01Hawk

Glad you like it! I try and take the parts I struggle with and post pics of that.. This is my first build of anything so it has been tough. You can read all you want but until you actually touch stuff and start working with it you don't know what it is like. I am enjoying it ... The original mask seems to follow the same curve.. And it looks like the snout was a lot flatter than the SC one

Snout painted... Does it look ok? Is it into the upper lip far enough?

Getting the back done..

And thank you for the compliments. I stared at this thing for a long time, kind of intimidated to make the first cuts and wasn't sure about the gluing. I realized that after reading a ton of posts that I needed to just jump in and do it.... If I messes up oh well. It is a bit tricky getting used to working with the plastic as it is thin but once I started I really enjoy it.

The only reason I would paint the whole thing would be due to the seam. I decided against it and am leaving it as is. The edges I just sanded down to make smooth. I haven't tried to bolt the visor and faceplate up yet but from fitting it up with magnets it looks like it will be ok . I am gonna use this for general 501st activity ( once approved) and for going to different shows/comic cons. I think the gap in the back will be fine for that for now since I want to get a different helmet anyway.

Glue is all dried and fitting the parts up... Deciding today if I am going to paint the whole thing or not. Don't really want to put a ton of bodywork into it and think clear coating it will show off too many of the mold deformations and imperfections as is. Plus I want to buy a fiberglass one this summer.

Made some progress. In all the builds I couldn't really find a good picture of what the gap looks like on the back to compare against. So here is how mine looks. Actually looks better than I thought. Had glued the rear yesterday and held it in place with magnets which worked pretty well. Gluing the side today with magnets and clamps.

Most posts in response to this helmet are that no one has tried it yet. If you do get one please post pictures as I want to get a fiberglass one in the future.

That is quite the "interesting " complete costume they have for sale too.

Hahah Skinner3D. Since I was a mechanic a good bit of my life you learn sometimes the right tools make all the difference. And hopefully this isn't the only suit I make so they should be helpful in future builds.The clamps are from Walmart ( which I hate shopping at ) and were $7 for a large variety bag I think. I don't like them cause the pads seem to be weak and they were pulling the topper to the edge of the tank. I have since bought some from Home Depot which were $5 each for the large and $3 for mediums as well as some basic metal ones for $1 each. The heat source is just a cheap hair dryer - my parents bought it to fill up an air mattress at my house while they were staying here working on it before I moved in- so that is a free bee. I also just bought a set of nice files for $13. The drill and dremel. I have had but the dremel is def nice to use. Aside from the stainless steel ruler ($8) and cut pad ($10) I only have purchased a bunch of Exacto knife blades and tools for about $30.

I will prob do that just want to make sure one way or the other it would pass 501st approval. Thought about trying to roll the excess in to give the effect of depth/it being boxed out

The ears on the original helmet and the SC helmet are differnt. I used the stickers as a template but the ears on the original helmet seem to be more perpendicular to the sides and have a larger opening. Should I just keep opening up the holes to match? I included a pic of what I used on the dremel ( after drilling a bunch of holes to cut most of it out). Will be finishing it off with sandpaper once I determine the correct amount to remove .

And a big thank you to Pandatrooper and all the other builds for helping me!

After reading everyone else's I figured it was time to get to doing mine. First lesson was let the e6000 get tacky before gluing cause it tends to slide. Have my topper started And my upper mount bracket made. Still have to sand the opening a bit

Ear hole stickers in as templates to be cut and masked up for the inside to be painted black

Thanks! I have the back piece masked up to paint the inside black and the templates are on and marked. I am gonna paint the inside tomorrow and cut them also.

Thanks for all the input! Today's goal is to get the ear holes cut and glue the top to the back. I will decide about filling the gap after I see how it looks.

SC kit comes with decals for the ear holes. Are they to be used as templates or actual decals to black out the ears? If they are decals do you have to have holes for basic 501st?

Thanks! I will take a bit more off. Also glad to see what the back of yours looks like. I have been putting off gluing mine till I saw some others. Trying to decide if I want to fill the gap and just paint the whole thing ( would be done professionally in an auto body shop)

Thoughts on my cut? I have it cut around the lines on the inside pretty close but wanted to check before going too far.

I ordered strips of it from trooperbay and they where shipped safely and promptly. I was in a Hobby Town USA store the other day and they had sheets of Styrene for sale for like $7 in various thicknesses. I don't know if there would be an issue with that being up against ABS plastic though but have seen it used in other costumes.

I read every bit of the post just like I read a ton of then when I had to pick who to buy my armor from etc. I based my decisions on what I read here. It isn't exactly a huge community with tons of options so making the right choice based on the experiences of others was important to me. I don't know any of the people or vendors involved. Reading the frustrations of the original poster is something I would never want to go through. It's not like I can go to Target and buy this stuff - I have to chose between a handful of people who are nice enough to supply the hobby with components to complete a costume. A member of the community had/is having a horrible experience with a vendor and came here for help- and he was honest about how he was treated by all parties involved. I say thank you for that. Clearly the product is extremely nice. I don't understand why I couldn't have been purchased direct but that is a different topic I guess. Again- I am new and just showing support to someone who I didn't see as doing anything wrong other than trying to get the product he paid for. It could have been me , and I would be pissed.

I appreciated the post. Being new I appreciate posts which clearly outline who not to deal with. I would hate to be ripped off of almost $400 and now I know who not to deal with. I don't see how asking the person supplying the vendor selling it is huge deal if there is no where else to go. I would think the person manufacturing the product would be pissed at the vendor treating what is in essence both their customers poorly.

I just got all my armor from SC.., took a couple days initially to get the process going but they were prompt after that. Parts were very well packed and in excellent condition. May want to try and message him on this board too

Can anyone post a pic of the top/ backside of their SC helmet ? Just trying to get a feel on what the gap should look like so I can start gluing.