HD Mk VI Helmet Build

[Drewhinkle09]

Current Status Shot:

Hey guys,

Well, I finally got started on my first build. I'm working on an HD mk VI helmet, using flyingsquirl's file scaled to 290mm.

I don't have much to show yet but by the end of the week I should be able to at least get this beast resined and ready for strengthening. This is my first build, and I'm new to the forum, so I'd really appreciate any input and pointers I can take!

Anyway, here are a few pics of where I'm at so far. The helmet is pepped, with the exception of some of the support struts. Theres a couple trouble areas but I'll try to sort those out before I put some resin on it.

Like I said, there's a few spots that need some love, but overall it's pretty straight and crisp, so it shouldn't be anything I can't work out in the next stages.

Thanks a bunch and lemme know what you think! I'm hoping to have updates at least a few times a week, so stick around!
-Drew

 

[hobbitdude13]

Nice and clean. Good pep work man. which .pdo file did you use?

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Nice and clean. Good pep work man. which .pdo file did you use?

I used the flyingsquirl hd file on the 4shared database, I put a link in the first post actually, the word file links you to it

I checked out your build btw, I like the colors on the torso, looks pretty sharp also the grenade pouch is a cool idea! Thanks the comments bud!

-Drew

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Update 1

Hey guys,

Minor update here, I didn't get as much done tonight as I would have liked to, but I certainly got further than I expected I would lol. My goal was to have it partially resined so that I could start reinforcing it this weekend, but I just ended up getting ready for resin.

Since the OP, I've added in all of the support struts to the helmet, fixed a few problem areas as well. Overall I'm very happy with how its turned out at this point, as the pep has little to no warping, and is very solid. I'm hoping I can keep it this straight through the resin stage!

Anyway, here's a few more shots of where I'm at:

As always, Leave me some comments! Tell me what you guys think, I'm very much appreciative of any and all feedback!

Also, if anyone can share some tips for cold weather resin-work, I'd love to hear them! Its in the 50's this week and I want to make sure that my resin cures properly, and I'm not sure of the best way to keep the helmet around 65-70 degrees out in my shop.

Thanks for looking!

-Drew

 

[Corweena]

Nice clean pep work you got going!

I'm not sure exactly how people get the resin to cure properly in cooler weather (I'm a SoCal resident, so I don't have that problem lol). I've heard some people mention using a homemade heat box....but I'll let them discuss that.

The 50s don't seem too bad though.....you could always do a small test piece, and see if there is any tackiness after the resin dries. If there is, brush some corn starch on it (as suggested by Cereal Killl3r in his video, which I highly recommend watching).

Anyways, hope this helps, but I'm sure one of the long-time members will have exactly the answer you need. Good luck!

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Thanks! I checked out your thread too, your pep work looks much cleaner than mine lol, and thanks for the tip! I keep forgetting to try out resin on a small piece, I think a hand plate is in order! And I've watched cereal's videos like 10 times by now, but i completely forgot about the corn starch trick lol

Hopefully I'll have a test piece to resin tomorrow!

Stay tuned all!
Cheers, Drew

 

[misfitjh]

Nice pep work, very clean and very minor blemishes. This will be a nice helm.

As for your resin question. If it is slightly cooler out than when you normally work just add a extra drop or two of hardener. If it is much colder than you normal work then you need to take extra steps. A hot box helps greatly if you have the room to have one. If not then you have to be creative. What I do is after pouring the resin into your mixing container warm the hole thing up with a hair dyer before adding hardener. Also if you have the room you could make your self a hot room. A small shed or tarp off a section of a garage with a space heater in it and a good vent/fan in the ceiling will give you a good work space. Just make sure it is well ventilated and wear your respirator at all times. Also don't forget to wear old cloths and vinyl gloves when working with fiberglass. Get those glass strands in your skin and you'll be scratching for hours.

If you have any questions drop me a pm and I'll do my best to help.

Good luck with your build and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[MattRendar]

Great job looks great! Can't wait to see the next step!

 

[thorn696]

Looking good. I can't wait to see how the next stage go's for you.

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Update 2

Nice pep work, very clean and very minor blemishes. This will be a nice helm.

