Freduster's ANH Stunt TK build (RS Props, aiming for Centurion)

[Freduster[TK]]

What's up FISD, my name is Freddy, and I am a student and long-time Star Wars fan from Duisburg, Germany. After finishing my E11 build a couple of days ago (if you're interested, you can find my build here) and after a bit of a hassle with my ANOVOS pre-order from last August I decided to cancel this order and ordered a DIY armor and helmet kit from RS Props on May 4th (the ways of the Force indeed are unfathomable). This is due to arrive tomorrow, so I started this thread in preparation for the great day tomorrow

 

In the next days and weeks (and probably months) I am really looking forward to meeting and talking to a lot of new people (I felt at home in the circle of E11 builders, but now it's time to expand this circle), and I am also hoping for a lot of support as this is my very first costume build ever (I usually just buy them finished, but have also never spent so much money on a costume before). I am aiming for Centurion as I said to myself that if I'm ready to spend so much money and dedicate so much of my free time to building this Great White TK, I might as well aim for the maximum level. Plus, with all the cumulative knowledge of Centurion builders and owners, I'm sure I can do it - all I need is a couple of pushes in the right directions

 

For the German Garrison members out there following this post, I am also going to start a build thread in the GG forum (Link can be found here), however this will mostly concentrate on where to get all the extra parts and supplies in Germany or Europe because like mentioned before I have had some trouble with ordering stuff from the US and it's just a lot more expensive due to shipping and customs...

 

Here is a list of the stuff I have ordered or received already:

ANH TK Stunt Armor kit: RS Props

ANH TK Stunt Helmet kit: RS Props

TK Boots: Imperial Supply Depot

Holster: GG-internal purchase

Neck Seal: GG-internal purchase

 

I am pretty hyped for tomorrow and will spend the day reading through guides and watching build videos on YouTube so I won't screw up anything unnecessarily Unless UPS feels otherwise, I shall be back tomorrow with visual updates of my kit and perhaps the other stuff that's there already. If you have any tips that you think I must know before starting, please feel free to tell me, and like mentioned earlier I am really looking forward to talking to you guys and maybe even see some of you on future troops once this bad boy is finished and approved.

 

Cheers for reading and over for now,

Freddy

Edited May 15, 2018 by Freduster
added another link

[lucnak[TK]]

Hi Freddy! Look forward to following your build! Any questions, post 'em up! TK was my first build ever and it is very commonly the first and there are many who have made it just fine! I consulted TK-1636 and Trooper Bay videos a lot when I did my build, along with a few build threads on the FISD. Try to find a thread that is well-documented and is the same vendor as well!

[wook1138[TK]]

Congrats Freddy!  Check out the build section - find someone else who has recently completed a RS build.  Also check out the Centurion and EIB applications for great reference images.

 

And ask questions and take lots of pictures.  Research, measure twice, research some more, ask a few questions, measure again, and slowly cut.

 

[Frank75139[501st]]

Welcome Freddy. I’m probably as excited for your BBB day as you are.


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[TheSwede[TK]]

RS is a great kit so with your dedication going for Centurion this is what you will look like

[StrmTRPR85[TK]]

Congratulations!  Looking forward to your build!

[Harbinger[IPM]]

RS is a great choice, good luck with your build.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Welcome across from the blaster section, Freddy.

With your outlook from the start, I’m in no doubt that you can achieve Centurion. Ask away with any questions you might have.

Great choice with RS. Have a read through some previous RS builds to learn of their quirks (for example, the shins - I believe they provide two of the same, rather than a dedicated left and right).

Looking forward to following your journey. :-)

Best wishes

Dan


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[Freduster[TK]]

First update!

Kit arrived yesterday, and I was so hyped I forgot to upload pictures as promised, so today I shall redeem myself:

 

Tried on the helmet as well:

 

I was also thinking to get started with the helmet as well to get the hardest thing out of the way first. So I'll have a look at other WIPs and then get started..

 

Depending on how much progress I'll make over the long weekend, I could be back with a new update soon.

 

Freddy

[CableGuy[TK]]

Exciting times. :-)


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[Cricket[TK]]

Congrats on your BBB day!! Love seeing another RS build underway.  

Post lots of pics, ask lots of questions, and have lots of fun!!!

[Freduster[TK]]

Helmet update!

First of all, player 2 has joined the game

 

It's always better to have a second pair of eyes checking what you're doing, and especially during the helmet eye and teeth sanding I found out that my girlfriend is quite a handywoman

apparently.. I must admit she did most of the sanding, and we were pretty happy with how it turned out

Meanwhile I roughly cut out the ears as well:

 

Question of today: what steps would you guys recommend next?

 

Thanks for reading,

Freddy

[Frank75139[501st]]

Are you planning on coating the inside? If so I’d do that. Then close it’s up and finish the helmet.


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[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Freddy,

Whilst the link below is not for an RS kit, this may give you a feel for how a lid is put together.

This is my armour maker, Ross or RWA, and I found his videos invaluable to my build.

Out of interest, do you have a good selection of reference photos that you’re working with?


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[Freduster[TK]]

@Frank75139 I am planning on coating it, yes, but I thought this is the last step.. Is there any reason why you'd recommend coating already?

