bwattsup

I’m taking a break from the sculpting/sanding department. I need to start learning how to heat, bend and join ABS plastic to my helmet. Originally, I was going to use styrene. After heating and bending a piece. I quickly decided against it. Regular styrene is far too brittle when stressed. I acquired a half sheet (4’x 4’) of 1/16th ABS from my local plastics dealer for $16. The material is single-sided haircell texture. This is actually the type of ABS used on the prop store helmet (with the haircell pattern on the inside). When they told me they only had black in stock, it didn’t concern me a bit. The whole helmet is going to be repainted. After cutting a portion off, I laid out a quick drawing. I traced a quarter for the rounded tip of the chin strap support. As I got ready to attempt my first bend, my daughter tells me “There’s a leak in the bathroom dad.†When I got there I see water spurting out from the trap of my sink. Immediately, I said “Bring me that sculpting stuff I’ve been working with…and a bucket!†During my research phase, I remembered reading that the stuff would cure underwater. I let her knead enough for a patch, and then applied it across the base. Problem solved!!!! Lol I laughed about it for a while, because: A) this was the first thing I thought of using, and that as much as I needed a break from it, here it was saving me in a time of need. Glad I had it around. I’m starting to feel like the company spokesman for this stuff. Alright, back to work. I made the first bend by hand without applying heat. After seeing it stretch, I knew this would never fly. I played around with my sealing iron until I found a temp setting that allowed me to bend the plastic. Here’s the first bends. Thanks to Terry (Pandatrooper) for making those videos. I’ve watched them a couple of times now. Great tutorial! I applied too much heat on my bottom return edge. It spilled over onto an area that was reserved for the corner bends. After cutting some strips, I used the sealing iron to make the bends. I’m going to make my cuts narrower next time. Not bad for a first attempt though. The corners will be cemented together and filled. I think I’m going to make some ABS paste out of sprue and acetone. These pictures illustrate what I’m trying to accomplish. I clamped the piece on, and started playing around with it. I’m still trying to figure this out as I go along. I marked and cut out some of the excess material in the center. When I remake this piece, I’m going to leave some extra material on the bottom edge. I think it will be stronger overall by cementing this tab to the side wall. On the center, I’m going to make a bend and glue it to the Apoxie Sculpt. The top edge will be cemented to the upper band/visor mount. Like I said…I’m winging it. I do have a vision, just not sure how’s all going to come together yet. The gallery pics show the correct bend to be almost as close to the diagonals of the ears. In order to make this bend, I threw a scrap piece of 1/16th in between the piece and the front edge. I’ve got to either build up the side, or cut away some Apoxie Sculpt. Whatever I do, I have to ensure the helmet is still going to fit, and the faceplate is going to close. It’s already getting tight. I have to wear a balaclava to prevent my ears from being clipped by the bottom. This piece isn’t going to be the one I actually use. I’m going to try some other bending methods first.

It's kind of crazy how off this one is. I've never seen one that overlaps that way. That's just insane. Just so you know, none of the scout lids are 100% accurate. Even the LW lid isn't 100% accurate. and that's the closest Ive seen. We are not blessed with an original to mold from. The EFX version coming out is from the mold, but thats made of fiberglass. Why must the gods forsake us?!? lol Good luck with this Chris. I look forward to seeing what your gonna do with it. And btw, I want to do a Fett after completing my scout. I'd love to pick your brain sometime.

Thanks Rob! I'm kind of winging it as I go along. I hope it turns out nice in the end.

Lol. Yeah, at least he happens to be in the state with the mother load of trooping opportunities BFE Florida beats my 12 hour drive to Disneyworld.

It's all good Greg. No offense taken. Congrats on finishing your lid. Can't wait til I get mine done.

Lol...ummmmm....no. I was just saying. :/

That's not exactly true. I went to Arcet (my local welding supply dealer) and picked up the full headgear with bolts for $10. I saw someone selling that same kit the other day for close to $30 on BSN.

