Expert eye needed on scratchbuild

Greetings from the UK. I'm pretty new to all of this. I joined a few weeks back and have been amazed by the workmanship from all of you guys. I always thought I was a Star Wars nut, but the dedication you all show makes me realise i'm lagging behind a bit. Being inspired by Antman's amazing scratchbuilds and Alan's brilliant templates I embarked on a project for my daughter who is a big Jango fan and now I'm working on my own Boba. I needs some help from you guys and an expert eye. I've been spending some time trying to get as accurate a shape for the dome as I can so I can cast it to save myself remaking the dome for each subsequent bucket that I make( my daughter wants a Jaster and a full size Jango, she won't stay 7 for ever!) I attach some pics of the project so far and I need some opinions. Hope to do some more filling and sanding this weekend. starting to get used to the smell of P38.

good start,
you'll find load of references of the dome here your not to far from the right shape, a little reshape hear and there and you'll be good to go.

Thanks for the encouragement Aero. I've been looking at a few more ref pics and have done some reshaping. Not finished yet but I'm a bit happier with the new shape. I have marked on the dent position and the arrows to the positions I think look correct. Opinions really welcome guys. Once I get this dome sorted I can move on and prime it, then I can get the ears done. Looking at that rearview I need to tweak the keyslot. I'll hopefully get on with it this weekend.(IF THIS RAIN EVER STOPS!!!!)

I think it looks great. Better than mine is coming. Shaping the dome is a pain.

Thanks Superman. Keep sanding, it will be worth it in the end!!

Right then, next update. I decided to get the arrows and the dent done then prime the dome so any little dents/scratches etc will become a bit more obvious(and I'm also very impatient!!!!) I used Alan's templates to do the arrows. They still need a bit more work but I'm happy with the position of them.

I used Boba Swede's dent template to get the dent shape and traced a bit more of the surrounding detail to orientate myself a bit better. I know some of a us newbies struggle with the dent position, but I figured that getting as much detail to refer to is the way forward to getting it right. Everyone's dome is going to be slightly different when doing a scratchbuild so there is no point in using exact measurements to the milimetre. What I did to estimate the position of my dent was to take line across the top of the left arrow(facing out), the black line on the attached pic, and draw two reference points from this to orientate the position of the dent. Take a look at the attached pic to see how I did it. It's easier to demonstrate it than explain it in words. BTW, A line taken directly upwards from the left hand vertical edge of the visor bisects the point between two easily discernible scuffs on the Boba Swede template. This immediately makes life easier. The other point to determine is up to you. Just record the angles on the ref picture and transfer them to your helmet.

Looking at my dome, I'm quite happy with it but, I think the dent may be a bit small, although it is the 2.5cmx2.5cm as quoted elsewhere! Hopefully, when painted it will look ok.

Well, too late now, I will crack on and get the next few bits done. If any of you guys see anything glaringly obvious then please tell me before I get too far into this project

Looks really great!! Awesome handywork.

Yeah the dent is a bit small, if noting else, paintning the damage around it bigger might work to make it look bigger too.

Looks really great so far...

Thanks for the kind feedback guys. I'll tinker with the dent at the weekend. I don't think it needs to be too much bigger, but I think it will bug me if I leave it as it is!

it's shaping up.
how big did you print the plans out at?
i would suggest you make the dent about 10% bigger.
i made my helmet out of large plastic paint tubs and the key slot at the back was a major pain it kept on breaking as i put the curve into it. must have done it at least five times.

Hello again,

Thanks to Aero for his help and the hints he sent me. I tinkered away on my bucket and I am now much happier with my dent. I didn't measure it exactly but I would say it's about 10% bigger. It needs a bit more sanding but It'll do for now. I am now going to leave the dome alone and start on the ears.

Need to go back to key slot at some point. It is a very fiddly part I agree. I managed to do it in cardboard eventually without too many creases. Hoping to smooth out those few creases a bit later. I take my hat off to the guys like Antman who have done it so well in the past. It really does take some skill.

Aero, have you any pics of your build on the forum anywhere? Love to see a bucket made from paint tubs.

