Tico's RS Props build

[ticopowell[TK]]

Question, my screens for the hovi tips came in a rectangle, any recommended cutting techniques? I have multiple tools, dremel, snips, dikes, etc, just wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

 

The other option is to buy @ukswrath hovi tip speakers, then I don't have to worry about it :D... but if I'm doing that I might as well buy his whole setup and with current finances the wifey wouldn't be happy...  

[Chemi[Staff]]

Well, in this video(from TK1636) there are several tips on how to do it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUPo5XBqhKY

 

I used the option of trimming little by little with sheet metal scissors...

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Well, in this video(from TK1636) there are several tips on how to do it...

 
I used the option of trimming little by little with sheet metal scissors...
 

Thanks! I'll check it out

[ticopowell[TK]]

Just a small update, The belt rivet covers are on finally, took 2 tries because one popped halfway off when glueing and I guess I didn't notice.

 

I have my shims cut out, I'm going to use superglue because I really want them to stick. I plan on glueing the back piece first, then the front, and being very careful with how much I use while still using enough to get a strong bond. Here are where the shims are at, and where I started today. 

 

Cutting them out of the leftover plastic, I have plent left if I need it for other shims... I dont know where but it's there lol.

 

 

Test fitting the shim

 

 

Taped up

 

 

 

and the back side

 

 

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I have the belt boxes partially finished. I glued one elastic, and now that the belt is finished I can size them to the correct spot, then glue the strap, then glue the front to the back. Maybe tomorrow I can get that done. 

 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Coming along nicely mate!!  

[ticopowell[TK]]

Weird... I clicked on the page to write this post and my last post was there still. I guess the forum saved it and forgot that I had already submitted it... eh... oh well lol

 

I glued the shims on with superglue yesterday and today. I had an early morning today so I glued the backer plate last night, and today I glued the visible piece. 

 

 

 

I think they turned out very well!

 

 

 

 

 

The seam is visible, and the shim is thicker than the kidney piece as expected, but a tiny bit of sanding, and then a tiny bit of ABS paste and sanding/finishing and I think the seam will disappear nicely. I am probably jinxing myself but I feel like the abs paste won't be a ton of work now. I thought it was going to be a big deal but I guess it's just not as scary with such a nice line to hide. 

 

Question on the paste, I have a bit mixed up in a baby food glass jar, but the seal on the lid came off and warped. Are there any better glass jars recommended? I'd hate to have a glass jar full of hard plastic because the acetone evaporated after a few days. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

10 minutes ago, ticopowell said:

Weird... I clicked on the page to write this post and my last post was there still. I guess the forum saved it and forgot that I had already submitted it... eh... oh well lol

Question on the paste, I have a bit mixed up in a baby food glass jar, but the seal on the lid came off and warped. Are there any better glass jars recommended? I'd hate to have a glass jar full of hard plastic because the acetone evaporated after a few days. 

Yes I get that sometimes, a glitch I think with the software.

 

I use a sealable preserve jar, like this which seems to have worked so far

 

 

[Chemi[Staff]]

8 hours ago, ticopowell said:

The seam is visible, and the shim is thicker than the kidney piece as expected, but a tiny bit of sanding, and then a tiny bit of ABS paste and sanding/finishing and I think the seam will disappear nicely. I am probably jinxing myself but I feel like the abs paste won't be a ton of work now. I thought it was going to be a big deal but I guess it's just not as scary with such a nice line to hide. 

 

I tried it with abs paste, but I did not like the result...Finally, I used a two component moldable epoxy , and the result was better.

 

After applying it (very easy), I sanded and painted it. This was the result:

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Came out great, nice work

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

coming alone Pura Vida 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Is this about where the belt boxes need to go?

 

They look good to me but I want another opinion before I glue them down. 

Edited June 14, 2020 by ticopowell

[TheSwede[TK]]

You are clear to proceed  (I’m guessing what appears to be burnmarks won’t be visible?)

[ticopowell[TK]]

2 hours ago, TheSwede said:

You are clear to proceed  (I’m guessing what appears to be burnmarks won’t be visible?)

Yeah those should be hidden by the holster... I hope. 

Edited June 14, 2020 by ticopowell

[ticopowell[TK]]

More ear pictures, they aren't as thick, but they are still thicker than the RS reference pics. I don't really want to cut too much more off unless they are still just way too thick. 

 

 

 

 

 

and the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts?

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I got a few more things done. 

I went through and countersunk all the torso screws and the helmet ears if you didn't notice in the last post. I made one a little too big so the screw pulled through so I took some ABS paste and filled the hole. Ill sand and drill it back out tomorrow. I know it will have no strength, but it will look better. I might move the bracket left or right if I have to, not quite sure what to do yet. 

 

 

I installed the cod rivet too, that was easier than expected. I did the rivet through the strap, and then I used some E6000 just to make sure it doesn't pull out ever... not sure it would but hey, why not. 

 

I installed the ab buttons right after the cod rivet, I trimmed the buttons down a little bit more to match the reference photos so they should look a bit better. I just gooped a bit of E6000 and magneted them together. 

 

 

Also I figured that since I had the ABS paste out I would goop up the shims. One is a bit smoother, but I won't really know how they turned out until I sand them down. 

 

 

 

I'm not sure how long the paste takes to dry, but I'm going to wait at least a day. I bet it is almost ready already, but I want it to dry all the way though. 

 

Ill try and finish those tomorrow, then possibly get the left side rivets installed in the ab and kidney plates but we'll see how the day goes. 

