Major helmet scaling trouble, please help!

So I'm making a Noble Six helmet, I'm using this pepakura model - http://www.4shared.com/file/UrakV8jg/N6_helmet_by_Jico_unfold_by_Rh.html - I left the scaling at default and started making it out of plain office paper, I got most of the visor and front half of the helmet done, and it looked like it would fit, a little bit big but not massive, so I started in on the card stock with the same scaling. So after I'm about 65% done I realise that its huge and WAY to big, so that's 10 hours down the drain. I measured the inner diameter roughly and its about 34 inches, my head being about 22 inches in diameter. What is the best way to scale a pepakura helmet and can anyone give me suggestions on a decent size to start again with?

Here's what I have done so far :



left is the card and the right is the office paper

this is why you do the math first, because its set for a Spartan not us little guys. and theres a sticky for this as well.

Don't be discouraged about a failed build. I built 15 carter helmets to get the right size, design and my quality of the build. If its to big make it smaller

The extra experience is always good

HKurtyka said:

So I'm making a Noble Six helmet, I'm using this pepakura model - http://www.4shared.com/file/UrakV8jg/N6_helmet_by_Jico_unfold_by_Rh.html - I left the scaling at default and started making it out of plain office paper, I got most of the visor and front half of the helmet done, and it looked like it would fit, a little bit big but not massive, so I started in on the card stock with the same scaling. So after I'm about 65% done I realise that its huge and WAY to big, so that's 10 hours down the drain. I measured the inner diameter roughly and its about 34 inches, my head being about 22 inches in diameter. What is the best way to scale a pepakura helmet and can anyone give me suggestions on a decent size to start again with?

Here's what I have done so far :

View attachment 11226View attachment 11225

left is the card and the right is the office paper

Click to expand...

what is the default scale set in the pep file? i have seen between 280mm all the way to 310mm built. also remember that the helmet alone with out the rest of the armor will look bigger by itself. than when worn with the rest. unfortunately we all have different bodies as such the scale will be different for all of us, just keep this in mind. i will parrot what ErMaC stated and add only about 1% of people who build pepakura scale it right on the first try(i used s.w.a.g to get this number but it is close). practice and more practice. pep has a tool to help you to see if your scaling is pretty close. right click the 2d screen and click on the measure between two points, select your points to measure and get your measurement. i am assuming you have measured from the front of your face to the back of your head, top to bottom, side to side. use the measurement tool to see if your scaling is close by measuring the model in pep at the same spots, front to back etc, be fore printing. also write down your measurements for all your body parts( if you are planning to build a whole armor set) and then write down the scaling you used for each one and which file you used and modeled by whom(if you can) and keep this for future reference. you should also add about an inch to your total scaling to leave room for padding and internals.


edit: i dont believe that pepakura takes into account diameters at all( i havent seen it in pep but i could be wrong)

I measured the tops of my ears by going through my head and not around. I adjusted the scale of the pep in the same spot my ears would be inside the helmet. Then I added a little more so my skin isn't touching the helmet. Then I used dowels to make the opening bigger so the helmet wont be to big. The dowels were measured and cut the same distance of the top of my ears. So it will be a realistic size.

I'm on my fourth attempt now, I think it's about right, maybe a little bit too small, but not much. I'm guessing the easiest way to "measure through your head" is to bend a measuring tape around your forehead, hold the shape and the measure between the start of the curve and the end. The default scaling of the helmet is 192, but I think that varys per model. I can remember all the values off the top of my head, but the Height is 290mm. I currently am working with it at 265mm, but I think I will need to go up to 270/275mm. From rough, standing in a mirror and lining up a measuring tape the distance from ear to ear is 178 cm. Thanks so much for they replies!