How about them cheeks huh, I had a hell of a time getting those in



as you can see I'm going for a custom Bucket.

The cheeks!! Oh yes, I learned how to curse properly that evening!

know what you mean vod

no i don't sorry.
but i can send you some

Jason

any updates?
i posted up my helmet
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/my-attempted-helmet-tutorial-34154/
let me know what you think

Jason

See your thread for the comments on your bucket. Good work my friend. Funnily enough I reshaped my dome over the last couple of days and primed it today. I'm in the middle of sorting out the earpieces as well so I will post some pics hopefully this weekend.

latest update. I decided to go back to the dome and reshape the rear section. A lot of sanding and priming later, I'm much happier. Also started on the earpieces and nearly done with them. I've also pinched in the nose and secured that, hence the cracks in the cheeks. I need to hollow out the cheeks a bit more but it's getting there. I've had a couple of friends ask me about making helmets for them so I think I might try my hand and casting this one. Anyone know where the best suppliers of silicone and casting resins are in the UK. I've had a look at Smooth-on in the US but I can't order directly from them. Some help would be cool! Any comments welcome in general on the bucket. Cheers everyone.

G, looking good,
have you attached the dome to the rest of the helmet.
you had any problems with the key slots at the back?
Any thought's what to use for your visor. i used coloured perspex.

check out 4d models. www.modelshop.co.uk they deal with all types of model making equipment. their based in london, not to far from tower bridge.

Your an old hand to this helmet making thing then.
Nice job on the jango

I used 3mm bottle green perspex. it was an off cut so i got it dirt cheap. i payed £5 and it was big enough for two visor's plus enough to make lenses for my trooper lid.

one last thing have you made moulds before

Jason

Thanks for your words on the Jango.

To answer your question, I've never made moulds on this scale before, but I'm willing to give anything a go!!

Any updates?

I've been adjusting the cheeks and tweaking bits here and there, but I've been away in London for the week and haven't had a lot of chance to do any helmet recently. I will double my efforts!!!!!

Been away for a bit but hoping to get back to the project in the new year. Just started a diploma course and it's taking up all my time at the moment. Just a quick question for anyone who can help. I found a thread with a really good demo of making fibreglass and silicone moulds on this site but I can no longer find it. Any ideas or links to where this might be? I plan to get hold of the materials in the new year. Not quite sure what kind of quantities I need but I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

good job.
good to see your still on it

Thanks Aero. Right, quick update. I tried doing the earpieces using the 'mayan temple method' a la Antman but this only really seemed to go well on the rangefinder earcap and I just couldn't get the smooth surfaces I wanted on the others. So I went back and used the WOF templates and various thicknesses of styrene sheet. Not quite finished yet, still a bit of sanding to do but I'm much happier.

I've also been building up the flat areas to mount the earpieces on my bucket. I marked the areas on each side, wrapped the earpieces with clingfilm, applied a small amount of filler then squeezed this on to helmet in the correct position. wiped away the excess while it was going off and you are left with a fairly good flat area to mount your earpieces. A bit more filler and sanding and then it should be ready to prime. Shouldn't be long now and I can finally get a mould done. BTW, it wasn't until after I done this, that I realised digifett has got a much simpler and less messy method than mine. Ah well, I really should read the threads more carefully.

here's the latest, primed and I think just about ready to cast!! To the pub!

Guys. Little help please. The dent's in the wrong place isn't it!!

Really good job. Don't fret if the dent is in a slight bit different place (however yes it is a little off).

And I hate to seem arrogant but yes we are exceptional lol and I'm still in school so I don't have any education from college! Unfortunately I'm more of a 2D artist

Thanks for the info Graphix, and the kind words. Still at at school eh?! That seems like a long time ago for me now.

I'm not too fraught about the dent, after all, I'm pretty new to all this. Bit more of a 2D artist myself before my Star Wars obsession got the better of me! However, having a slightly obsessive compulsive streak, I think that knowing my dent is 'off', will bug me and I'm never going to be happy with the finished result. So I have a couple of ideas and hopefully should have the dent sorted in the next couple of days.

