Reaper's ANH -Stunt- build, ATA (Hopefully to centurion level)

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So it took me awhile to finally get my build thread up but I finally figured it out thanks to some help from guys on here.

I am looking to build to centurion level from the start and so please point out anything you see that should be changed.

 

BBB Day. Took about 6 months to arrive. Sadly I was grossly unprepared to begin and quickly tried to gather up the rest of the tools and equipment I was missing.

 

I started out with doing almost all of the rough trimming simply following the rough lines from the pulls.

Then I began working on the arms as that was the part most people seemed to suggest to start since it is pretty straightforward.

I have reached a standstill right now with this since I do not currently have my under suit and don't want to do any fine trimming until I can size it to that.

 

So I moved on to the bucket. Which I almost immediately screwed up. I again followed the rough trim lines left from the pulls and now I have barely enough material to put it together. Thanks to my XL head. So I had to do a little finagling to get it to work. But I do think I have it now thanks to some advice from the wonderful people on this page. (Which seriously I would have never got this armor if it wasn't for this site)

 

So at this point I have trimmed out the eyes and teeth. I gently sanded the inside because I am going to plastidip it later. 

 

Now at this point I am wondering if anyone has any advice on placement for this. I haven't riveted it yet and want to know how this looks to the more experienced builder?

Front

And both sides

Please let me know if you notice anything that should be changed. I am trying to build to centurion level

Edited August 31, 2017 by REAPERofDAISYS

[Addertime[TK]]

Hey John! Congrats on the BBB!

Forearms are the best place to start. Be sure you use butt joints and cover strips. No overlapping bits. And as you fit your kit, make sure you can insert at least two fingers between your arms/legs and the plastic.

 

As for the helmet, there's a lot of trial and error involved. Mistakes happen but they are usually fixable. We always advise taking off small amounts of plastic when trimming because it comes off easily but it far less easy to add.  It's hard to tell from the angles you posted but it looks pretty good. The ears cover the crazy seams so don't sweat it. Use screws to hold the helmet gother as you work on the ears and don't rivet it until the end or you'll be drilling them out, I promise you. 


 

[Dracotrooper]

I found this post by Pandatrooper very helpful to understand the assembly process:

 

https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/14806-how-to-assembling-ata-abs-helmet-1/

 

Wish you all the best on your build!

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Little more progress. I've Plasti Dipped the inside of the helmet

 

And now I have put the first layer of black paint on. I used Testors #85 for the black

 

I did go back and take off the little part that got outside of where I wanted it, I used a Q-tip with a little bit of paint thinner.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looking great, John, and fantastic to hear that you are building with Centurion in mind!  Definitely a nice job on that Plasti Dip, and it was a wise idea to sand it down before applying it.  You could probably open up those teeth a bit more... below is a detail pic of a screen used ANH-S bucket.  Keep up the great work!! 

 

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So here I have applied the 3rd and final coat of black for the helmet. The 2nd Layer was good for the most part but a couple spots were not quite fully covered so I just went ahead and added another layer. Here is the only brush I have used so far. 

I found the ears were easier to paint with them off.

I'm not sure why but the Mic tips actually seem to be taking the most to get full opacity on. With 3 heavy layers I think they are finally full covered.
So Following JustJoseph63 advice I did open up the teeth more to be ore screen accurate. 

But I did run into one little problem. One of the teeth ran out of material on the side to give it depth.

So I added so extra ABS to the back and glued it in with E6000.

Simple enough and it did seem to turn out well.

After I let it sit for about 36 hours I sanded it down and it's like nothing ever happened.

The little bit of discoloration is from the glue and wont be an issue since obviously it will be painted.
Now I just need to clean up all the little burs from sanding so I can get started on the grey!

As always. Please let me know if there is anything you see that I need to fix or change to keep me on the right track.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So today I have started working on the lenses. I'm going to use a method I saw on another build thread (can't remember which one)
basically just going to cut out the lenses and use some of the extra ABS material to hold it in place.
Here I have cut the Plasti Dip to give the E6000 something better to hold to. I simply scored it with a utility blade and it pealed off with little effort.

These are the little "braces" I'm going to use to hold the lenses in place, I just sanded them lightly and used E6000 then clamed them for good measure.

And here are the lenses. Don't have to be very exact so I just cut them to have plenty of material so I can trim later if needed.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Coming along nicely, like the fix on the tooth, well done.

 

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Update on the lenses. So the left one seems to have taken with only E6000 holding down the braces. but the right one popped loose. 
So I have now used some JB Weld to hold down the top brace that didn't hold. 
Otherwise this it does seem like its going to work fine. More updates will follow as to how well this holds. But I do think this gets a tighter look without having a perfect cut in the eyes.
Also I painted the white braces and around the teeth where I didn't get any Plasti Dip. Just prefer the cleaner all black look.

