ANH Stunt First Build Ever

[Callidus95]

I am currently still waiting for my BBB of plastic from WTF and my MBB of plastic and aluminum that is my DLT-19 kit from 3DpropsNL. I am also awaiting the arrival of my boots from Imperial Boots as TK boots shut down and is out of my size in the available stock. I have acquired my compression shirt and pants as well as shirt stays for my undersuit, I just need to black out the logos with some sharpie. I have a 10-watt amp from Tk Products LLC and am running my voice channel through the trooper talk app. I also currently have a Darmon Props Neck Seal with the zipper. 

I Need to order gloves, I'm thinking Anovos or Trooper bay and I am going to order handguards from JustJoseph63 in the future. I also need to order my paints and stencils for the helmet. I also need to order 2 different gunmetal paints with aluminum and a rubber simulating paint for my DLT-19 I'll include the reference pics of what the finished product from the producer looks like and more detail in how I plan on painting it. I also have yet to purchase my dark green lenses as well as fans, black-out material, and S-gaskets for the helmet. I think the only things other than the helmet gear I have yet to pick up are the various canvas straps, white and black velcro strips, and many rivets and rivet poppers for the rigging of the kit as well as a crap ton of e-6000 glue. So essentially I need to purchase my rigging and tools for applying the rigging as well as more dremmel heads and plastic cutting scissors. Is there anything I missed? 

My goal is to shoot for Expert infantry and possibly Centurion on the first go with minimal adjustments. 

This is what the finished product of the ready to troop version of the DLT-19 kit I bought:
 

 

My plan is to paint the stock a rubber black or as more of a mix between gunmetal and true black with wear along the edges in the gunmetal or aluminum. the ring near the stock will be aluminum paint. The Handle will be a mix between Gunmetal and true black with wear along the edges in the gunmetal, possibly mixed with aluminum. The majority of the remaining blaster will be a base coat an aluminum-based gunmetal black with weathering done in aluminum dry brushing, and some done with a mixed coat dry brushed on. My goal is to give it various amounts of wear on different pieces similar to that of a real MG34 due to the interchanging of parts. Thus the receiver will have medium wear, the heat shroud/cooling fans will have light wear, the flash hider/gas blowback will have light wear, and the Bipod will have heavy wear. The majority of the wear of this weapon is intended to look like it came from handling the weapon rather than from abuse, thus it will have more a faded look to it that implies it was caused by the oils in the skin rather than it being dropped and dragged. Although I will include wear on random parts that protrude to indicate some sort of physical abuse albeit minor, whether it was dropped or banged into something. After all my wear and tear is painted on I will patina it, to better fade in the wear as well as seal the finished product, and if it looks good on test strips of plastic, I will cover the patina in a non-gloss clear coat.

 

Do I appear to be on the right track? 
Also, I will use this thread for updates on my purchases and arrival of parts/pieces, and the official building/compilation of my armor and possibly DLT-19 although I have another thread for that as well. The Gun and Armor are set to arrive shortly before Christmas. on its arrival my goal is to have a completed Helmet before New Years

Edited October 28, 2018 by Darth Callidus
clarity

[Harbinger[IPM]]

A good start. You can buy Centurion-accurate gloves for ~$5 at Home Depot FWIW.

[Callidus95]

For real? 
Guess I'm going to home depot later this week

1 hour ago, Harbinger said:

A good start. You can buy Centurion-accurate gloves for ~$5 at Home Depot FWIW.

 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Centurion is the way to go Good luck with your build

[CableGuy[TK]]

Good to hear you’re aiming high. Look forward to following your build. :-)

[Rat[TK]]

Yup $5 gloves at home depot. Look forward to that centurion application and good luck on your build.

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[Callidus95]

I ended up ordering black chemical gloves from Amazon for about the same price.

[Callidus95]

Got my new Imperial Boots!!! comfortable and they fit really well

[Harbinger[IPM]]

Coming together, piece by piece.

[Callidus95]

Sure is, and I got an Icomm this week.
While I like the sound of Trooper Talk, I prefer the use of push-to-talk.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, hopefully your BBB's aren't too far away

[Callidus95]

Just now, gmrhodes13 said:

Looking good, hopefully your BBB's aren't too far away

about mid-December, like the 16th, was the projected time 

[Callidus95]

While I wait for the BBB I started glueing my hand guards onto my gloves. Thanks to Joseph for the great Handguards. I’m using E6000 glue and painter tape and athletic tape as I ran out of painters tape. I’m currently ordering more painters tape.




