SIPPY Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Hi all, This will be a very entertaining article for you to read as I have been through the darkest depths of hell with my KS build, only to come out the other side full of rainbows and sunshine. I have been posting regular build updates on my Garrison forums but thought you would all enjoy it as well. Sit tight and hold on, it was a bumpy ride. Okay faceplate is all done. No visor in yet but the nose sticker has been replaced by a gloss black painted base and the KS nose greeblie replaced by a more accurate one. Eyes have been drilled and and smoothed, now just have to work out how it all goes together. Okay visor is now in. The one supplied with the kit is fairly thick and impossible to bend in to shape without snapping. I had a brilliant idea. First I cut the shape of the visor out (which is already drawn on to the protective film thanks to the maker) Then I placed the visor in an oven on a flat tray for about 30sec. The material was then playable to form in to shape. I didn't have any gloves so this can be a little painful. Then I bent it slowly in to shape immediately from the oven. I formed it to the inside of the faceplate. Once it cools the plastic can lose its original bend so I worked the middle section over a toaster and used the heat to heat up the middle and then slowly folded it in or out to get a perfect fit. Then just hot glue the visor in and wholla, all done. UNTIL TRAGEDY STRIKES AND STRIKE HARD IT DID! Okay well here is the first major hiccup of the build. Thanks to EI with help regarding the helmet build. This is totally my mistake and an extremely bad one at that. I had glued the visor in the right position but once clamped and dried I had found that it had slipped up inside the clamp. The result was a visor that was high at one side and in correct position at the other. Using superglue I found a "debonder" at home and had the brilliant idea to squeeze some on to the join and pry it back apart. BAD MOVE. The debonder not only softened the glue but starting eating the ABS. In my infinite wisdom I decided to get a flat head screwdriver in there to pry apart the join. The result was a split visor and a very split one at that. I have been assured that it can be fixed but I am still nothing short of devestated! Well the time has come to fix the bucket. I put it off and put it off but after talking with Evil and Al yesterday I think this is the best approach. I will be painting the helmet and then painting my armour to match. I'm going for a glossy look instead of the weathered trooper. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it! Info to come on this process. I just typed it all out and I timed out on my log in. CBF uploading all the info in what I did again. Both now almost ready for paint and clear coat. Will be painting armour to match. Pretty much it was cut ABS to size, insert, superglue, bog, sand, done. This was the rear of the bucket, seam gaps filled, sanded, cleaned. Stage 2 of the recovery. Was not happy with the pull on the visor so I tried heating it and straightening it. Problem.... It warped the visor. Plenty of bog can be seen here but it's now as straight as a dime. Really pleased with how this is going. There's a lot of work to go but I can see the end is near. Helmet is primed and just needs a sand with some 1200 then a 1500 wet/dry paper then she's ready for some gloss white. Hope it matches the armour or close to it. After all this work I don't really want to have to go back and paint all the armour as well. This is the repaired side and visor. Thrilled to bits how its come out. Rear of the bucket all painted, 2 coats of white, sanded, 4 coats of clear. Moving on to the face plate. Thanks heaps for the help tonight mister Evil. It's finally in its home stretch. I have it painted and the correct 3M Glass bolts installed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Voorhees Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Nice recovery! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chex Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Very nice recovery. One thing though. I'd go with a satin black on the snout instead of a glossy black. If you want to do glossy on the aerator, go for it, but do satin on the snout base. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIPPY Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 There are a few different interpretations from people when it comes to "satin". When you say that I think a "semi gloss" whereas some people regard satin as "flat or Matt" What would you suggest Chex? A semi gloss? At least I can fix all of that up now that it's been resprayed. Thanks for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Yup, semi-gloss. 'Matt or flat' would be Matt surely?? Good job on the lid bud. Looks like you've had a torrid time of it. But well held in the end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Sean nice save, your in good hands with e-i ......Love your build thread. Rhi is about to build hers, I think I will be bribing a couple of Squad members to help with the Helmet. The rest I can do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIPPY Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Chef, You would think it would as simple as that wouldn't you? I've worked in the hobby industry for 2 years and have been building models for at least 20+ years. You would be blown away by the amount of times I have this conversation with someone in the store: Hi I need a spray that's not glossy but not dull Oh so you would like something that's a semi gloss? Yeah that's kinda glossy isn't it, you have an example? No sorry I don't. It's kinda mid way between a high gloss and a flat coat though. Oh so how shiny is semi gloss then? IT'S HAAAAALF WAAAAAY. Makes me wanna pull my hair out. At least we know what a Semi gloss or "satin" finish is. I didn't have any semi gloss black so tonight I painted the base Matt black and hit it with a semi gloss clear (does the same thing just makes the layer a bit thicker). Really glad I was able to save this one. MJ good luck with the build. Your scout looks awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIPPY Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Aaaaaand I've put my trooper bay decals somewhere "safe" and now I can't find em! When does the nightmare end? hahahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookymufu Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 you really saved that helmet, thats like my worst nightmare but I dont have the skills to fix it, great job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIPPY Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 All finished. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. It was a great save and okay for trooping, will save up and get one pre-built next time hahahahaha. Thanks for all the kind words, hope you liked the build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIPPY Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 I've noticed though that the caps on top of the 3M glass bolts I acquired from Lonewolf are bigger than the recessed holes on the KS helmet so they don't sit flush. Has anyone had any luck or tips for "sinking" them in so the caps sit flush? I hope that makes sense? Cheers Sean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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