Mark 4 Helm Sculpt

[Rosh]

edited first post to conserve space.



im about 60% through with sculpting the mk iv helm currently and i am humbled by the level of difficulty involved in a project like this. on to pics of the current status of the helm!

im still plugging away on this, progress is slow as symmetry is a pain on something this complex. this has given me a whole new respect for sculpters. i expect to be done sometime after christmas, i cant order any casting supplies till then anyways. as usual, let me know anything that looks asymmetrical or wrong.

 

[Tafumi]

Best of luck to you. I'm doing the exact same thing with an ODST WETA. Pep as a skeleton but clay for detailing instead of Bondo which will lead to casting. However, I have no experience with clay so it is certainly a learning experience. Only have about 1/4th of the helmet done in clay thus far and there is still a lot of shaping and smoothing to do.

 

[Rosh]

Best of luck to you. I'm doing the exact same thing with an ODST WETA. Pep as a skeleton but clay for detailing instead of Bondo which will lead to casting. However, I have no experience with clay so it is certainly a learning experience. Only have about 1/4th of the helmet done in clay thus far and there is still a lot of shaping and smoothing to do.

yea im not certain what tools to buy to work in the clay- i havent done any sculpting in years and im really going to have to be asking some questions at the art store.

 

[kensai111]

An often overlooked resource is the front page, we just happen to have an article specifically about using clay over pep that features the Mark IV. http://405th.com/?p=2306



Good luck!



Cheers,

Kensai

 

[Tafumi]

Thus far I've only used four different tools on my helmet. I haven't the slightest idea what they're called. Think one is called a rake. I use that, this wooden spoonlike thing for blending, a piece of spring steel for smoothing and sharpening edges, and this little cleft thingy that is good for digging out right angles.



At work right now so I can't take a picture to illustrate what I'm saying. I bought them all in a kit with other kinds of tools at Michaels for $15 or so bucks.



EDIT: Thanks for the link Kensai. I'm trying to figure out this whole detailing thing and this helps some.

 

[Rosh]

Great link kensai, that isn't a resource I would have found on my own. I'm getting started on pep for the day after a few hours of playing halo. I got the waypoint app and unlocked my odst armor for my avatar so I've been playng with that all day. I'll have my helmet pepped completely within about an hour, then I'll drop some resin on it and head for lowes to buy some foam and micheals for clay (hopefully). So I should have some scuplting started by tonight!

 

[CoRRupt3d]

hey why dont you wait and do the helmet when agbates releases his super HD one

 

[Rosh]

Though I do have a feeling that the look that we both are going for will be similar with the helmet, I feel that a lot of the detail will be wasted on me though. I also don't feel like waiting (I need a project or I'll go crazy). I also would like to try to make something entirely from my own vision of it, like concept art. While rundowns model is pretty damn good, I imagine the mk iv to be different in several ways. Really the only part that will be mostly unchanged is the front grill section, and I still plan on adding a few things to it too.



I do love agbates work though- when I get around to the chest I'll be using his tester model as an armature and the detail pieces from the HD version as templates. I also think oncould scuplt a chest faster than I could assemble that beast- what an amazing model his super HD chest is.



I have nothing to update here either, my wife is keepin me from getting the time I want working on this today so my progress will be minimal unfortunately. Maybe tomorrow....

 

[Rosh]

UPdate on my progress so far- i had the clay over pep at about 30% when i realized i just couldnt get teh profile i was going for with rundowns model. i stripped the clay and began applying to a mannequin head for a scratch built sculpt. after about a day of effort i am beginning to get the profile closer to what i want. currently im out of clay and i need to make a run to the store for another 5 or 6 lbs so i can widen the project up a bit more in the face area, and make the light boxes on the cheeks. heres some pics of the current sculpt.

you can see that the face shield and both cheeks are just a bit narrow there- nice think about sculpting is being able to just throw more clay over what you have

i'll be adding a visor either made from the rundown pep i have, or from cardboard after i get my dome straightened out.

one of the back for posterity (punned)



so there we are, sculpting is hard, it turns out. i am making progress however and am happy with my work until i get up and look at it. any suggestions or anyone that spots anything taht is blatantly asymmetrical please holla at me because i know about some asymmetry, but i may need to be pointed in teh right direction.