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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

 "I also have yet to purchase my dark green lenses as well as fans, black-out material, and S-gaskets for the helmet".  I'm not positive, but I think Walt includes the green lenses as S-trim in his kit, (hopefully someone can clarify that) so you may want to hold off on ordering those, Jake.  What do you mean by "blackout material"?  

 

[Callidus95]

41 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

hat do you mean by "blackout material"?  

he does include those, I contacted him. By blackout material, I meant plasti-dip/flex-seal or thin foam pads for the interior of the helmet, to both blackout light coming through the thin plastic and to better sound proof it. External sound won't be an issue as I have purchased Urkswrath's hearing kit, and his fan kit should also help mitigate any gained heat retention.

I think I'm leaning more towards Plasti-dip as it won't as easily hinder internal mounting of electronics and helmet padding

Edited November 7, 2018 by Darth Callidus

[LTM[TK]]

I did something a little different. I lined my helmet with the fuzzy side of black velcro. This way it does not get caught in my hair or balaclava, but anything I need to attach (hearing, batteries, fans) all have the hook and I can place them anywhere. Top of the helmet is plasti-dipped.

[Callidus95]

1 hour ago, LTM said:

I did something a little different. I lined my helmet with the fuzzy side of black velcro. This way it does not get caught in my hair or balaclava, but anything I need to attach (hearing, batteries, fans) all have the hook and I can place them anywhere. Top of the helmet is plasti-dipped.

I really like that idea, plus the variable mounting system would be easy for any sort of necessary adaptions

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

I have Plasti-dip in two of my buckets but went with black craft foam for my Hero (seen below).

When using the Plasti-dip, be sure to sand down the inside with 120 grit sandpaper and then clean it thoroughly before applying, which will give it something to cling to.  Otherwise it can peel off.

[Callidus95]

@justjoseph63 nice lid! For centurion does the interior need to look like the visual guide like yours does? or just the exterior need to be accurate?

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Just the exterior, lol.  I had a little too much free time on my hands a while back and wanted to go all out, so I used 3-D printed parts from files obtained from Leonardo (Ed Straeker)  to do that.   It's not screen accurate at all, but is based on what a TK helmet would look like if it were "real", so to speak  as seen in the cutaway image (below) that it is based on.  I took a bit of artistic license with it.

 

Hint:  When building your helmet, it really helps to look at some of the approved Centurion submission threads in the Advanced Tactics area to see what we are looking for, as well as common issues that need to be corrected.  When in doubt, always ask before moving ahead. 

 

 

[Rat[TK]]

Just the exterior, lol.  I had a little too much free time on my hands a while back and wanted to go all out, so I used 3-D printed parts from files obtained from Leonardo (Ed Straeker)  to do that.   It's not screen accurate at all, but is based on what a TK helmet would look like if it were "real", so to speak  as seen in the cutaway image (below) that it is based on.  I took a bit of artistic license with it.
 
Hint:  When building your helmet, it really helps to look at some of the approved Centurion submission threads in the Advanced Tactics area to see what we are looking for, as well as common issues that need to be corrected.  When in doubt, always ask before moving ahead. 

 
 

Thought about getting one of those kits, but have put it off.

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[magni[TK]]

I see Centurion in your future. Walt makes a great kit! I also used the soft side of velcro in my bucket. Going around padding and such. It came in handy with placing electronics. Especially easy when I switched to a single pole double throw switch and added two extra batterys for fans. 

 

Looking foward to seeing your progress!

[mikidymac[TK]]

So those gloves are great for EIB and Centurion approval but suck for actual trooping.@justjoseph has the link for nomex gloves that are much more comfortable and get a second set of his silicone guards.

[Callidus95]

31 minutes ago, mikidymac said:

So those gloves are great for EIB and Centurion approval but suck for actual trooping.@justjoseph has the link for nomex gloves that are much more comfortable and get a second set of his silicone guards.

after wearing them for a little bit I can see what you mean. You have to peel them off after wearing them for a few minutes, and I can't imagine how hot and uncomfortable after several hours.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I use rubber gloves all the time and have several pairs of thin cotton liners which soak up the sweat which I swap out during a full day trooping, they make a big difference on those over 35 deg C troops we do here