First Build: Halo 4 Mark V Helmet (GFH Delta)

[tyrianRogue]

Heya guys! After... a lot of lurking I figured it'd be good to finally start a project and then rush through it for RTX because why not? If anyone's familiar with the Guns for Hire AU for RvB, I'm hoping to cosplay Delta from it. I just finished the pepakura for it and am... both anxious and nervous for hardening and preparing for bondo. For a first time doing this entirely, I'm pretty happy though there's a lot of warping on one side.





I have a bit of fixing up to do with the next levels, any advice would be great.

 

[Universal]

Looks amazing I'm AU as we'll I love red vs blue and nice idea as delta if I find something about guns I'll tell you.

 

[sovietpenguin06]

Hey, as myself hesitant to put up a build thread for my suit of armor and other ventures, I'm pretty stoked to see someone doing nearly the same as I !

Sarting resining tomorrow on a Mark V anivarsary/h4 apparently the same as yours.

Im wondering what plans you had for the visor. I myself noticed that the basic support shape that came with the pep file (at least the one I used) does not match the inside curve of the visor frame. One is straight and angular and the other a continuous curve. Wondering what you had in mind for that.

As for warping, (???) are the pics supplied here from after resining ? Because I find it to be a great job with little apparent warping. Plus, from a first timer too its awesome.


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[tyrianRogue]

Looks amazing I'm AU as we'll I love red vs blue and nice idea as delta if I find something about guns I'll tell you.

Thank you! Fortunately, D's unarmed in this one. I... will definitely need to look in to guns when I try to build up Locus for the next RTX.

Hey, as myself hesitant to put up a build thread for my suit of armor and other ventures, I'm pretty stoked to see someone doing nearly the same as I !

Sarting resining tomorrow on a Mark V anivarsary/h4 apparently the same as yours.

Im wondering what plans you had for the visor. I myself noticed that the basic support shape that came with the pep file (at least the one I used) does not match the inside curve of the visor frame. One is straight and angular and the other a continuous curve. Wondering what you had in mind for that.

As for warping, (???) are the pics supplied here from after resining ? Because I find it to be a great job with little apparent warping. Plus, from a first timer too its awesome.


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Good luck with your build. I'd love to see the progress once it's up!

I'm gonna try to attach the visor from the pep file as best I can and whatever doesn't fit I'll just work out when I smooth it properly. I'm gonna try to form two sheets plastic to the visor after I cut it out and sandwich some visor material to it so it holds the shape I want. .... If that doesn't work I'm just gonna glue the visor material on the inside and worry about making it better after RTX lol. What were you planning for yours?

Thank you! ;w; The warping I hid since it's on the other side, it's one main area. It's pretty slight, but enough to bother me. I haven't resined yet, that'll be tomorrow or tuesday after I get supplies. Depending on how talks with the folks at the store go, I might switch gears to wood glue to at least curb some of the toxicity [gotta look out for the neighbors a bit].

 

[sovietpenguin06]

Ive been procrastinating the posting of my build thread due to having too many projects begun and little spare time to get one going at a constant pace that I feel would provide a proper thread XD

And Cool stuff the visor worries are low with this one... I will begin the resin tomorrow hopefully, I too am concerned about the neighborhood, depending on your living quarters ( suburban homestead or apartments etc..) the main risk is through the catalyser to my knowledge, often polimeric resins such as the Bondo mainstream (as opposed to epoxide resins ) use MEKP which is so toxic it is rarely legal to have more than a US gallon worth in any one place at any one time xD

On the other hand, if you intend to work outdoors or in a garage its mostly important to be ventilated and have proper respiratory protection ... other than that, working in smaller batches will spare the neighbors sufficiently I think

For my visor, friend and I are building expertise in a few areas, slowly but surely. Plan as of now is for vacuum-formed visors. Perhaps double layered to get the true angled effect of MC's.

Fitting-wise, I'm thinking about getting a template visor done, which will later become my mold block and adjust/cut/trim the resined helmet to-fit.

Helmet itself is maybe going to undergo a brushed-on Rondo layer on the inside. (I have a few parts to be resined/Rondo'ed )

I will see once I have vanquished the warp/deformation problem.

Best of luck to you if you progress faster than I !


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[tyrianRogue]

I've seen plenty of threads that will have months between updates, I'm pretty sure you're good with whatever pace you can muster owo

Yeeeahhh I live pretty much in a really urban area. I know I'll be safe with the respirator like that in either my driveway or garage, I'm just concerned due to the chances of the kids running by before things have a chance to clear or the neighbors whose apartments are attached to said garage. A friend told me it's nothing to worry about but... well... after reading everything here on safety I can't help but be a bit paranoid. ....I honestly didn't know about there being legal limitations for Bondo possession o_o That's really a good thing to know

I'm sure the vacuum-forming will work great. A friend of mine has a double layered visor if I remember correctly [and honestly it's what gave me the idea for how to try mine lol] and it looks amazing. I'm.. gonna just stick to the whole stick the plastic in the oven and drape it over the form route for now since I don't really have space/time to make a table proper.

