CLONE TROOPER ARMOR WORK (HELMET)

Been away from my garage for a little over a week! Going through R2 withdrawls, but, I've been too busy to think about him. I did find a very short amount of time this last weekend to clean up my Episode II Clone Trooper Grunt Helmet and get the paint work started on it.

First up, I used some Magic Sculp to create a nice thick layer around the base of the Neck Ring. After that set up, I sanded it smooth and drilled the holes into the lip in order to embed the magnets.



I also repeated that process for the base of the helmet.



This allowed the two pieces to come together quite strongly. I used rare earth magnets, 1/4 inch in diamter to embed in the edges (8 on the ring and 8 on the helmet). They were Super-Glued in place. I originally tried Epoxy (E6000), but it didn't hold 'em in place. They just pulled free! The Super-Glue held fantastic!!





After all of that, I coated the inside of the helmet with Black Plasti-Dip Tool Coating (Sorry, no picture of that process). Afterwards, I masked off the areas I didn't want affected by the primer coat and sprayed two coats of primer.



Then came the Satin White coats.



Next up, I'll be adding some of the other color details...grey trim around the ear and back of the head, black brow trim, black chin greeblie, etc. I'll also have to track down the Visor Material to place in the front. (You can see the black interior in this picture that I was talking about above)



I also managed to protect the area where this one is identeifed as Clone6 (C6) Helmet #24 from DWD, 2010. This is a shot taken by looking up into the helmet from underneath. I had the helmet on a make-shift stand which I hastily built out of some scrap wood from R2.



I'm liking the progress so far! Gotta get some window screen for the teeth area, and paint the teeth area grey as well. That's it for now!

LEG MOUNTING HARDWARE

Went to Lowes tonight to pickup the Tnuts which Matt and others have used to mount the legs to the frame. Holy Guacamole Batman! $3.35 EACH and I need EIGHT of them!!!!! NO WAY!!!!

So, I went to OSH and found them at $1.14 per package of two. MUCH better! So that's what I did tonight. Nothing else.

They'll be used on the 3/4" layer of each leg. The bolts will run from inside the frame, through the shoulder hubs and into each leg (4 bolts on each leg).

DOME SANDING

I didn't have a lot of time to work on anything tonight, and didn't get near the legs, so I spent about 20 minutes sanding the dome. Long way to go. No photos to show tonight...hopefully I'll make some progress this weekend. We'll see.

LEG PROGRESS

Today, I spent time routing out the pockets under the shoulders (THAT SUCKED!!!!) and cleaning them up with a wood chisel (REALLY SUCKED!!!!) But, I made progress. I also cut out the center of the 3/4" leg layer.



Next up, I need to figure out the dimensions of the shoulder holes and start planning the cutting of the Center Leg (even though I ordered one from JAG). Looks like Matt McCormick's Blog has quite a bit of info about the center leg and how he put it all together.

MORE LEG WORK

I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on R2 tonight, so I slowed down and made a few cuts on some of the leg pieces. I left about 1/16th of an inch extra on each of the cuts because it was getting a bit dark and I wanted to make sure I didn't over cut. I can always file and sand down the extra later once all the layers are attached together.



I think the layers are looking pretty good on the first leg. This is the stack of layers I used with one small difference...in looking at the leg plans, I used one piece of 1/2" on the bottom right piece instead of the 1/4" shown in the diagram. When I compared everything to the club blueprints, it measured out correctly, so that's what I went with.

I still need to cut the channel from the 3/4 inch layer, but I'm not in a big hurry for that. Plus, I still need to dig out the shoulder pockets. All pending! :)

COUPLE OF PICS

THE CCG 501st CREW

Here's a few shots of me and the guys during the Weird Al show last night. Obviously, I didn't take any of these shots, but thanks to all our friends who did and are kind enough to let us use them.

There I am!


Look!!! It's the bobbleheads! Backstage rehearsal.



Havin' fun with the crowds backstage.


A shot with us and Weird Al! What a great time! Hopefully, some video to post soon!

ON STAGE WITH WEIRD AL YANKOVIC

I had the honor of making another Vader appearance with the 501st last night. This one was at the California State Fair, on stage with Weird Al Yankovic! Had a great time! Al was a gracious entertainer and very social with everyone!

Here's a video, but the audio is a little blown out because the camera was so close to the sound system.
CA STATE FAIR VIDEO

VADER APPEARANCE

I'll be making a 501st Vader appearance at the California State Fair tonight, onstage, with Weird Al Yankovic during the final act of his show!

Hopefully pictures and video to follow!