more off the top and bottom of each tooth to make it seem just a little more square.

lol. its up to your preference.

but like was said before, an X-acto knife with a small file gets the job done really easily.

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

He, he,....Twinkie teeth....

 

There are dozens of different reference photos to use if you like that one go with it. I used the "Dave M" helmet referenced here: http://bit.ly/StarWarsHelmets_ANHstunt but there is also a ton of great photos in the reference section on FISD.

 

Enjoying the build, keep it up!!

 

 

Jim - TK50899

[EmlanThane]

Today there were some small victories.

 

First, I re-trimmed the cap following some trim lines that I got a thumbs up from on my other thread. The top should be much straighter now, and since the brow is higher, I can bring the faceplate up.

 

 

Here's the front. I think, facing the cap, the left is sagging a little bit and can be trimmed just a tiny bit higher. From here on out I might not even use scissors- just sandpaper for a more even effect.

 

And here's the sides. I think I am going to paint the pieces separately so that I can paint all of the front traps before the rubber brow goes on.

 

Notice I trimmed the bottom around the back of the cap- there was still some excess there that was throwing off its shape and making it hard to see how everything would fit.

 

Still slightly crooked. Argh.

 

I also re-holepunched the corners to prevent tearing! I heard it was super duper important!

 

Lastly I went and cleaned up the teeth a little more. Now they are a square/twinkie hybrid. I think. The outer teeth also run on the wider side of things. I hope that's okay, too. 

 

How do I paint the ends of the frown? I've seen some people taper it right after the 4th tooth on each side. Others extend is past the dimple that could almost be a tiny 5th tooth. Others extend is past the dimple but don't paint the dimple so that there's a tiny white gap. If I'm going for Centurion, which one is the best? Do you know what I'm referring to? If not I can try to find pictures.

 

How much flashing should I leave around the eyes? As you can see they are mostly trimmed but tomorrow I am going to finish up the teeth and eyes and don't want to overtrim.

 

 

A little progress, but I'm feeling a lot better about the helmet. We shall see...

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

 

Here's how I did my frown. I used a liner brush. Gets a nice point on the ends that way. Hope this helps get you started.

 

 

Jim M.

[EmlanThane]

I am painting, pictures of it later! Important question: If I use rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip, do you think I can remove slight paint smudges without damaging the plastic? Or do I need full on paint thinner. Using masking tape created a tiny disaster with the back traps that I am painting so the black outline looks super yucky.... 

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

I am painting, pictures of it later! Important question: If I use rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip, do you think I can remove slight paint smudges without damaging the plastic? Or do I need full on paint thinner. Using masking tape created a tiny disaster with the back traps that I am painting so the black outline looks super yucky....

Use mineral spirits, it is safe to use on plastics. I only used tape when making my tube stripes. Everything else was free handed, that's why a good liner brush is key.

 

 

 

Jim - TK50899

Edited August 7, 2016 by MoSc0ut

[EmlanThane]

I am about to go to the hardware store again, lol. Thanks for the very helpful tip!

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

If you have the Testors paint thinner it is also safe for plastics as it is made by a company that specializes in plastic models.

 

 

Jim - TK50899

[EmlanThane]

If you have the Testors paint thinner it is also safe for plastics as it is made by a company that specializes in plastic models.

Jim - TK50899

Thanks for the tip, but no worries! ! I grabbed mineral spirits and it's working great. The second coat of paint goes on tomorrow thank you for helping me so much!!!!

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I was dreading doing the tube stripes in case I had bleed. I didn't realise how easy it would be to clean the paint up that had bled out. I don't know why I was so worried!

[MoSc0ut[TK]]

I was dreading doing the tube stripes in case I had bleed. I didn't realise how easy it would be to clean the paint up that had bled out. I don't know why I was so worried!

It's super easy. Just remember with Humbrol paint, for some reason it has some elasticity to it and if you pull the tape up before it dries completely it can be all stringy. As those little strings let loose from the tape they muck up the paint job too!

 

 

Jim M.

[illusionz_09[TK]]

It's super easy. Just remember with Humbrol paint, for some reason it has some elasticity to it and if you pull the tape up before it dries completely it can be all stringy. As those little strings let loose from the tape they muck up the paint job too!

