Foam odst helmet in 7 days [pic heavy]

[BagelMaster47]

this took longer that expected, but here are all the templates traced.

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Cutting the pieces out took two whole days!!

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my work station

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[spencers12]

A helmet in 7 days is a big claim top make, keep it up!

 

[BagelMaster47]

A helmet in 7 days is a big claim top make, keep it up!

yeah, though the foam method is much easier than the pepakura method, it could still prove to be a very big challenge.
I' making my friend an odst costume. So i figured i could give him the helmet for Christmas.

 

[CoolC]

I salute you for trying to make a helmet out of foam. Not many people actually successfully in doing so. Most stick with pepakura.

In looking at the picture, I can't understand how you could have so many small pieces on top of the helmet. ODST helmet is very curved. If you are using the original file specifically for pep, then you maybe asking for trouble. Most pep files need to be modified extensively in order to make them into foam. And cutting foam usually doesn't take that long.

I posted a video on my YouTube channel with some simple tutorial. I received a lot of positive feedback on this video so it may be helpful to you. Drack also has a tutorial that a lot of the members find useful. Over the past year I found a few techniques that speed up the process, but I never had the time to make another tutorial.

And check my almost completed Halo 4 chest piece for my son. I modified the pep file extensively and it took me about 6 hours from beginning to end.

 

[BagelMaster47]

I salute you for trying to make a helmet out of foam. Not many people actually successfully in doing so. Most stick with pepakura.

In looking at the picture, I can't understand how you could have so many small pieces on top of the helmet. ODST helmet is very curved. If you are using the original file specifically for pep, then you maybe asking for trouble. Most pep files need to be modified extensively in order to make them into foam. And cutting foam usually doesn't take that long.

I posted a video on my YouTube channel with some simple tutorial. I received a lot of positive feedback on this video so it may be helpful to you. Drack also has a tutorial that a lot of the members find useful. Over the past year I found a few techniques that speed up the process, but I never had the time to make another tutorial.

And check my almost completed Halo 4 chest piece for my son. I modified the pep file extensively and it took me about 6 hours from beginning to end.

I know the cutting out shouldn't have taken as long as it did, I'm just a lazy person the whole cutting process, editing hugh's file, printing, cutting the templates, tracing them on to foam, and then cutting them out took two days. and the file i used was a foam modified version of hugh's excellent odst helmet. also thanks for the compliment! you are the god of foam, iv'e seen you youtube channel and watched your foam videos at least 20 times, I am going to try to save my money to buy your cast of the master chief helmet, Iv'e spoken to you through youtube's PM about buying it. I'm also using your master chief foam files for my armor. i owe a HUGE thanks to you. you are the one who inspired me to join the forums and make costumes, and i cannot thank you enough.

 

[CoolC]

My apologies. Actually, it kind of expected for someone who has not done any costume to take that long to start. It took me more than 48 hours to pep my first helmet. After some practice, I'm very sure you can get up to speed and be able to work in a quicker place. Like you, I've been lazy. I've been putting off working on my son's helmet for the longest time. Hopefully, I can start working on the costumes again. Have to get my butt off the couch.

And thank you for the kind words. I'm just glad that I am able to help you in this hobby. Look forward to seeing more of your progress.

 

[ender9492]

I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of this!

 

[BagelMaster47]

Day Two

i did ALOT of gluing and dremling, so hopefully this will look ok when i paint it.

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so here is what i glued this morning,

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[GuitarMaster157]

You don't see foam helmets frequently, keep us posted!

 

[BagelMaster47]

I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of this!

You don't see foam helmets frequently, keep us posted!

Thanks! I hope it looks turns out good, i'm giving this a a friend for Christmas.

 

[DBmike]

a good start buddy! To make things easier for yourself you could trace all the templates and cut it out as one piece, then take a heat gun to it to bend it to shape. Will be a lot easier than lots of little bits you need to stick together.

Good luck with the build dude!

-Mike

 

[BagelMaster47]

a good start buddy! To make things easier for yourself you could trace all the templates and cut it out as one piece, then take a heat gun to it to bend it to shape. Will be a lot easier than lots of little bits you need to stick together.

Good luck with the build dude!

-Mike

I'd never though to do that when i was tracing, once i had them all cut out and laid them down, i realized that i could have done that and facepalmed so hard. lol.

 

[DBmike]

I'd never though to do that when i was tracing, once i had them all cut out and laid them down, i realized that i could have done that and facepalmed so hard. lol.

Lol never mind. If you haven't already glued it all together you could always go back and do that

 

[SuperHaloAsian]

Keep it up you're doing great!!

