Gundam Moto

[k2them]

I've wanted to build my own custom motorcycle helmet for some time now. No not 100% from scratch, more like a helmet placed around a helmet. I've toyed around with the idea with some seriousness for the last year or so. Until now I've had to rely on the work of others to have any hope of building anything in 3D. I now have some average skill in Solidworks and feel confident enough to begin this build process.

I had thought about building a Mjolnir Mk6, but after some considerable browsing around this site I've decided that it's been done so much, and so well, that I wanted to try something a little different. I've decided to create a Gundam Exia motorcycle helmet.

Here's the concept sketch:

It actually looks a lot more proportionate than I was expecting. I'm a little concerned about visibility once it's done, but that's a long way off.

It will be a long learning process as I model and build the parts needed, so don't expect timely updates. However I will need some help and advice once I move from digital to physical. I have toyed with the idea of having the parts 3D printed... but I think that will be to expensive for this project due to the size of the parts. So with that in mind I'm planning on using Pepakura and going the whole "Paper, fiberglass, bondo" route for construction.

 

[k2them]

I've made some progress getting the design laid out.

Side View:

Front View:

I finally have it nailed down enough to start building it in 3D. It's going to take a while, but it should be a fun challenge.

I'm also looking into a different molding material called Wonderflex. It sounds like just the material for my application (provided I can form it to the shapes). Does anyone have any experience using it?

 

[Vigilnt sniper]

model looks great! good luck on your build.

 

[k2them]

I finally got in to work on the weekend so I could hash out some of the 3D work needed for this project. I've put about 7 hours into the 3D as of this posting, and I'm not even half way.

Here's a screen cap of what I have so far:

I have the chin bar and the side plate basically hashed out, as well as the "ear" section. Work has been started on the side "vents" and the top crown.

The hard part is yet to come though. Once the basic form is modeled I'll need to figure out ways to strengthen it. I'd like to keep it as light as possible, but I also want it to handle 60mph riding speeds w/ crosswinds. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep things light, but strong?

The other major hurdle to cross once the modeling is done is windflow. I'll need to make sure there are minimal areas that will "catch" the wind.

But! So far, so good. I only regret that I have the weekends to work on this.

 

[k2them]

Got a chance to work on it some more today.

The major areas are now more or less roughed out. Now I get to spend lots of time refining the shapes, adding detail, and blending it into the helmet shell. Does anyone have any experience with converting things in Pepakura? Do I need just a surface shape, or does it have to be a solid to work?

For those that wonder, here's a shot of what it looks like when I'm working on it:

 

[k2them]

I'm beginning to realize why people don't normally use Solidworks to produce the 3d renderings for these costumes. I worked on the helmet a bit more this weekend and after a couple hours I was nearly done with the side attachment and I went back to improve some of the things I used in the beginning of the model. The beauty and the bane of Solidworks is in how things are built. Solidworks uses cascading feature building, which means that parts are built from a base and then each successive piece is built upon the previous step. Normally this is fine and causes few problems. However, when you are using many complex shapes and you completely delete and replace one piece back near the beginning things don't always play nice. The result of this little "improvement" was all of my work of the last two hours being reduced to rubble.

So why even go back to change the piece when it was looking so good last week? Solidworks has a tool that allows you to look at the curvature of a part. It displays no curvature as black, and ever increasing curvature as a range from blue to green to red. I am still undecided about how this is going to finally be built. I know if I'll be allowed to 3D print it at work, and I still think it will be to expensive to get it printed through Shapeways. My current idea is to have it converted using Pepakura and "Paper-Glass" it. With this in mind I am trying to have as few complex curves as possible. One of the "lofts" in the "inner ear" part of the model had a bit of awkward twist (I wish I had taken screen caps at the time). So I deleted the loft and rebuilt it. When I deleted it Solidworks told me only three "features" would be broken. I figured that would be OK. Turns out changing that feature broke a lot more than just the three it showed. It completely wiped out all the work I had done.

