Bullseye’s DA Props ANH Stunt TK Build - NOW WITH PHOTOS!

[Bullseye[TK]]

Well.... I showed up here looking for information on building my own E11 from scratch. Then I started reading up on all the different providers, templates, costumes, and support from the community here.  Now I’m building my very own ANH Stunt TK on top of my E11 build. Funny how this place just sucks you right in to the vortex, isn’t it.

 

Now, on to the build. I haven’t quite figured out how to “host” photos yet so bare with me. Once I do, I’ll be uploading photos soon. I tried to break it down in stages for those who haven’t done one before and also for the amusement of those who have. Allow me to serve as a clueless guide into trooper building for those who haven’t done this before, and as a cringeworthy reminder of early follies to those who have. 

 

1) IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! - My BBB showed up al the way from DA Props in the UK last Friday afternoon while I was at work. All productivity ceased once my wife sent me a text that it arrived. Receiving that text was as close as I will ever come to being 8 years old again. I knew what had arrived, hell, I’d ordered it myself. But I was still a giddy mess. The only thing I can think of that comes close is a very clear memory of my birthday when I was about 8, and receiving the Tron lightcycle. It was blue. It was plastic. It was awesome. That feeling was back. 

 

2) The initial assessment - I’m new to this so I didn’t really know what to expect. Good lord, there’s a lot of stuff in that box. After looking through everything I decided to start with the helmet.

 

 

As an aside, and I had to be told this by the good people on this board and the amazing members of the UK Garrison, white non-capped abs is not gleaming white. It is more of an eggshell. But in daylight it gleams. In photos it looks brilliant white. Do not, under any circumstances, evaluate the color of your armor and helmet at night, in your garage, under fluorescent lighting.  That’s just stupid. And it will mess with you until the good people on this wonderful board politely and patiently tell you you’re being a moron. Not that it happened to me.... I’m just saying.... for a friend. 

 

3) Booze - Years ago I ran an American college football website dedicated to college football and beer. But in reality, our drink focus was anything tasty with a bit of bite. This carries over to my various projects ‘round the home. Beer, wine, and (in particular) whiskey are moderately consumed companions during my episodes of physical or mechanical labor. So it will be here. I did not have the opportunity to really begin work on the build until Sunday night after my boys were asleep. My wife and I opened a 2013 bottle of Giugal Cote du Rhône. The post-dinner remainder joined me on my first evening of the build. Let’s just say at $11US a bottle it’s a steal and a frequent visitor to our happy home. Twas delicious. 

 

4) Bucket Time/Getting Started - Assessing and “easy” starting point I grabbed the back end of the bucket with the intention of trimming the brow and the ear and trap areas.  I began trimming the brow of the bucket using my aviation snips that I purchased from Home Depot. I can’t put into words how clumbsy and awkward it felt. Unless you have very, very good (and relatively small) curved Lexan scissors, don’t bother. My snips were the smallest I could find a three different stores (and we’re basically an inch longer than my 4 year old’s school scissors), and I couldn’t get any flexibility in my cutting. The straight, hard edge of the scissors made it damn near impossible to cut or follow any kind of curve. I quickly ditched the scissors and grabbed the Dremel. 

 

I used the standard comes-with-the-box plastic cutting circular blade. You can certainly use a fancier (or smaller) blade, but this worked for me. I will say be sure you’re confident in your control of the Dremel before cutting. I’ve used mine on some woodworking projects before and feel pretty confident in my abilities. But even then, I nicked a spot here and there. So be careful. But if you are, it’s so much faster and easier than snipping. 

 

Marking my lines with with a pencil I followed the natural indentations of the mold. With that marked, I put the Dremel to work. I also went back over the spots where I’d mucked up my cutting with my scissors. I was happy with the results. 

 

 

 

5) The Face Plate - if you’ve seen Ross Wambley (RWA) or Andy Rodgers (DA Props - Shed of Glittering Delights) videos on lid assembly you know that you take approximately 10mm off the ends of the face plate sides. Grabbing my metric ruler and a pencil, I marked that off and began cutting. Both sides came out fairly clean. I also used the Dremel to finish the front side of the brow of the bucket and clean up the nicks there from the uneven cutting. Again, on first glance everything looked good. 

