AntMan's Second Cardboard Scratch Build

There should be a sticky in the Boba Fett - Helmet section. Tops of the list or there abouts that'll have links to the WOF helmet template thread. Or use the search function here, just type in "templates"

Thank you, Skupilkinson. Sorry for the name error in the last post. It was 2 am for me.

Thank you for this tutorial, very well done, it will help me a lot!

Muito obrigado por este tutorial, muito bem feito, vai me ajudar muito!!!

Amazing, you are a master with cardboard!

This is an amazing tutorial. Thanks to all who have contributed. I have a basic cardboard (using WOF Templates) helmet together and am wondering about using drywall putty rather than bondo. Do you believe it will work as well?

Try it on a piece of scrap cardboard first. See if it doesn't get too brittle after it dries. The stuff I use has a very fine structure and becomes like cement. Sanding it results in a very smooth surface with little or no holes.

Thank you all for checking my thread and keeping the faith. I HAVE been working a bit on the helmet every now and then, so I will post some progress soon!

Greetz,
Peter
__________________



"With great power comes great responsibility"

AHHHH!!!! How'd I miss this?!?!? I went through almost three month of trouble with my scratchbuilt bucket, and almost all the problems I had are answered here!!!

Way to go Antman!!! This is an awesome thread and totally should be stickied!!!

Keep up the great work, can't wait to see the finished work!
A'den

Originally Posted by saludaranger

This is an amazing tutorial. Thanks to all who have contributed. I have a basic cardboard (using WOF Templates) helmet together and am wondering about using drywall putty rather than bondo. Do you believe it will work as well?

I think it will be too brittle and susceptible to crumbling. Walmart has 1 quart of bondo for around $8.00, which should be enough.

you sir are amazing...I've been watching this site for awhile and resently messed around with Alan's templates a bit. This is really making me want to pick it back up and finish.

Originally Posted by saludaranger

I have a basic cardboard (using WOF Templates) helmet together and am wondering about using drywall putty rather than bondo. Do you believe it will work as well?

saludaranger, I gave the drywall putty a try and it was a disaster; it cracks, flakes, chips and breaks far to ease to be used on a bucket. Go with fiberglass and bondo, it gives a much better result.

Can one make the rest of the armour and stuff of the same material?

Phenominal helmet! It looks so sturdy. I would never have guessed that it all was cardboard. I especially like your work on the dome. Bravo!

Antman when this is a finished bucket, you need to edit all the pics into the first post and get this bad boy stickied, this is GR8, I really love the RF stalk. Maybe you can sell these as kits. I'd LOVE to purchase your ears... The cardboard ones

Im building a cardboard helmet for an art model im doing of fett. This will help loads.

I have been working on my build now for a god bit. It's taught me quite a bit about patience! I am working on my second cheek structure (molding and shaping) Anyway - I tried the drywall putty... i know! i know! I just used a very tiny bit to fill in my gaps. Its going to be fine. I will begin with bondo in a bit. i have reservations about it though. Cardboard and bondo... Bondo is so thick and sticky... I just hope its not too heavy and cumbersome for my little baby. PS This helmet fits me great.

Here is another one with the recent cutouts and you can see the bit of drywall spackle - i plan on sanding as much off as possible - I will get brave and use the bondo.

The cheeks are just sitting there getting the feel for their new home.
Its funny - the pictures don't do it justice... i will continue working and post more pics soon. Thanks for all the assistance WOF and Antman - you compliment each other nicely.

overall what size is it? Height X Width. Because im not sure if i need to change anysizes on the printouts. You say it fits you but im not sure about my life-size model of fett.

I have a big head (I am 6'4" )and it fits perfectly. I used WOF templates. Look at the pdf of the templates. One of the sheets has a footprint of the helmet - I would print it out to the scale you like - I just did mine a standard print and its perfect. I can't imagine the helmet being too small for your needs.

I will say that I did go back and use Bondo on the helmet and it is much easier to use than I remember. I have alot of sanding to do - when it is done I will post it - somewhere on this site.

Thanks-

looks great for a cardboard mold

When I printed the templates out, they looked to be too big. Has any one had to reduce the size yet when they printed and how much did they reduce them?

thanks for the advice saludaranger.

Best of luck on compleeting this.

That is that coolest thing EVER!!!! :thumbup

Antman, what kind of cardboard did you use?

