Stiilus' Armour & Weapon Builds (PIC HEAVY)

[Cereal Killl3r]

Stiilus!!!!
The helmet looks freaking fantastic! It has come together so beautifly clean.
I personally love the warn look you achieved with the paint. It looks like the helmet was in a 3 month sand storm!
It looks super real!
Cheers,
Cereal

 

[Stiilus]

Stiilus!!!!
The helmet looks freaking fantastic! It has come together so beautifly clean.
I personally love the warn look you achieved with the paint. It looks like the helmet was in a 3 month sand storm!
It looks super real!
Cheers,
Cereal

thanks Cereal Killl3r. a three month sand storm i like that... without sounding like a cocky bastard i'm pretty stoked about the paint job too...

i think i've had the brush i used for the blackwash about 15 years now and boy does it look tatty... as for the scratch marks, i just used a basic cheap pig bristle brush for the long scratches and some small hobby sponge brushes for the pitted and "sand blasted" area's, blending into the base colour so the scratches don't look too sharp. on the next appropriate helmet i make i plan on doing a tutorial on how i did it seeing as so many people like the finish i got with this helmet.

the main thing i think of while doing my weathering is if i were a spartan wearing this thing in battle, what area's are going to be hit by shrapnel or banged up from being thrown to the ground from explosions. i dab the black in the deep area's and if i can't wipe it back out with a tissue then it stays there. any exposed angles i.e. the edges of the light houses or along the brim, etc. are going to be pretty worn, but they aren't all going to be worn, or even scratched to the same degree. with each new area i add the weathering to i imagine where the enemy would have been shooting from or how the wearer would react to being shot at and how that would affect the markings/dents/scratches on the piece...

the funny thing is, at the end of the day, i'm actually not making any of this stuff to be worn or used. i'm still making helmets and weapons for the same reason i made the first helmet a few years back; i just want something awesome to look at on my shelf when i get home from work everyday, something way cooler than i can buy from a store, but most importantly, something i can say "i made that", and say it with a sense of pride ...

I know that kinda makes me sound a little arrogant in a way, (and i know that self appraisal is no recommendation) but i'm really just enjoying this as a hobby as much now as i did the day i cut my first pep piece out and hot glued it to another. the fact that so many people are watching me build this stuff from all across the world and liking what i'm doing just makes it so much better, and i'm not just saying this to you, but to everyone who has been following and offering advice: thank you. to have somebody with the same interests being beside me while taking this journey is just mind blowing. thank you. thank you. thank you...

(Hmmm, oh dear... I expect I should be jumping up and down on Oprah's couch any day now)

 

[Mstruvmgc]

im not sure if im blinded by the lights or the pure awesomeness!! im thinking the awesomeness!! Thanks for the video and the explanations and such man

 

[Stiilus]

Ok, ok... So I've been away for a bit, and as it would be, life has a way of getting in the way of living sometimes I guess... Uh, whatever...

Anyways, I have been a little busy doing the lining, even if it has been at a snails pace. I do however have some photo's to show you all, although they aren't entirely up to date, as I have done some more earlier this morning that I'm yet to take some snaps of...

I like to use some 4mm EVA foam to line my helmets, building up several layers to create a somewhat "soft" lining. It's something I'd bought at a $2 shop and while it was supposed to be a yoga/exercise mat, being that thin I can only imagine that it's Chinese manufacturers were joking... It does however cut rather nicely and takes on the inner curves of a helmet very well. In recent times I have been using a product called Kwik Grip Gel to stick it in place and it is a lot cheaper than using a whole tube of Fullaprene like I did on my first helmet. It doesn't leave stringy drips behind like regular contact glue/rubber cement does so there's less risk of ending up with it where you don't want it. As a bonus, the dry time isn't too bad either, not as fast as the Fullaprene, but pretty good none-the-less. I also think it doesn't smell as strong as regular contact glue, so glue sniffing Cheryl's/Carol's a-la "Archer" are less likely to be nicking it on me . Remember kids, sniffing glue is an antisocial habit. Don't do it.

For extra padding I picked up a super cheap pack of car washing sponges for $5 for 6. As Jimoin would say "Bargain". I like to wrap them in polyester weed fabric more for looks than anything else, which I should note at this time, is also what I used in the construction of this helmet and the two before it instead of the regular fiberglass matting.

And of course, it really wouldn't be a whole tribute to the brilliance of Halo, the Mk V suit and Bungie without a Marathon symbol somewhere... I've decided to stick this sucker inside the helmet as extra padding in the top. Figured I had to put the logo somewhere, so why not ...

That's all the photo's I've got at the moment, more to follow shortly. I've almost finished lining the helmet, just a small bit of padding to go. I want to make the extra padding removable for full customization of the inside of the helmet, so I'll have to pick up some Velcro to finish that part of it off, and then just touch up the blackwash around the lights and I think I can call this helmet done...