 

 

I then went to the eyes. Again, following the indentations on the mold I pencil marked the lines for cutting, then went to work with the Dremel. This is why I mention being sure of your Dremel control. Cutting from the inside with a Dremel 3000 can be a little difficult as the size of the Dremel is just a hair larger than you’d like. I got stuck just a bit on the side of the lid and tried to power through it. 

 

Bad idea jeans. 

 

The result was taking a bit more off the inside of the left eye than I planned. Nothing catastrophic but enough to get me to slow down a bit. Completing the cutting of the eyes, I exchanged the cutting blade for a small barrel sanding drum and began to clean up the cut marks and even out any overzealous buzzsawing. With that complete I put down the Dremel and picked up Bertha, my trusty DeWalt power drill.

 

Popping in the third smallest bit I have (3/32 inch I believe) I drilled a single hole into each of the teeth gaps in order to give my sander a little more purchase. Flipping the face plate to the inside, I used the Dremel’s Barrel sander to hollow out the teeth gaps, making use of the freshly drilled holes do get it going. Once i’d eyeballed enough off the gaps, I flipped the mask and used the Dremel on the inside of the mask while looking at it through the teeth gaps. This allow me to see the external visual effect of the sanding and judge how much more needed to be done. Satisfied I’d gotten the teeth to a sufficient depth, I put down the mask and left the fine filing for later. 

 

 

6) Grape Job, Dumbass - Feeling confident that I’d followed the videos and build threads appropriately, it was now time to put the bucket together. Grabbing the rare earth magnets I’d purchased off of Amazon I clinked the face plate to the bucket and eyeballed the fit. Having seen the various builds, I wanted a moderately low brow on the helmet. A little white over the eyes, but not pulled down right over the eyes like a baseball cap. Humming along I thunked magnets to the ear sides and looked at my work. A slight problem emerged. 

 

Looking at both sides, the mask cheeks were not reaching the bucket sides. There was a 2-5mm gap between the cheeks and the bucket. This was an issue because the gap was exactly where the bottom of the ears are supposed to attach. Fiddling with the mask position, all while trying to maintain my preferred millimeter of white brow, I came to a painful realization. I’d cut off the 10mm I was missing from the sides of the mask as the second or third thing I’d done in my build. In my enthusiasm to get started and follow the online videos I hadn’t thought to, you know, actually put the mask and bucket together to inspect how they would fit before cutting. 

 

Grape job, Dumbass. 

 

 

Now I'm scared. Holy crap did I just piss away $100+ in ABS? Do I have to order another Helmet? Can I fix this? Why won’t it fit? Assorted cursing and self flaggulation (and not the good kind). 

 

After a lot of PMs with fellow DA Props kit owners and Andy himself, I began to come to the realization that this was indeed fixable and that the bucket would turn out fine. The bucket wouldn’t be as I originally intended, but it would still look awesome. Internal nirvana (or at least acceptance) achieved, I went back to work. 

 

7) Drilling in the Name of.... - Pushing the brow down as far as I could go without bowing the plastic and while maintaining cheek and bucket contact, I drilled my ear screw holes on each side of the bucket and mask. Taking the cheeks  and doing my best to keep them as close to the edge as possible, I drilled my bottom holes linking the cheeks and bucket. I managed to get the face plate and bucket to link, but with literally a millimeter of space left on the left side. 

 

The result was acceptable. A little more mask/bucket gap than I intended but still okay. The issue was the brow. It was high. A quick fix, however, was to pull the brow trim down as far as possible while still maintain some grip on the bucket. It worked. Frankly it looks pretty good. And it’s securely screwed together!

 

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/AwIcbjF.jpg">

 

8) It’s the Little Things in Building - No matter how much you read or watch you’re never really full prepared to build your first bucket. It’s like having a kid. Except without the crap, piss, sleepless nights, and screaming. Well, really, it’s nothing like having a kid. But it is expensive, time consuming, and scary. So they have that in common. 