 

 

Jim M.

exactly.

you have to find a nice balance to it, but allow for dry time.

[EmlanThane]

Day two of painting is done! Finished lining for back traps, all teeth and vocoder. The annoying part is there's a bit of texture to some parts where I went in with Q-tips and mineral spirits and some of the cotton strands stuck. It's not a huge deal though, I don't think. At one point the mineral spirits didn't lift all of the paint out, so there is a little smudge in the back but it's not THAT noticeable. Most helmets are perfectly white anyway...I'm hoping Novus Polish can take out all the scratches from when I was sanding- I'm starting to notice where my hand slipped and made a mark. Again, not super noticeable, but meeehhhhhh. uploading photos take awhile, so no photos today <br><br><br>

I gave up on tape, at least for the second coat- it was easier to trace what I had freehand, even if my hands aren't super stable. Maybe tomorrow when I do the next part I can try tape again. I did notice that the humbrol is an unusual consistency, though. Plus, my hands have been covered in black and gray for two days now. Darn oil paint <br>

Also, can mineral spirits remove paint that's already dried? When I used it today it seemed to only take off the still-wet coat, and not the one that had dried from yesterday.<br><br><br><br>

Painting is slightly more relaxing because you can't OVERTRIM when painting, hehe<br><br>

Yes I know this is very long but it makes up for the lack of pictures today. Yay reading lots of text!

Edited August 9, 2016 by EmlanThane

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I used white spirit when dealing with any paint I wanted to remove. I found that even for a small area that I worked on needed lots of Q-tips. I used one dipped in spirit to loosen the paint, and then several dry ones to remove it, as once the paint was lifted onto the Q-tip, I needed a new otherwise that would just smear the paint from the tip across the plastic. This method didn't leave any strands. It also worked for removing the humbrol paint that had dried. This worked for me, but I think others will have their own method.

 

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

[Troopacoola[TK]]

I used white spirit when dealing with any paint I wanted to remove. I found that even for a small area that I worked on needed lots of Q-tips. I used one dipped in spirit to loosen the paint, and then several dry ones to remove it, as once the paint was lifted onto the Q-tip, I needed a new otherwise that would just smear the paint from the tip across the plastic. This method didn't leave any strands. It also worked for removing the humbrol paint that had dried. This worked for me, but I think others will have their own method.

 

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

[EmlanThane]

Okay, painting update #1! Hand painting is hard considering I have slightly shaky hands, but I'm managing. I'm doing a little bit per day, two coats of everything. 

 

First, I finish trimming up the eyes and removing all the uneven excess flashing. I  wash both the cap and back and the faceplate in the sink to get rid of all of the dust, since hopefully I won't be sanding too much more on the face!

 

Squeaky clean!

 

Now I bust out the Humbrol and some new brushes. I use thin square and line brushes to go over the teeth. I put the tape there to prevent major slips, but since I wasn't painting up to the tape anyway all it ended up doing was getting in the way. 

 

You can see the newly-trimmed eyes, but you can also see where the paint is leaking under the tape, creating helmet disaster #2. Did I mention the paint on the vocoder started dripping too when I propped it up to dry? No? Well it did. Ahhhhhh!

 

I was silly and used tape for the back traps lining after seeing how it ruined the teeth. It messed up the left one big time, and the right one too. I dropped the tape after that. You can see all the smudges. I remember that water doesn't remove oil paint. Darn.

 

Huge thanks to MoSc0ut for telling me to get mineral spirits. I ran to the store to grab some and cleaned it up.

 

 

 

(Fixed teeth and vocoder not shone.. but they were fixed!)

 

Day two, I did the second coat on the vocoder, teeth and back trap lining. Like I said, Q-tip cotton strands got stuck in the paint. Now the painted areas have some texture lol. The occasional light paint smudge that the mineral spirits couldn't lift out adds to the "character" of the helmet. The mineral spirits don't remove dry paint for me- or maybe I'm not rubbing it hard enough. Plus once the paint smudge gets to thin it won't lift out at all. So I tell myself that it enhances the look. *Cries on the inside*

 

Day three, I line the tears and fill in the grey for the back traps.

You can kind of see the fixed teeth. Are they okay? Notice Smudge Exhibit A on the chin. How bad is it? It won't come off!

