PiotrRasputin's Death Trooper WIP

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Definitely a size bump on the new print. Not sure what that screw is for.  Could it be for the lens for the eyes?

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

3 hours ago, DoggyDoc said:

Definitely a size bump on the new print. Not sure what that screw is for.  Could it be for the lens for the eyes?

Doesn't look like it. The lens uses M3 x 5mm screws. This one is an M3 x 8mm. 

I took off the faceplate to see if there was a hole for that 8mm screw on the inside of the helmet, but nothing. 

[Mal86]

On 1/20/2024 at 8:18 PM, PiotrRasputin said:

Helmet progress!

My garrison's Din Djarin stopped by and dropped off the biggest pieces of the upscaled Tom's file helmet he 3D printed for me.  

Here's a shot next to the 850 Armorworks helmet that is too small for my head.  I will probably sell it if and when I get approved with everything. For now, it will be filling, sanding, filling sanding, etc. for some time.  Right now its about 10 degrees in Chicago, so I'll need for things to warm up above freezing as I don't have a heated or insulated garage.

The printed one fits me MUCH better and after running to the hardware store to get most of the screws to hold the pieces in place, I found the issue of the 850 one pressing against the bridge of my nose completely gone, and I can easily take the new one off my head now.  

I did have one question though about the screws.  On the inside, there are 4 M3 x 8mm screws in the cheek area.  Just wondering, what is purpose of the screw in the area I circled? The screw isn't grabbing onto anything as there.

 

I didn’t get a chance to look at it closely, but in this video Tom is explaining the electronics in his helmet and shows the inside of it. Maybe it will help: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Pq3Z6ostgM7tXoBj/?

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

The mysterious screw hole is for the screws that attach the side tubes. Look at the tubes and see if there is a hole.

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

4 hours ago, Chaos said:

The mysterious screw hole is for the screws that attach the side tubes. Look at the tubes and see if there is a hole.

Ahhhh! I haven't printed those out yet! A garrison member is printing those in resin for me next week. Thanks for the clarification!

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Well, it's been a productive month!

First up, dropped off my Jim Tripon undersuit to a seamstress friend to take in the forearms and calves and add the elastic straps for the heels and around the thumbs.

Second, finished putting together my SE-14R from PremierProps! Just waiting on an actual 4x20 scope to arrive from Amazon Wednesday. Will give it a hit of the same spray paint to blend it in. Those Cheese Head screws were IMPOSSIBLE to find in stores, so I had to order everything online.

Next, got a majority of the more detailed parts from my fellow garrison member printed in resin.  He got busy so I am waiting for the Front Grille and Front Insert to be printed this week. Should be done by this Sunday. All parts were scaled up correctly since the dome was upscaled to fit my big head.

Quick shot of the partially assembled helmet with the front manifold. I just hit the helmet with a coat of 2 in 1 Rustoleum Filler/Primer and am waiting for it to dry before sanding again.  Will work on filling that vertical line after it dries.

Lastly, my helper accidentally printed a grill at 100% instead of the 109% I needed.  Since I use the MCM files, I decided to grab it from him to see if anyone on this forum might want it for their build if they are using MCM's files.  The 100% scale is the one on the bottom.   That's all for now!

[TookBreaker[TX]]

I have the same issue with the helmet pressing on the nose. I installed padding and am trying Nasal Pads for CPAP Mask as additional padding, but once you start sweating, they come off. I was against bumping up the helmet ratio to keep body armor and helmet symmetrical. 

If you find a better solution, let us know.

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Replacement boots ordered with Crowprops yesterday. Got the form to submit photos for sizing today sent.

Also got my undersuit back from my seamstress friend.  She ended up having to take off about 4-5 inches of excess fabric from the calves and now they fit great! The forearms were taken in too a bit.  Both now have elastic strapping for easy of pulling them through their respective pieces.

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Picked up the last two 3D resin pieces on Sunday, the Front Grille and Front Insert.  Everything fits perfectly!

I also did a quick test of the visor after cutting it out from a dark green safety visor I ordered off Amazon.  The garrison members I showed it to said they couldn't see my eyes which is exactly what I needed to hear, as it is required in the CRL.

 

Still need to fill in that vertical line, slightly tightened a visor screw 1 turn too many, but I'll just fill it with Bondo and sand it down.

But now that I have all the pieces, I assume it would be best to prime and paint them individually before assembly?  

What paint would be best to do the priming? Keeping in mind some parts are resin and others other filament.

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

16 minutes ago, PiotrRasputin said:

What paint would be best to do the priming? Keeping in mind some parts are resin and others other filament.

I like the Duplicolor Primer and Filler. It goes on well and fills small defects.

I have used the trembles and rustoleum primer fillers and they were okay but not as good as the duplicolor one 

[Mal86]

I tested the rustolium primer filler and I was underwhelmed.  Not sure if I didn't put on a thick enough coat, but I thought it would do a better job filling some lines on an FDM print.  Given @DoggyDoc's recommendation, I will probably get some duplicolor and see how they compare.

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

2 hours ago, DoggyDoc said:

I like the Duplicolor Primer and Filler. It goes on well and fills small defects.

I have used the trembles and rustoleum primer fillers and they were okay but not as good as the duplicolor one 

I've been using the Rustoleum 2 in 1 Primer Filler at the moment since that what my garrison member who printed my dome uses on his 3d filament prints.  He warned me about the need to constantly sand, spray, and repeat many times to hide the lines.

Since the resin prints don't have the lines like filament, should I use the same type of primer on them prior to painting?

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

You might find this odd but I have used Duplicolor and Rustoleum Primer and Filler. You have to be very careful when doing recoats. You have to use very light coats, and ensure that each previous layer is fully cured because the "primer" in each will cause some serious orange peeling. Some people have used flat black and then coated with SprayMax 2K and when done correctly it looks amazing. I however don't want to pay $21 a can for a clear coat as I prefer my armor look used.  My last repaint I used Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Enamel. Its thick, is easily recoated, and a lot harder finish than normal spray can paints. 

My current repaint is about 3 years old and the kit has more than a two dozen troops and I'm still happy with it's appearance.

At one point I was playing around with the idea of painting my kit with Vantablack  

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

10 hours ago, PiotrRasputin said:

Since the resin prints don't have the lines like filament, should I use the same type of primer on them prior to painting?

I use the same primer on all parts resin, fibreglass and filament. It then will give the same base for the paint layer that way. 

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

13 hours ago, DoggyDoc said:

I use the same primer on all parts resin, fibreglass and filament. It then will give the same base for the paint layer that way. 

Ok, so since I've already used Rustoleum's 2 in 1 Primer/Filler on other parts of the helmet,  I'll use it on the resin printed parts so everything on the helmet has the same base primer layer and let that cure. The filament parts I already have I already sprayed with this and have them sanded and set to the side.

Which now brings me to my question: the helmet color scheme.

 Looking for paint brand suggestions for the Flat Black and Weathered Silver areas.

I already have the Tamiya Metallica Black TS40, as I used that on my left forearm impellers from PhoenixProps. 

@Chaos, can the Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Enamel Spray in Gloss Black you mentioned work on top of the Rustoleum 2 in 1 Primer/Filler after rigorous sanding?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

On 2/28/2024 at 7:32 AM, PiotrRasputin said:

Looking for paint brand suggestions for the Flat Black and Weathered Silver areas.

I already have the Tamiya Metallica Black TS40, as I used that on my left forearm impellers from PhoenixProps. 

@Chaos, can the Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Enamel Spray in Gloss Black you mentioned work on top of the Rustoleum 2 in 1 Primer/Filler after rigorous sanding?

What ever paint brand you use for the Flat and Silver should be the same as what you are top coating over.

Since the appliance paint and your primer are both Rustoleum they will be compatible as long as the primer has fully cured and you have sanded the primer to a finish that the Appliance paint will adhere to. I stopped at 600 grit and the Appliance paint laid nicely over it

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Back from my Garrison's Formal party, we celebrated our 25th Anniversary this year, and I was the Master of Ceremonies, so yeah...I've been in the bacta tank all weekend.

I did manage to stop by the store to pick up some spray paint so here is what I have for the helmet and would like to see what you think.

Keep in mind that the helmet is 3D printed with a mix of filament (the main dome, emitter side pieces, 2 bottom layers of the face) and the rest is resin printed. Everything was primed with Rustoleum 2 in 1 Primer Filler.  I will sand all the pieces with 600 grit sand paper over the weekend before attempting to paint.

Gloss Black - Took @Chaos's suggestion and got the Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy Enamel. The price couldn't be beat as my store had a sale on them for $7.50/can.

Flat Black - Found I already had nearly a full can of Rustoleum 2x Flat Black, so YAY to saving some money.

Metallic Dark Grey - Still had pretty much a full can of Tamiya TS-40 Metallic Black left over from when I painted my PhoenixProps metal impellers.  Will this be an issue, or should I stick with Rustoleum? If so, which color would be closest?

Weathered Silver - Another find in my box of spray paints I had, Rustoleum Silver Metallic paint.  Wasn't sure if this would fly or not, as all I found reference was Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver, but I don't have an airbrush. So I'm holding off on these parts till I can get confirmation on the color.

 

Also, since my helmet is from MCM's files, I saw on the back that there are 6 slots on the sides of the middle section and 2 smaller squares that need to be painted flat black.  However, these aren't in the files.  Am I to assume to just use some spare ABS plastic, paint it the flat black and glue it in place? (I haven't attached the middle section just, just held it in place for reference.)

 

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I suspect you would be okay with those paints. Maybe do a test run ona small piece of plastic that primed to make sure the paints don’t cause issues with each other. 
‘Not sure about the holes in the back but yes, just putting a piece of matte black ABS likely would do the trick. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Dan, any silver will do, when you "weather" it use a "black wash" technique. Thin out any black paint so it's watery and brush it on then gently wipe it off. Make sure the silver has cured, or the thinner in the black wash will dissolve the silver. You can use a thinned out acrylic black, it's water based so no issue with dissolving the silver enamel. 

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Sanded the smaller parts of the dome with 600 grit sandpaper after curing a full day. Gave them their respective coats of paint and letting them dry. 

Thoughts on the Metallic Silver I used?

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

I think the silver looks ok. Will tone down the metalicity (I made that word up) when you weather it. 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Looks good, like Dan said, the weathering will tone down the (whatever word he made up) 😆

[PiotrRasputin[501st]]

Had bit of an accident today. My main dome fell off my workbench and split from most of the seam.  This is the filament part my garrison member printed for me.  

 

I'm reaching out to him to see what he used to hold the pieces together.  

Honestly, I am disappointed this happened, but also, kind of glad it happened now and not during a troop.  I knew I needed to reinforce the bonds between the parts, this just all more confirms that suspicion. 

My plan of attack is as follows: 

1. Release the last section that is still holding together so I can apply the same steps to all the same areas.

2. Buy some Scotch-Weld PR40 Glue to tack the two pieces together.

OR

2a. Use a soldering Iron with a knife tip to heat and weld the two pieces together.

3. Coat the inside with a 2 part epoxy mix to strengthen it.

4. Use bondo or plastic wood filler to refill the seams on the outside. Then sand smooth and coat with the 2 in 1 Rustoleum Primer/Filler.

If anyone has any experience with putting 3D printed parts together, any advice would be appreciated.

[DoggyDoc[CMD-DCA]]

Sorry this happened but definitely better now than after it was already painted. 
I have not pieced together 3D prints but have used CA glue and plastic bond to glue parts on blasters 

[Mal86]

The only feedback I have is I broke a FDM 3D printed part and reconnected it with a soldering iron. It didn’t look clean, but that part wasn’t going to be visible and it held. 
 

I did recently watch these videos and plan to test it on some prints eventually:

 

 

you could use the soldering iron to join and this method to smooth, but I have no personal experience yet.