First Build: ODST - Helmet Concentration

[Katsu]

These:

Are good for that. The biggest one is the one you'd use. You glop some hardener-mixed bondo onto the spreader and then press hard while dragging it over the putted areas. Those gaps are big enough to be "bondo" fixed. Spot putty is only for pin sized holes.

Cereal's video on smoothing is a great way to see how it's done.

It's a long video, BUT at 12:00 is the start of the bondoing, watch from there and you'll see him using the spreader to fill in crevasses in the armor.

The gist is that you need a spreader to make sure the bondo gets applied as flat and evenly as possible.

As a side note. The spot where you have the big hole in the second pic is where mine was on my ODST, I figured it was from setting the helmet upside down, pushing that part in before the fiberglass had fully hardened. It may take a few layers to build it up enough to be on level with the rest of the piece. You also might have too much bondo in other places, and need to sand them closer to the paper. This can be a bit rough as if you put too much bondo on in the first place, it's a lot more you need to sand through, and it might be easier to just fill in the large pits instead.

 

[Aster Tea]

I was looking at a pack of those at Walmart, but I though they were too big. The spreader I'm using is about the same size as the one Cereal was using. I guess I'll try a bit of spot filling on those larger parts. The edges of the pepakura are showing up all around in random spots so I think the bondo layer isn't too thick. I thick that hole was from rondo-ing. ): I'm just itching to throw on that first coat of primer, hahaha. More wallet denting for meee!

 

[Katsu]

Spot filling with bondo body filler I hope! The spot putty gets chalky and breaks easily on larger areas.

if the paper is showing I guess you're fine! I wonder though where you were pouring rondo that it shows up on the outside.

Also to answer your question on foam weapons, I find pictures are helpful:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...stol-(show-thread)-Halo-reach-WIP-(PIC-HEAVY)
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/33066-Halo-Reach-M6G-Pistol-Foam-sliced-Model
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/35894-EVA-Foam-M-3-Predator-Pistol-(Mass-Effect-2)
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31378-Sliced-Foam-M6G-Magnum-pistol-(W.I.P.)-(PICS)

 

[runcornstuntman]

Unlucky bout the spots in the helmet. I myself had a fair few appear once sanding begun. However i rarely used a bondo applicator. I found i was able to get similar if not better results just using my hand. However the applicator works better for the thicker build up areas. Spot putty could work for those holes but requires probably four layers. And if you build it up to over 3 mm (i use metric) then it starts becoming a problem.

And i had a bit of a mis hap with my cutting wheel last night. I was cutting away dried excess fiberglass when my wheel suddenly locked up in the glass, then pull up a little more. Needless to say the cuttin tool hated this and blew up. Fortunately i avoided any accidents but i thought id have a near miss story just to remind us all the safety is everyones job. Good luck with your build.

Keanu/ runcornstuntman

 

[Aster Tea]

.

Definitely with bondo. I rondo-ed the inside and left one upside down so it dented in because it wasn't hardened yet. ):

Thanks for those foam pistol links! If I figure out the thickness of the poster board from Walmart, I'll use that instead of foam. I was just looking at foam as an alternative if the poster board doesn't work out.

.

Hopefully another layer of bondo will make those crates go away so that I wont have to over use the spot putty!
Fiberglass is a beast to cut through with a wheel. D: I think it's safer to slowly saw through it with an exacto knife so nothing can potentially fly around and hurt things.

 

[Aster Tea]

Tiny update. I pepped out Nightshade's side plate since it looked a little easier to pep than Hugh's one. I was wrong, but it does look nice so I'll be pepping three more.

Happy 4th, guys!

 

[drizzetsrevenge]

looks pretty good. bad luck with the warpage, though. hopefully as you progress with the build, you will learn more methods to minimize the amount of warping

 

[Aster Tea]

Soooo, I would not suggest buying a new game while doing your build. I've been playing Minecraft like no tomorrow which has made some serious crunch time. I finally got some work done on the helmets, albeit very little. I put another layer of bondo on the dome to fill in pits and craters and added a single layer on the ear areas. When I sand it on Wednesday, all the leftover imperfections will be called as battle wear/damage. I don't think I'll be able to get the detail grooves done. A little less than a month until school starts and three months until Halloween. I hope it get most of the pep work done for both sets before my first exams during the semester.

