Sarlume's helmet project

[sarlume]

Hi everyone!

So, I'm broke...it's no big surprise this time of year; after Halloween things tend to get pretty slow around here, so I'm strapped for cash when I should be gift-giving. Fortunately, I had a package and a half of foam and glue sticks laying around from my last project, and a lot of time on my hands. Therefore, I thought I'd try and make a few helmets to gift out to some of the family in time for Christmas. I may not make it, but it's an effort...

Here's the plan, and my progress so far:
son---> Brenden(14): Meta (Done)
son---> Marcus(12): Caboose (to be started)
nephew---> Derek(16): Halo 4 Master Chief (Done)
nephew---> Dylan(13): Halo 4 Scout (Built, painted, awaiting visor)

Other----> Wetwork (Two built, detailing)


~My boys are right under my nose all day, so I'm not expecting to do theirs under any secrecy successfully. As a result, my boys and I decided on starting the helmets for my nephews first. (I'm still trying to work out the EVA helmet for Brenden's Meta suit, anyway...>.<)

~Derek wants a Halo 4 Master Chief suit (also in time for RTX...), so I'll start there.

Here are the templates I drew up using pepakura files and Googled images as reference

Here's how it looked once I was happy with the basic shape and started to add details.

Now that I've started to add the details, it doesn't look as huge as it did at first. It still kinda looks bobble head-ish when put up with my suit, but not outrageously so. Derek is already pushing 6' though, so it shouldn't be too hard to make him proportionate. (crossing my fingers)


The first one turned out to be so easy, that I threw another together in a bit of a smaller proportion. If the first one turns out well, I'm hoping that once all is said and done, I can detail and paint this one to go with my suit.

Here are the new helmets in comparison with my suit's helmet:

...My first thought after looking at that picture is that the first one's...bill?...sun shade? Whatever it's called, it looks like it's sticking out too far. Is it just me? It's also drooping too much, but I'm hoping that permanently installing the visor will fix that.

As to the visor: I really can't afford one right now, so I figured at first that I'd have to gift the helmets with no visor and put in visors once we could afford a few. I always thought the visor was part of the fun, so I tried another option. We still had some plexiglass laying around from replacing windows when we moved in to this house, so I took the heat gun to one. Wearing protective gloves, I softened the pane enough to bend it into the right shape.

Fortunately, there is enough for more than one visor, so I can practice a bit with the window film I have. It won't be gold, though. Maybe I can add that later somehow...should I wait to get gold mirror window film? Either way, the second will go on a shelf until I can get back to it if the first turns out okay. So Derek's helmet is not done, but I felt safe enough to move on to getting my other nephew's helmet built before moving on to finishing details and painting them together.

Next was Dylan's helmet. Dylan was one of the grunts I made for Halloween, but I know he wants a Scout helmet from Halo 4, so I'm going to try it. I have to admit to a bit of apprehension on doing this helmet free-handed because of the oddly proportioned jawline. I'm a big baby, I know...Fortunately, I did have a foam ready pep file on my computer for this helmet by brokenvisr and unfolded by crazydav0. Figured I'd give it a shot.

Since this would be my first try at sizing a helmet from pep files, I figured I'd run into at least one sizing fail before I would get it right...

I was right.

So, I'll be taking another crack at it today...I will be back soon!

 

[Chainsaw ninja]

This looks great so far ,but im not sure about the larger helmet. The second one looks great in the visor area though i enjoy seeing foam helmet builds cant wait to see how they turn out!

 

[RYNO 666]

Based on your last builds I know these are going to fantastic. I bet you kids are happy.

 

[sarlume]

This looks great so far ,but im not sure about the larger helmet. The second one looks great in the visor area though i enjoy seeing foam helmet builds cant wait to see how they turn out!

Oh, I'm giddy about the second one; the more you make em, the easier they get. ^^

Based on your last builds I know these are going to fantastic. I bet you kids are happy.

Thank you! Here's hoping that they'll wear em everywhere on Christmas.

Update

Okay, after a second sizing oopsie (not quiiiiite small enough...)

I finally got the third one down to a reasonable size. Thankfully my nephew is turning out to have a bigger melon than me, and will still be able to wear the thing as he grows older.

Here are a couple shots of the newest one with my suit to compare with...when I make one for myself, it will probably be scaled down another 10 mm or so.

It is quite a bit bigger than my original helmet (which was admittedly a bit too small...)

Now for the fun part of detailing them.

 

[sarlume]

I felt the need to change my plans just a smidge...

Derek's a pretty shrewd kid, and he's seen the Scout helmet I've been working on for Dylan. He's seen the Master Chief helmet I'm making too, but he doesn't know that it's meant for him. Still...how easy is it to add that together? So, the Master Chief helmet will henceforth be the decoy. Here is what I decided to shock him with instead...

Quick shots with the suit:

Big thanks to Statyk for his Wetwork pep file, and to BiGHAIRYSCOTSMiN for making it easier to find; I wan't excited to scratch build this helmet on such limited supplies. I still need to add a lot of details on that nose piece and the sides, but I'm fairly happy with it.

Problem is, I made it juuuust on the verge of too small. It's snug on me, so I don't know how well it'll fit a growing kid that's already six feet tall (with a haircut reminiscent of Kid from Kid and Play...). So in the end, I shall be making another. -_-... Hey, I've gotten a practice run out of it. On the bright side, it only took one 2' x 2' sheet of foam to make this one using the pep template method. ^^ It takes a lot longer than scratch building, but it seems to be more frugal with the foam because of all of the smaller pieces. I'll need to eventually buy the program so that I can save modified files for foam in the event anyone wanted to use them.