Also started the Grey painting today. I used Testors 1138 Grey Gloss Enamel.
I went with a square tipped brush for the Traps and Back Dome.

I used a pointed fine tip brush for the Teeth and ears. 
I think the tops of the teeth are pretty good painted where they are. But I do think the bottoms need to go a little lower. 

There are a few little bubbles in the paint on the right ear you can see. If they don't dissipate with drying I will just use regular copy paper to lightly sand until they are smooth.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

I have completed the painting, it took 3 layers before I was happy with the coverage. The lines were pretty simple.

I just used some reference pictures to get the approximate size and number.

Then used a pencil to mark where I wanted the lines starting in the center.
Added tape for the traps to make the lines level easier. The tears I just penciled and then eyeballed.

For the Tube stripes I used the template provided by PandaTrooper. I used the "Ideal" one since I cut them out by hand it has the hand painted look.
I then taped the template over some clear craft adhesive (cheap stuff from Walmart) then used a sharp razor to cut it out.
Taped off the rest of the helmet and spray painted it using Humbrol French Blue. 

Worked well and the adhesive came off easy without letting the paint bleed.

So here she is, all completed for the most part. Little adjusting to do with the padding on the inside but otherwise ready to wear.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So I’m finally back at it after a few months off. Finishing up the forearms and getting the biceps wrapped up. I did my best to build the forearms to the centurion level.

[TheSwede[TK]]

Looking good, might be some material left on the left just under the cover strip (looking at the pic) but it can just be the angel of the photo and...welcome back

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

On 1/16/2018 at 2:53 AM, TheSwede said:

Looking good, might be some material left on the left just under the cover strip (looking at the pic) but it can just be the angel of the photo and...welcome back

There was a little material left, I hadn’t cleaned it up yet.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So I have a question on the back of the thigh for my build.
On the bottom the inside half does not bump out to match the outside. is this a problem at all?

On the front it isn't level at all. Lucky this is the right leg and will have the ammo cover over it so it wont be an issue when finished I believe.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by REAPERofDAISYS

[Timberwoof]

Instead of photos, I can only see gray No Entry signs, even when I try to open the images in a separate window. Do you have the permies set right? 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Broken for me too.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

1 hour ago, Harbinger said:

Broken for me too.

 

2 hours ago, Timberwoof said:

Instead of photos, I can only see gray No Entry signs, even when I try to open the images in a separate window. Do you have the permies set right? 

I changed the links are they showing up now?

[Timberwoof]

4 minutes ago, REAPERofDAISYS said:

 

I changed the links are they showing up now?

[Cricket[TK]]

15 hours ago, REAPERofDAISYS said:

So I have a question on the back of the thigh for my build.
On the bottom the inside half does not bump out to match the outside. is this a problem at all?

 

It shouldn't be an issue.  If it's really bugging you, you could always heat bend it to how you want (hot water bath should do the trick).

 

15 hours ago, REAPERofDAISYS said:

On the front it isn't level at all. Lucky this is the right leg and will have the ammo cover over it so it wont be an issue when finished I believe.

 

You assembled the right thigh correctly!  They say the reason why the ammo pack was put on the right thigh was to cover up how the halves don't join up neatly.  Same thing for the sniper knee on the left shin. 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Same with sniper knee - McQuarrie's art didn't have either.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

Awesome! I was starting to get worried that my kit was mismatched or something.

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So I am getting into the thighs now and I'm not happy with this mismatch on the bottom of the right thigh. So I am going to give the hot water bath a try. In the end I do think I will have to put a piece of ABS on the inside to help hold them level. 
I haven't tried the hot water bath on anything yet. So any advice as how hot it should be, like boiling or just hot from a faucet?

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

So I am working on my left thigh and this is the back. I’m just wondering if I should cut at a slight angle or go straight across?


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I have found sometimes a little more heat is needed and had to use a heat gun, not something you want to do without first practicing on some scraps.

 

I actually cut mine half straight and half on an angle just so it covered better, if straight there would have been a nice corner to dig in to me .

 

A few from the gallery section

 

   

[REAPERofDAISYS[TK]]

I have found sometimes a little more heat is needed and had to use a heat gun, not something you want to do without first practicing on some scraps.
 
I actually cut mine half straight and half on an angle just so it covered better, if straight there would have been a nice corner to dig in to me .
 
A few from the gallery section
 
   

Awesome that helps a lot!


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