Visogoth's Grenade and Ironman Helm Builds

[visogoth]

Hello All!!
I've done a little building over the holiday and wanted to share. I can't have you guys thinking I am just lurking and not doing.

The grenades were a test run to see how big they are. When my MK VI is done frag and plasma grenades will be part of my weapons set.

The Ironman helm was totally random. It was shiny and I wanted to build it (there are a lot of cool models on here that I want to build - the Gears Lancer keeps calling my name). Anyway, I'm going to see the Ironman helm through all the way to Bondo and paint. It will look very cool on display in my office.

So grenades are first. These were built off of the Garland H3 Frag and Plasma models (thanks Garland!!). They are huge. The frag grenade is 11.75 inches in circumference and the plasma grenade is 14 inches in circumference. Way too big - they may be Halo/Spartan scale but (IMHO) too big to look right in armor. Your thoughts and comments on this are welcome.

So here are the grenades:

The frag grenade is slightly warped.

This pic is the grenades with a real (de-militarized) M-67 grenade for reference. The M-67 is 8.25 inches in circumference. For further reference, a regulation baseball is 9 inches in circumference. A fast pitch softball is 12 inches in circumference. I just think they are too big.

Okay - on to Ironman. This is the Mark III helm modeled by Sharkhead7854 and unfolded by Dubean33. Thanks guys!! It was a tough and very detailed build. The helm comes out in 3 pieces: faceplate, jaw, and back of helm. I've glued them together to aid in resining, rondo and bondo. As always comments are welcome and encouraged.

Thanks to all. I'll update on everything as work progresses.

All the best!!

 

[Doctor Napkin]

Those are mighty fine peps. How will you be strengthening the grenades? Will you just resen them or cut a small hole for rondo?

 

[MoonDreams]

Man those look really good, keep up the good work! Cant wait to see more.

 

[visogoth]

Doctor Napkin - Well first I am going to scale them down. I will resin the outside and then I am going to use Smooth-Cast 320 for all of my closed models (grenades/weapons etc.). After having read how well 320 works for strengthening I want to try it. I plan to cut a small hole in model to add the 320. I will do several coats so I can carve into the models safely to add detail.

MoonDreams - Thanks!! The Ironman helm is resined and as I type the rondo is setting up. I will photograph it and update tomorrow (after work). Tomorrow is Bondo day.

 

[visogoth]

Okay update time!!! So since the 27th I have applied resin and rondo. I have applied surface Bondo, primer and a yellow top coat (indicator coat so I can see the low spots). I have sanded (60 grit), applied a second coat of Bondo and re-sanded (again 60 grit) and applied primer one more time. Sadly I forgot to take pics between the sandings (sorry). Here are the pics with commentary. As always comments and constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Here is the helm with resin applied.

Side view of resined helm.

My really bad, 2 pass, rondo job.

Pre-sanding with primer on.

Side view. My Bondo work is a little rough. This is my first time taking a model this far.

Yellow top coat. This was soooo helpful finding the low spots after I sanded.

Side view.

This is post sanding (rounds 1 and 2). It is shiny because I had just applied primer. You can see the paper that has come through as a result of sanding. I have to carve in the detail as I move to the next round of sanding.

Another view.

This is a view of the back. You can see how much detail was covered by Bondo

This is a collage of the helms side-by-side. I thought it was a very cool comparison.

So the way forward. Tomorrow I will carve in the detail and clean up all the fine detail spots (I love Dremel tools and detail files). Then I will glaze the helm and start sanding from 100 grit to 220 (maybe 320). A final primer coat (detail sand at 440) and then paint.

 

[FateGuardiaN]

Looks good so far...what kind of glaze are you applying to it?

 

[visogoth]

Looks good so far...what kind of glaze are you applying to it?

Thanks!! I"m going to use Bondo brand Glazing & Spot Putty. It's red, has the viscoisty of the cream hardener. It's the cheaper of the Glazing Puttys available from Bondo. The other one is the blue stuff and expensive.

 

[Gallard]

You shoulda fiberglassed your iron man... the rondo is just a bad way of doing it as i ruined mine with the basic shape, plus fiberglassing is much thinner and stronger.

But it looks better than mine evr did! good job!

 

[visogoth]

You shoulda fiberglassed your iron man... the rondo is just a bad way of doing it as i ruined mine with the basic shape, plus fiberglassing is much thinner and stronger.

But it looks better than mine evr did! good job!

Gallard - Thanks!! I played with fiberglass on a couple of training builds and its just a pain in the neck. Plus, the fierblass resin stinks up the whole downstairs (workshop is the garage). I am going to move to aqua resin and Smooth-cast and stop using 3M fiberglass resin. The Bondo does not stink up the place as bad. The sad part is, the helm doesn't fit me. It's just a little too small in the width. I decided to see it through for the experience. This is the first piece I have ever taken all the way to Bondo. It will look nice in my office.