Vincent-716's Recon Helmet - looking a lil' ANOREXIC? Help (WIP)

[vincentallen2]

hi guys! my name is Vincent Allen II
im new to 405th.com, but ive been reading ALOT of your forums and post many many months before i started making my helmet. Ive gotten many of ideas and learned alot from Spitfire22V, Blackula727, jtm1997, HaloGoddess, 2StoryProps and other 405th "Power users"(as i call them :$)

So back to my helmet:
well ive semi-Finished the top half of my Recon helmet (Smoothened Recon by Macattack64)
and while reviewing my work, i noticed that its starting to look a little thin, a little anorexic if you will
I looked at 2storyprop's pepped recon helmet and it seems nice and wide (healthy) and then i looked at my half finished helmet and it looks thinner than his, like mine is going inwards
is this normal?

should i stop pepping the top half and try to do the lower half or just continue as normal?
heres a couple of pictures:

tell me what you think

 

[BLACKULA727]

It will definitely get wider as you continue to build down. Either way, I say continue, to get some practice in. With that said, I can tell that the numbers are not lining up properly and this will ultimately distort the whole helmet. I build this helmet before, same file. I can tell you that I messed up the number placement and did't think it was such a big deal untill I got to the bottom and had to detach pieces all the way back to basicly the top half that you are showing us right now in order to correct my pieces. The only other thing is it looks a tad small, but then again, Its probably to premature for me to comment on the size yet because it may just be the way the helmet is folding in on itself right now due to the other pices not being attached. Again, keep up the hard work and if you have to do it again, then its still success at practicing. BTW, I have to rebuild a helmet right now..lol. So it happens to all of us.

Good luck!

-Tony

 

[vincentallen2]

Oh snap it's Blackula! It's truly an honor having you help me, I liked your recon thread, it gave me alot of incite on pepping plus I now know how to properly install a visor =D
I see what you mean, it's a little off. My dilemma is that I used three different types of glues ($1 hot glue gun/krazy glue/ and some type of super glue from the local $1 mart-that stuff sucks) so I can't really disassemble without tearing the paper (just tried, to no prevail :{ )

Could I just continue but compensate by going through the bondo process?
And do I just continue pepping downwards or start pepping bottom to top because of the slight misalignments? =o

 

[BLACKULA727]

Oh snap it's Blackula! It's truly an honor having you help me, I liked your recon thread, it gave me alot of incite on pepping plus I now know how to properly install a visor =D
I see what you mean, it's a little off. My dilemma is that I used three different types of glues ($1 hot glue gun/krazy glue/ and some type of super glue from the local $1 mart-that stuff sucks) so I can't really disassemble without tearing the paper (just tried, to no prevail :{ )

Could I just continue but compensate by going through the bondo process?
And do I just continue pepping downwards or start pepping bottom to top because of the slight misalignments? =o

Thanks for the compliment man & to think last year I was noobing it up making a Recon way to big for an actual human (Now Nick Nack is fixing it..lol) and now people like my work...lol. I truely do appreciate it by the way.

Anyways, With this one, I would continue on the route you ar going, try to work your way towards the visor (complete the visor area first before building the rest of the face) and then come back towards the back of the helmet (Completeing the sides before the back), try to manipulate any warps towards the back of the helmet (it will be easier to hide it there). Yes, you can make magic happen with bondo..lol

Also, one day I will return and try and finally beat the H3 Smooth Recon. Untill then, Hold it down for me...lol

Good luck!

-Tony

 

[vincentallen2]

lol yeah your thread was actually one of the first threads ive ever read(thanks to the good almighty google), your kind of an inspiration, just wished you finished it though

im definitely going to continue, im going to make this into a full out work-in-progress from here, please feel free to criticize and give suggestions/tips on my continued work, im going to post more pictures tonight as i continue

Again, truly an honor Blackula727, I really love your work and going to take your words into advisement =D
p.s im going to be editing my first post

 

[vincentallen2]

Sorry i havent updated in a while guys, ive had job interviews back and forth these past 3 days.
theres not that much progress, but i thought i should give some type of status update. i took Blackula's advice and kept working on the front. I have 75% of the mouth gaurd area completed. it has went from anorexic to slightly floppy, which is a tincy tiny upgrade from before (in my eyes). i fixed the forehead component as best i could but like i said earlier, the cheapo super glue i used keeps making it rip, even when heated up =\

heres the progress pic (Picture Heavy):

Before

After

me with it on (low res camera in a pretty dark room):

its definitely going to need support struts, heres me trying to an example of it:

more pics of me with it on(pic taken courtesy of my cousin =D):

heres what im aiming for:

i know that its going to NEED ALOT OF BONDO since my pepping so far isnt that great =(, but since this is what im aiming for(which is going need ALOT of bondo for all that detail) im not worried to much =D

tell me your thoughts

 

[XxCrossFadexX]

I saw that same 3d model render. I Tried that file and it was pretty frustrating do to the thousand triangle flaps. I would try a lower definition file. Im in progress of one as we speak and its going a lot smoother that the smoothened file by macattack64.