Awesome walkthrough, I've been riveted to this thread for progress, I'm so keen to make my own now! However, I wanted to go either fibreglass or or perhaps even plastic (if so, I'd be using vac forming) and the helmet mould coming from this cardboard helm. Not sure what the best approach is when changing a cardboard helm into a mould is though, I suppose it would have to be solid and filled in or something. Has anyone else here done it? It seems to me to be the best way of using WOF's great templates to make a plastic/fibreglass helm.

You can make a mold of anything as long as you can remove it from the casting. It's all about the release agent being good enough. Yes, fiberglass and plastic would be better, but you can make a mold of a cardboard model from a silicone rubber like Smooth-on.

David.

It's been about a month. Does anyone know when antman might get back to this? I would really love to see this completed.

Brensett, send him a PM about it :-)

Keep up the great work Antman. It's such a thrill to watch these projects come together.

As promised a while ago, here is a progress update of the sanding process. This, for me, is the most time consuming part of all steps an also the most boring part. I also want to stress the fact of applying the paste (Bondo-like stuff) should be done as smoothly and precise as possible. Thus, the sanding will go a lot easier and less corrections of bumps and lumps are needed.
Now let's get to the pictures:



Looking a lot smoother than when I started :









A close-up reveals that some areas need some additional filling:



The cheek area detailed view:





The right-ear area also need some fine-tuning:



Oops! Forgot a spot :






But overall, it looks cool:














Now starts the iterative process of filling the uneven areas and sanding smooth again.

Back soon!8)
Peter
__________________



"With great power comes great responsibility"

wow. that is amazing!!! Great work with the bondo!!! The dome looks
great!!!

Looking AWESOME!!!

Neat! this gonna be a custum, jango or bobba?

Antman, Just finishing off my first scratch build whilst using your tutorials. Good work and thanks.

Simon

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showt...d=1#post398153

This is fantastic!! THank you for the tut, antman. I am using this to help build my first bucket. I really appreciate all that you have done for us.

Patience and a lot of elbow grease.

David.

Thank you so much for that great tutorial. I'm looking forward to making one myself. At first, i was very cautious but after seeing this Tutorial, I'm astonished how 'easy' it actually is. Well, let's say, at least not such difficult as I expected it to be.

Anyway, I'm glad to have found this cool Community.


/Thath0r

Hey there folks, first time poster here. I first found this amazing site through a cardboard tutorial (maybe this same one?) on the "instructables" website. I tried then, without much success to assembly the patters in three dimensions as paper in order to gauge my ability to handle this project. Thanks so much for this great tutorial! I know think I have a much better handle on how to assemble this thing and am ready to give it a second shot. I do have one small questions though. There are still two pieces, page four with the text "Helmet form Rt/Lt", and page eight with the text "Helmet from Frt/Bk", that I can't figure out what to do with. These are not the inside surface (which also confused me for a minute) so what are they? Anyway, great tutorial. There are many great projects people have demonstrated on here but none that helped me to truely grasp the concept of piecing this thing together like this one did. Not to mention the fact that the templates exist in the first place. Well sorry for the long winded forst post, and thanks in advance for any info as to how to use the two mystery pieces!

- John

Originally Posted by christssoldiers

Hey there folks, first time poster here. I first found this amazing site through a cardboard tutorial (maybe this same one?) on the "instructables" website. I tried then, without much success to assembly the patters in three dimensions as paper in order to gauge my ability to handle this project. Thanks so much for this great tutorial! I know think I have a much better handle on how to assemble this thing and am ready to give it a second shot. I do have one small questions though. There are still two pieces, page four with the text "Helmet form Rt/Lt", and page eight with the text "Helmet from Frt/Bk", that I can't figure out what to do with. These are not the inside surface (which also confused me for a minute) so what are they? Anyway, great tutorial. There are many great projects people have demonstrated on here but none that helped me to truely grasp the concept of piecing this thing together like this one did. Not to mention the fact that the templates exist in the first place. Well sorry for the long winded forst post, and thanks in advance for any info as to how to use the two mystery pieces!

- John

The pages are for shape...that is how the helmet should look from a side and bottom view. You dont actually use them, except for reference. Hope this helps!!!

A'den

Originally Posted by A'den Kyramud

The pages are for shape...that is how the helmet should look from a side and bottom view. You dont actually use them, except for reference. Hope this helps!!!