 

A few few things to consider before starting your helmet build. 

 

First, at some point you’re going out enough magnets on the helmet to warp space time so that you can put the helmet on your head and get a visual. It will confuse you when something that large is difficult to put on straight. This is normal. You solve this problem by putting the bucket on sideways and turning it forward. I offer this because if you’re a type A control freak perfectionist, not having it fit immediately may throw you a bit. Just saying.... again, for a friend. 

 

Second, masking tape is your friend. Claps, magnets, drills, files, screwdrivers, et al are wonderful, but they will damage and scrape your lid. Before you plunk magnets anywhere, put down a 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide barrier of masking tape. Same with using screwdrivers. It’ll limit accidental nicks and scrapes. 

 

Third, before you do any cutting mock up the face plate and bucket so that you can pencil mark your targeted brow and cheek placements. It’ll save you a lot of cursing. 

 

 

That’s all for now. I’ll try and update this post with photos shortly, or at least figure out a way to post them in a separate post on this thread. Tonight I tackle the ears. More soon. 

Edited October 19, 2017 by Bullseye
Adding Photos

[NINJAM0VE[TK]]

Hi Dave! You can use Imgur to upload photos here and share your progress pics. Just make an account and copy the direct link in your posts. Anyway, we are all excited to see your build. I think its quite normal to feel uneasy if its your first time trimming armor but I always keep in mind to measure twice/thrice then cut/trim. Its better to under trim than over trim. Good luck with the build! Cheers!

[Bullseye[TK]]

14 hours ago, NINJAM0VE said:

Hi Dave! You can use Imgur to upload photos here and share your progress pics. Just make an account and copy the direct link in your posts. Anyway, we are all excited to see your build. I think its quite normal to feel uneasy if its your first time trimming armor but I always keep in mind to measure twice/thrice then cut/trim. Its better to under trim than over trim. Good luck with the build! Cheers!

Thanks Dennis.  It's uploaded with photos now!  More to come later.  I managed to get the ears on last night.

[68Brick[TK]]

Dave, yes, that looks like it would scare me too. finish the bucket; if you are still not satisfied, you can always learn from your mistake and build another one.

 

The Dremel can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Get some scissors and cut leaving the line. Sand (by hand) to the line. You'll be surprised how easily ABS sands. 

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by 68Brick

[Bullseye[TK]]

A little more progress last night.  Ears are on.  Front side looks alright.  back side.... not so much.  Had some issues with the bottom of the bucket not lining up on the right side due to the shorter face plate sides.  Unfortunately, the brow is so high that the back of the bucket is too low, and that's giving me issues.  As a result the right side ear base isn't sitting correctly.  I can, and need, to cut the base of the bucket but I'm a little gun-shy right now.

 

With the screw holes in and the bucket secured on the base, I can remove the ears and do the necessary dirty work to fix the back end of the bucket and then finish the sanding of the ears.  (I'm also planning on finishing the teeth with little files, but that's lower on the priority list right now). At least that's my plan.

 

If people think this is a lost cause, let me know. Or if I need to go Sandy, let me know that too....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

More progress. After a couple of nights off, I managed to find time to tackle the issue of the helmet base, as well as to start the paint process for the traps and tears. Pretty happy with the results. 

 

 

More to follow. 

[djmatrix09[TK]]

More progress. After a couple of nights off, I managed to find time to tackle the issue of the helmet base, as well as to start the paint process for the traps and tears. Pretty happy with the results. 


 

 
More to follow. 

It's looking good! Hand painting the bucket is definitely the way to go. I've never been good with models, so it was a whole new endeavor for me. Yours looks great. And if you flub up, it's easily fixed. Just keep working at it a bit at a time.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Bullseye[TK]]

It’s been a while since I posted an update on my TK build. Due to work and family obligations (as well as some build issues it took me a while to figure out) I put my TK aside until I was able to take it back up again. Thankfully, there is progress to report, including a complete bucket to show off. 

