ANH TE build

[Mad Cow Rebel]

So after building an ebay helmet kit I decided to take the plunge and begin working toward achieving a literally life long goal (since I was around 6-7) of owning stormtrooper armour <-----that's how we spell it here in Canadaland. 

So here I am: Monday evening with a pile of ABS on my floor. I'm excited and slightly intimidated but not as much as I would have been had I not built a helmet already. 

I'm going to do my best to build this to centurion level. I still have a lot to learn about the strapping system used on the original suits and I'd like to get as close as possible within reason.

You will notice in the photos I have a set of ESB hand guards. That's simply because I didn't want ABS ANH guards as I'm planning to get latex guards and figured it could'nt hurt to have some ESBs lying around for a rainy day. Also don't mind the WW2 collection in the display case.



 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to seeing the build progress, when in doubt check the gallery sections, good luck

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Good luck mate!! looking forward for your advances 

[jsilvius[Staff]]

Good luck, can't wait to see how the process goes!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Mad Cow Rebel]

Alight I'm jumping in head first: with the helmet

I'm planning to make an ANH HDPE helmet replica similar to what CableGuy did here: 

I've started trimming and, like on my first helmet, I've gone with the rough "box cutter" eye shapes seen on screen used helmets like the "move along" trooper seen here


And here is my first attempt at replicating that helmet a few months ago


I haven't tried to replicate any particular helmet since this is my trooper. I simply did it in the same mindset of "lets get these helmets made quickly so they can be on set for this weird space movie" that I'm sure the workers at SDS had in 1976.


of course not all original helmets are the same and having nice completely cut out eyes is not innacurate at all. Here is another original ANH helmet that was on auction at propstore this year. It has fully cut out eyes.


I am currently putting together a trooperbay order for the rest of what I need to complete this helmet so stay tuned

Edited October 13, 2020 by Mad Cow Rebel

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to seeing the progress

[Sly11[Admin]]

It's been a while since I've seen a TE build, good luck with your progress Avery

[Mad Cow Rebel]

I've finished trimming the helmet and I'm happy with the brow height and dome fitment. 



I'm almost ready to put in an order for the rest of the straps and parts I need to start building the armour and finish the helmet but I want to be sure I have everything first.

Is there a thread where the original strapping systems are discussed? I can't seem to find it

[TheRascalKing[TK]]

3 hours ago, Mad Cow Rebel said:

Is there a thread where the original strapping systems are discussed? I can't seem to find it

I did a quick search and couldn't find much either... likely mostly because not many people use the original style "bracket" strapping, because it's pretty awful. Not much in the way of adjustment, and makes your return edges very prone to cracking. There's a reason it isn't required to be used at any level of accuracy. There's some info about it here and I know Joseph sells the brackets and has some info in his sales thread (as do a few other suppliers), but if you're going to ever troop in this armor, or if you fall outside the "standard" stormtrooper body size/shape, I would consider using the much more popular method of elastic and line 24 snaps (even if you add non-functioning screws to simulate the look of the original brackets).

 

 

 

Hope that helps!

[Mad Cow Rebel]

Update:

 

Got some of the heavy lifting done on the helmet. 

As I've said before I'm going for a fake HDPE look on this one

Here is what's been done:

I was really happy with this colour for the HDPE


The biggest disappointment so far is the ears. The ones included in the kit were just wonkey for some reason and I couldn't get a very good fit. No two TKs are the same so I'm just going to carry on



Next update will be painting. I'm going to spray Tremclad oil paint through my spray gun and lay it on like originals. Possibly create a few drips.
 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, I found ears to be the most demanding piece of the whole kit with my first build, get easier the more you build but still a pain

[Mad Cow Rebel]

for sure, I just found it odd because on my first helmet it was a very easy fit

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Definitely makes a difference from helmet makes and also armor makes, some seem easy others you just think WHY  

[Mad Cow Rebel]

Paint is on

After masking off the "chips" with Vaseline (old trick for poor prop makers) I mixed up some very very very light gray paint to match the soft white of the original helmets used in the opening boarding scene.

The paint I used was Tremclad industrial oil paint sprayed through my spray gun applied fairly thick creating small runs just like on original examples.

Now it will sit in the furnace room for a week or two until it is fully cured. Then I'll remove the masking and take some photos of it in good light to show it off






  

Edited November 24, 2020 by Mad Cow Rebel

[Mad Cow Rebel]

I'm just noticing now that I haven't cut away enough of the teeth. I'll do that as soon as it's dry 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking good, definitely a little more trimming between the teeth.

[Mad Cow Rebel]

Well after spending a night in the sauna temperature furnace room, the helmet was 85% dry and so the ideal time to remove the masking. It will now cure for the next week or so as that's how long it takes this paint to fully harden. It is very important that the paint has fully hardened BEFORE applying more paint.

