David G AM 4.5 ANH Stunt Build Thread

[Iron TK[TK]]

Hi everybody. I am a cadet in Garrison Carida (Eastern PA) and I have pictures of my first AM TK helmet build. I found this build to be equally trying as it was satisfying. The asymmetry of these helmets is charming but for a perfectionist like me very frustrating. I had to find a way to balance overall look with a hand-crafted and imperfect piece. I hope I was able to do so.  Some feedback I had gotten from members of the AM Costuming Group on Facebook suggested to extend the frown. At some point I may convert the decals I used for the tube stripes to painted.

 

I look forward to starting on the armor parts next!

 

EDIT -- Attachments removed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by David G

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi, David, welcome to FISD. here some reference photos and you can look at the gallety section and compare.

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Edited August 7, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hello and welcome aboard, nice build you may want to just remove a little paint from the gum area, from the CRL: Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area.

[Frank75139[501st]]

Looking good David!


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[Triple D[TK]]

Nice job, Thanks for the pictures. 

[Iron TK[TK]]

Hello and welcome aboard, nice build you may want to just remove a little paint from the gum area, from the CRL: Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area.

Thanks for that — I went back and forth on this as the teeth curve into the gum and finding that sweet spot is an effort.

 

 

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[Iron TK[TK]]

On 9/26/2019 at 2:15 AM, TKSpartan said:

Hi, David, welcome to FISD. here some reference photos and you can look at the gallety section and compare.
 
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Thank you! I’ve been advised to extend the frown in grey to a last point. Some photos have a white gap between the last tooth and the end of the frown but this classic reference seems to have a black gap (as a tooth hole but too small to practically cut and screen). Which is it?


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Edited August 7, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[Frank75139[501st]]

Thank you! I’ve been advised to extend the frown in grey to a last point. Some photos have a white gap between the last tooth and the end of the frown but this classic reference seems to have a black gap (as a tooth hole but too small to practically cut and screen). Which is it?


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It’s a cut with screen behind it.


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[Iron TK[TK]]

It’s a cut with screen behind it.


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[Frank75139[501st]]

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Ok, no, your good where your at you have the 8 cutouts. Leave it white and do a small grey mark after it. Here is my helmet




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[TheSwede[TK]]

2 hours ago, David G said:

Some photos have a white gap between the last tooth and the end of the frown but this classic reference seems to have a black gap (as a tooth hole but too small to practically cut and screen). Which is it?

That particular helmet don’t have the last grey painted on that side. The last black is a hole but no screen behind as the originals didn’t have any screen behind the teeth

 

Trivia: the number of cutouts varied between the helmets from a total of six to ten but it was decided to keep eight as the approvable standard for uniformity.

[TheSwede[TK]]

Helmet in question, known as the "set for stun" or  Dave M helmet

 

Some helmet-goodies

[Iron TK[TK]]

Helmet in question, known as the "set for stun" or  Dave M helmet

 
Some helmet-goodies

None of these helmets is symmetrical. Lol


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[Frank75139[501st]]

None of these helmets is symmetrical. Lol


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I told you it was ok to lay off the perfection lol


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[CableGuy[Admin]]

None of these helmets is symmetrical. Lol


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Hehe. Yes, that’s why they’re so awesome. ;-)

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Hey David welcome to the FISD and beautiful job on your helmet. 

[Mworm1974[TK]]

Awesome job on the helmet

[Iron TK[TK]]

On 9/26/2019 at 3:11 PM, ukswrath said:

Hey David welcome to the FISD and beautiful job on your helmet. 

Thank you, I appreciate all the expert advice and hard-won experience here.

[Iron TK[TK]]

Touched up the frown as suggested: removed paint from gum, extended frown on each side.

 

EDIT -- Attachments removed.

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by David G

[Iron TK[TK]]

ARMOR ASSEMBLY

 

I'm starting on the armor. Resources I'm using in this build are primarily these two threads:

• Easy's AM ANH Stunt Build (highly recommended for documentation of each step) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/profile/35091-easy/.
• AJ's OF AM 2.0 ANH Stunt Build (incredibly detailed with hints and hacks for using tools and preparing parts) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/profile/30895-aj-hamler/. Following this made me realize I may not have a 4.5, and wouldn't recognize it if I did but not sure how to edit the thread topic. I also would love to have a workshop.

FOREARM ASSEMBLY

 

I started with the forearms and already ran into a bit of trouble trimming. Compared to snips, I can say nothing beats a good straight blade at your side. I am going to avoid any tools that shear the ABS as I can easily crack the material at the edge. As I don't have a workshop, I can't catch the shavings (for ABS paste) if I use a Dremel outside,  so I am using three different blades depending on the cut so I can keep the chips/shavings:

1. Standard workshop cutter for thicker or longer cuts
2. A Blade of Exact-Zero for standard trimming
3. A scalpel with a curved blade (typically used for miniature and model work) for surgical precision (naturally)

At the wrist, the edges should have ideally no return if I read the CRL correctly. I trimmed the the shears first (not doing that again) then cleanly with an X-ACTO blade. I little sanding and it seemed ready.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What is the return, if any, at the elbow-end of the forearms?
2. Are all trims made to the piece that has no detail, as stated in Easy's thread? If so, I will end up trimming a lot from both sides of that piece. I want to be assured that is correct.
3. I intend to have an inner strip as well as an outer strip and want to confirm that both halves are assembled edge-to-edge. Correct?