 

After my initial round of painting the traps I went to work on the mic tips and cleaning up the bottom of the bucket. Maybe I got lucky, but the mic tips were one of the easier aspects of the build and an aspect I’m pretty proud of. 

 

The traps came out pretty well too. 

 

I also cut off the excess abs from the bottom of the bucket and got a fairly clean back to helmet. 

 

It’s a little hard to see from the photos, but the s-lining went on great and balanced the whole thing. 

 

With confidence restored, I went to work finishing the bucket. Without an easily available stencil, I applied the cheek stripes via sticker set. 

 

I forgot to take photos of the install of the lens, but that probably because it wasn’t a pretty install. Due to my overzealousness with the Dremel, I’d taken a little more off the internal eye socket than I wanted. So the prospect of the lens sitting flat was out the window. Improvising, I cut small pieces of Velcro and glued the connected Velcro to the interior bucket around the eyes. Then I dabbed some glue to back of the connect Velcro and carefully placed the lens on top. Shockingly, it worked!

 

 

The end result ended up making me very happy. 

 

At this point the bucket is basically display only. There are minor repairs I want to do and bigger ones I need to do. I’ve got mesh for the frown I’m going to reinstall inside. I still need to pop in a hard hat liner (I’ve got a sizable noggin), paint the inside of the bucket black (pro tip: do this BEFORE YOU ASSEMBLE THE BUCKET), and figure out a fan/mic/electronics assembly to make it functional for trooping.  

 

All things considered, especially how panicked I was when I realized I’d over trimmed, this turned out really well. 

 

Next post I’ll get into my misadventures in trimming the kit. Basically it’s the five stages of grief applied to expensive ABS. I’m past acceptance at this point and putting together the biceps and the forearms.  Onward!

[Bullseye[TK]]

Biceps and forearms:

 

after a a couple of busy weeks I was able to make some progress on the armor. The biceps were tricky, but I think they’re in reasonable shape. 

 

Out of the box, they’re a little warped. They’re more oval than conical and will require a water bath at some point to revise the shape. Here’s how they came out:

The left was more warped than right, so that’s made trimming a bit difficult. 

I got the sides to fit after trimming.  The edges were still digging into my arm at fitting, but I was planning on sanding them down to flat so it didn’t worry me much. 

 

I prepped the biceps with internal cover strips and clapped them down after gluing with E6000.  Those strips ain’t going nowhere. 

 

Pretty happy with the results so far:

the gap at the bottom here is intentional, I needed more space for my arm to flex.  Plus this will be the arm pit side of the right bicep so it’ll be hard to notice. 

 

I’m gluing down the opposite sides tonight. 

 

If all goes well I’ll be cutting cover strips for these tomorrow. There’s still some return edge I want to sand off, but it’s nothing the should stop the progress for now. 

 

Once the cover strips are on and the E6000 has set, I’ll give the biceps the boiling water bath in an attempt to take care of the oval nature of the abs. 

 

Thermal detonator next. 

[Bullseye[TK]]

The thermal detonator:

 

 

Question time. First, how far from the short end of the TD should the edge be? Specifically, hey nubbins to the edge? 

 

I looked at a couple of builds and here’s where I landed:

You can see the pencil mark. From there to the other end is 115mm. 

 

Second question, do I need to paint this pipe for the TD?

 

Thanks all. 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

This should help you 

 

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

2 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

This should help you 

 

 

Perfect!! The top photo was just was I needed. 

[Bullseye[TK]]

6 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

This should help you 

 

 

Forgot to ask, what color paint do I need for the TD? 

 

In looking at other TDS and discussing with other DA Props kit holders, I need to paint the pipe. I just have no idea what color to use. I’m in the states and can access a Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Ace pretty easily. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Some use the same grey as the helmet and ab buttons, I couldn't find a spray can color close so I use a grey primer then once dry coat with a gloss clear. There isn't a specified colour so long as it's a light/med grey you should be fine. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

I used Testors 1237 Semi Gloss Primer spray enamel. It is a very similar colour  (a shade lighter) as the frown paint Humbrol Gloss 5.

