PROJECT: Gundam Head Strike (costume)

[Wiltonican]

Got a project that's nearing completion. My Halloween costume. It's a Strike Freedom helmet! But, I'm going to try to make the anime/comic/game convention this weekend. First time ever at a cosplay. Bringing my daughter whose going to be in the Zaku II costume (in another thread)

I had introduced myself before with this build but never did get into details. So, I'll try it here.

This was my initial photoshop mockup.

Modelled in Maya.

Pep

Cleaned up a bit in Pep

An old pep costume from a couple Halloweens ago:

Fast forward a bit...

 

[Wiltonican]

Meanwhile, I'll just post random progress pics of the build. Slowly bringing you guys up to speed:

Here, the helmet shell is all paper... or to be more exact, 120lbs card stock. I reinforced the paper with laminating resin. To give it rigidity and strength.

Bunch of electronics I'm putting into it. Couple fans for air circulation, switches for lights, etc.

The V-fins are made of 0.08" gauge plastic sheet. I'll be using a lot of it here and there.

Here, I layered some cloth into some resin. Binding it all together to form a composite material. Super strong at this point!! I could use fibreglass or carbon fiber, but that route is too expensive. But, it's the same process. Hanging to dry.

At my workbench. Forming the V-fins.

Oh yea.. the face.. it retracts! I imagine the tiny eye holes wouldn't be sufficient enough for vision. So, a requirement to pivot it out of the way on occasion.
A video of it in action:

 

[Wiltonican]

Fan placement:

Solid now. All the fabric/resin all layered up. Super stiff.

Inside view of the hinge mechanism. Simple pivot.

Diagram of airflow:

 

[Wiltonican]

Devil's in the details:
One of the demands on this project for me was to NOT take any shortcuts. It's a learning experience in what my abilities are. Always pushing the boundaries. It's a personal journey. It's a philosophy of mine.

I could simply draw or paint the details in.. but.. that would be easy. hehe Besides, making them rather than drawing them give the helmet a whole new level of dimension. Much more satisfying to the viewer.

 

[Wiltonican]

Bought a couple of LED flashlights from the dollarstore. Cut them out and detailed them:

Painted the inside matte black:

Cutting out the nostrils. These are actually functional nostrils as there will be a mini fan pulling fresh air through them!

Thruster detail:

 

[Wiltonican]

Mohawk dressing:

Daughter test fitting the helmet:

 

[p bro]

You had fans in there?! Crazy good skills bro.

 

[ZoidianKings]

Wow this is really looking amazing. You are really taking the time to put a lot of detail into it which coming along nicely. Cant wait to see the finished project!

 

[Wiltonican]

Machine Guns:
(I hate electronics. Nowhere near as good as some of you guys here. So, please don't laugh at me! haha)
Soldered a couple of wires into the LED fashlight's circuitboard. Testing it out:

 

[Wiltonican]

Priming:

Rear Fan (in mohawk):

 

[Wiltonican]

Camera Lens (mohawk lens):
With this part, I had to fabricate something unique. Something that will allow light through from behind. Yet have some mech detail. Only way I can think of is make it from scratch. From resin. First, I'll need to sculpt the mold (made of plasticine):

box it up...

mixed up some (2-part) resin, pour into the mold. Let dry overnight.

test fit:

painted a clear blue:

 

[Valcara]

this looks amazing!!! Will you be working on making a full gundam suit? this reminds me of a full suit i saw at a convention a few years back, the guy stood about 7 feet tall in his armor, i belive he was from wing.
your daughter is adorible by the way>,<
keep up the awsome work!

 

[Wiltonican]

this looks amazing!!! Will you be working on making a full gundam suit? this reminds me of a full suit i saw at a convention a few years back, the guy stood about 7 feet tall in his armor, i belive he was from wing.
your daughter is adorible by the way>,<
keep up the awsome work!

Haha.. thanks. No. I don't think this build will go beyond the chest. Maybe I'll do the shoulders and arms. Maybe.

I had sketched it all up. And to make it look good on my body was just not working out. Even if I went with the chibi (super deformed) style. To me, if it's not going to work, I won't bother. All or nothing.

 

[Memebr]

Bro, you have serious skills! i'm impressed! i cant wait to see it finished!

 

[Wiltonican]

Switches:
The controls for all the lights and fans. All accessible from the behind the goatee!

PROBLEM!
The V-fins are WAY too heavy. There's lot of solid resin in the cavity. With all that weight in front of me, it makes turning side to side very difficult. I hollowed it out a bit. But, I'm afraid it wasn't enough. And I've run out of time. I'll have to deal with it. I may have to revisit this later... after the convention this weekend.

All Primed up:

Initial Designs for the decals:

 

[Wiltonican]

Decal Designs finished on computer:

Printed at the local printshop, Kinko's. $2 a piece!!! They're colour laser prints on transparency labels!

 

[Wiltonican]

Wiring:
Clamped things down on my vise. With the assistance of my gerry-rigged alligator clips as my 3rd hand. Here I begin the torturous task of soldering all the LEDs together.

Even heat shrink wrapped all the joints!

Now we have light!

Ok.. just a few more.. hehe

 

[Wiltonican]

Masking, Painting, Masking, Painting, etc:

Testing the wiring and LEDs:
Fan is also installed now.

 

[Wiltonican]

Eyes:
Using a piece of 2x4 wood, I cut it for the form. Heating up a piece of lexan plastic to soften it up and forming it so I get the curve I want.

 

[Wiltonican]

Hot Glue sucks:
Never said it before, so I'll say it here. I really dislike hot glue. Not a whole lot of positives, but I can name quite a few negatives....

- takes time for the glue gun to warm up
- glue gun is awkward to use in tight spaces
- glue sticks always run out. all the time.
- MESSY!
- those spiderweb-like strands with each use. And it's endless!! You just keep pulling and pulling
- not really a strong bond.
- dries cloudy

Obstacle: Here, I globbed some hot glue in the area where I was to place the fan. But, it rolled over into the fan blades!!!! UGH!!! Glued them down. I had to go back in, cutting and re-melting the hot glue to rip the *fan unit out. Some more cutting and sanding got the blades free. Hot glue sucks.

Polish:

The "camera lens" in the mohawk is a bit dull. So, I grabbed my bottle of 'fine scratch remover'. It was for polishing up tiny scratches on my rear plastic window on my convertible. Grabbed a towel and rubbed the face up with lots of elbow grease.

LED Experiment:
While I was wiring some of the LEDs, I noticed one of them had a bad flicker. So, I cut it out of the system. As decided to use it for experimenting. I wanted to see if I could diffuse the LED bulbs a bit. And I know hot glue dries cloudy. So, I put the two together....

I globbed some hot glue right ON the LED bulb. And let it dry. You can see in the pic... the LED bulb is completely "submerged" inside the wad of hot glue.

Test wired it to my battery... and voila! A nice diffused glow! Success. I'll do this to a few of the bulbs in the "camera lens"

Wire connectors:

Bought some quick-release wire-to-wire connectors for some parts of the electrical work. The fins are separable, so these are needed. I'm not really liking these types. But I couldn't find any better alternative. These were pretty prices too. Don't like pricey.