I plan on posting the finished EVA helmet in a dedicated thread when I'm done with this project as I don't want people to think I'm running two helmet threads at once. Besides that, I might just sit back and watch you guys for a while and see what others have to bring to the table . Anyway, thanks for swinging by and checking my helmet out, back with more pics soon...

 

[Stiilus]

im not sure if im blinded by the lights or the pure awesomeness!! im thinking the awesomeness!! Thanks for the video and the explanations and such man

any time dude... i figured it might be quicker to show a vid than try to explain it in my own long winded way. i'm glad you like it ...

 

[thorn696]

Nice concept on the padding

 

[Stiilus]

Nice concept on the padding

thanks thorn696. after dropping so much coin into making it, towards the end of a helmet build i kinda start thinking i might have spent a little too much on it, so once again, i didn't want to go buy a motorcycle helmet liner as the only ones i could find in australia are quite pricey. given few cheap alternatives, this seems to be the best i could come up with. it's actually quite comfortable, and with the cloth wrapped foam pads resting in place there is little to no "bobble" movement going on at all. in fact, i can "chin" the lights on and off at this early stage and the helmet barely moves at all ...

 

[Cereal Killl3r]

Very well done sir,
This build is top notch! You have incredible talent with paints!! It's a level of realizm that I can only hope to approach when the time comes for me to paint my armour! Someone with your talent should put out some tutorial videos on your painting techniques, They would be viewed at nausium!!!

Great work!!
Dave.

 

[dega666]

Nice job cant wait to see more

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Someone with your talent should put out some tutorial videos on your painting techniques, They would be viewed at nausium!!!

I agree with cereal. I would love to see how you do it.
Great work, i love the cloth wrapped sponges, and might do that as well. all credit to you of course

 

[Stiilus]

Very well done sir,
This build is top notch! You have incredible talent with paints!! It's a level of realizm that I can only hope to approach when the time comes for me to paint my armour! Someone with your talent should put out some tutorial videos on your painting techniques, They would be viewed at nausium!!!

Great work!!
Dave.

aww, see now i'm gonna have to go make some tutorials...

actually, i probably should. i get people who don't even have an interest in this sort of thing ask me how i do it as well, so it might not be a bad idea. might be a while before it happens though, i've got a few other non-armour related projects to do at home first.

Nice job cant wait to see more

thanks dega. hope to get some more pics up soon...

I agree with cereal. I would love to see how you do it.
Great work, i love the cloth wrapped sponges, and might do that as well. all credit to you of course

nah man, no credit due. the whole point of me putting it out there was for others to try it out too. besides, it's not like i came up with the technique of wrapping sponges in fabric, i'm sure others have done it before, somewhere, maybe for something else entirely different. seriously though, it is a super cheap way of padding a helmet out, and you can make them as thick as you want too! ...

 

[Stiilus]

Eh Gah! Grrr! Why why why... Today while doing the weekly shop order I happened to stumble upon this nifty bag of tricks while scouring the warehouse website.

Had I known that I could get heat shrink wrap through work (and at a much cheaper price than regular retail mind you [staff discount = pure sweetness!]) then I would have used that instead of the crappy electrical tape. Needless to say, I ordered a pack for myself. It's a shame that all the wiring is done and buried under lining now for this helmet, but at least I know I'll have a packet for the next build I do.

On a side note to this seemingly random update, my little tin of blackwash that I couldn't properly close the lid on for the longest time has finally dried into a congealed blob of jelly. Thankfully I had a contingency plan in place for just said mishap. I purchased another tin of flat black enamel the week before, so I'll be able to touch up around the lights later on this week ... Now I'm left wondering though - knowing how long it's still been relatively fluid in the tin with a semi-closed lid, would it have dried up at all if I hadn't bought the other tin?

Stay tuned people, I hope to get more pics up this weekend ...

 

[Brax Lel]

Im not sure if my inbox is working but, how do i know if the fiberglass, resign, and fiberglass mats are thick enough to carve detail into without cuting a hole in the armor? Im thinking whether i should get rondo or fiberglass.

 

[Stiilus]

Im not sure if my inbox is working but, how do i know if the fiberglass, resign, and fiberglass mats are thick enough to carve detail into without cuting a hole in the armor? Im thinking whether i should get rondo or fiberglass.

get both. it'll make life so much easier for you as you'll have a choice of what to use and when. if you're using regular matting and fiberglass then do a basic light check. hold the helmet outside in full sunlight and look inside it to see if the light comes through bright where you plan on doing details and cutting. if not you should be good to go, if it does, go back to adding a few more layers of matting or a spot layer of rondo and then a few layers of resin and matting.

i usually make the part where i know there is going to be a lot of carving/cutting about 1cm deep/thick, mostly reinforced with matting. however, if i know there is going to be a large expanse of just flat shapes then i use the filler/resin mix of my own design to fill the bulk of it with about three layers minimum of matting over that to add strength. the "rondo" won't be strong enough on it's own, you need to add matting over that to hold it all together.