As for your resin question. If it is slightly cooler out than when you normally work just add a extra drop or two of hardener. If it is much colder than you normal work then you need to take extra steps. A hot box helps greatly if you have the room to have one. If not then you have to be creative. What I do is after pouring the resin into your mixing container warm the hole thing up with a hair dyer before adding hardener. Also if you have the room you could make your self a hot room. A small shed or tarp off a section of a garage with a space heater in it and a good vent/fan in the ceiling will give you a good work space. Just make sure it is well ventilated and wear your respirator at all times. Also don't forget to wear old cloths and vinyl gloves when working with fiberglass. Get those glass strands in your skin and you'll be scratching for hours.

If you have any questions drop me a pm and I'll do my best to help.

Good luck with your build and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

Thanks for the comments and tips! I've seen your quality of work, so it means a lot to me!

Great job looks great! Can't wait to see the next step!

Thanks! Hope I don't disappoint! lol

Looking good. I can't wait to see how the next stage go's for you.

Thank you! That means a lot! BTW your noble six build is absolutely legendary! I remember stumbling upon it a couple years back, and thought there was no way I could ever do this stuff, but your build and some of the others on the site planted a seed in my mind lol. Anyway, thanks for the comments, I'm glad to know some heavy hitters like yourself and misfitjh are checking out my thread!

Anyway, on to a mini-update!

Once again, I didn't get as far as I had hoped, but I got done what I needed to to be on schedule (what schedule? lol). As per corweena's suggestion, I've decided to try out using resin on a small test piece before touching my helmet.

I decided to do an hd handplate for a few reasons.
1) It's small and I can pep one in about an hour.
2) It looks cool (i don't know why but the little circular indentations are just so cool looking lol)
3) It's an unsupported model, so if it warps on me I can test out using a heatgun for warp-correction. (mostly just to see how much it can actually correct) (thanks to theherotutorials video on pepakura strenghtening for that tip btw)

Anyway, sorry for this lame excuse for an update, but I do plan to spend a good 3 or 4 hours on resin experimentation/work tomorrow, so if all goes well I'll have a good coat or two on the helmet. Wish me luck!

As always, thanks for checking it out, and lemme know what you guys think!

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Michael Caboose]

Awesome work so far ^.^

 

[cuse]

Me gusta. Saving yourself a ton of bondo work!

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Update 3

Awesome work so far ^.^

Thanks! I'll keep on doing my best!

Me gusta. Saving yourself a ton of bondo work!

Thats the idea at least! I'm not too afraid of bondo work, as I've done a little on my mustang before, but with bondo, less is more! Thanks for checking out my build!

Well, here's a mini-update, as its cold outside, my resin-experimentation is going a little slow but its going nonetheless! I have a few pics to show though, and they're not much, but if nothing else they at least show that this build is alive and kicking!

Later tonight I may post another small update just to show how my experimenting went, but in the meantime, heres a quick tip I developed while playing around with resin today!

Quick Tip 1

I made a dumb and mixed my resin before having a new brush ready, (really just didn't want to go inside to grab a new one), so to save the one i was using, I simply trimmed off the resined section of the bristles! Might be a simple thing, or kinda useless for brushes that are so cheap to begin with, but I don't like to throw anything away until it's properly useless!

Here it is after the cut:

This brush then worked through two sessions instead of one!

Now properly useless!

Anyway, I plan on keeping this thread updated often, so stick around!

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Update 4

Sorry for the late update, hit my next milestone though.

Also, sorry for the slow progress, this is very learn-as-you-go for me, so I don't expect to win any speed contests.

Anyways, the helmet survived resin! (so far...) It has one coat on it, and is awaiting further strengthening. (also, the first pic is deceiving, the helmet has almost no noticeable warp in the front, i took the picture with my phone)

At this point, I have a few questions for the veteran builders out there though:

How many coats should I give the outside before working on the inside? And also, when is it safe to remove the support struts?

Aside from that, I played around with a little rondo on my handy-dandy test piece. I used some bondo-hair (bondo with fiberglass strands pre-mixed in) and filled the piece from the bottom.

This thing is hard as a rock! I can't say I liked using rondo-hair, but I definitely like the idea of rondo! I might play with it some more before deciding what I will be doing on the inside of the helmet.

Lastly, I leave you with another quicktip!

Once again, just a small little nugget of knowledge that may be blindingly obvious. But if it helps, enjoy it!

