A Metal MK V or MK V(B) being made by Welding?

[SPARTAN N93]

whats up? anyway, I was either going to start to Make a MK V or MK V(B) Helmet using welding to weld the metal into a helmet. This is for a senior project and before you ask, No, I have to make this, my Teacher is an ass and he wants me to make an entire suit unless the Helmet is nice enough. He said the metal helmet and the visor should be strong enough to take a paintball and brush it off without screwing it up(don't ask, I think he is nuts sometimes) and should be able to wear the helmet comfortablly and be able see through it clearly. Am just asking where to get started mates since your all the experts on this and what stuff I should use. The shop got ARC, TIG, MIG, PLASMA and alot more Welding type machines, Got grinders and other stuff you expect. There a machinist class near by. We got a drafting class which they always make the blue prints of course...

 

[Macattack64]

You should choose one of the helmet that doesn't have so many drastic edges. Something that would be fairly easy to form. I'd almost suggest a Recon helmet to do unless you are being forced to do a MK V. For that you can use the pepakura for a template and cut the pieces and grind the edges and then weld em. I hope that makes sense.

I feel it'd be kind of difficult to do out of metal.

 

[SPARTAN N93]

never said it was going to be easy. I could ask him though I think his mind made up. He like Halo even though he's 55

 

[Starvinartist80]

whats up? anyway, I was either going to start to Make a MK V or MK V(B) Helmet using welding to weld the metal into a helmet. This is for a senior project and before you ask, No, I have to make this, my Teacher is an ass and he wants me to make an entire suit unless the Helmet is nice enough. He said the metal helmet and the visor should be strong enough to take a paintball and brush it off without screwing it up(don't ask, I think he is nuts sometimes) and should be able to wear the helmet comfortablly and be able see through it clearly. Am just asking where to get started mates since your all the experts on this and what stuff I should use. The shop got ARC, TIG, MIG, PLASMA and alot more Welding type machines, Got grinders and other stuff you expect. There a machinist class near by. We got a drafting class which they always make the blue prints of course...

You have quite a project ahead of you. Having done some limited sculpting with metal I can give you a few small pieces of advice. First make sure you know EXACTLY where you are headed with each part. By that I mean you need a clear starting point and direction for each armor piece. You have blueprints so that will help, but think of it like a puzzle, it is a lot harder to just randomly start connecting pieces. Instead try working from top to bottom or bottom to top.

My next piece of advice is to cast the pieces whenever possible. Forging a helmet is going to be nearly impossible. The angles and shapes are just not very plausible. If you look closely at the models you can however see where the theoretical builder separated different sections of the helmet for construction. These individual sections wouldn't be as hard to forge and then can be welded together. The seam lines are fairly clear so you should be able to get help from the drafting class to make up blue prints for the individual sections.

What metals are you planning to use? If you had a resin or fiberglass helmet to create a mold with you could fairly easily create an aluminum cast with the equipment you seem to have. Other metals may require too much heat to melt in your limited shop. Steel for example would require a full forge to melt.

Hope this helps in some way.

 

[SPARTAN N93]

Do you know how hard it is weld aluminum? ...lol

I dont have a resin or fiberglass helmet to create a mold unfornute. It's just a helmet really, It don't have to that detailed but I am a number 1 Halo fan like most people on here prob.

I don't it's impossible, I make the Pieaces, grind them down, weld them again, grind to finish, prob have to paint it later and optional to have a visor though my teacher might go up my ass if the helmet if it don't have one.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Good point about welding aluminum. I just see nightmare scenarios of how heavy a steal one would be.

I think you'll be fine if you do stick with piece welding it together. That way you should only have a few curved faces to forge.

On a side note, if you did want to cast one, you could always start your own pep built helmet to work from. If your building it just to cast you should be able to get one finished in less than a month if you dedicate the time. LOL Don't you just love how teachers (like me) never think about the deadlines they give out. We do love to suggest techniques that take twice as much time as we give you to complete something. It's called challenging your students.

Good luck man, I think you have this more figured out than you realize. Just be sure to post pics to update us.

 

[Pipinacan]

Don't get me wrong, because I'm not trying to be a downer, but what kind of class is making you do this? And how many students is he expecting to make a full suit out of metal? Seems a little unbelievable to be expected to make a whole suit just for a school project. Not to mention no one on here uses metal to make whole suits, it's just to heavy to carry around

 

[Varsity]

damn, hard challenge. Good luck with the helmet making.

 

[J326]

Mark V from CE will be easier since there are no crazy amount of little details compared to the other games.