[ticopowell[TK]]

I got to the buttons and the butt plate, here's how everything looks now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did superglue the support for the screw that broke, that should keep it from pulling though. 

 

Ill post more if I do more

[ticopowell[TK]]

Well, I got the ABS paste mostly sanded off, but there is still a visible line so I think I need to add a bit more paste, and not sand down quite as hard. I'm assuming that's the superglue showing through. I sanded with 80 grit, 220, 320, 400, 1000 and then 2000. It feels mostly smooth, but there is no shinyness to the plastic as expected. I will use Novus to polish the plastic up a bit more. Also this was dry sanding, I might try wet sanding as well before the novus. 

 

Here are the pics.

 

 

 

Like I said, the line is smooth, but it could disappear a bit. I could also just paint it, but idk what paint matches best and I'd hate to have a miscolored kidney piece. 

 

The other option would be to finish sizing with the shims, finish the costume, get approved, then remove the lines later, but I have it all apart, so I might as well fix it now. 

 

Also, any more thoughts on the helmet ears? @justjoseph63 @TheSwede @TKSpartan

Edited June 16, 2020 by ticopowell

[ticopowell[TK]]

Also the belt boxes are done. The glue is setting right now. 

 

Back to my personal checklist:

 

Fix weak shoulder elastic (not enough space to double up with what I currently have, so maybe order new ones or sew cloth strips or something. Maybe it's just the shoulder bells so ill look at those too)

chicago screw holster onto belt

Install snaps for holster retainer

Add rivets/straps to kidneys and abdomen

Paint all the rivets that need paint (6 ab-kidney, helmet ears, thigh ammo box rivets)

paint the screw heads around the torso pieces

finish helmet. (feedback on ears, wash, assemble, paint, install lens, start and finish hovi mics, decided on fans and electronics)

Talk to the GML

[ticopowell[TK]]

Working on the helmet a little more today, I have trimmed the left ear a bit more, but I figured I'd post here. I posted on the stormtrooper armoury (OTTK) facebook page by cable guy and they all think the ears needed more trim. Here is the left ear with a little more trimming. 

 

 

 

I also noticed that the hovi mics have a few gaps in the resin, I'm assuming some bubbles. What would you guys do to fix these so they are flat and have the right amount of edge? the edge looks a bit thin at the moment. 

 

 

I'm thinking that my options are to bondo them, sand them down so the bubbles disappear, or just get pre-made ones. 

 

I'm really tempted to get the speaker ones by ukswrath, but I'm worried that they won't be loud enough, does anyone have any experience with those?

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Hi Caleb, Great work on the ab shims, they looks great, just a little more fine sanding and think some car wax to get them shine.

 

Eears looking better, but compare it with the reference photos in a complete perspective to see both ears.

 

About the Hovi mix, I use ukswrath's and I'm so happy with the result. they're 2watt speakers so, don't expect to be so loud, but the volume is pretty good and people get amazed when hear the Stormtrooper speaking.  When trooping in crowded spaces like at the Mall or open spaces  I think it's more difficult for others to hear you.

 

If you can , get them. won't be disappointed. 

 

cheers  

 

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

Thanks! 

Ill keep working on the ears, I think they might just be too high for what they are, but I don't really want to lower them because of the funky helmet underneath. If the back were more flush with the front it wouldn't look near as bad I think. Here are the gaps, are those normal? I did fix the left side a little bit, it was a lot worse but I used a heat sealing iron to massage it down so it was more flat. 

 

 

 

Here's the other wonkiness I've had with this helmet, If I line up the side tubes the brow gets way crooked. 

 

 

 

vs lining up the brow to where it should be. 

 

 

 

so... my ears aren't perfect? yeah, Ill keep working, but I almost think the helmet doesn't want me to do any better lol. 

 

well... back to trimming

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

try to emulate this alignment

 

[ticopowell[TK]]

try to emulate this alignment
 

Thanks, that's the photo I went off of, now getting the ears to sit right is... Entertaining lol.
I will see what I can get done tomorrow with it

[ticopowell[TK]]

I gotta say, it would be nice if all the RS helmet pictures were in one album. There are something like 32 helmet pictures that I've found in the RS albums.

 

I got more trimming done, here's the current state of the ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that they are close enough for me. I massaged the curve of the helmet under them slightly to match the curve of the ears, and to match other helmets from the movie, and I like it better. 

 

Here are comparisons to the RS helmet. I used https://www.befunky.com/create/collage/ to make the collages, had to figure out a way to download the RS pics to compare, ended up copying them, pasting them to a word document, then saving them as a picture by right clicking them. Then I uploaded them, collaged them, downloaded them, and then uploaded the collages to flickr. Here you go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it's midnight, so I'm off to bed. let me know what you all think of the ears. 

Thanks!

[CableGuy[TK]]

I gotta say, it would be nice if all the RS helmet pictures were in one album. There are something like 32 helmet pictures that I've found in the RS albums.
 
I got more trimming done, here's the current state of the ears.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I think that they are close enough for me. I massaged the curve of the helmet under them slightly to match the curve of the ears, and to match other helmets from the movie, and I like it better. 
 
Here are comparisons to the RS helmet. I used https://www.befunky.com/create/collage/ to make the collages, had to figure out a way to download the RS pics to compare, ended up copying them, pasting them to a word document, then saving them as a picture by right clicking them. Then I uploaded them, collaged them, downloaded them, and then uploaded the collages to flickr. Here you go
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Well, it's midnight, so I'm off to bed. let me know what you all think of the ears. 
Thanks!

Looking much closer now, Caleb. Great work. :-)