 

[ImaGonnaGetYou]

I can see a few lopsided areas on the top of the helmet, but besides that it's starting to come together really well!



Maybe I just haven't seen enough pictures of the Mark IV, but the chin area of the helmet looks a bit too low. Otherwise the general shape is coming together well. Good luck!



*Topic saved

 

[Rosh]

I Thought it looked low too, thanks for confirmation. That's trimmed a bit now and I'm starting to widen things up- it's striking me now just how much I have to widen it. Oh well- it's worth getting it right.

 

[Rosh]

after a couple weeks more of sculpting ive only managed a few changes, however its update time!



the head on shot- still working on the left side of the helmet and light box. after looking at this pic its clear to me that i still need to widen the helm significantly. the bar that runs under the visor needs to run as wide as the lightbox, and the dome of the helmet has to conform to it in the back. im getting closer at least.

a side pic here of the side thats closer to finished. im really on the fence about the grille in the front- should i sculpt it as part of the model, or make a hole and sculpt it separate and glue in the cast? im really worried about undercuts on this section and im no veteran caster. any advice on this would be appreciated because i have never sculpted anything like this before, and never cast anything ever.

so far things are going pretty well, sculpting is hard business, thats for sure. please toss some advice back at me if you see anything that is disproportionate or uneven, as well as any advice on the best way to sculpt this for molding.

 

[Strankyman]

That's looking great! Sorry if you've already mentioned it (I've only skimmed through and drooled over the pics ) but what are you using to sculpt this?

Stranky

 

[Kirrou]

Wow this is coming out great so far. Any chance you can post some of your reference pics so we can compare?



Oh and I know what you mean about working with bondo. Its kind of been kicking my butt on my current build. I am learning the hard way lol. I will probably try this route for my next build. Good luck with this and like Strankyman said what kind of clay are you using?

 

[Rosh]

I am using a nps clay from micheals- I can't remember the brand name. I'll post some reference pics when I get home tonight, I'm posting from the phone and I can't upload from here. I need to print my references so I can measure things rather than eyeball them. I'm pretty sure the ingame helm is as wide as it is tall, qnd if that's the case I'll have to totally rework the sides. Either way I have more width to add

 

[Strankyman]

Awesome cheers, I'm thinking about sculpting something, so I'll be watching this with eagle eyes to see how it goes for you looking great so far!

Stranky

 

[TheBradinatorrr]

Looking Great!

 

[Achille]

a side pic here of the side thats closer to finished. im really on the fence about the grille in the front- should i sculpt it as part of the model, or make a hole and sculpt it separate and glue in the cast? im really worried about undercuts on this section and im no veteran caster. any advice on this would be appreciated because i have never sculpted anything like this before, and never cast anything ever.

Definitely keep the grill. When you mold it, you're going to do two main things while you apply silicone. First up is the detail layer, nice and thin, to get all the details. Once you get that done, and it's dried for the right amount of time (Which varies depending on your silicone), you put on another layer that has been thickened with a thixotropic additive (A thickening agent). This turns the silicone from being runny to a thickened consistency (Think of the difference between fiberglass resin and Bondo. Bondo is FG resin with a thickening agent, talc, added). This thickened layer is what gets rid of undercuts. Basically fill in those details, and then add even more all over to make a total thickness of about 1/2". Your end result should look something like this:

 

[timecon]

looking good evil brother!

 

[Rosh]

Huge help there achille. Now I'll sculpt the other side to match. Still on my phone so I can't add any reference pics, I'll add some tomorrow for evryome to critique and add suggestions. Thanks for eveyones help and compliments.



Also now you have seen pics of the inside of the lair timecon- and I have quartz countertops in there. The core of the earth is very comfortable.