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

3 hours ago, gmrhodes13 said:

Some use the same grey as the helmet and ab buttons, I couldn't find a spray can color close so I use a grey primer then once dry coat with a gloss clear. There isn't a specified colour so long as it's a light/med grey you should be fine. 

I was hoping you’d mention primer! I’ve got that from my e11 rubies conversion project. 

[Bullseye[TK]]

Forearms are done. At least I think so. 

 

Before I put the cover strips on I have two questions:

 

1) how far up do the cover strips go? To the angle, past the angle? HELP!  (Photos below)

 

2) how much more return edge at the wrists do I need to sand out? (Photos below)

 

To the first question, here are the top elbow sides of the left and then right of the forearms:

 

Left

 

Right

 

Trying to figure out how far the strips reach toward the elbow, over or up to the angles above. Also, are the angles cut correctly for the armor?

 

Second Question:

Have I cut out sufficient return edge at the wrists for EIB or do I need to sand out more?

 

Right:

Left:

 

Not it sure if I need to sand out the “bump” on the top of the  forearm or not. 

 

Thanks in advance everyone. 

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hey buddy,

Here’s some great reference photos for the arms and coverstrips;






Here’s the wrist ends. You’ll want to remove all of the return edge including the ‘bump’.



Hope that helps. :-)

Dan

[Bullseye[TK]]

49 minutes ago, CableGuy said:

Hey buddy,

Here’s some great reference photos for the arms and coverstrips;






Here’s the wrist ends. You’ll want to remove all of the return edge including the ‘bump’.



Hope that helps. :-)

Dan

Dan that’s fantastic. Thank you!

[Bullseye[TK]]

More forearms. 

 

After a little bit of time off off for the July holiday and some work obligations I was able to apply the cover strips to the forearms and cut/sand off the last of the return edge on the front and back. Based on the reference photos I think these look in compliance for L2/L3. Thoughts or comments?

 

(Just FYI, I cut/sanded off the return edge overhang just to the right of the raised bump on the top of the forearm right after this photo.)

 

 

I need to do some clean up and remove the excess E6000, but these things drove me crazy so I’m glad to be near the finish line on them. 

 

Moving on to the next steps a couple of questions:

 

1) do I need any return edge on the bottom on the biceps? What’s required for L2/L3?

 

2) 3-5mm of return edge on the shoulder bells, correct? Same question for L2/L3. 

 

Had an interesting adventure with the shins that I’ll share soon. Thanks in advance for the feedback. 

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

Further progress. Shins in good shape. 

 

Now I just have to fit them around my giant calves. Wish me luck. 

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

Thighs are a little wonky in this kit. I’ve trimmed them and put them together, but I’m not sure I’ve got it right. 

 

Here are the inners and outers pre internal cover strip. 

 

both outer thigh pieces have this weird dangle at the bottom:

 

I originally thought the two outers went together and the dangles matched up for the ammo pack, but once I lined everything up it didn’t look right. So I put them together, one inner with one outer, as below:

 

I placed an internal strip and glued things together (E6000) but I’m not happy with the results.

 

I’m not crazy right? The low cut side of the thigh is the inner and the high cut is the outer, right?

 

Should I line the thighs up based on the bottom indentations or based on the top curve of the thigh?

 

I'm guessing I’m going to have to line this back up, trim the dangles, and re-glue, but I wanted to see anyone had this issue previously. 

 

Thanks!

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, I think you could assemble from botton to top, here are a reference photos, 

 

 

[Bullseye[TK]]

3 hours ago, TKSpartan said:

Hi, I think you could assemble from botton to top, here are a reference photos, 

 

 

Thanks. I’m gonna pull them apart tonight and reset and re-glue them evening up the top of the bottom ridge. I’ll trim any bottom excess as necessary. 

 

So so that I’m sure, I don’t need any return edge on the front of the thighs do I?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, Bullseye said:

So so that I’m sure, I don’t need any return edge on the front of the thighs do I?

No you don't. You can trim all around.

 

cheers