 

EDIT -- Attachments removed.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by David G

[Frank75139[501st]]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:41 PM, David G said:

ARMOR ASSEMBLY

 

I'm starting on the armor. Resources I'm using in this build are primarily these two threads:

• Easy's AM ANH Stunt Build (highly recommended for documentation of each step) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/profile/35091-easy/.
• AJ's OF AM 2.0 ANH Stunt Build (incredibly detailed with hints and hacks for using tools and preparing parts) https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/profile/30895-aj-hamler/. Following this made me realize I may not have a 4.5, and wouldn't recognize it if I did but not sure how to edit the thread topic. I also would love to have a workshop.

FOREARM ASSEMBLY

 

I started with the forearms and already ran into a bit of trouble trimming. Compared to snips, I can say nothing beats a good straight blade at your side. I am going to avoid any tools that shear the ABS as I can easily crack the material at the edge. As I don't have a workshop, I can't catch the shavings (for ABS paste) if I use a Dremel outside,  so I am using three different blades depending on the cut so I can keep the chips/shavings:

1. Standard workshop cutter for thicker or longer cuts
2. A Blade of Exact-Zero for standard trimming
3. A scalpel with a curved blade (typically used for miniature and model work) for surgical precision (naturally)

At the wrist, the edges should have ideally no return if I read the CRL correctly. I trimmed the the shears first (not doing that again) then cleanly with an X-ACTO blade. I little sanding and it seemed ready.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What is the return, if any, at the elbow-end of the forearms?
2. Are all trims made to the piece that has no detail, as stated in Easy's thread? If so, I will end up trimming a lot from both sides of that piece. I want to be assured that is correct.
3. I intend to have an inner strip as well as an outer strip and want to confirm that both halves are assembled edge-to-edge. Correct?

-------------

 

 

The black line is your return edge. That’s the areas on the armor that curves in.

 

The are right they need to be glued end to end with a cover strip. You can cut those arms in half (or whatever size is needed) to get the perfect fit shown with a red line. My suggestion would be save the cutoffs and the longer pieces can be your inside cover strip. It helps save the good cover strip material for the outside. And any cutoffs you make save the plastic. You’ll need it if you ever need to make ABS paste.

 

The AM armor is cast bigger so you’ll probably end up trimming it down to fit. That’s totally normal. Everything needs to fit well so do what you have to in trimming things to fit around you just stick with the natural curve and keep it even (if the piece is round try and keep it round). Hopefully that helps David.

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[LTM[TK]]

6 hours ago, David G said:

 

 

QUESTIONS

1. What is the return, if any, at the elbow-end of the forearms?
2. Are all trims made to the piece that has no detail, as stated in Easy's thread? If so, I will end up trimming a lot from both sides of that piece. I want to be assured that is correct.
3. I intend to have an inner strip as well as an outer strip and want to confirm that both halves are assembled edge-to-edge. Correct?

For #1, are you asking how much return edge to leave on the piece?

#2, can you be more specific "piece that has no detail"?

#3 Correct on edge to edge, the cover strip on the outside hides the gap. BUT, you need to cut the pieces to fit your body type. We all love pictures, and that helps when asking questions so take a few when posting (a few more minutes of keyboard banging, but well worth it and piece of mind).

For the forearms, is the length good on you or do you need to shorten it? Look at some EIB/Centurion submissions and you will see the gap needed between the bicep/forearm, as well as forearm and glove plate. 

Keep the questions (and pictures) coming, love to see some more AM armor join the legion!

 

6 hours ago, David G said:

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

On 9/26/2019 at 5:23 AM, David G said:

Thank you! I’ve been advised to extend the frown in grey to a last point. Some photos have a white gap between the last tooth and the end of the frown but this classic reference seems to have a black gap (as a tooth hole but too small to practically cut and screen). Which is it?

It's just gray paint, not a gap. cheers. 

[Iron TK[TK]]

On 10/8/2019 at 6:35 PM, LTM said:

For #1, are you asking how much return edge to leave on the piece?

#2, can you be more specific "piece that has no detail"?

#3 Correct on edge to edge, the cover strip on the outside hides the gap. BUT, you need to cut the pieces to fit your body type. We all love pictures, and that helps when asking questions so take a few when posting (a few more minutes of keyboard banging, but well worth it and piece of mind).

For the forearms, is the length good on you or do you need to shorten it? Look at some EIB/Centurion submissions and you will see the gap needed between the bicep/forearm, as well as forearm and glove plate. 

Keep the questions (and pictures) coming, love to see some more AM armor join the legion!

 

 

Here are two photos to help illustrate; the questions asked more clearly:

1. Is there a return edge on the elbow side at all (BLUE)? Also, is the extended part (PURPLE) of the outer half (the part with the molded detail) left intact or is that also removed at the wrist and elbow side?
2. The piece that has no detail is the inner half. Are the two halves supposed to be cut to equal size, necessitating trimming both pieces, or is the featureless (inner) half the only piece that gets trimmed? Easy's build seems to show this method, while AJ's shows both parts getting cut as does Frank's markup of my earlier photo. One cut has been made from the inner part (GREEN, taped side) and the second cut proposed cut (YELLOW) as per Easy's build thread or do I cut the outer part (RED) to maintain all curves?
3. Regarding the length, it seems to fit okay lengthwise, but if I have to shorten the piece at either end, then my other questions about edge trimming become irrelevant, yes?

 

EDIT -- Attachments removed.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by David G

[LTM[TK]]

For my build I cut both sides. When you think about the symmetry you want it to line up with the biceps and shoulder, so you will usually see in fitting putting one piece inside of the other with blue tape (pictures from AJ's build)

 

For the return, look to AJ (he was able to go to centurion): With all that in mind I decided to remove the return edges to pretty close to where I'll finally have them -- nothing on the wrist, and about 1/8"=3/16" on the elbow ends.

Need to remove the ridge return as well.

Edited October 9, 2019 by LTM