LTM's WTF ANH Stunt TK (WIP) acronym build

[LTM[TK]]

Starting the build of a Walt's Trooper Factory TK. 

 

Step one complete, BBB in hand. Started trimming the armor and putting the helmet together. Will post pictures once I figure out the process, because I have plenty of questions. 

[Steaditrooper[TK]]

Welcome to FISD. Congrats on your BBB! Very exciting. I worked on my helmet first. Now it watches me while I work on the armour. Makes me smile to see it every time I go to the basement where I'm building. I use Imgur.com for pics. Very easy process.

 

Ask lots of questions and enjoy the process.

Edited December 7, 2017 by Sean

[LTM[TK]]

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great news on receiving your kit, good luck with the build

[LTM[TK]]

thanks, looking forward to the process and the eventual trooping. 

Did the attachment of the helmet to the face, using screws until everything is good to go. 

In a Walt's kit he supplies two sets of ears, so that tells me this is a sticking/screw up point for a lot of builders. Watched the facebook post where Walt builds a helmet, but I do have a question on the ears. Is there a set thickness for the top of the ear, I saw the faint lines inside , do I cut to that?

 

[jethroskull[501st]]

You forgot WIP in your alphabet soup!

Looking forward to your build. Get ‘em!

 

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Good luck with the build!

[TheSwede[TK]]

Congrats on BBB-day I´m hoping to have one of my one today As for the ears, the outline you made seem to be fine and there is no "set thickness" so it`s pretty much up to you however the general consensus is that you keep them thinner rather than thicker, here`s a screen-shot for reference - good luck with your build

 

[troopermaster]

I think you are going to run into serious problems with the ear caps with the face plate positioned like that. I noticed another WFT build where the guy drilled the rivets in the same odd place you have and it made the joint between the face and the back pretty flat, resulting in difficulty fitting the ears. The cheek tubes need to flow more into the back tubes and have a bulbous shape so the ears can curl over them. Just a friendly heads up before you go too far  

[LTM[TK]]

2 hours ago, troopermaster said:

I think you are going to run into serious problems with the ear caps with the face plate positioned like that. I noticed another WFT build where the guy drilled the rivets in the same odd place you have and it made the joint between the face and the back pretty flat, resulting in difficulty fitting the ears. The cheek tubes need to flow more into the back tubes and have a bulbous shape so the ears can curl over them. Just a friendly heads up before you go too far  

I followed the build on Walt's facebook page. I did look at PandaTRoopers build and he placed the second rivit/screw at the bottom of the tube, but I thought that would give me problems with the bottom of the ear and the gap at the top of the tube was over 2 inches (with no screw/rivit in that location)

 

Suggestions?

[LTM[TK]]

Spent way to much time on just one ear, and not happy with the gap. I believe I was hoping that the bottom of the ear rivet would help push the plastic at the top of the tube, but no luck.

 

[LTM[TK]]

Back view 

[LTM[TK]]

This is the shape before I started the screws, should it have been this much effort to force the plastic?

 

[troopermaster]

I hate to say it but I told you so. Take the helmet apart and reposition the face plate so the cheek tubes meet up better with the back tubes. You have the back end of the face plate too low inside the back of the helmet and this is causing you problems. Also, remove the lower rivet and put a new one under the tubes - not above it. It doesn't matter if there is a gap where your lower rivet is currently as it will be hidden by the ear caps.

[troopermaster]

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi mate,
So many people struggle with the ears. They’re tricky.
If you do lower the face plate to match the back of the helmet, as suggested by TM, you could probably get away with lowering the ears a little, allowing you to get a slightly nicer shape with the lower part of the ears.

Here’s a screen used lid next to yours. (Not meant as criticism).



Best wishes,
Dan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LTM[TK]]

Thanks for the advice. I have cut some so it will fit but now concerned on the height of the brow. Looks like I will need to cut some off the top of the helmet to get the gap between the brown and eyes. Question is how tall is the trap above the eyes (so I don't cut it too short).

 

[LTM[TK]]

[troopermaster]

Just trim a bit more plastic away from your forehead area. Drill a hole above the dome/back joint to reduce the chance of it splitting and trim off a few mm's of plastic until you are happy with the look. See the original helmet as an example of how it can look. Note how the tubes flow together?

[LTM[TK]]

OK, lets hope that this looks better. 

[LTM[TK]]

Drilled through the face, so now I get to see if I can make ABS paste and polish the heck out of it...

I still have to finish painting, sanding and install the mesh

[TheSwede[TK]]

Helmet looks great  And can`t resist to ask, what did you do?

[LTM[TK]]

1 minute ago, TheSwede said:

Helmet looks great  And can`t resist to ask, what did you do?

Used epoxy putty around the eyes to form a ridge for the lenses to be placed with inserts and screws. Got carried away fixing one and drilled through the face. My dog learned a few new curse words that day :-)

[LTM[TK]]

Decided to work on the TD while the paint was drying. So I sanded the pipe and jammed on one of the caps

While I got it on, the sides of the cap was distorted (and I did the boiling water bath). Started to think the caps are undersized (I did see where some got two versions -one large and one small), I think maybe I got both too small.

Did the second cap (again I boiled it) and had all kinds of issues

Thinking there is no way these could have ever gone on and looked correct

So I ordered a kit from TrooperBay, everything fits like it should

[TheSwede[TK]]

aah well ABS paste works magic...and a tip but I´m guessing you`re already done but if not, is to put the fixing in the putty the same time you put it in the helmet thus no need to drill.