DOT Helmet build

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It took a year to make my suit. I use the same resin. Cant wait to see the bondo work
 
Having a family and kid is really slowing me down. But your suit looks awesome and I'm sure it was worth every hour.


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It took a year to make my suit. I use the same resin. Cant wait to see the bondo work

By the way, this helmet will not be perfect. It is not 100% even which was very hard as I had to break it into pieces to attach to the helmet. Today I am adding the lighting and hopefully adding "great Stuff" to fill in the gaps of the visor and other parts.


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I soldered(sp) in the lights and need to glue them in and add the foam. Foam aka "Great Stuff"
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Yes that is a halo tattoo!
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Filled in the gaps with great stuff so now it will be more rigid. I will cut off the foam extras and the fiberglass extras at the same time.
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Now I went over with a dremal and smoothed out any imperfections and removed any bubbles or fringes in the fiberglass.

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Next is to patch the holes and imperfections and then a coat of resin over the whole helmet.

Edit to add.
I think it was a smart idea to put great stuff in the voids. Beware: it does expand and will warp some pieces. But for my build it worked out great to make my pieces more solid. Even with the 4 layers of fiberglass it didn't feel as solid as it does now. It feels like its actually a piece of the helmet, not an add on. It also found every hole in my fiberglass even though I didn't think I had one.
 
Patched up the holes and any imperfections after sanding. Then I applied a resin coat mixed with a lot of hardener to the whole shell.
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This is the part i really needed to fill in
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This build up was 5 or more layers of bondo. I did not just gob it on.
But I know y'all think this is over doing it but I have a plan that corrects all imperfections that were in the helmet. As in all the un-evenness, gaps, and buildout to put in the textures.
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You want to be careful with putting on too much filler at once. It's much easier and better to keep the detail lines of you work on small sections at once. Looking good but, keep up the good work
 
You want to be careful with putting on too much filler at once. It's much easier and better to keep the detail lines of you work on small sections at once. Looking good but, keep up the good work

Thanks buddy. I'm starting the sanding tonight, so I'll find out pretty soon if I screwed myself over with the bondo. Hopefully I can shape everything out nicely tonight then come back tomorrow with thin bits of bondo to fix any little holes. It's all a learning process.


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I recommend getting a dremmel. It helps when restoring details and cutting down mountains of bondo. Its fast and easy.

Thanks buddy. I have a dremel and I'm going to use it after I get the main shaping done with my sanding block. You can't judge flat surfaces well with a dremel. But thank you, I need all the help I can get.
I'm getting closer and closer to the finish line, and I'm getting very excited. This build has been worked on and scraped a number of times. Probably because I suck with foam!


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The sanding has told me a lot. I'll be adding more bondo and I think I can fix it being uneven! I thought for sure it would be uneven for good but I think with enough bondo it can be fixed!
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Sanding, sanding, and more sanding! I can see in some places where I put too much bondo, for sure. I think if I did it again, I would do 1/4 of the helmet at a time. This is a great learning process.
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I did find the a file comes in handy for some places.

What would y'all recommend to get the very small places squared off? Like inside the vent. What do you use to get it squared off?

Thank you as always.
Hopefully I'm not adding too many pictures. I'm just having a great time and want to share.


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Sanding, sanding, and more sanding! I can see in some places where I put too much bondo, for sure. I think if I did it again, I would do 1/4 of the helmet at a time.

Definitely - and this is what I was discussing with you in your other thread. Bondo isn't meant to be something you slap on all in one go - it's far, far easier (and less wasteful) to build things up to the level you need, rather than put too much on and then spend hours blasting it down to the level you want. Putting too much bondo on also puts you at risk of overstepping a mark when you're removing it, meaning you have to make another pass re-building to the level you need, which then wastes time and money... etc etc.

As for detailing and smoothing work - again, definitely work in smaller sections. You can see where you've been and were you need to go a lot more easily, which makes your smoothing process much more efficient.
 
Definitely - and this is what I was discussing with you in your other thread. Bondo isn't meant to be something you slap on all in one go - it's far, far easier (and less wasteful) to build things up to the level you need, rather than put too much on and then spend hours blasting it down to the level you want. Putting too much bondo on also puts you at risk of overstepping a mark when you're removing it, meaning you have to make another pass re-building to the level you need, which then wastes time and money... etc etc.

As for detailing and smoothing work - again, definitely work in smaller sections. You can see where you've been and were you need to go a lot more easily, which makes your smoothing process much more efficient.

But what can I use to square off the inside of little places like the vents and around the mouth?


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Buddy, I don't feel you are heckeling me at all. Lol. I was in the army. I was told that I was a ****bag that couldn't do anything right for 3 years. I like a little banter.

Yeah, I spent four years in the ATC alongside Falklands and Northern Ireland veterans - that stuff tends to rub off on you.

About your other builds, it wasn't to criticize at all. I just wanted to see what you've built. I looked through your previous started threads and couldn't find any. I just wanted to put a name to a piece of work.

Eventually, almost certainly. I'd really love to go on parade in full gear, but other things are taking priority right now.

I hope the move to the US goes good. Where are you moving to?

Me too. I'll be moving to Virginia.

Do you use bondo brand resin or the 2 part epoxy?

We don't get the Bondo brand here in the UK, we're restricted to generic-brand overpriced gub. Seriously, I worked it out with RobTC and we end up paying something about $200 for a gallon of filler. It's possible to get cheaper alternatives, if we pay for shipping, but often it's just not worth it.

But what can I use to square off the inside of little places like the vents and around the mouth?

Mask it off with painter's tape. I'd personally suggest using a sharp craft knife to cut away the excess while it's still curing, however.
 
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Yeah, I dunno if it's a hidden EU hazmat tax or just a market force due to lower vehicle ownership and a bit less of a DIY-ethos in what car culture there is, but you get reamed on polyester/talc filler in the UK. I think we found that eBay has some decent deals if you can hunt them down though.

The link in my sig may be of some use to you if you have limited Bondo experience and are trying to do more subtractive sculpting work rather than simply smoothing.
 
We don't get the Bondo brand here in the UK, we're restricted to generic-brand overpriced gub. Seriously, I worked it out with RobTC and we end up paying something about $200 for a gallon of filler. It's possible to get cheaper alternatives, if we pay for shipping, but often it's just not worth it.
I meant resin for fiberglass. If you use regular resin or 2 part epoxy?





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