A'den

Yes very much, thanks! I was hoping it was something like that. If it wasn't it would probably have meant that I was just to dumb to even be considering this

Well that I means I can start on "Cheapo Fett" and try to assemble something out of cardboard. If all goes way maybe I will give it a serious effort.

Originally Posted by AntMan

10. Filler! This particular type is for filling holes in walls; US: Bondo Car Body Filler

One more quick question, you say that you are using "wall filler" but that the U.S.equivalent is "bondo". Bondo is a two part fiberglass filler yet it looks like you have a one part filler compound of some kind. Is it actually bondo I should try to use or should I use a wall filler, or spackeling compound? This thread is amazing! I have had it open non-stop now for four days as I created "Cheapo Fett v0.02b" and it is really coming along nice thanks to all your effort in typing this up!

Originally Posted by christssoldiers

Is it actually bondo I should try to use or should I use a wall filler, or spackeling compound?

I used wall filler, or polyfilla in the u.k. (dunno if it's the same state side) Imo this is the best match for cardboard. And it's a lot easier to work with and smooth down etc.




When people make plastic/sintra buckets they use fiberglass or bondo.

The detail put into this project is astounding, quite inspiring to others to build themselves.
Should stop searching all these different forums im creating too many projects for myself and hardly have time to do them :P

Found endless source of knowledge from this thread, gave me the courage to start my own build, gonna start working on the dome very soon =] You truly are an artists.

Originally Posted by AntMan

Let's cut right to the chase and continue where I left off:

Next, I cut out most of the "Dome Base" from the bucket, leaving an inner supportive ring of about 10 mm wide.



This ring will keep the bucket in shape and will support the "Dome Form" rings ( pages 5+6 ) which I transfer to cardboard and cut out next:



Also for these I cut out most, leaving a structure of about 10 mm wide and connect them to the bucket rim like this:



I cut out a piece of the center top half to interlock into the other piece (with a drop of white glue)






This is the glue I used:



Hmpff! Now I have to go and prepare dinner since it is already a quarter to six. Darn DST!

Oh well.... back soon! 8)

__________________



"With great power comes great responsibility"

do you think sobo glue will have the same result on this guy, I'm using your guide for our group build project, found it really helpful' just wondering if Sobo its a safe glue to use.

PS:Nice Getter 2 revoltech, I have the same one.

Hallo, I'm a Newbie here in this forum and have a question about the filler, again. Should I use a wall filler or Bondo for cars or anything else ? But I think, if I use a wall filler the dome becomes to wet and deforms, because I have to mix the powder with water. And if I use Bondo, I belive the dome becomes to heavy.

The next thing is, before I start painting I use a plain surface as possible. Does the sealing agent ( is this the "Gesso Primer" ?) plain the surface, or should I try to do a thin layer of filler all over the helmet and smooth it as possible as I can. Because cardboard has always a little structure and I'm afraid that this would be visible after painting. Can someone help ?

Originally Posted by linusvanpelt

Hallo, I'm a Newbie here in this forum and have a question about the filler, again. Should I use a wall filler or Bondo for cars or anything else ? But I think, if I use a wall filler the dome becomes to wet and deforms, because I have to mix the powder with water. And if I use Bondo, I belive the dome becomes to heavy.

The next thing is, before I start painting I use a plain surface as possible. Does the sealing agent ( is this the "Gesso Primer" ?) plain the surface, or should I try to do a thin layer of filler all over the helmet and smooth it as possible as I can. Because cardboard has always a little structure and I'm afraid that this would be visible after painting. Can someone help ?

I went to get the cardboard today, its pretty sturdy so I wouldn't worry about using wall filler; as for the gesso I have worked with it and its a good primer for your painting needs( I used it for preparing canvas)I personally will use the ready made spackle, i have a bunch after fixing some stuff, it dries quicly and its pretty light, its called DAP CrackShot high prformance spackling paste.

hope it helps

Thank you cerberusrex25, I think I try both ways on a little piece of cardboard for testing.
And here is another question to AntMan :
How can you get so sharp edges on cardboard ? Here I used a fresh Hobbyknife. The straight lines are ok, but the curved....:



I do this in 3 or 4 Steps and very carefully...

The next question is:
What kind of piece is this and where on the helmet is it ?:

dude. I kinda want to cry right now. great job....(understatement)

hey there. outstanding work! thanks a lot!

but what do you when you paint cardboard? do paint strait on the cardboard? i thought of using some sort of clear coat ("laquer" if thats the word) to paint over

Antman, I'm amazed at the fine work you have done on this tut. I have started mu bucket and hope it comes out as good as yours. looking forward to further steps.

