nikolojedison's Mk. V Pepakura Build

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nikolojedison

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Ladies and gentlemen of the 405th:
Today I present to you my first true project, still a work in progress as of yet. My goal, simple: Build a MJOLNIR Mk. V helmet with Pepakura, using @Zaff's unfold of the Halo 4 Mark V Helmet file, found here. I don't have a colour scheme as of yet, but I do know that I won't be using black (Honestly, thank you @Arcanine!) or any of those silly red colours :p. I plan on doing some light weathering as well as some traditionally-positioned lights mounted in the sides, for which I have cannibalized some book lights since my current soldering skill == 0.

My first helmet, a rather lumpy and misshapen Mark VI made from foam a year ago (apologies for the angle, I had Legos in it at the time):
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Due to my experience with that helmet, I knew when I first started that I didn't want to do foam again. I had initially built a 'demo' of sorts for it with Pepakura, then disassembled that demo and used those pieces as templates for the foam. In retrospect, not such a good idea since many of the pieces turned out slightly asymmetrical. Doing that gave me some experience folding & cutting on top of some basic origami folding skill & a few years of fascination with paper planes.

And so, we come to the true helmet I started this thread for:

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As you can see, there's some slight warping/dipping on the upper half, but other than that the rest is minor cleanup and detailing. I am a good deal more satisfied with the symmetry and accuracy of this helmet as compared to my first one.
I'm waiting on resin, fiberglass, proper gloves, and respirator cartridges before starting the next stage: resin/fibreglass!
 
Thank you for the credit but I do want to point out that I only unfolded the model, I didn't make it.
 
Thanks for the credit!

I'd suggest using a thinner glue - you've got a lot of open seams there, so take your time and try to resolve that before resining.
 
Thanks for the credit!

I'd suggest using a thinner glue - you've got a lot of open seams there, so take your time and try to resolve that before resining.
Thanks for the tip! When fixing that, would it provide a better result to cut it apart and reglue it along the seam on the inside, or somehow undo the tabs and reglue on the tabs?
 
Thanks for the tip! When fixing that, would it provide a better result to cut it apart and reglue it along the seam on the inside, or somehow undo the tabs and reglue on the tabs?

Neither. If you've already glued it, trying to pry everything off and re-do the gluing is going to be next-to-impossible. I would suggest a re-do, personally - try again, use a thinner glue, make -sure- your tabs and numbers are all lined up well, and try to ensure your helmet isn't dented or moved around too much (I noted a few potential soft crumple zones on your helmet which will become a problem when resining).
 
Neither. If you've already glued it, trying to pry everything off and re-do the gluing is going to be next-to-impossible. I would suggest a re-do, personally - try again, use a thinner glue, make -sure- your tabs and numbers are all lined up well, and try to ensure your helmet isn't dented or moved around too much (I noted a few potential soft crumple zones on your helmet which will become a problem when resining).

I'm rather wary of doing a full re-make, since the family printer sporadically stops working - it took me upwards of 15 minutes to print each page since it insisted every file I tried to print was corrupted, even though I could open, edit and save the files on my desktop, the family laptops, and my Linux tower. Wireless network printing is hopeless since the printer refuses to connect to our network.
Tbh, I had to turn the exposure settings on the camera down to -1 1/3 to get something that wasn't a white blob in the image, so maybe part of the problem is shadows on the lines? I know there's definite gaps in some areas, but I had hoped the fiberglass behind would help to block those gaps since they're less than a centimetre at largest, or I could fill them in with Bondo or superglue.
TL;DR: At this point, redoing it because of gaps just means that there's gonna be gaps elsewhere as well.
 
Update!

I purchased the resin, bondo, fiberglass, and respirator on Thursday. After cleaning up some of the seams & filling others with cardstock & hot glue, on Friday I had worked to this:

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I'm planning on getting a good deal more of the first stage of resin completed today, and hope to be completed with the resin and fiberglass coating by next Thursday.