I'm going to probably be in a similar boat as you for the next couple of days so it might wind up being the same pace; if I go the resin route Rondo is definitely how I'm gonna attack things for internal support. Good luck to you too!

 

[sovietpenguin06]

On a side note, I think you mentioned you being from the Australia ? Did I get that correctly? anyhow, the restrictions are not on the Bondo car filler, but rather the MEKP typically used as the active agent to initiate the chem/thermal reaction within the "resin". Said MEKP would be a chemical product within the smaller tube like tooth paste that comes with and that you must add in... I've worked in composites (fiberglass or carbon fibre, kevlar etc...) in aerospace industry and that's where I've had my general knowledge from. Not certain of the actual laws in place where you are from but safe to assume its safe if your hardware store has many cans on the shelf xD

Side note the said catalyzer is pretty dangerous stuff, if you were to get some on your skin that ****** is where random gene defects or "cancer*" type health risks are. The human body is a sponge to that stuff it will seep in at god speed :S

FYI No need to be paranoid: As long as you have gloves, safety glasses, respirator and protection/work clothes in a well ventilated area it should be plenty safe. Small batches will reduce intensity of fumes and thus limit risk on said kids and neighbors

PS: Inbox me in private if anything, We more than likely going to encounter things worth discussing xD


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[tyrianRogue]

Nope! I'd be under the Colonial Regiment's jurisdiction. But either way, glad to know there's restrictions and not to, for some unknown reason, try to amass a hoarde of the hardener.

Yeah, thankfully I didn't get that part on me. I did get a spot of the uncured putty on me because I was sloppy and forgot to put my gloves back on when moving the can, but I washed it off pretty fast.

Progress update [with pictures later]: resin and rondo is done and I now have a hardened helmet! I'm gonna probably touch up the inside a little with some straight bondo to get some practice applying the stuff before going for areas people will see.

I do have a question: should you be able to smell the bondo even when both lids are on? If so.. is it dangerous to smell it/be near it sans respirator? Just asking to err on the side of caution, and to seek a better storage option for if that is normal.

 

[sovietpenguin06]

In any case if you smell it strongly over long period, maybe the can itself isnt very air tight is all. Like the gallon formats are like a paint can... Those are not very air tight and can/will vent. Im not familiar with the Bondo putty composition but I assume its not THE worst compared to the resin hardener Maybe some one else is better tooled to answer that one than I.

In any case, I myself am sort of stalled, the stormy weather of past few days here stalled me xD

I'l be following your progress over next week or two as I wont have much time till then, keep it up !



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[tyrianRogue]

Yeah turned out my garage just needed time to air out lol All's good now

I got stalled yesterday because of the same thing but today was beautiful soooo I finally got started so this is the results after my first pass:









The tiny ones came home way earlier than anticipated, otherwise I'd have gotten the whole front done. I'll probably sneak out at night after they go in to do some more since I really want to be able to hit it with primer in the morning and get a better idea of what needs sprucing.

Also I learned something: I apparently suck at alotting the right amount of bondo so I can get more done before it gums up. I need to work on that

 

[KaulinD]

I always love seeing a quality chief build. I hope this one turns out good

 

[tyrianRogue]

Thank you! ...Considering I need to finish by Monday, I'll be ecstatic if it turns out even somewhat okay lol

After RTX I'll be polishing further with nontoxic stuff at my leisure <n> I've been way too wound up working with Bondo and the like in my neighborhood to enjoy the process as much as I'd like

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

With the bondo problem, you're probably using too much hardener for the temperature along with too much bondo at once. It's an acquired skill.

 

[tyrianRogue]

Yeahh I tried following the mixing initially shown by I think it was Impact Props mixing tutorial? That went too quickly so I'm getting there with experimentation. I've been working with ~75-80°F so I'm just... really at the point of trying to use almost none so I don't freak out, rush through it, and make more of a mess next time. But then sometimes I accidentally get just a hair too much out and then it's lightning fast lol My second pass kinda suffered for that and now I get to go to a lot of sanding

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Unfortunately until you learn just how much you need to use right now, it can be a tough learn. Try using less hardener. You should be able to use a decent amount after mixing for a couple minutes before it starts to set at that temperature. It's a learning process, but you seem to be getting the helmet looking good just fine!

 

[tyrianRogue]

The awkward moment where the third coat looks.... worse than the first orz I'm gonna try some stuff meant for smoothing walls to get some of the roughness out then paint it since I'm kinda running out of time and I don't have somewhere that sells the spot putty. I'm.. kinda really excited to spruce it up further after RTX though with a lot less pressure.




Oh and I figured out part of what went wrong with the last coat, bondo mixing issues aside: I kept using my non-dominant hand for bondo work without realizing it and I have no idea why :| Also I can't use power tools for the life of me.

Upside: Bondo mixing went a lot better today [thank you for the advice, Lt Shiny Sides, it worked like a charm owo

 

[Chernobyl]

Not looking bad at all, though I'm noticing some warping to one side on the helmet's brim. Since you've already put bondo on, it'll be a difficult fix, but otherwise, the piece looks good.

 

[Onyx Props]

Great work so far, always love seeing people work on helmets. They're the most interesting piece to me.