 

@CableGuy Thank you very much for this great tutorial video! I do feel a little bit more secure now I don't really have any reference pictures, I mainly looked at videos and other builds (like yours ). If you have a helpful link, hit me up!

 

I finally have a good workbench set up and am currently waiting for my lexan scissors to arrive, and then I can finally carry on!

[wook1138[TK]]

3 minutes ago, Freduster said:

@Frank75139 I am planning on coating it, yes, but I thought this is the last step.. Is there any reason why you'd recommend coating already?

 

@CableGuy Thank you very much for this great tutorial video! I do feel a little bit more secure now I don't really have any reference pictures, I mainly looked at videos and other builds (like yours ). If you have a helpful link, hit me up!

 

I finally have a good workbench set up and am currently waiting for my lexan scissors to arrive, and then I can finally carry on!

Check out the Gallery section on this forum or go to starwarshelmets.com for a ton of great pics. 

 

I love that RS helmet!  I used to think the "sanitized" look was better - I now have a new appreciation for the "bumpy" look.  Looking good so far!

[wook1138[TK]]

PS

 

Speaking of the Gallery - you might find this of interest.

 

 

[Frank75139[501st]]

[mention=32934]Frank75139[/mention] I am planning on coating it, yes, but I thought this is the last step.. Is there any reason why you'd recommend coating already?
 
[mention=31976]CableGuy[/mention] Thank you very much for this great tutorial video! I do feel a little bit more secure now I don't really have any reference pictures, I mainly looked at videos and other builds (like yours ). If you have a helpful link, hit me up!
 
I finally have a good workbench set up and am currently waiting for my lexan scissors to arrive, and then I can finally carry on!

I coated mine after it was together. It was a bit more difficult with lenses, bolts and what not. If I could do it again I’d do it before hand and let it dry. I think it’ll be easier in the long run.


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[CableGuy[TK]]

[mention=32934]Frank75139[/mention] I am planning on coating it, yes, but I thought this is the last step.. Is there any reason why you'd recommend coating already?

 

[mention=31976]CableGuy[/mention] Thank you very much for this great tutorial video! I do feel a little bit more secure now I don't really have any reference pictures, I mainly looked at videos and other builds (like yours ). If you have a helpful link, hit me up!

 

I finally have a good workbench set up and am currently waiting for my lexan scissors to arrive, and then I can finally carry on!

 

Haha - Greg beat me to it.

I totally agree with starwarshelmets.com (helped me greatly with the finer details of my lids) and the FISD gallery. They really help to show you the little bits that make ANH lids so special: warts and all. :-)

 

 

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[TheSwede[TK]]

5 hours ago, wook1138 said:

I used to think the "sanitized" look was better

No cussing allowed!

[Freduster[TK]]

Right, I'm still waiting for my lexans to arrive, so more research time for me. And I also came up with another question: the only thing that I am still missing is a white canvas belt, and I just wanted to ask if you guys can recommend any Preferably from Europe or even Germany, but if the shipping is not too expensive and the belt is certainly worth it I wouldn't mind ordering one from the US either. So, hit me up FISD!

[DEVOLVER[501st]]

I can't speak for the shipping to Europe, but the belt I have is from Imperial Issue. It's made of a really nice fabric, has inner re-enforcement for shape and also great stitching.

Here's a link: http://imperialissue.com/product/canvas-belt
 

[Freduster[TK]]

Update time!! After a lot of smaller units of working on the helmet I have finally managed to put the lid together

Had to invite myself to a working session with a friend because he had the necessary rivet gun. So this was our workplace today as it was quite sunny:

I decided to just follow Ross' video tutorials step by step as I found them quite easy to follow. So if you ever read this, thanks @Ross8008!

First, we put the helmet together with magnets (strength 6 kg).

Carried on by putting the first two rivets in:

Then I realised that RS give you two extra rivets with the helmet kit, so we put them in where the face and the back of the helmet were quite far apart, mainly to give it more stability and to facilitate screwing on the ears later.

Finally we prepared the ears and screws and drilled all the necessary holes, but sadly (well, actually I wasn't sad at all) I got so excited I completely forgot to take pictures, so you'll only get to see the pre-paint finished helmet tomorrow.

One single thing that I am not happy with is the pretty big gap at the back of the right ear - what I did was trim the ears along the pencil line which was on the ears when I took them out of the box, and I relied too heavily on this line. So fellow RS builders, don't trust this line, rather check yourselves how much material you can cut off. However, since the RS helmets are really crooked and not perfect at all compared to the sanitized versions I guess it won't be a big deal, and hopefully it won't affect my path to Centurion..

That's it for today, cheers for reading! As promised, pictures of the helmet and the painting process will follow tomorrow

Freddy out

[Freduster[TK]]

And here come the promised pictures - I also spray painted the inside of the helmet black because I thought it just looks a lot cooler and also darkens the inside of the helmet.

 

Here you can see the rather big gap, and if you guys think it's too big for a Centurion helmet please let me know, or even better, hit me up with a way to solve this issue.

 

If I find some time later today I might start with the armor trimming, so if anyone has a decent guide (ideally with lines to cut along) for trimming, you're more than welcome to share them

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Looking good mate. Nothing wrong with that ear gap. :-)

Glad the link for the vid worked out well. He makes it really easy to follow and it looks like it’s really worked for you.
Good job, sir. :-)


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