 

[vincentallen2]

I saw that same 3d model render. I Tried that file and it was pretty frustrating do to the thousand triangle flaps. I would try a lower definition file. Im in progress of one as we speak and its going a lot smoother that the smoothened file by macattack64.

Wow! Do you know where I could locate that file? I would love to see it =} I've only seen the belakor file, the macattack smoothened file(the one I'm working on), and the reach recon file.
Could you send/post a link? =D

 

[Shrubpig]

your pep looks REALLY tall.

 

[vincentallen2]

your pep looks REALLY tall.

yeah i thought so too at first, but i thought it was just natural since it was proportioned to fit my height. actually its quite funny because the default helmet sizing was the perfect measurements to fit me =D

*UPDATE ON HELMET PROGRESS*
Ive worked on the helmet a little more, and im feeling like chucking the whole thing. i just cant seem to fix the misalignments, and adding more pieces just seems to make it look worse. it makes me feel really sad inside when i see my helmet compared to others on the site, knowing that its just getting worse. i might just start repeping ( new pepakura lingo, your welcome) a new recon helmet. maybe the reach recon helmet that tehosc was working on.
i dont know, tell me what you think =(

on a side note! i was at the mall on saturday and we passed by weapons shop and a old guy tells me too look at this sword for a second, so i said ok. well the sword turned out to be a 6'2 long blade, and i was like "OMG! THAT WOULD MAKE BAD@SS HAYABUSA KATANA ARMOR PIECE!!!!" the owner of the shop let me hold it. with me being 6'4" tall and the katana being 6'2" long, i have never felt so powerful in my life! i just thought id share that with you guys

thats the old guy in the back

 

[XxCrossFadexX]

Kool! you wrestle too? Check your notifications.

 

[vincentallen2]

Kool! you wrestle too? Check your notifications.

yup! i was in the wrestling team, weight class 171 varsity b. Man i miss those days.... i just graduated on june 2nd

but yeah i replied to your pm, thanks! check your inbox

 

[vincentallen2]

*****update*****

recently xxxcrossfadexxx gave me the name of recon helmet file that looks like the 3d modeled helmet im wishing to achieve results of. with a lil' google searching, i was able to find it. it was made by missingspartan7, its called Recon(recon helm MS7), it can be found in his reach database.

the helmet almost matches the details im looking for in the 3d model.
heres what im talking about:

the best part is that it's only 70 pieces! 20 pieces less than the macattack recon helmet, so im all for it!

so yah, all thanks and credit goes to xxxcrossfadexxx for finding the file and missingspartan7 for making it =D

my new idea is to make 2 helmets, one out of craft foam (since im told its easier to build/work with) and the other out of cardstock. but its just an idea right now, but i want to have at least one pepped helmet by halloween (just to show off)
tell me what ya think

 

[XxCrossFadexX]

Thanks man. I got the same idea for halo-ween. Im makin a pimped recon n putting my fitted hat on to be gangsta recon. Im not a white guy so I can say gangsta with the a...

 

[vincentallen2]

*** new update 10/7/2011***

Thanks man. I got the same idea for halo-ween. Im makin a pimped recon n putting my fitted hat on to be gangsta recon. Im not a white guy so I can say gangsta with the a...

