First Time Armor Making.

[Jear]

Hi 405th

Alright so my housemates and I are making armour sets from Red vs. Blue for a pop-culture convention. We have approximately 10 months and have all the pepakura files we need. We did a test build just of the forearm and it seemed to work well. My armour is going to be Agent Maine aka The Meta. For the visor I will be using 1/8 inch plexi-glass and heatgunning it over the template I've made and hardened with my resin. Is this the most effective way to do it? Any advice for a first timer is greatly appreciated.

 

[Katsu]

You're going to have a really bad time heat gunning 1/8 inch acrylic (the generic name of plexiglass) over a heatforming mold. I made a similar template for my Biker Scout visor and did the exact same process you mentioned. You need to be VERY careful about heating acrylic because it likes to bubble, turn white, but it is possible with patience.

I basically set the acrylic over the mold, then slowly went over it with the heatgun to uniformly and slowly heat the acrylic. Once it was hot enough to bend, I started clamping it down onto the mold being careful not to touch any parts that were going to be seen through. When it gets hot enough it was picking up my fingerprints. I am not saying it's impossible, but it's pretty hard to do. If you can, you may want to look into making a vacuum forming table, especially for the deeper visors on a lot of Halo helmets. Be careful, as if you heat the acrylic too much, the water inside it will boil and cause it to turn into this:

It used to be transparent.

Also, if you are not aware (I am not trying to judge, just offering other ideas that I've seen crop up periodically) It is often prudent to just buy a motorcycle for like 10$ off amazon, as they come pre-mirrored and are a good fit for most halo helmets. There are some great examples out there of this method (Cereal Killer's comes to mind).

 

[Jear]

I feel as if the EVA visor is much to big to vac form and that's why I was going for the acrylic

 

[Katsu]

Ahhh I forgot which characters wore which armor permutations.

We actually had a discussion about the H4 version here:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/39945-Vacuum-forming-and-mould-making-question

In particular, there are pictures of an EVA visor being vacuum formed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/805018...LtH-8E1LBK-8E1LA2-8E4ULd-8E1LGM-8DN4Uw-8DN4XN
http://www.flickr.com/photos/805018...LDt-8E1LtH-8E1LBK-8E1LA2-8E4ULd-8E1LGM-8DN4Uw

I think he does it in Acrylic, though it's very possible he is using PETG. If you treat acrylic right, it can be used to vacuum form even big deep pieces like the eva helmet. You just need to be sure to not have any sharp draft lines on it.

 

[Jear]

Thank you, that helps a lot. What would you suggest to do a gold mirror tint with as that is the visors color?

 

[Katsu]

Errrr... you're going to not get a good mirror finish without a multi thousand dollar machine.

You have two regularly available options.
#1 uses paints to get the metallic effect:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/16910-Tutorial-Make-amp-Paint-Your-Own-See-through-Visor

#2 involves dye to tint the visor a color, then laying strips of silver window tint on the inside. It gives a mirror look but it is incredibly difficult to get it to lay right, especially on a four way curve like the bubble on the EVA.

1 will give easier results but won't be mirrored, it works great for Halo 3 armors which aren't really mirrored anyways. 2 works well for the Reach look but it is only really feasible on the simpler curves of normal visors.

There are mirroring paints for automotive use but they are very expensive and require a very careful touch with a high end airbrush.

 

[Jear]

I have a source to buy a golden window tint from. Would this be a viable option to tint it? Would cutting strips with it leave any noticeable lines in the helmet?

 

[Katsu]

If you can lay the strips carefully, it supposedly works for auto window tint (that's how they tint the curved rear window on cars), but it's impossible to say for sure without trying it first. I've done it with success before. But some brands may show the seam better than others, I haven't tried enough varieties to say for sure, sooo... good luck either way!

 

[Jear]

Thank you very much for your help. After I've done the Pepakura I shall be uploading progress photos and definitely a photo of the visor
.