After I constructed the ears, and gained a little confidence on this project, I decided to go for the infamous "double vent" of the prop store helmet. I looked at the gallery pics and then roughly drew out the shape I thought would match it. Once I scuffed out the shape on the back, I then drilled pilot holes to let me know where I needed to apply Apoxie Sculpt on the inside. One area where an SC lid benefits from softer pulls is the vent section. I just think the single vents need to be a little deeper and more pronounced. This unassembled/unpainted helmet gives some of the best views of what the helmet is supposed to look like. It's really difficult at times deciphering the 2D to 3D code. After looking at the reference pics, I decided to make modifications to the single vents, and the traps. I applied the material to those areas, and then also applied a block around the backs of the visor guides (I'll explain that part later).What I've learned lately is that I need to take more time actually sculpting with Apoxie Sculpt. It will save me a ton of time in the sanding department. I reclaimed a table in my house, and set up my drying/shell shape jig. The material on the back also affects the shape and flexibility of the shell. I figured it was best to err on the side of caution. Unfortunately, my jig interrupted "The Battle of the Krusty Krab". Apparently Mandalorians and Clones on Speeder Bikes "can't resist a Krabby Patty". lol Before I started the double vent, I sanded down the single vent to the right of it's location. These pics show my initial vent depth. I sanded them even deeper later. Here's the pictures of both the single and double vents. These are not final. Just pictures during different stages of the process. OK...So that Apoxie Sculpt I put on the back of the visor guides was put there for a couple of reasons. The first being support, and the second for sanding. The left and the right side have symmetry issues due to a much softer pull on the left side of the helmet. On a normal SC build, this wouldn't be an issue. On mine, it is. I plan to make return edges on the back of my visor and want all of the clearance space possible. The original helmets have a visor "latch" in place here. I decided it was best to remove the material and start with a fresh surface. I couldn't do the whole job at once, because I still need the upper strips for a clamping surface. They will help for attaching the top.Eventually, this whole area will be recessed flat. Right now, it's just the centers that are flat/flush. On the right side, I may have to add Apoxie Sculpt on the outside. On the left side, the material will be added to the inside. I also found something else out in this process. When you sand Apoxie Sculpt very thinly, it starts losing adhesion to the ABS. Not sure if this came from rotary tool vibration or how the ABS is already stressed from trying to curve. It's really not a big deal here though. All of the front ABS material will eventually be cut away. I also worked on the traps. What little bit of sanding I did to them, showed me I didn't need the amount of Apoxie Sculpt I applied to the back. Oh well, lesson learned. It never hurts to have more support though. I sanded the flat area of the trapezoid until the edges weren't as rolled. I then sanded the top and side edges flat.with a little bit of a soft exit. This change is really subtle. But it's one I had to make after looking at reference shots. I'm still not convinced I'm right on these changes. We'll see after I put some primer on them. Here's how the back looks now. I've got a couple of things to fix. I sanded through the ABS on a couple of the vents. I'm going to build these areas back up over the next couple of days. Plus I'm going to fill some of the areas to finish off my "ears". Once these are done, I'm going to apply some primer around the vents and traps. It's the only way I'm going to be able to see what I've actually got. I've looked at the back of this helmet for far too long now. It's starting to turn into the Michelin Man!!! His "eyes" are beginning to freak me out. lol Anyone else ever notice this? Was this the inspiration?

For accuracy, the 3M Speedglas (plastic) bolts are the correct bolts Chris. Look around in the trade forum and you'll see the bolts Greg's talking about. They are the same bolts used in some welding shields.

The B line on the vest sleeves looks better. The sleeve is supposed to end just below the bottom of the shoulder bell. As for the cummerbund, that's a little trickier since the width (top to bottom) is so narrow. It looks like you have the room to drop the whole bund an inch. Not much more though :/ This is going to cause the top portion of the bund to be more visible. Then you need to have the top edge of the belt barely cover the bottom edge of the cummerbund. The bottom edge of the chest plate then covers the top edge of the cummerbund. It's going to be hard to do both because of the width. Usually, they overlap by a couple of inches both ways.

Can't wait 'til we both get our MC armor in Next year is going to be a blast. Best of luck bro!

I understand totally where your coming from bro, but the SC kit is worth it. I like it as is. Just want it to be even better. It's real easy to build normally. There are dimples in the plastic to show you where the screw holes need to be drilled. The top kinda interlocks into place too. The only thing I'd recommend, is to ask Jeff to leave a little "meat on the bones" when he trims each piece. My front wasn't wide enough to accomodate the chin strap elastic needed for lancer status. Plus, the faceplate benefits from a little extra plastic on the bottom.

Thanks bro. I can't wait either Hopefully it all continues to go well. Lots of work to do on it. That's awesome on the MC. I went that route as well. You can probably just pick yours up and save on shipping. Nice fringe benefit ya got there. Did you decide what lid you are going to get yet?