So i started the Foam recon helmet. i used my failed cardstock recon helmet as a guide, along with some printed out pieces from the smoothened recon helmet as templates. after cutting out the pieces, i glued them together and traced the unified pieces on the foam to make one whole piece. this Craft Foam recon helmet took me a couple of hours at its current state (with at least more than 30 breaks/interruptions throughout the whole day) while the previous cardstock recon helmet took ONLY GOD knows how long to get where it is (weeks). I really like this craft foam method. its alot faster, simpler, and cheaper. Michaels has a sale where anything thats $7.99 is dropped down to $4.99 until 10/8/2011, so you can REALLY stack up the craft foam with this sale. i bought a pack 40 foam sheets for only $4.99, so im more than satisfied with the quantity =D

keep in mind that this is what im aiming for:


heres the results:

and heres the mouth piece im working on:

disregard all the glue overrage, thats from lack of a steady hand/filling in gaps

i think im doing a HECK of alot better then the last helmet, but tell me how im doing so far

 

[Hyperballistik]

I think it looks pretty good, instead of trying to fill the gaps with glue thats hard to remove, just use a flexible caulking thats can be painted, I know from experiance that the glue is hard to remove and get smoothed out, I use this stuff called Alex Plus and it does wonders for gaps and corners that need to be filled, Great job

 

[Teks]

I think the foam looks awesome, you're doing a great job! About the pepakura, can I ask what kind of card stock you were using? In addition to the numbers not being lined up correctly, it could have also been not a thick enough paper, or a miss in your mountain or valley fold. Just a few suggestions to pay close attention to when pepping with paper Oh, and make sure those folds are crisp and flat. One way to do it (if you don't have long nails like us females) is to use a ruler or hard edge. Makes it ten times easier to glue together. Again, though. You look like you have a real talent for foam! Keep up the great work!!!

 

[vincentallen2]

I think it looks pretty good, instead of trying to fill the gaps with glue thats hard to remove, just use a flexible caulking thats can be painted, I know from experiance that the glue is hard to remove and get smoothed out, I use this stuff called Alex Plus and it does wonders for gaps and corners that need to be filled, Great job

thank you! I really like this method of armor making, its SOOOOO MUCH easier imo =D the reason i was filling it in with hot glue is because im VERY limited on my money transactions at the moment (i have multiple birthdays i have to buy presents for this month, so i have to wait to buy anything else until after i fulfill my obligations (sigh... =\ ) but i will definitely look for Alex Plus, can it be found in walmart or the mall?

I think the foam looks awesome, you're doing a great job! About the pepakura, can I ask what kind of card stock you were using? In addition to the numbers not being lined up correctly, it could have also been not a thick enough paper, or a miss in your mountain or valley fold. Just a few suggestions to pay close attention to when pepping with paper Oh, and make sure those folds are crisp and flat. One way to do it (if you don't have long nails like us females) is to use a ruler or hard edge. Makes it ten times easier to glue together. Again, though. You look like you have a real talent for foam! Keep up the great work!!!

Thank you too! Im very happy i was introduced into craft foam, i was seriously thinking about trashing the whole project until 2 days ago i used Georgia Pacific 110 pound cardstock. i think you might be right about that, i didnt start scoring pieces until i thought i actually needed to, but by that time it was much too late, and i felt i was doing more harm to the helmet than good =\ but thank you very much! im being much more careful with this craft foam helmet

heres a side by side view of the new helmet next to failed helmet:

new helmet: left
old helmet: right

tell me your opinions

 

[Hyperballistik]

thank you! I really like this method of armor making, its SOOOOO MUCH easier imo =D the reason i was filling it in with hot glue is because im VERY limited on my money transactions at the moment (i have multiple birthdays i have to buy presents for this month, so i have to wait to buy anything else until after i fulfill my obligations (sigh... =\ ) but i will definitely look for Alex Plus, can it be found in walmart or the mall?

Yeah you can pick it up at Wal Mart, they have it in the paint dept it cost $2 a tube and comes in white and clear make sure it says permantly flexible and paintable, if you decide to use it, just put it on your finger and run your finger down the corners and gaps, having a bowl of water really helps, wet your finger and go over it a second time and it will make it smooth then just take a damp sponge and smooth the whole thing out, the caulking will actually seal the foam for painting, so its a cheap alternative to Plasti Dip

 

[vincentallen2]

Yeah you can pick it up at Wal Mart, they have it in the paint dept it cost $2 a tube and comes in white and clear make sure it says permantly flexible and paintable, if you decide to use it, just put it on your finger and run your finger down the corners and gaps, having a bowl of water really helps, wet your finger and go over it a second time and it will make it smooth then just take a damp sponge and smooth the whole thing out, the caulking will actually seal the foam for painting, so its a cheap alternative to Plasti Dip

You know, its a good thing you brought up Plasti-Dip, because i was actually going to ask about it.
what exactly is it? ive heard theres 2 versions of it, one being rubbery and another i forgot. i read that its supposed to be used on foam instead of resin. maybe some of my information is wrong. could you clarify?