 

 

The back traps already made a cameo in the above picture, but here they are after the first coat. Are the black lines too thick? I think they could be a little thinner.

 

Let's play Find the Smudge. Can you find the smudge below the left back trap? Free air guitar if you can!

 

 

When people show tutorials, they make things like trimming and painting seem so easy. Lies! Well, at least for me 

[SpiceCredits]

You've got some good people in here helping you out! You're definitely in good hands.

You could go a little thinner on the black lines, yes. Not a whole lot though… Maybe enough to where you've lessened it by almost a quarter of what it is now. I had them too thick in the beginning too.  

This was draft 1 (similar to yours):
 

 

And this is after I tightened them up:



Some of those paint smudges can be a pain to get rid of. I had a few...in some places, I still can see them, but really they're not noticeable. I had to just spend some time with paint thinner and elbow grease to get them pretty transparent. It's boring and a huge pain, but they'll thin out slowly. 

Maybe even wet-sanding could help remove the smudges?

Also, if you have a Hobby Lobby close, they have these things in the model section of the store—where the Testors paint is. They're like Q-Tips, but made for removing paint on models. They come in a cellophane package (about 30) and have sharp tips for details. They came in REALLY handy for me. Especially if you're planning to paint your tube stripes. I tried to find a link for you, but I can't recall the name to save my life. They also won't leave fibers in your paint.

You can see them in the bottom-right of this photo.

Edited August 11, 2016 by SpiceCredits

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Yeah, maybe go a little thinner.

I used a sharpie to do my outlines. Im on meds at the minute that make my hands shake pretty badly. Also a nail polshing block may help you take off any smudges and then buff it back upto a shine. I used one for filling a hole with paste, and you can only see the repair if you know its there.

See the pic below. Hope this helps

Marc

 

[Troopacoola[TK]]

Yeah, maybe go a little thinner.

I used a sharpie to do my outlines. Im on meds at the minute that make my hands shake pretty badly. Also a nail polshing block may help you take off any smudges and then buff it back upto a shine. I used one for filling a hole with paste, and you can only see the repair if you know its there.

See the pic below. Hope this helps

Marc

 

[Troopacoola[TK]]

And here are my "sharpie" outlines

 

 

 

 

Marc

Edited August 11, 2016 by CTID

[EmlanThane]

Thank you for all of your help! I don't think I would have the guts to use sharpie, lol, but yours came out very well! And whatever those magical paint remover things are, they look way better than Q-tips. 

 

Here are the finished teeth and vocoder that I did not include last time. You can see a few scratches and smudges. I am hoping the novus polish can take care of the scratches, but is there anything to remove pencil marks? Erasing isn't cutting it.

 

I did not leave any white gap where the teeth taper towards the end, as I have seen some people do. I hope this is ok. 

 

 

You can see the top of the vocoder, but here's the bottom that is barely visible when you actually where the helmet, but I thought I'd show it anyway.

 

You can also see that it's not completely even. Not even mineral spirits could clear this up, since the leaking during the drying process was very bad. Good thing trooper buckets aren't symmetrical....!

 

Spoilers! The finished back traps are in the background, but here's a picture showing the second coat of gray paint where I thinned out the black outline a tiny bit more.

 

The right trap was the first layer, where the lines were too thick. I think the left trap looks much better. I did the right the same afterward.

 

I also outlined the tears twice and then did the first coat of gray last night, making the black lines thinner right off the bat. How do they look? I am pretty happy with these.

 

I've also outlined the front traps. Pretty unexciting, so here's just one side. It is way easier to do this before I put the brow on. I will add the gray soon.

 

This is very exciting. A few more days of painting and then it's assembly time. 

 

Should I install the eye lens before I put the pieces together? I've seen it done so many different ways, how do I know which is best? If I am going for comfort and neatness, and also minimal to no gap between the lens and the plastic, what's my best bet? Screws? Putty? Velcro? Glue? Slots? Two individual lenses? One screen? Too many decisions!

 

More painting updates coming soon!

[Troopacoola[TK]]

If you are installing individual lenses then I found it was easier to do this on the faceplate prior to final assembly. As for the sharpie, its easier than painting ! I used the ridges as a template and just worked along the edges. You could always mask off the outside to protect the rest of the lid. I ended up going over the black with grey to tighten up the black lines.

