Finish my first build, some questions

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spartan93

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Hi Halo fans,

Im from germany and i finished my first mk5.
My question to you is, how do you hold tight the parts on your body?
I made a system from belts but on my arms its slides a bit.
My last question is, How do you ventilate the helmet? my motobike visor gets steam up.

Sorry for my bad english, best regards timo IMG-20160208-WA0039.jpg
 
Hi. i also made a mk5 and for the arms i just made it tight when i started but im thinking if you put some eva foam or something like that in there it should fit better. also for the helmet i used a motorcycle helmet and mine does not fog up. try drilling some small holes near the visor. hope this helps!
 
Wiring in a fan is pretty easy, here is a quick tutorial.

https://youtu.be/L69B7x1Pbi0

You can get a small CPU fan at computer stores and a nine volt battery holder with switch from eBay. Wire them together, glue them inside the helmet and you're good to go. Place it so that it blows across the visor and it should keep from fogging.


"I'm just a witness"
 
some of the 501st guys use mild dish soap and apply it let it dry and buff it out as well as a cpu fan like Jme mentioned if you are having problems with your shoulders run a strap from the chest/back down to the shoulder and you can add a clip to make easier for storage
 
For helping to keep the arm pieces up, use Velcro. I use the 2 inch (50mm) wide strips as they provide more surface area and grip better. The only draw back to this is that you have to put the Velcro on your undersuit, so if you use the undersuit for anything else this method won't work. Also, as Locostorm said, you could add some extra foam on the inside to help hug the piece closer on your arms. I use these two methods together to keep my shin pieces on without any straps.
 
I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I was thinking about doing something like on knee and elbow pads I wore as a kid skateboarding with the elastic bands wrapped around. Although this probably won't work well on some pieces like the forearms as they go completely around the arm. Requires more thought, but an idea.
 
I purchased a couple 5v fans off of eBay for about $5 each. They are wired to a 3×AA battery pack, along with the led's in my helmet. I'm not a fan of the cpu fan and 9 volt, as 9v batteries are expensive and don't have enough life time to justify the extra cost.
 
Fully agree with Phil.

I use two 5V fans, sitting behind the rebreather tubes. The are mounted to blow at your face, and run from 3x1.5V AA batteries. Thus, they run at 4,5V, undervolting them slightly and running very silent because remember, all sounds inside a closed helmet are amplified ... by a lot. You do NOT want a loud fan there.

9V batteries can be used for stuff like the LED's on a helmet, but at maximum 200mAh running your fans from such a battery is not going to last a full day on a convention.
At 2500+ mAh, the AA batteries are much better suited for this.

Note : do not use rechargables for this kind of setup. Rechargable batteries generate only 1.2V per battery, so 3x1.2V is 3,6V. Most 5V will not start with just 3.6V.
I bought these fans on ebay, they costed only 6USD for 5 of them !

Another titbit : depending on used helmet material, you might consider not simply glueing these fans into the helmet. If your helmet is rigid on the inside, you're better off making a foam "base" with a large hole in the center for the fans so that it can absorb possible rumble of the fans, and glue that base inside the helmet glueing the fans on top of them.
On a foam-based helmet, this probably will not be needed.

A "quick fix" for visor fogging : silica gell beads. Not ideal, a fan system is always better, but it does work better than doing nothing at all.
Fans are the key to have a comfortable time inside your helmet. Certainly if you're walking around on a convention where the temperature will rise anyhow just by the crowds present, having a breeze of cool air around your head is the difference between feeling tired very fast, or be able to run around for hours and having a good time doing so.

Included : a look inside my helmets' fan system.fans.JPG

As for keeping armor pieces in place, velcro is the easiest way (fixating one part on your undersuit, and the other hotglued in the correct positions of you armor pieces. Another way is using magnets, but these have the disadvantage they will make it impossible to wash your undersuit in a washing machine if they're fixated on your undersuit.
Push buttons CAN work too, depending on what you're trying to fixate and where. For example, Push buttons can be a good choice for the codpiece on certain armors.

PS : Da ist gar nichts Falsh mit dein English. Keine Bange ! Viel Spass auf's Forum, und Hertzlich Willkommen !
 
Really excellent advice that I am going to follow. I didn't find my CPU fans running from 9v t be too loud, but if you can get better run times and a quieter fan from AA and a 5v fan then that's all I need to know.


"I'm just a witness"
 
Really excellent advice that I am going to follow. I didn't find my CPU fans running from 9v t be too loud, but if you can get better run times and a quieter fan from AA and a 5v fan then that's all I need to know.


"I'm just a witness"

It's a misconception presuming all 12V fans are loud and all 5V's are silent and in the case you think I was trying to say that, I assure you I didn't.
I'm even quite sure that if you ran a 12V fan at 9V, the undervolting of it would help keeping noise down perfectly.
The deciding factor on fans is the speed at which they are designed to reach the designed airflow, and the actual form of the blades themselves.
Generally, it's easier to build a larger fan for quiet operation than it is to build a smaller fan.

Fan sounds can be devided in 2 main categories : airflow sound and mechanical rumble. Of the two, the last one will be your main issue which you want to avoid. Airflow sound is mainly influenced by blade design.
Just pick a fan that says 'very silent' and if there's a dB value given, look for values of 18dB and lower.

If you're happy with your 12V fan, you could try and use 6xAAA instead which will seriously extend operational time, but that kind of batterypack can become too large to fit in a helmet.
If you're into R/C, why not consider a 7,2 LiPo ? With a bit of luck it will run your 12V fan, it will be very smalll and pretty powerful.
On the other hand if safety is a concern, you might forget about that idea of a LiPo in a helmet as Lipo's .... well you COULD get into trouble if you're unlucky. :D

These are the fans I used : h t t p ://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/221951439645?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
 
I went with dB value for my 12v fan. Presently it is mounted inside a stormtrooper helmet. I'm just thinking that for my mark vi helmet I may as well go for quiet 5v to take advantage of the longer AA run time.


"I'm just a witness"
 
For a 5V fan you mean ?
Ehm. How do you get 4.2V ? A normal mobiel phone power bank will have some kind of USB-plug to connect to a generic phone. USB is always 5V, independant of used battery layout.
But if the question is "would a 5V fan run at only 4.2V ? " then the answer is "yes, it should". The ones I use all start by themselves from 3.7V and upwards. Below 3.7V, 3 of the 5 did start by themselves, the other two had to be "handcranked" but once running, they did run too. Have to stop typing now, kitty invading my keyboard. :D
 
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