ATA Helmet Build[*ATA]

[Irishtrooper]

Hi guys I thought i would share my very 1st helmet build with you all.

 

This is from a virgins point of view, never build a lid before from scratch ie trimming etc. One thing i would recommend to anyone is checking out Mike's TE2 build videos, it gave me the confidence to actually do this and his guide is awesome!

 

Its an ATA and personally can't get over the detail in the face plate it takes my breath away. I have the armour as well but this thread will only be for the lid. Please be gentle ;p

 

1st up the helmet kit pre-trimmed:

 

I took my hobby craft knife and also a pair of curved plastic cutting scissors and began trimming and also in the hard to get areas used the score and stap method (i couldn't believe how easy this method was).

 

1st up the Face plate:

 

I know Mike (TK4510) marked up his eyes and teeth from the front but i used a lamp (shining it through from the front) and marked it with a pencil from the back - i also trimmed it used the score and snap method but cut it from the back as well. I did it this way as i felt more comfortable. I also trimmed the bottom and top of the face plate too, leaving the sides as they were.

 

 

This is a more detailed phot of the teeth and eyes from inside the lid (the eyes and teeth have since been sanded down).

 

Next the bumpy cap and back plate:

 

I tried to follow the trimming lines but found these a little faint so i trimmed them and send pics to FBJ to take a look and with his advice trimmed them by a further 2-3mm and this is the result. Thanks for the help Mark

 

Front:

 

RHS:

 

LHS:

 

So next was the ears, now these i kind paniced on a little bit then thought bugger it time to bite the bullet. I trimmed these a good 3mm from the line then marked them up a little closer and used the score and snap method to bring it closer to the final line, leaving a wider gap around where the helmet tube area will fit to allow for extra trimming when it comes to fitting the whole helmet together.

 

Ears:

 

Next up will be the pieceing it all together...

[binkx02]

the master has taught the apprentice well .

 

 

excellent work bud ,I may be wrong but personally i would take a teeny weeny bit more off some of the frown holes.

[Irishtrooper]

Not a problem easily done

[Darth_Finger]

Looking good man

[TK-2126_MD[TK]]

Nice!!! very sharp tight trims..... u sure u didnt do this before. It sure doesnt look like the work of a Virgin It must be the luck of the Irish ( Okay had to get that one of my chest)

Honestly great work looks great!!! keep that camara clicking and post every thing u can!!!!

Good stuff.

[ThayNerd[TK]]

Looking good. I just finished my ATA lid a few weeks ago.

[MoreMchineThnMan]

hopefully this is what my thread looks like in the next week my ata lid is getting shipped tomorrow...great job so far and i will be a virgin helmet builder as well so your pics and mikes vids will serve me well. thanks and keep up the great work

[Daetrin[Admin]]

If nothing else it should inspire others to pop their cherry

[Sonnenschein]

It looks you mix hero style (3 "humps") and stunt style éars (4 humps).

 

Very cool build up!

 

K.

[sskunky]

Hi guys,

 

can someone enlighten me about this ATA armor and lids. Where does it derive from? and who makes it? I've tried the search button but I can't seem to find any info.

[Amish Trooper]

Hi guys,

 

can someone enlighten me about this ATA armor and lids. Where does it derive from? and who makes it? I've tried the search button but I can't seem to find any info.

Short and sweet it is Supertrooper using molds made by CAP and a copy of a TE2 kneeplate. CAP molds are a copy of TE armor. Check out this thread.

 

http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=7239

[sskunky]

Thanks Steve!

[Irishtrooper]

It looks you mix hero style (3 "humps") and stunt style éars (4 humps).

 

Very cool build up!

 

K.

 

Its 4 humps both sides, the pic has quite a bright light on it so that it looks like 3.

 

Thanks for the comments so far

[firebladejedi[TK]]

Looks much better there Mark, i would cut out the teeth more also. Good work buddy for a first build

[Irishtrooper]

Ok after switching and trimming the armour for a while it was back to the lid and piecing it together.