 

[thorn696]

As I run My last metal project thru my head trying to think how to make something like this easier. I first have to ask you If you have a bender available along with a cutter? If so this should be fairly easy to do and would be a very good way to show off you're welding skills. Start you're project in pep design to set up a pattern. You will need to condense you're parts down to the bare min. (sorta like a foam project) Then give that to you're design team. As for what helmet to go with... some times its just easier to go all out. After seeing build after build I would have to say the EOD looks great in all plains. So with the smallest amount of rounded parts and some well thought out prior planing should be one of the easiest to do. As for the next stage you need to find out what the min. gauge of metal you need to handle the PSI. The angles will make the helmet stronger so you won't need as heavy a gauge as you would think. Now I must warn the more bends in a single piece the crazier the math gets, so keep it simple. After that I'm sorry I don't weld so thats all you. That said there are a few metal build here on the 405th they might be able to help get further into this type build. I hope this has helped you a little, sorry its not much but it has been over 25 since I did any major metal projects.

 

[Jason 078]

I know some people that make metal Mandalorian armor, including jetpack and helmet. It isn't any less insane than them. However, you might need to be a Spartan to actually wear it because of the weight.

 

[SPARTAN N93]

We do have a cutter though Am not sure about a Bender though the shop being majorly updated. I will still be able to weld though. Like I said, It's just the helment, I heavily dbout I will be making a entire suit. ARC welding isn't hard, really anyone can do it....now TIG, OMG don't even get me started man..

I goto a Tech School which requires high scores and a very nice project to graduate from. Hell there's a hot blonde in my class that actually going to make a 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide Soda foundation. There was a guy who attemped to remake my Warhog turrent I made last year that was fun as hell to shoot. It shot paintballs and it mounted on a old Jeep and Auto Body painted it Black and putted UNSC and Military Details. We sold it for nearly 50 K. Thing was pretty damm unique.

I really wish I could buy Helmet that was finished for like 50$ I could use for help....ugh, this stuff never wasy. Exactly how would I started to make a cast helmet?

 

[SPARTAN N93]

While, I was bored, I began to draw my helmet, how does this look? It does not have the Visor of course.

 

[thorn696]

The reason why I ask if you had a bender is the you can print the pep files with out tabs, bend them, and weld them together.Larger, bent pieces will be allot easier to work with. Not to mention if you print them up in both forms you can also have the paper model to work from. Being you have the plasma cutter should be able to do all the detail work with no problem. A table mounted cutter will allow you to make straight cuts with little to no grinding. Its the curves you need to work out, Last time I did them it was a sand bag and a small hammer to make them. And a roller for straight curves on the flats. All that said tho, You're looking more for welding project not forging correct?

 

[Pipinacan]

There was a guy who attemped to remake my Warhog turrent I made last year that was fun as hell to shoot. It shot paintballs and it mounted on a old Jeep and Auto Body painted it Black and putted UNSC and Military Details. We sold it for nearly 50 K. Thing was pretty damm unique.

I really wish I could buy Helmet that was finished for like 50$ I could use for help....ugh, this stuff never wasy. Exactly how would I started to make a cast helmet?

Ok there's no way that was made and no pictures were taken, I def wanna see that lol

Also, if you got 50k from it getting materials to make a helmet cast will be cake!

 

[SPARTAN N93]

oh we had pictures but they were in the shop and my fatass teacher lost them( he seems to lose everything). Now there is pictures Auto body has but that was before it was finished. It wasn't painted and no details.

We got 50 K from some collecter who likes War stuff, apprently he was a Huge Halo Fan, He said he paid like 30 K to get a Warhog(civilian warhog meaning no turret). The 50K goes to the school, not my shop though were given 60% of it since we did majority of the work.

 

[Lord Talon]

A lot of this depends upon what gauge of steel you plan on using. Before I moved into my apartment, I used to make medieval armour for fun. First off, pep out a helm and then decide where you want to slice it into subsections to build out of steel ( be better to pep out two identical helms, use one for patterns and the other to figure out how the parts fit togather). Then go with the thinnest steel you feel safe with that you can weld. I and other armourers use 14 to 16 gauge steel for our helms, but with all the bends and joints you will have, 18 may work and still provide great protection from paintballs. The main advantage with a thinner steel is the fact it can be worked by handtools with a minimum of heat. The biggest problem I see is the welding, but if you watch your heat and wire speed you should be able to prevent burnthroughs and warpage.

 

[misfitjh]

I would have to agree with Lord Talon on this 18 gauge would be the best to work with. A mig welder set low will do the trick no problem. I used a Mig welder for years to do auto body work. Now I build big ass dump trucks and weld every day. A sand bag and some body hammers to do the curved shapes is best for small peaces and an English wheel is best for curving larger peaces. Just remember to keep your welds spaced to keep the heat down and go back in and fill in the spaces later. Also an 18 gauge helm with a motorcycle visor will be more than strong enough to stop a paint ball. You can also get a replacement motorcycle helmet padding to make it more comfortable to wear.

 

[Austin673]

ive made a metal storm trooper helm but ive used sheet metal and braze too put it together have a look

heres a more recent pic of it with some bondo too make it look purdy

 

[SPARTAN N93]

Do you got a Clone Trooper Helmet too?,,lol

not sure what type of matel I should I use besides ALuminum, That metal is impossible to weld with.