Thanks
Richard

I'm working on my helmet and also armor in a unique look

Great tutorial, thanks. Really helps with my scratch build!!

Hi! I'm new and have start to build one of the cardboard base helmet following your "process": very very very usefull and well done! I'd like to know where I can find the black material to make the visor? if ever u call it that...the T shape covering the eyes. After reading your comment about your helmet being too small,I start wondering a bit! I guess as long as it fit my head that's fine? I'm French and live in Canada and not familiar with inches & that's what the printer use...

I'd like to know where I can find the black material to make the visor? if ever u call it that...the T shape covering the eyes.

If the time is ripe for me to make the visor, i'll make it like this way:

http://www.darksidesithlord.com/my-c...eation-01.html
read Page 1 and 2.

I will use a tinting foil for cars and some plexiglass. The convenience is, you can use it outside in sunny weather and you are sun protected (most of this foils, anyway)

....so, i did some testings for filling with wallfiller and bondo. I prefer bondo. You can see here:
http://linusvanpelt.li.funpic.de/EarPart.pdf

.....and here my long way to the perfect dome (not finished yet):
http://linusvanpelt.li.funpic.de/TheDome.pdf

Originally Posted by linusvanpelt

If the time is ripe for me to make the visor, i'll make it like this way:

http://www.darksidesithlord.com/my-c...eation-01.html
read Page 1 and 2.

I will use a tinting foil for cars and some plexiglass. The convenience is, you can use it outside in sunny weather and you are sun protected (most of this foils, anyway)

....so, i did some testings for filling with wallfiller and bondo. I prefer bondo. You can see here:
http://linusvanpelt.li.funpic.de/EarPart.pdf

.....and here my long way to the perfect dome (not finished yet):
http://linusvanpelt.li.funpic.de/TheDome.pdf

Hi Linusvanpelt, thanx for your answer.very interesting and usefull...the time to put the visor on is not came yet as I am building the dome right now apparently like u and with the same problems! anyway your tips for the visor are very interesting and I think I'll go for it...and for the second one about the bondo...great,can't wait to done all that! thanx and good building..

So, the next i wanna do are the arrows and the dent. But does anybody know where i exactly have to place these things. Have somebody of you measures ?

this thread along with wizardofflight's templates have been a godsend and have likely made many a dream of owning fett buckets/armor come true, i know they have for me thank you both so much! i wish i could offer more help to the people above me who need it, but alas: i am still a costuming noob Good luck to everyone!

looking good there linus

hey good job i started my first scratch build last night, im using cardboard, but i started with out looking at any tutorials first. i made the dome first just with the trianglular shaped parts and with out the frame of the dome so it is not symetrical it is lower at the front than the back, if that makes sense, so i think ill have to start again or cut apart the dome.

any tips for a newbie just starting up?

When I make my domes, I usually separate the dome into four parts, each with its own separate frame, if that makes sense. I find that doing it that way gives the dome a lot more strength, because when you glue the four parts together the frame is doubled.

hey guys does any one know of a straight forward tutorial, im getting a little confused with it, im not sure where im going with it. any help would be muchly appreciated.

Thank you AntMan and WOF for the great tutorials and templates. I hope to start a build sometime soon.

6. Gesso primer for sealing/primering the finished bucket; US: Minwax Polycrylic Sealer

Are the Gesso and Minwax Polycrylic interchangeable or is there a preference for one over the other?

Thanks to everyone for a great place to get advice and learn.

AntMan, this is beautiful! Don't stop now! I need to see the outcome of this! Great job!

Originally Posted by jobiwan

hey guys does any one know of a straight forward tutorial, im getting a little confused with it, im not sure where im going with it. any help would be muchly appreciated.

As far as I know this is the most straight forward tutorial there is, or at least the most detailed.

If there's anything specific you're stuck on ask me (or the rest of the community), I've finished my card bucket (excluding painting) using this tutorial and a bit of improvisation.

That is too sweet, how many blades have you gone through so far???,,,,wow

This is amazing.....

Most Excellent workmanship!!!

Dude I love the in depth pictures... cant wait to see this thing done!

You are such an inspiration by making this look so easy. Based on your 2 builds I started one of my own this weekend. Got it up to the point of the dome supports. I'm using a couple of sheets of 32 inch by 40 inch mat board from Michael's.