Another plus is that this helmet is still wearable, albeit a bit small. It fits Marcus rather well, and as long as I have my hair in a braid...

Welp, I'm outta foam now, so I'm making an early night of it. I'll be able to get more supplies tomorrow, though. Christmas is only 2 weeks away!

 

[sarlume]

Alright, progress is slower than it needs to be, but things are still progressing. Got a bit of work done on the Scout helmet in terms of foamies and such. Hoping to fix a lot of the seams with caulking. I have some, so I will give it a try. We have some nice weather for the week, so I should be able to begin plasti-dipping it soon if that turns out well.

The new Wetwork turned out only a weeeee bit bigger, but thankfully within reasonable range. Comparison shots:

...can you tell which is which? The fit is so close, it's a little difficult to really see the difference until you put it on.

And finally, the Master Chief. The kid really talks about this one a lot, so it may end up in the box instead. Gah, Christmas...'Tis the season of trying-to-read-minds. The Wetwork helmets aren't a waste, though; I'm kind of surprised at how much I liked em once all was said and done, and extra practice is never regretted.

I digress...here are a couple shots of the Master Chief progress.

The pictures don't really do much for it, but meh. The top is too low over the visor, but we'll see what the visor does to it in the end. I decided to wait until I could get my hands on the gold mirror window film to tint the visor, and practice with this stuff on my other MC helmet until then. Derek will just have to be happy with this until then.

Man, I wanted him to have a completed helmet to open, but you do what you can.

Okay, I have some pirate-y eye-patches to make, then back to work! ^^

 

[sarlume]

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! I hope your day was full of it all. ^^

Well, I had feared that I wouldn't make it since I bit off too much (I always do. ^^. Still, they were done enough for the boys to be excited about what was to come as I continue to work on them. Dylan was able to try his scout helmet on, and it was a perfect fit. Hallelujah! Derek's Master Chief helmet got a lot of attention from him, so the Wetwork helmets will be used elsewhere, and I'll finish the Master Chief helmet first. I might have made it if I hadn't switched to the Wetwork halfway through, but hey..no real harm done.

Pictures!
Derek's helmet to date:

The two helmets so far:

Okay, now my two boys' helmets never got around to getting started in time for Christmas (still modifying my chosen pep file for the Meta helmet... still intimidated...), but I did get my hands dirty as I worked many sleepless hours to get these to this point in time for presents:

Not helmets, I know...but since I forbade them from entering my workroom, they were a surprise. Brenden still hasn't put down his assault rifle. ^^ Happy momma. I made them with two layers of the foam with a 2x.5 plank of wood sandwiched in the middle of both of them for rigidity and weight. I also left room in the middle to make a removable clip, held in place with a little Velcro. All in all, I'm fairly pleased with my rush jobbed-first attempt at the larger weapons, and I'll post pics once I get them fully painted and whatnot. What do you guys generally use for the orange tips? Electrical tape? Caps? :-/

I also intend to keep the "Helmet Project" going in the interest of having a nice collection going over time. ^^ So naturally, I will be finishing the Master Chief and Scout helmets for my nephews first. Where I go from there is up to the Muse. Probably a mix of detailing the Wetworks and starting the Meta. We shall see.

Until later! ^^

 

[Chainsaw ninja]

I'm glad to see progress that assault rifle looks really good!

 

[sarlume]

I'm glad to see progress that assault rifle looks really good!

Thank you, ninja! It's my first of the larger, more iconic Halo weapons, so I literally stayed up all night to make it just right. It still needs the right flashlight, but he sleeps with the thing. ^_^

Update!

It really isn't much of an update, but I got my son's Meta helmet built!! I've been waiting to see this thing in real time for too long... I am going to end up buying a visor for it instead of vacu-forming it since I have yet to build the rig for it...or have an oven... Until then, I was interested in making the visor out of the foam and leaving the beveled areas as the view ports. Glad I did; this thing is cool.

Pictures!

And here are a couple shots for sizing reference. One on my male mannequin, and one with my suit (her head is tiny).

The file I used was the "Weta EVA Helm" by Suzerain unfolded by NoMaybeYes. It was so clean and organized, it was a natural choice. Once I am able to purchase the pepakura designer, I hope to save it as a foam-ready file for anyone who wants to use it (if I acquire permission, of course). ^^

The visor I'll be buying will be pretty big, so I'll need to see if it'll fit this helmet, or if I'll need to build around it. Fortunately, my sasquatch kid has a big noggin, so all will work out. I will probably cover the work on this one in my Meta thread once I start it, but for now I had to vent my excitement to see my next project's head started. For now, I have a couple orders to see to, then I will be painting the Master Chief and Scout once it warms up a little. Dang cold. -_-#

 

[NoMaybeYes]

Looks like its coming along nicely. I dont mind if you save it once you can. I like the idea of people using my unfolds to switch them over to foam.

 

[Shirou]

Wooow the helmets are awesome, I love working with foam, keep up the good work!!


"I am f****** awesome!!" (Felix - RED VS BLUE)

 

[Spartan1313]

Wow, you are really getting better with foam helmets! I can see a very clear improvement from your first to Meta and the Wetworks! It's awesome! I am also excited to see that you are able to make these look good while being frugal with the materials. it gives me more hope for my projects.