I also took this time to cut away more of the frown to match the style of originals.

This is how it stands now 







 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Could be the actual helmet but a couple of the teeth cut outs look a little curved when you do a comparison

 

[Mad Cow Rebel]

yes I see that, I'll trim it some more

[Mad Cow Rebel]

The title of this post is "a little too authentic"

So. After trimming the teeth back a bit I noticed that the paint on the underside of the "chin" area still hadn't dried even after a about a week. I must not have mixed the paint well enough. 

So easy enough, I figured I'd just wipe it away with mineral spirits. It would reveal more of the "HDPE", which was protected by a clear coat, and I'd be done with it.

Not so.

The spirits ate right through the clear and khaki paint revealing the ABS again. No good. I set about repainting the chin with khaki and after applying a thick coat of clear I got ready to re spray the white.

This is where things get really hairy.

I mixed up the paint and begin spraying in my garage. By now, here in Canada, it's gotten quite cold; and cold and paint, as you may know, do not mix.

The paint started to "fish eye" and glob out of my gun. In a panic I rushed everything into the furnace room and set up to try and salvage the job. 

I sprayed and sprayed while warming the helmet with a heat gun. It appeared to work! I got the helmet looking nice and glossy again. A few drips here and there but no big deal as that's perfectly scree accurate. All was well with the world.

Until I came back down stairs a couple minutes later after cleaning up to find HUGE drips all over the helmet. the heat from the furnace room must have warmed up the surface fully making changing the paint viscosity allowing it to run freely everywhere. 

Originals had drips, yes but they didn't look like they were melting.



What a disaster. 

a little friendly advice: DO NOT spray when it is cold even if you think you can get away with it. oh well, live and learn.

What now? This stunt helmet will become a practice helmet. Maybe I can salvage it in a few months when the paint drips finally cure and I can try sanding and polishing them out. We'll see. 

In the mean time, DA Props on Facebook had a Black Friday sale and I bought a hero helmet kit (NO SPRAYING!) so that's what the plan is moving forward. Make this a hero build instead of stunt.





Stay tuned...

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hey trooper,

Sorry to hear the paint went a little south. Once it’s fully dry, you should be able to sand it down and have another go, if you wanted to.

You’ve picked up a good deal on the DA Props helmet. I think they come with two sets of ears, so, if you wanted to, you could try trimming the ears a little more. As below, your current helmet has quite thick ears. When you look, you can see the intended trim lines on the ears (approximately marked in the photos).

If you did trim them a little closer to the mould lines, you would lower the ears a little to better fit the helmet.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Sorry to hear of your paint issues, I have in the past used a portable heater to heat up an area before painting which has helped when it's been cold. I also use automotive acrylic paint, dries a lot quicker and is less likely to run.

[Mad Cow Rebel]

Thanks guys. Yes it's a bit discouraging but I'm plowing forward. 

I didn't realize those were meant to be ground back that much on the ears. I figured that was just more detail but I guess I haven't spent enough time looking at ears. I'll definitely trim them back after the paint dries.

I'm looking forward to getting my DA hero. Unfortunately (kind of) he only had 2mm kits on sale and the originals were all 1.5mm so details will be ever so slightly softer but, for the price of $150 CAD shipped I absolutely can't complain. 

[Sly11[Admin]]

Man bummer on the paint but at least it is only paint and you can rework it.
Hero helmets are so very cool, I’ve built some for others but not one for me. It is on my todo list.
Keep forging ahead and you will get there.


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[Mad Cow Rebel]

3 hours ago, Sly11 said:

Hero helmets are so very cool, I’ve built some for others but not one for me. It is on my todo list.
 

Maybe you can help me with my build then, I'm having a hard time finding much information on hero helmets. I know the differences aren't that huge in construction but one thing that has me stumped is the mic tips.

On the stunt helmets, evidently the mic tips were stuck on the helmets and painted white while on the helmets, then hand painted black afterward leaving the inside of the mics white. The paint didn't adhere well to the automotive painted surface and so there are many examples of the white showing through spots where the black has chipped off


What I don't understand is why would an ABS hero helmet then have mic tips with white paint showing through when there was no need to paint them like on this famous original?

The only explanation I can think of is that the mic tips used on all the hero helmets were "recycled" from other damaged stunt helmets. It's not unheard of for parts to be salvaged from other helmets no longer in use like the ears of the "move along" helmet that was found without it's ears in a garbage bin.

Along with that, another factor that supports that idea is that the hero helmets were the last of the stormtrooper helmets to be produced in ANH and with a tight budget and even tighter deadline it's only natural that they would re-use parts. 

That's just my own theory though. If anyone knows the answer for certain I would appreciate it

Edited December 1, 2020 by Mad Cow Rebel
added photo