 

Heres a link of my build if you want to install individual lenses

 

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?/topic/38021-CTID's-RWA-ANH-Stunt-WIP......-501st-Here-we-go!

 

Hope this helps

 

Marc

[EmlanThane]

Update time! Progress on the thermal detonator and finishing up face painting.

 

First... The TD!

 

WTF supplies you with an untrimmed PVC pipe of the proper outer diameter. First, I had to cut it to "approximately 7.5"" according to the CRL. So After marking it up with a pencil I took it outside, clamped it against the stairs (the only solid flat surface I could find) and sawed off both sides with a brand new hack saw blade to the appropriate length.

 

Leaving the outer diameter as is, the end caps won't fit on the PVC pipe at all. So I took a dremel to the ends to sand down the OD. I also shortened the length a little bit more since the end caps made the TD longer than permitted. It didn't matter that it was a little uneven because the end caps hide that, too.

 

By the end of the process I was COATED in dust. I thought I would take a picture of my dust-coated arms. Also a reminder to wear proper PPE- gloves, mask, gloves, etc. You'll see why in a minute 

 

I did a first test fitting with the end caps jammed on as hard as I could. I pushed them in a little too much because the TD went under-length. I won't push them in as hard for the final fit, but at least I can get them over the tube.

 

Like my ruler?

 

There is another reason why I should not have pushed them in so hard. It was RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT to pry them off! I ended up using a paint can opener to try to wedge them off, but, of course, this was the one moment when I was NOT wearing gloves. The tool slid past the end cap and onto the knuckle of my other ungloved hand.

 

 

The first bloodshed of the build. I washed and cleaned it, but not before capturing the ceremonious moment with a photo.

 

 

I used the Humbrol Admiralty Grey #5 and a larger brush to coat the PVC pipe. This was the first coat. The second looks the same. The surface seems so bumpy even though I washed it before painting. I tried sanding the bumps down before the second coat of paint but it still looks the same. Does anyone know how to get rid of weird bubbles/dust bumps? I'll try to get a better picture of what the surface looks like soon.

 

 

Sneak peak   This makes me happy. End caps aren't pushed on all the way yet (it looks longer here because it is) so I don't get a repeat accident. The TD clips are coming in from Etsy (Catch22 Studios) and then I can start assembly. Yay!  

 

However, the TD plate seems crooked. It was one of the first things I trimmed, so I am not surprised. If I apply force to it I can straighten it out, but then I am better off using instant-cure glue instead of E6000 and clamps to get the plate to sit straight. What do you think?

 

 

And now, helmet painting!

 

Doing the stripes on the traps was quite a challenge. I used tape to line the tops and bottoms and hand-painted 12 black stripes, attempting to angle them properly. I spaced them using approximate ruler measurements. 

 

Making them perfectly straight was hard, considering my slightly shaky hands. I think they came out ok.

In fact, I'm pretty surprised.

The left side was a little messier to I cleaned it up (not shown). The tape had peeled up some of the grey paint so I had to repaint that. Only the first coat is on in the above picture. I bet you can tell.  I panicked and didn't think to take a picture of that before I painted it 

 

 

 

 

Front traps were straightforward. Here's one. The other looks the same (although the base of the trap doesn't spread out as wide, if that makes sense. The black outlines here are thinner than the ones in the back. I'm not sure how important that is).

 

For the tears, I mostly eyeballed it. I used a pencil to space out 7 stripes. You can see the faint dots I made.

 

Following some reference photos, I finished it up. The right side looks the same (not shown).

 

Looking back on it, I'm mad that these outlines aren't perfect. How big a deal is it? Will it pass? 

 

 

Also, the eyes are scratched up. I tried using novus polish to clean it up, but it didn't work. Maybe I will watch some visual tutorials and try again.

 

My Centurion assembly kit, mic tips, remaining paint templates for ab plate buttons and tube stripes and frown screen came in from Trooperbay.

 

I also have a neck seal and holster on their way from Darman's Props!

 

And that's it for now Thanks for reading and potentially answering my questions   

Edited September 1, 2016 by EmlanThane