for the intricate parts (i.e. the rebreathers on this helmet before i did my own thing with the mdf over the top) i used my filler/resin mix to fill all the gaps. then when that was dry i ran a few layer of matting and resin down over that.

for the rebate that runs the length of the helmet, i used a body filler to do the step in (from the inside of the helmet) to fill the edges that dropped into the helmet, then put matting over that. it does mean that the corners of that particular part won't be as strong as other parts of the helmet that are straight fiberglass and matting, but it cut the cost down a little and was easier to cut the details into.

i don't wear my armour, i just make it for display, so i can add a lot more weight/reinforcing than most people would that plan on wearing it to social gatherings and functions, therefore i can cut a lot of detail in without the worry of cutting through. if you do go down the same path as me with the extra reinforcing and also plan on wearing it, remember to leave enough room for padding and your own head.

check out the noob forum stickies for use of rondo, or do a google search on the use of it and fiberglass to see more about the strengths (and weaknesses) of both products to figure out what would be best to use in what scenario ...

 

[Stiilus]

Hey hey all... Finally I found the time to put the photo's up on Photobucket. Been one crazy week. All over the place and I even would have made MacGyver happy at one point. I had two small metal fillings stuck in my eye even despite using safety glasses. They must have ricocheted off the lenses into my eye. Anyway, one I could get out with a corner of a tissue (Don't try this. At all. Seek medical attention as soon as possible [I didn't because it was 10pm and my local hospital has the nick name "the Death Camp" for some rather dubious reasons]). The other wanted to stay put, it was stuck in the eye itself. Ouch... Anyway, I used some craft magnets that I bought earlier this week to pull it out ...

It still hurts like something rather unpleasant but I can see that there is nothing still stuck in there. Phew. But enough of that, you're here because of the helmet, and so here it is...

Shiny... (sort of...)

Despite going all out and making heaps of padding to put in here, I really only need a strip above the visor. I'm thinking I might need it beside my temples too, but at this point I find the helmet quite comfortable to wear. I ran a few stitches through the padding to make the pillow shape that you now see. It's held in place with four Velcro dots on the top of the visor. It's a good thing that the visor does curve up as far as it does ...

I might need to add a thin layer of the EVA foam to the battery house so as to cushion it against the back of my head, but I don't really plan on wearing it, so at this point it's really a non-issue. If I didn't have a thing with crowds and actually went to conventions, then I would have to rethink the foam in that area...

I might add a bit more detail to the neckline yet, but right now as it is, it's functional. It's something I can think about over the next week ...

 

[Road Kill]

your helmet looks amazing! really like the lights, helmet color, and the bubble visor (really good idea) well good job man =D

 

[Stiilus]

Double, Triple... Damn. Too many photo's Onwards...

And of course, I had to finish off around the neck on the outside. I don't like the thought of getting rubbed raw from small fibers sticking into my neck, so I ran a thin strip around the outside and wrapped it around to the inside of the helmet, held in place with Fullaprene. The rest of the foam is glued in with the Kwik Grip Gel I showed you all earlier on. Marvelous stuff...

I still love the shapes going on here. It was the real reason I chose to work with this helmet to begin with ...

There's a small gap there where you can see the electrical wire poking through. I need to run a strip of the foam across that there to finalize that area off. I left it so I could lift the foam up in this area to add a fan in if need be, but cooling and fog don't seem to be a problem with this helmet with the large vents on the front...

And so that's it for the lining, other than just a few more strips to hide wires and so such, this sucker is pretty much done...

Well thanks for viewing 405th'ers. It has been a pleasure once again sharing the experience of a build with you all. Any comments and questions are always appreciated...

I also put my EVA helmet pics up on my Photobucket account, so I'll be putting them up some time soon. In the mean time, I might put some thought into what I'm going to build next. Probably something easy, I'm a bit drained after doing a lot of thinking on this one, too many variables to consider with what part to look like what version, but I know my next build is definitely going to be a weapon of some description. Not sure yet. I'll keep you all posted 'Til then, Bai Bai ...

 

[Stiilus]

your helmet looks amazing! really like the lights, helmet color, and the bubble visor (really good idea) well good job man =D

thanks Road Kill... i've seen a few MkV helmets kicking around without the bubble visor, and while they do look amazing in themselves, i just like the shape of a bubble visor so much more on the MkV. it's just a shame that the guys i bought it off had such a deceptive description on ebay, this is definitely not "gold mirror chrome"... oh well, at least i got the shape i wanted ...

 

[mkshane81]

This thing just blows me away. Every time I look at it, there is something that I didn't notice before. This is a great piece, and something to definitely be proud of!!

-Matt

 

[Cereal Killl3r]

This thing just blows me away. Every time I look at it, there is something that I didn't notice before. This is a great piece, and something to definitely be proud of!!
-Matt

X2 - awesome job man. This helmet keeps getting added to and added to. It just proves what I mean when I say that great things take time! And when you think your done, you think of something else.

Cheers,
Cereal.