About to start work on a helmet.

[CaptainAnt]

So I've been doing a ton of research on different building techniques and I think I've settled on trying my hand at sculpting a clay master and then molding/casting out copies of the piece I've done. I have a fair amount of experience in composite work (fiberglass, carbon fiber etc) and working with resins/bondo but I have absolutely no experience in clay molding. Do yall have any tips before I buy 20ish lbs of Chavant NSP Medium clay? Would I be better off finding pep files and trying my hand at that and then just molding around that to save myself the (EXPENSIVE!) cost of all that clay?

Also, is Chavant NSP resuable once you make a mold on it? It could make that financial hit a little less painful if I don't have to take it every time.

Also (again) I've been looking into vacuum forming since I already have a shop vac - what's the thickest plastic can you use with a home rig? I'm guessing 1/4"-3/8"?

Thanks!

 

[Scynthe]

Going the clay route seems like it would be a ton of work!

I would check out the "How to make a helmet from pep to finish" series of videos: http://pepvids.cz.cc/. There are 19 in total and he makes his with the intent of casting. There is also a thread for these http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/22923-How-To-Make-A-Helmet-From-Pep-To-Finish

 

[CaptainAnt]

yeah after looking at the cost I decided to go pep, especially since I can always just do bondo/fiberglass on top of the helmet to make it stronger and THEN make a mold of it haha.

Maybe once I have some more money I'll try my hand at sculpting...

I used this file for the Mark V helmet. I'll be posting progress pics as it comes along (hopefully!)

 

[CaptainAnt]

First pep attempt went awry about 5 hours in lol. Retrying it now with a slightly less complex helmet found here. Doing MKVI now, but I like its look better

 

[Scynthe]

It's really all about practice in regards to the pep. My first attempts at legs for my costume were horrible compared to the second set I made. You may want to try and finish that helmet anyways. I find that having a completed piece (regardless of shape) is helpful when making another. I pulled out the old shins I had pepped and used them as a guide when I built my second set. You'll see which parts you should assemble in which order. Overall I think having my busted ones there for me made the new ones way better.

 

[SoaringAlex]

cool, clay is very expensive but trust me, if your good it takes 1/3 of the time. but if your bad, stick to pep or it will look like its infested with the flood.

 

[CaptainAnt]

So I'm about 70% done with my MKVI helmet pep, just need to finish out the top dome part.

Something I've noticed is that the helmet isn't exactly sized to wear. Now that's OK since this is more of a practice run before I try and make something to wear but I'd like to be able to find a helmet design I like and fit it to my head rather than shop around for the right size pep file. Any idea how I can make that happen? Also it's prolly be a useful thing to know once I move onto a full armor set

 

[ventrue]

So I'm about 70% done with my MKVI helmet pep, just need to finish out the top dome part.

Something I've noticed is that the helmet isn't exactly sized to wear. Now that's OK since this is more of a practice run before I try and make something to wear but I'd like to be able to find a helmet design I like and fit it to my head rather than shop around for the right size pep file. Any idea how I can make that happen? Also it's prolly be a useful thing to know once I move onto a full armor set

Scaling is the magical process you're looking for. Read this: http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31627-HaloGoddess-quot-How-To-Scale-quot-and-More-Tutorial

 

[CaptainAnt]

Oh my goodness. Thank you so much!! Thank you soooo much for that link lol, I haven't stumbled across it yet (got it bookmarked now =p)

 

[CaptainAnt]

Finished the pep on the helmet! The visor is a little leaning to the left, but I figure I can prop it up from the inside w/ some popsicle sticks or something before I bondo it. Took about 10 hrs (watched all of Top Shot on netflix haha) from start to finish. But not a bad way to spend a sunday afternoon.

Any suggestions/pointers for doing bondo on a pepped model besides don't go too thick?

 

[CaptainAnt]

Here's some closer up pics of the helmet

The visor is a bit offset to the left, any idea how to fix that before I move onto resin/bondo/fiberglass?

 

[CaptainAnt]

I'm starting the fiberglassing on the helmet tomorrow and I've started pepping a chestpiece, hopefully gonna have it done in a day or two. I'll post some pics of it once it's done.

I think I'm gonna go for the full set of armor =D

 

[CaptainAnt]

Status update (I'll put pics in once I'm back at my comp since I'm doing this in the lab I work in): put initial resin coat on the outside and I've rondo'd the top of the inside and should be getting the sides done by the end of tonight and putting fiberglass in starting tomorrow

EDIT: rondo pic (sorry if size is off, im posting from iPhone)