One change Ive made so far was adding about 16 tabs around the dome base to give a little bit more surface area for the glue to hold. I just drew them on before i cut the base and folded them down. It looks like you did something similar on yours, just couldnt tell if they are actually a part of your base or separate pieces.

I'm in the middle of making mine but I used poster board... its not working out so great but I'll keep at it. Thanks for all the great pics on the how to.

This is awesome!!:thumbup This insired me to finally stop looking and start doing. The only cardboard I could find though is black, so that should prove interesting! Any updates yet? I'm sure we'd ALL love to see how you finish this. Those wires & paper clip pieces are a tease! Thanks.

okay i was SO proud of my bucket, untill now. that absolutely put me to shame. one question. when i layed the pieces for my dome i didnt do a very good job. i was under my own assumption that once i add the spackle it would work out. i now realive that is probably a lot os spackle. will that be a problem?

This thread has helped out a ton. I found this through www.instructables.com. This thread was a lot more informative. Now I am half way through my first helmet and it is looking great. Thanks so much.

Love this thread. On the strength of this, and WOF's fantastic templates, I'm on my second bucket. The first being a scaled down Jango for my 7 year old daughter. Mine will be a Boba. Doing the dome at the moment. Never knew sanding could be so therapeutic.

This is by far, the BEST tutorial I have ever seen. I have never made anything like this but this thread gives me confidence. I can't wait to start. I wanna see this thing finished. Its been like 8 months since an update, I hope Antman is OK.

Hey Antman. One question. If you only had the carboard like the ones you get when you buy a new T.V., how do you cut the ear piece the way you did and then sand it????

Hey Peter!

Any progress on your by the way awesome scratch build?
Just wondering... Has been quiet for some time so... I'd love to see some more pics.


cheers,
Thath0r

Hi, I'm new here. Happened on the tutorial on instructibles, which led me to TDH and this thread. Antman, you did a great job with this tutorial, not to mention WoF's great templates. I'm just wondering if there's gonna be more though, since the last update seems to have been quite a while ago.

Great work Ant, your pics helped to answer a lot of questions.

Hey Ant,

What specifically is that material that you are using? Is it a form of art-board? I have seen material like it used in packaging, usually molded to hold parts but have never seen it out where you can just pick up a sheet or three.

I got mine at an art supply store. I think that's the two places you usually find them at: art supply stores and framing stores.

Just went in and asked for 2mm thick cardboard, but might be called different names depending on where in the world you are.

Excellent, thanx for the info.

okay, lets see some progress !!

Nice....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20.../Boba2-030.jpg It looks ALOT thicker than 2mm.

That's because 1) the picture you refer to has two layers of board, one's the inner layer for the helmet, and another layer for the "face" or "mask" portion, the picture is where he's gluing the two together; and 2) there's also the inner dome ring Antman used to get the hemet shape right, which is a roughly circular flat piece of board, to which the sides of the helmet is shaped when it's being bent. He just cut out the middle of the circle once the sides are glued in place.

Go through this tutorial in a bit more detail and you'll see what he did. Good luck if you're making your own too, vode.

ok thx

Thanks alot Antman this build is so helpful i tried with cardstock but the thicker cardboard is awesome

Hi Antman! I am still new to the forums on TDH and after seeing your first helmet walkthrough I decided to start my own build, I am currently halfway through it. I just wanted to say you're doing an awesome job and I hope to see more of your incredible work! Thanks for inspiring me!

Hello AntMan,

This thread is a real inspiration for me, i just printed the templates and will be beginning the build in a few minutes (hoping to have it done in a month or two/three).

thanks.

I was thinking on making a carboard helm but I'm not sure. How hard is it to make the dome?

I'm having a go at making this. So far so good. I'm about to start on the ears so fingers crossed.

Is Antman going to finish this tut ?

didnt see this before i posted my thread on "what do i do now" thanks, lets hope for the best

Thanks for taking the time out to share this with the world. I really appreciate this. Keep doing what you're doing.
3D Architectural Animation Services

Antman, u are amzing, thnk u so much ner vod!!! gona start my build asap. anyone know where to buy this material in the U.S.A

Hey AltMan i love this tread its AWESOME!!!!
i started to make my own bucket.

DarmanSkirata, the stuff he's using is non corrugated cardboard that can be bought at most craft stores and framing stores.