First Helmet Build

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OwnedMantella22

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I’m new to the whole making armour stuff and I wanted to start of by making my helmet from Halo 5, the wetwork, and plan to make the full armour set afterwards. Should I do EVA foam or pepakura? If I do pepakura can someone give some advice on how scale for my height. I’m 5’ 5”.

I’m gonna post any updates here for easier access

Update 6/30/2019:
Finally finished. I’m gonna start the resin process tomorrow
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Hi and welcome!

Pepakura or EVA Foam - that depends. Take a quick read through what user Sean Anwalt posted here (Pepakura or EVA Foam)

It aallllll depends. Both have strengths and weaknesses.

I started with pepakura in 2010 and made a whole lot of things from weapons to helmets and armor and all kinds of things. It gets really tedious with all the folds and details, but if you take your time and go slow the results are great. Harden it with resin, add some fiberglass, and you will NEED to round it out with bondo. Pepakura is a very digital thing, and as such cannot do round things very well, so you'll need to compensate with the body filler. You can also look up 'rondo', and that works for getting into hard to reach places as well.

I started last year working in Foam and I haven't looked back. It has its own set of tediousness and challenges (bevel cuts *shudder*) but you can get really good results with foam, too. It also tends to be a little bit cheaper, but doesn't stand up to punishment like fiberglass does.

I would strongly suggest trying a piece like a shin or forearm in both pepakura and foam and see which one you like better. Watch videos on YouTube from Evil Ted and punished props and they will guide you down the right path. Andrew DFT has some really good tutorials as well, but if you follow him strictly, you could develop bad habits, since his cuts tend to be a tiny bit more choppy.

I would direct you away from doing helmets or weapons right at the start, simply because they are more advanced than you'd realize. But once you have the hang of it, the world is your oyster.

If it's worth anything, I find helmets to be better in pepakura and fiberglass than foam... foam makes them look bubbly sometimes.

It should go without saying, though, that the biggest requirement for either is you need to keep this forum updated with your progress. Common courtesy, doncha know. :p

Good luck, and keep us posted!

As Far as sizing pepakura, Start with this video:

And move on from there. There are plenty of other videos you can use but start here to get an idea. Then, as you get more questions, you can post here as most of us are happy to help.
 
Hi and welcome!

Pepakura or EVA Foam - that depends. Take a quick read through what user Sean Anwalt posted here (Pepakura or EVA Foam)



As Far as sizing pepakura, Start with this video:

And move on from there. There are plenty of other videos you can use but start here to get an idea. Then, as you get more questions, you can post here as most of us are happy to help.
Thanks for the help. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of questions so I’m glad there’ll be people out there to help me along the way
 
My humble opinion, pepkura for great detail if your patient. Foam if you want to create something decent in a matter of hours versus days. I've done both, I myself actually find tranquitly in cutting and folding like a big 3d puzzle. But foam building was just plain fun. Again just my 2 cents and tons of people on here with way more experience then me and super helpful!
 
My humble opinion, pepkura for great detail if your patient. Foam if you want to create something decent in a matter of hours versus days. I've done both, I myself actually find tranquitly in cutting and folding like a big 3d puzzle. But foam building was just plain fun. Again just my 2 cents and tons of people on here with way more experience then me and super helpful!
This is the same way I feel. Grab a drink, throw on some tunes, and just chill for a few hours makin a suit. I did foam.
 
Oh hey Dirtguy.

Oh boy... here we go again... XD

My humble opinion, pepkura for great detail if your patient. Foam if you want to create something decent in a matter of hours versus days. I've done both, I myself actually find tranquitly in cutting and folding like a big 3d puzzle. But foam building was just plain fun. Again just my 2 cents and tons of people on here with way more experience then me and super helpful!
I think it is just how you work and how nitpicky you get. I have seen pepakura helmets turn out amazing, and I have also seen foam works turn out even better with even more detail. I have also seen the opposite where both methods crash and burn. It all depends on what you do, how you do it, and what you think is acceptable or in your range of work :)
 
I have also seen the opposite where both methods crash and burn. It all depends on what you do, how you do it, and what you think is acceptable or in your range of work :)
So you've be seen my earlier work? That hasn't improved.. at all yet..

True though some people do incredible stuff with just foam and even more with they add in worvla or moldable foam/clay wasn't trying to steer anyone one way or the other.
 
You can go either way. Pepakura takes longer and generally has more details, but is a little more expensive. Eva is a quicker process, but it takes a little more effort (not necessarily time) to put detail into it. All of this varies though depending on your personal skill set or schedule and so forth. Personally, i'm a full time student and I work part time so my suit it running on almost a year. In my own defense, I couldn't work on it for 5 of those months cause winter. personal problem, I know, but still a reason... maybe small excuse.
 
Nice start. Try using a little less glue, or even super glue works very nicely with pep. It helps keep things moving without burning your fingers. Keep it up
 
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