So three hours of rebuilding later, I left with more or less where I was three hours prior:

The side "intake" is a bit smaller and longer than the previous version, but I think I like it a bit better. We'll see. I kinda scrambled to just get all the parts fixed so it still needs some massaging in the design department.

 

[pandamajik]

Looks pretty good so far. I used to use Solidworks in school but I've found that it's easier to model using software like Blender. Solidworks is fine if you're planning on machining something but curves and complex surfaces are a bit trickier I think.

I know of a lot of people using wonderflex, but it seems pretty expensive for what you're getting. If what you're doing is purely cosmetic and doesn't need to be structurally functional since you have an actual helmet inside, you should look into Sintra. I get mine from a local sign shop for free.

 

[k2them]

Thanks for the info Pandamajik.

I've become comfortable with using surfaces to form complex solids, and for the most part the features are independent of each other so most of the time small changes don't effect anything. This time however I simply deleted the wrong part and paid the price.

Either way I cut it this is going to be an expensive build. The Paper Glassing technique is the cheapest, but most labor intensive, of them. (well I'd have to paper glass it anyway if I was using wonderflex). Ideally I'd like to get it 3D printed so all I have to do is smooth it, attach, and paint. I'm fearful that this will prove to be rather expensive and could cause more problems if I get something wrong.

The overall challenge in all this is I want the helmet to still function as a motorcycle helmet. It needs to withstand 50+mph winds without failing.

 

[k2them]

I worked on some little details this weekend. I didn't have a lot of time but got some things added in.

I mentioned Solidworks having a display function that shows the curvature of the part. I made a point to take a screen grab that shows this.

The black areas are zero curvature. The varying colors of blue/green show changing curvature. Keeping in mind that I may have to export this to Pepakura I am trying to keep the amount of changing curvature over a set surface to a minimum. This should make it easier to make the paper forms. I think...

I also exported a full render of where things are at right now.

 

[kerbyg]

I want this. On my head. Right now. Even though I'm not on, nor do I own a motorcycle. I'm looking forward to seeing this done. Something I can suggest. And it might work to your advantage, is to get an actual helmet, then do some sculpting on it using clay, mold that, in possibly 2 pieces (left and right) to create just a shell to put on the helmet, giving you the full structural integrity of your helmet. Just clean off the clay, and use whatever adhesive you'd prefer to fix it to it.

 

[k2them]

Another week, another step.

I was working on improving things behind the scenes, things that I can't really show with screen grabs. I am closing in on getting the overall pieces done, and am starting to create the mounting points for where the pieces are going to attach to the helmet.

But, I did take the time to mirror the parts that I had only had one side worked on to see what it will really look like when done. It looks pretty cool, maybe a little wider than I was expecting.

The coloring is approximate, but close. The only part that is really off is the yellow bits on the "intakes". Other than that its more or less what I want it to look like.

 

[DCC]

Looks awesome.... GL with the rest of it.....

BTW will you uploade it when you are done? Ill love to make a helmet like that..... ;-)

 

[k2them]

Did a lot of work on the Gundam Helmet on things behind the scenes.

Shown here is the completed back side of the sideplates. making them a complete solid. What this means is I can now have them 3D printed. I still don't know if this is how I'll bring it in to the real world, but it's my favorite option. The downside to getting it 3D printed is A) cost, I think it could cost several hundred dollars to get the whole thing done due to the size of the piece. B) fit. If I am incorrect in any of my tolerances it could be costly.

So with one of the major pieces done and completed I took the time to make some pretty renders.

 

[Shrubpig]

that looks really cool!

 

[Naughty Lemur]

I completely agree with Shrubpig! Its beyond cool

 

[k2them]

Holy cow it's been a while since I've updated this.

Oi.

So no new photos this time, just some cold hard info.

I haven't worked on this in a few weeks because of other projects going on and the release of Forza 4...

But I have found out some things. 1. I uploaded the sideplates to Shapeways to see how much they would cost to be printed. The result? $1400. Ouch. That sucks. 2. I mentioned the project to my boss and it sounds like I can print the parts at my work. So that's cool, but it means I'll have to section off the parts and print them in strips or pieces. I may have to take another look at the design since I've decided to go this route.