 

[drack]

Hi Bagel and welcome to the community

First off I want to start by agreeing with the guys advice on how to proceed with your build. The pep files work fine for resin and body filler as you get to apply the filler for a smooth finish. How ever for foam they make your piece far to bumpy and give unnecessary ridges that are easily avoided. Like Mike said if a piece can be made as one then do so. If you check my Ironman thread then you will find a tutorial by James AKA Xrobots on how to use pep files for foam. Not all pieces need his technique but some benefit from it and its up to you which techniques to use for each template. I did my helmet in 2-3 days as I didn't have unnecessary cutting to do.

Some of my advice.

1. If you can keep your templates as one piece then do so. Don't cut out the foam as you would the paper. You have realised this now so hopefully you can steer away from it, even if it means losing what you have marked out already (foam will always be wasted).

2. When building your piece (helmet), I would recommend never marking out and cutting all your pieces in one go. I only mark out and cut one piece at a time. Then before marking and cutting the next hold my card/paper template up against the foam piece to make sure it works/fits. Then if it doesn't you can always alter your template accordingly. For paper it always works but due to heating and bending foam it stretches or expands the piece slightly so alterations are pretty much always needed. Better to alter your template than have to remake or try to recut the foam. Of course save the templates from one side of the helmet so you can flip them to mirror for the other side.

3. Buy the pepakura password. Then when you alter the pep files to suit foam you can save it and not have to reunfold a piece as I used to have to. You will thank your self for the expense

Its a shame I don't have more time at the moment as I want to do a tutorial on how to unfold pep files to suit foam builds. Maybe after new year I will do one as I know it could make all the difference to some people on their builds. I know I could just unfold it for them but then I would have a constant string of requests for unfolding. By knowing how to do it yourself you get a better feel for the piece even before you start to make it so its beneficial to know how to do it. I am not promising anything but I will try to find the time to do it.

If you have any questions feel free to ask as I am always happy to help. Ask on your thread as I will subscribe so I know when you have (I get instant emails letting me know and pretty much answer straight away).

All the best,
Tom.

 

[BagelMaster47]

Hi Bagel and welcome to the community

First off I want to start by agreeing with the guys advice on how to proceed with your build. The pep files work fine for resin and body filler as you get to apply the filler for a smooth finish. How ever for foam they make your piece far to bumpy and give unnecessary ridges that are easily avoided. Like Mike said if a piece can be made as one then do so. If you check my Ironman thread then you will find a tutorial by James AKA Xrobots on how to use pep files for foam. Not all pieces need his technique but some benefit from it and its up to you which techniques to use for each template. I did my helmet in 2-3 days as I didn't have unnecessary cutting to do.

Some of my advice.

1. If you can keep your templates as one piece then do so. Don't cut out the foam as you would the paper. You have realised this now so hopefully you can steer away from it, even if it means losing what you have marked out already (foam will always be wasted).

2. When building your piece (helmet), I would recommend never marking out and cutting all your pieces in one go. I only mark out and cut one piece at a time. Then before marking and cutting the next hold my card/paper template up against the foam piece to make sure it works/fits. Then if it doesn't you can always alter your template accordingly. For paper it always works but due to heating and bending foam it stretches or expands the piece slightly so alterations are pretty much always needed. Better to alter your template than have to remake or try to recut the foam. Of course save the templates from one side of the helmet so you can flip them to mirror for the other side.

3. Buy the pepakura password. Then when you alter the pep files to suit foam you can save it and not have to reunfold a piece as I used to have to. You will thank your self for the expense

Its a shame I don't have more time at the moment as I want to do a tutorial on how to unfold pep files to suit foam builds. Maybe after new year I will do one as I know it could make all the difference to some people on their builds. I know I could just unfold it for them but then I would have a constant string of requests for unfolding. By knowing how to do it yourself you get a better feel for the piece even before you start to make it so its beneficial to know how to do it. I am not promising anything but I will try to find the time to do it.

If you have any questions feel free to ask as I am always happy to help. Ask on your thread as I will subscribe so I know when you have (I get instant emails letting me know and pretty much answer straight away).

All the best,
Tom.

Thanks for the tips. I bought pepakura when i made this account and i'm currently trying to do a halo 4 master chief foam friendly helmet out of harnor's simplified helmet.

wasting foam ARRG. i hate to do it but sometimes it must be done. I'm am not yet old enough to have a job, so its hard to get someone to drive me to harbor freight to get new mats or new knife blades.

And thanks for the tutorials from Xrobots, i will definitely be using some of the techniques seen in the videos.

 

[drack]

No worries my friend I am happy to help out where I can. You mentioned not being old enough to work for money or getting to material suppliers but if you are not in hurry to finish something then always try to be patient. I can drive to suppliers but choose to save money and order on eBay and wait. If I don't have funds I just wait till I do too. Patients is your friend when it comes to achieving a build you can be proud of and yes foam waste is unavoidable as its not a perfect science. When doing my Ironman suit I have a shoulder, biceps, cod, 2 thighs and abs all sat there with no one to wear them