 

The first thing to do was to attach the faceplate to the back and cap section. If you can get someone to help you hold it during the drilling and positioning then it would make it a lot easier. There are 2 methods for doing this 1, clamps through the eye holes which hold both sides in place for drilling or 2, using tape to hold it all together. I used the tape method as i couldn't find clamps that would fit. To see the clamp method you should watch Mike's videos.

 

The most important thing here is to have the positioning as identical on both sides as possible. I lined up the start of the traps with the top of the eye, taped it up inside and outside, once i was happy i drilled a hole completely through. Once this was done i then threaded through the bolt with the nut and washer on the inside of the lid. This helped hold it better for drilling the other side. So once all this was done it looked like this.

 

Front:

 

It is sitting out a bit slightly but this will all get taken care off once the ears go on.

 

Left handside:

 

Right handside:

 

Now it is time for attaching the ears. I will mention that these can be the hardest bit of putting any lid together and very daunting to a new builder. When it comes to trimming these be extremely careful, little is better leave about 2-3mm from guideline! Trim a little then fit against lid,keep doing this if necessary until you are happy with the fit then its time to attach them to the lid.

 

What i did with the ears was to drill the guide holes for the screws, then placed them beside the lid where i wanted to go and the drilled lightly through to only score the lid. I then marked the scores with a pencil, then placed the ear up again looking through the holes to ensure it was still the position i wanted and that it had not slipped during drilling. Once i was happy it had not moved i drilled the pencil marks right through. Note i did not drill the bottom ear holes, this was done only after i attached the ears by the top to screws for my ANH Stunt.

 

Showing the 2 screws in ear going through layers of HIPS connecting it to the lid:

 

With the 2 screws going in these gaps will disappear or become very small:

 

Now the top 2 screws have been put in on both sides and tightened with the washer and bolt on the inside, i held the bottom parts together and carefully drilled right through and then added the screws. This is how it all looks now.

 

Front:

 

Left handside:

 

Right handside:

 

The inside shot here shows where the screws/nuts and washers are. The where quite long as can be seen in the pic but i have now used a pair of pliers and cut them shorter and will put some hot glue over then so as i don't end up cutting my head on them.

 

With this done i then added the brow and neck trims. The brow trim was a little longer than required so i carefully trimmed the end a little bit by little bit until it fitted perfectly. So it now looks like this:

 

Front:

 

Left handside:

 

Righ handside:

 

Next up will be spray painting the lid and then adding the decals. Then putting in the lenses and hovis.

[Sgt JB]

lookin really good there!!!

[synaptyx]

That's looking great, Mark! Well done mate! Mega high brow there, I'm jealous 'cos mine seemed to come down quite a bit when I attached the ears.

[Irishtrooper]

Thanks guys. Yeah Aaron im not really a high brow kinda guy but when i put this together i really liked it

[Sgt JB]

lookin good!! Not a high brow guy myself, but it does look good!!

[Irishtrooper]

After looking at the helmet again i decided to lower the brow and also to fill in the gap in the ears.

 

Next primer!

[Sgt JB]

Looking nice!! keep up the good work.

[runewolf]

Very nice job man, looking better than mine hehe. What did you use to fill the gaps in the ears?

[Irishtrooper]

Thanks guys.

 

Allen i used a plumbers putty from a local hardware store in the UK called B&Q. Unsure of the brand name as i threw out the packaging. Its blue on the outside and white in the middle and you have to kneed the 2 colours together for it to bond properly but it goes solid in about 10 mins and is suppose to be as strong as steel.

[runewolf]

Ah, I know of similar stuff here. I used non-latex caulk on mine and it is not doing as well as I hoped. It is still spongy, so I can't decide if I'm going to try to remove it or use the putty to force it into the ear more and then be able to sand the putty smooth. I'm sure I could layer the paint on the ears enough to make it look smooth as is, but I'm not happy with it right now.

[Irishtrooper]

Lid with 1st coat of primer: