Cool, Where is my helmet...LOL Looks like alot of work... Would love to learn myself. Thanks for gettingme on the boards here. I cant wait for my helmet.....Whoo Hoo
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Trey Laymon
Darth Vader 501st
SL-5546 Central Garrison
Nice workspace Kent! I wish I had something more like that myself! Eventually I'd like to convert one of the storage sheds behind the house to a workshop. Step one - EMPTY THE STORAGE SHED! That'll take awhile, as there's quite a bit that needs to be moved to the other shed! Step two - Run electric to the shed. That'll be awhile, as I don't have the money right now to hire someone to do it. Step three - Fill it with COOL & USEFUL TOOLS!!! I've actually got some of that already, but there's still so much more I want. Unfortunately, that all takes $$$, and that ALWAYS seems to be in SHORT SUPPLY!!! Well, for now, I'll just have to look at the pics of your shop & DREAM!!!
By the way, is my ESB lid in those pics? Just curious.
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MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, ALWAYS! Jeff Hubbard (SL-1744 Garrison Excelsior)
This shop actually started off in much the same manor as you have just described. Is held the lawn mower, X-mass decorations, and all of that sort of thing. I had an old Craftsman air compressor that I one day decided to wire up with just using a power cord ran from the house. Then some makeshift work bench was added, and some lights. Before I knew it I no longer had room for the lawn mower. Had a 100 amp, 220 volt power service ran. And needed to expand the shed into a workshop.
And now once again I have severely outgrown the workshop and have been trying to add another 240 square feet of floor space. Not much extra really. But it is what I can afford right now. And would be a real blessing as I have recently begun having to move trash cans and other things in the shop just find something else.
And yes. Your helmet is in that one photo. I need to start a thread on it tonight, and I will PM you a link to it. I have the main face plate assembly in the house getting it ready for packaging. I have the done back out in the paint booth because of paint issues that I caught Thursday night.
But yours is on the shelf and just right of the TV. It's the one with no dome on it.
I just did another Troop today with the Nerd Heard, sorry, Mountain Garrison It was 103 degrees in the shade by 1 PM. So I only lasted about an hour and a half in the full leather and wool costume. But at 45 and still recovering from the heart operation of 7 months ago I felt that I did OK.
But I think that it was Wesday night when I discovered that I had a weekend troop that I had forgotten all about for the local children's hospital. Well, I can't seem to keep a personal helmet for myself for very long these days. Someone always needing one faster that I can pop one out so they agree to the "used" helmet. I always repaint the inside and put in a fresh helmet liner in. But I haven't had a helmet for more than one troop in well over 5 months. So what to do?
The only casting that I had that wasn't spoken for was this ANH sitting in the bone pile. And all of the molds are tied up with paying orders. So I ended up fixing this casting that was really just an inch away from being cut up and hauled out. I told myself that it is an ANH and can be a down and dirty quickie for just one troop and then just shelf it. Funny how it didn't turn out half bad.
Normally the castings come out needing just a bit of filler on the neck line and that it. I recall that when I was making this one that I had been trying to rush the process and added a bit extra hardener to the resin. It first came out of the mold looking usable. But by the next it had wrinkled up in a few spots looking allot like a piece of lettuce. The entire skirt of the dome was like this and had to ground down and filled it with bondo. The face plate was not much better off either.
But in all I figure that I just dumped about 19 hours into a helmet that normally would have only taken 5 to get into paint. The finish is just the normal shake and shoot rattle can stuff. And I must say that the 11 hour old paint smelled just great as it was curring on my head today out in the direct sunshine. About made me sick. But I must brag myself up a bit when I say that I didn't really start to sweat on my head untill we were heading back to call it a day. It was then that the sun was getting the better of me and I was really starting to breath heavy. Then it just opened like a water spit and sweat started blurring my vision. But the fans held up great and it was my first test at over 100 degrees for this new trooper design. But I do need to get my ass back into the gym and start getting back in shape.
What we have here is three helmets that I have painted in the last 5 days. The one in the center is an ANH, and is one that was described obove. The other two are for customers who wish to not be a part of this forum for whatever reason.
The helmet on the left is and ESB, while the one on the far right is an ROTJ version. They both still need to be wired and final assembly done to finish them.
Dude, I am SO COMPLETELY DROOLING right now!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!! I so TOTALLY WISH that group of helmets was sitting on a shelf in my house RIGHT NOW!!! As always Kent, YOU ROCK!!!
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MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, ALWAYS! Jeff Hubbard (SL-1744 Garrison Excelsior)
But I must brag myself up a bit when I say that I didn't really start to sweat on my head untill we were heading back to call it a day. It was then that the sun was getting the better of me and I was really starting to breath heavy. Then it just opened like a water spit and sweat started blurring my vision. But the fans held up great and it was my first test at over 100 degrees for this new trooper design. But I do need to get my ass back into the gym and start getting back in shape. 