[EDIT] I fibreglassed the interior shortly after this but didn't take pictures of it. Not a good idea in retrospect.
 
Another update!
I apologise for the double post, but this one has pictures of the latest development: The Bondo Stage, which I am still in the beginnings of. I've got the first layer of Bondo and the first power-sanding complete:

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Worry not, for I took these pictures indoors only for the better light. All the Bondo-ing and sanding is happening outside in a well-ventilated garage.
I still have a good long amount of bondo, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, sand in front of me yet. However, once all that is done I plan on replacing some of the front cheek vents near the very foremost mouthguard plate with mesh to aid in ventilation.

[EDIT] Now (Wednesday) I've added some pictures of the helmet after I did some sanding, some more bondo, more sanding, and a contrast layer. This layer of paint is meant soley for me to see what still needs work (which, incidentally, is still a lot), and the helmet will not remain this colour. I plan on doing the wonderful shade of Caboose Blue.

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I'm still looking for those cheek domes, so any input is appreciated.
 
Apologies for the lack of updates, everyone.
I'm drawing near to the final bit of patching the little, tiny holes (should be done by Wednesday), and will sand the entire thing one last time once that's done. Pics once I take them.
 
Still quite a bit of patching left to do, but I did some battle damage too. Colours are mottled because of the various materials I've used and two different contrast coats. Apologies for the poor quality, a DSi doesn't take pictures well.

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I've got some Safety Green spraypaint laying around that I may try out just for kicks... any input on the whole thing is appreciated. Encouragement too.
 
Update time!
I finally painted the helm in a burgundy & iridescent colour scheme - the shifting colour shows better in person as it changes from side to side. The silver markings are battle damage stand-ins for now, but I plan on fixing each spot before calling this helm complete.

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I'm going to put the visor in over the weekend and smooth out some of the rough edges so I can wear it to the MCC release in my area. Hopefully I can come up with something a good deal better constructed by the time Halo 5: Guardians comes out.
 
You're making good progress. I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to see it without the rough edges and bumpy surfaces, because those kinda kill it for me. Still, seeing it from the beginning, it's coming along nicely.
 
You're making good progress. I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to see it without the rough edges and bumpy surfaces, because those kinda kill it for me. Still, seeing it from the beginning, it's coming along nicely.

Thanks! It's really good to hear encouragement & see that there's people reading this thread.
Since my family's printer is down, this is my project indefinitely, so there's gonna be quite a bit of things to do on this one. Tidying it up is highest on that list.
 
i was wondering how you fit your head in it, because when I put it on, it starts to tear and rip?
First off, welcome to the 405th!
Second, I scaled mine to provide room for my head to fit when it's inside. See http://www.405th.com/f14/how-scale-your-armour-tutorial-v-2-a-25588/ for a good tutorial on scaling. I also removed some of the material around the bottom so I could get my head into the helmet, even though there was plenty of space once I got it inside.
 
Mack200, it sounds like your helmet might not be big enough for you. Even if it is, people do often have trouble getting themselves through the neck hole, so you might have to trim that some.
 
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Mack200, it sounds like your helmet might not be big enough for you. Even if it is, people do often have trouble getting themselves through the neck hole, so you might have to trim that some.

I don't really want to try and remake the whole helmet, because I just finished it yesterday, and I want to get some bonds on it. I'm just wondering if I trimmed it, would the bottom part e messed up when I use bondo?
 
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I don't really want to try and remake the whole helmet, because I just finished it yesterday, and I want to get some bonds on it. I'm just wondering if I trimmed it, would the bottom part e messed up when I use bondo?
If you trim the bottom part, you should be fine to use bondo to patch whatever needs patching. Have you fibreglassed the inside yet?
 
Not yet, I was going to start this weekend.
What I did (I should've put it in one of my earlier posts) was fibreglass it then use a Dremel to cut away the parts that kept me from fitting my head. Be very careful & wear a dust mask because glass dust will mess up your lungs.
 
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