When pouring resin, I found that it was a pain to clean up the top of the container, so in an effort to make that process easier, I put some tape along the opening to aid in cleanup! Try it out next time!

Anways, Hopefully I can start moving along at a decent pace and get this thing rolling! Stick around for more updates!

Cheers,
Drew

 

[misfitjh]

Lookin good.

To answer your question, most people do 1 light coat then 1 heavier coat before removing the braces. Myself I also do 1 extra coat before removing any bracing. Also another tip for easy cleanup, if you use the plastic cup lid that comes with the resin it's designed to be used as a cup. I f you hold it just under the rim of the spout and give it a slight roll when you stop pouring you will not have such a big cleanup.

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Lookin good.

To answer your question, most people do 1 light coat then 1 heavier coat before removing the braces. Myself I also do 1 extra coat before removing any bracing. Also another tip for easy cleanup, if you use the plastic cup lid that comes with the resin it's designed to be used as a cup. I f you hold it just under the rim of the spout and give it a slight roll when you stop pouring you will not have such a big cleanup.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely put on two or three extra coats then. And I never thought about using the lid, does the cured resin come out of the lid?

Anyways, thanks for the comment!

Drew

 

[Halex]

I used the Rondo-Hair method as well, following one interior and one exterior coat of resin. It's really strong, but exceptionally difficult to use on the inside of the helmet, especially if you're planning to go over it with fiberglass for added strength. My tended to be lumpy which wasn't a good surface to glass over. A thicker coat may work better, but with the drawback of added weight.

Whichever route you go, best of luck! Your helmet looks great so far.

 

[Drewhinkle09]

I used the Rondo-Hair method as well, following one interior and one exterior coat of resin. It's really strong, but exceptionally difficult to use on the inside of the helmet, especially if you're planning to go over it with fiberglass for added strength. My tended to be lumpy which wasn't a good surface to glass over. A thicker coat may work better, but with the drawback of added weight.

Whichever route you go, best of luck! Your helmet looks great so far.

I agree, the rondo-hair is mindblowingly strong, but a pain to work with. I mixed my test batch pretty thick, about 3 parts bondo-hair to 1 part resin, and I think an issue I had because of that was the resin separating from the mixture. It wasn't bad but in the piece I could definitely tell things were settling out. This may just have been from the fiberglass strands making it difficult to mix thouroughly enough. Anyway I don't advise doing rondo-hair, but I simply wanted to see if it was a viable method, since I had a bunch left over from working on my mustang. I think I'm going to try mudglassing a piece to see if that method is any easier for me.

Thanks for the shared experience! And thanks for the comment, best of luck on your build too! its looking really nice!

On a sidenote, I'm planning on getting some smooth-cast 321, and I'd like to fiberglass the inside of the helmet using that as the resin. Has anyone used this before? will it bond to polyester resin? I know epoxy resin's won't so those are out. Its starting to get properly cold down here, so further resin work won't be easy with polyester resin.

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Drewhinkle09]

Update 5

Been a while since I've updated this thing, but I've finally finished putting two coats of resin on the helmet. At this point it has a thin coat and a thick coat on it, so I believe I'm probably ready to start strengthening this thing.

My options are:
A) Polyester Resin/Fiberglass Cloth
B) Rondo/Fiberglass Cloth
C) Smoothcast 300/Fiberglass Cloth

I'm not sure what the best option will be for me yet, so I'm still trying to decide what I'll do, any input from veterans is very desireable right now!

Anyway, here are some current pics.

It seem's that the photobucket img thumb code isn't working. Anybody know whats up with that?

Anyway, enjoy the pics and lemme know what you think, I have a small side project I might make a thread for as well so check it out once I link it in my sig!

Thanks for looking!
Drew

 

[Spartan_127]

Everything is looking really good. Helmet is turning out great. I know I'm a little late on this, but figured I'd put my two cents in on it.

On your coats for the outside. . . It's a matter of personal preference, but I would recommend at least 2-3 light coats. I recommend light coats so you don't have puddling and a lot of bubble issues that you may get when working with thick coats. After that your helmet should be pretty hard and able to hold it's own without supports. Just take your time on the inside with whatever you decide to use and work in small sections to avoid warping issues. I sent you a PM about your smooth cast questions that has a little more info about the inside part of your helmet.

Keep up the good work, Drew.