 

[Cloviz]

Spot filling with bondo body filler I hope! The spot putty gets chalky and breaks easily on larger areas.

if the paper is showing I guess you're fine! I wonder though where you were pouring rondo that it shows up on the outside.

Also to answer your question on foam weapons, I find pictures are helpful:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...stol-(show-thread)-Halo-reach-WIP-(PIC-HEAVY)
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/33066-Halo-Reach-M6G-Pistol-Foam-sliced-Model
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/35894-EVA-Foam-M-3-Predator-Pistol-(Mass-Effect-2)
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31378-Sliced-Foam-M6G-Magnum-pistol-(W.I.P.)-(PICS)

i beg to differ on the spot putty. id say like 24% of my eod helmet is spot puttied and its fine.

 

[Aster Tea]

Got the helmets sanded, washed, and threw on a coat of primer. First time using a spray can like thing and I did not follow the direction. 8D I sprayed close to them and continuously. I tried doing the back and forth/ on and off spray method but my fingers started hurting. Looks fine anyway. There are still many little craters and rough areas. I had to forgo the spot putty because of lack of funds. I had to dump my bank account into birthday gifts for my mom and textbooks. )8 I'm still amazed with them. I'm gonna do a little more sanding and it'll be ready for paint.

 

[ZMX]

Looking good!

 

[Aster Tea]

Thanks! I took a look at your ODST build too. It's looking great! I'm jealous at how many pieces you've got done lol.

 

[drizzetsrevenge]

wow, i need to get back to work on mine... your helmets both look great, but it looks like there's some rough edges where the lower half of the visor area starts to slope up. i noticed that on both of the helms. other than that, great work!

 

[Aster Tea]

Thanks! Those rough edges were on purpose. I think it looks better that way instead of just smooth since those parts are actually black along with the back part right at the end of the dome and the cheek-ish areas. It wont be all that noticeable after the black paint gets on anyway.

 

[Croc co]

Awsome Job!

 

[vapir]

really good work.
are you going to add some grooves on the helmet (sorry if i missed it)

 

[Aster Tea]

really good work.
are you going to add some grooves on the helmet (sorry if i missed it)

Nah, not for my deadline. I might sand off the paint and do some grooves for the Halo 4 release if I end up preordering.

Helmets got a silver undercoat and the base color slapped on (With many oopsies on the sidewalk, parking lot, and forearms). The boyfriend picked out a textured spray that I thought looked like a metallic black (which it was), but the way he lightly put it on made it a gunmetal color that I wanted. You can hardly see the imperfections now. I used the toothpaste technique for the battle damage look. Some areas look better than others so hopefully the stripe down the middle will cover some up. That toothpaste was foaming up like no tomorrow when we were trying to get it off lol. Still glad we used toothpaste instead of mustard 'cause at least it smells minty fresh.

Friday we should be doing the stripe and adding the last touches. We might look around for some acetate sheets for visors too, but we still need to find a transparent spray paint in a good color. The boyfriend's got his padding pretty much okay with his snowboard helmet padding, minus a little more to keep the helmet from moving. I still gotta figure mine out. ):

I'm not looking forward to pepping two sets of the rest of the pieces. ): If I'm not feeling lazy I'll resin and rondo the chest plates I've done. One of them is already resined so it wont be too bad. I think resining is my least favorite part since it eats up brushes and gloves so fast for me.

 

[Katsu]

Good luck with it. You could always look into mold casting if you don't want to do several peps, or foam. I am not a fan of foam, but it often works well for people to get out quick and dirty suits (And some nice ones if enough time and skill is taken).

As for resin, that is a pain in the tush for sure! The more carefully you can keep things in their cups/tins, the better off. I make sure not to let the brush touch the sides of the cup, and work in small batches so I don't have to reach in when the resin level is low. With enough practice I don't go through any gloves with resin, but fiberglass is a whole other story. I don't believe in gluing fiberglass, so I have to hold it down while I resin it, so usually I go through a lot of left hand gloves (good thing the gloves are ambidextrous!)

 

[ItsDarthChaos]

Looks good. Just gotta ask if you could elaborate on how you managed the detailing. Something about toothpaste?

 

[Katsu]

Not to horn in, but the toothpaste method means you paint down a layer of silver, then glob toothpaste wherever you want to create paint damage. Then spraypaint the helmet color over the whole thing. Once the paint is dry you rub off the toothpaste and are left with silver chips in the paint.