Don't give up the faith Shyyyk. If you can't sew, practice on something non-critical. You can do anything you set your mind to.

Glad you're enjoying it Paul. It's been really satisfying thus far. Just wish I had more time to work on it.

Here are the results of my sanding. The ears aren’t completely finished yet. They just need some filler, extra sanding, and a bit more TLC. I’m trying to get all the inside work done before I put the top on. I also still have to decide what level of accuracy I’m going for. It’s never going to be perfect, but hopefully close. These pictures were taken right after I filed the basic shape. Here, I rounded the edge corners. I also made the depth line on the wall of the helmet a little more pronounced. That way it looks like it’s floating away from the side wall. Left and right ears roughly finished. I’m going to go back and fill the white areas with Apoxie Sculpt. The part everyone will actually see….The outside. I’m still not sure if I want to add the 90 degree edge at the top of the right ear. This would match the prop store helmet. Maybe…we’ll see. The extra cut on the right side was caused by a Dremel. I pushed in a little too hard and caught the edge with the spindle. :/ From that point on, I hand filed and sanded. The side views look off in the photos. I guess it has something to do with how close I’m holding the camera. A two dimensional optical illusion if you will. The inside lines actually extend further back. When I eyeball it, you can only see the center section of that line. That’s the way the prop store helmet side view is. Once I finished the ears, I started to work on the structure strips. I drew a line at 5mm, and then removed the rest. Theses strips stiffened the helmet. They are also going to serve as a base for attaching the front chin strap strips. I think I’m going to do a little more work in this area. I have symmetry issues that need to be fixed. Well that’s it for now. I’ve done a little more on the helmet, but I’ll share that another day.

That's funny Patrik. So far it's been great sharing this experience with my daughter. I even have this made up song I torment her with. lol The words are: "Scout Trooper...Go Scout Trooper". It's just something silly I do with her.

I'd lower the belt first. You want to have your cummerbund height at least an inch past the bottom of the chest plate, and an inch past the top of your belt. That way, everything overlaps.

That looks sweet!!! Can't wait to see it finished.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post. In short: My build is back on…and in full swing again. I received my Apoxie Sculpt in the mail, and finalized my strategy for restoring strength to the front portion of the helmet. If you have never used this material, I highly recommend it. It bonds really well to ABS plastic. Figuring it would promote better adhesion, I pre-sanded the areas where I wanted to apply Apoxie Sculpt. I broke out some wax paper, and equal portions of the A & B materials. After twisting the strands together, I kneaded the combination for about 5 minutes. It’s pretty sticky for about the first 15 minutes, and very easy to work with for at least 2 hours. (Note: Use gloves with this product. It can cause skin rashes.) Since this was my first time using it, I applied the material pretty liberally to both sides of the helmet. I started with thick strips around the ears, and then moved to the front of the helmet. It was probably too thick, but I wasn’t sure how much I was going to need. Before I used the Apoxie Sculpt, I took some width measurements with the faceplate attached. I used these measurements to spread the lower front, and clamp the center into proper position. The top was also clamped on to keep everything in proportion. I left this jig in place for 24 hours as the Apoxie Sculpt cured. After release, I found a spot where I had apparently stuck my finger in it. Whoops!! The helmet is now pretty solid again. It of course added some weight to the shell, but not as much as I had expected. Most importantly, the front no longer wants to curl inwards. Now for the fun part……Ahhhhhhh……Sanding. There is just something therapeutic about sanding. I turned on some music and sanded away for hours. Every once in a while, my daughter stopped by and asked me questions. She wanted to know about the different types of tools. She also said, “Why are you doing all of this for just a helmet?†My answer: “Some things just have to be done right.†When she asked me what she could do to help, I told to take some photos. The R2 on the desk was her gift for inspiration. I’m going to try and post some more tonight. I have “ears†to show ya! …to be continued

Congrats!!!!!

Looking sharp! To what size did you end up reducing your pouches too?

Just having some fun with ya bro. Happy belated Thanksgiving!

"Hoe small"?!? What did you get into on your Thanksgiving Donovan? I know they just legalized some things out in Colorado. I didn't think that was one of them though

Lol. I hope I can still become "blood brother" by choice, instead of by accident though. Both of yours sound painful...especially the prick from the pin :/