Got a load of coursework to do so I may not get the moulding done now for a couple of weeks but I shall get this baby done and dusted very soon. I've started on my gauntlets so I need to get those done too. Thanks to all you guys who are watching this thread as your help is very much appreciated.

Maybe boba latter decided that he didn't want his dent anymore so he took a hammer to it, but accidentally he created a new dent in a slightly different place. Thoughts anyone?

I like your thinking. I may need to apply this idea to various other parts of my costume later too.

I have moved the dent now, pictures to follow.

I am a bit happier, although, even if it is still off a little bit I'll cast it anyway. It's been taking so long I just need to get it finished. I'm getting impatient.

Not a happy man!!!!!! Mixed the silicone to the wrong ratio!!!! A runny mess ensued. Right then, more silicone on order. Expensive mistake. Luckily the bucket survived. Phew!!

Keep doing what you're doing by all means, but we do love update pics.

Sorry, been a bit slack with the pictures. Here is the new updated dent. Bit happier with this one. Sculpted it with modelling clay and took a plaster imprint. Cut a hole in the dome (hopefully in a better place), covered the plaster plug in filler and inserted in the hole. I thought it turned out ok!! What do you all think? Anyway, correct position or not I need to get the moulding done so attempt number two coming up soon. Pics will follow, I promise.

Spot on indeed

Hi everyone, life's been a bit hectic recently so not a lot of progress but this is where I'm at so far. Managed to get the ratios correct this time. Anyway, photos show the progress. layered on 3 layers of RTV silicone and then the fibreglass support jacket.

Unfortunately the cardboard keyslot didn't survive the moulding process. It was worth a lot to me!!!!!! Get it!!!! Never mind.

A few airblows but not too bad. This is my first attempt, and from this experience, there are several things I would do differently next time. Any of you more experienced chaps, please feel free to critique as you see fit. I'm planning to cast it in fibreglass as soon as life slows down a bit. All you family guys out there might figure that could be a while!!

so,u cover the helmet with the blue stuff,then you do what?

How drole! Having uploaded these photos last night and checked it at work today, I have just realised the one showing the inside of the mould didn't upload. So yes at the moment there is just a blob of blue covered in fibreglass. Just give me chance and I'll upload the other photo tonight. I will hopefully have my first one cast over the next week or so and then things should start to get moving a bit quicker.

mould done. A few airblows so it'll need a bit of cleaning up. still waiting for a spare few hours to cast it.

Ive been watching this thread for a while now and im really enjoying following the scratch build. I thought the work you did to fix the dent was superb, looks much better. I really like the nice crisp details youve got on the helmet and the mould youve done looks spot on. Youve got a very good looking lid there in my opinion, do you plan on doing a run?. I look forward to seeing your first pull,
Lewis

Great work so far!! Although I'm a bit envious because I never got up the nerve to make molds

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your kind words. Thank you for the compliments on the dent. After spending all that time on the dome, it was kind of a tough decision to dig a new hole in the lid but I agree, it does look much better.

I was quite happy with the mould, but there are a fair few airblows unfortunately. As I said in my previous entry, I would do a few things differently next time to make it better. I would be more than happy to do a run of these so I plan to do a new mould once I've repaired my keyslot and I'll get back to you.

I may do a separate thread on moulding if anyone's interested. It seems there have been some requests before on various other threads.

I did a prototype pull a couple of evenings ago, despite the airblows and I'll upload the photos when I get chance.

Thanks for following this guys. It means a lot when you know someone is interested in the stuff that you're doing.

Pics as promised

Mate the pull looks really good. Almost all moulds have imperfections and airbubbles. Nothing a little filler and primer wont fix. I would seriously be interested in one if you do get a run goin. At the moment ive just spent quite a bit on a boba belt, so right now it is out of the question, but I imagine you wont start a run for a bit yet.
Now go an slap some paint on that lid
great work,
lewis

Thanks very much Lewis. You will be the first to know when I do a run. I've got a load on over the next couple of weeks but I hope to get back on it asap.

Couple of weeks!!!!! that was optimistic. It's been crazy here with one thing and another. Ended up being away for a while. Diploma course taking up most of my time. Changing my job after thirteen years in the same place (So relieved, far less stress). I have revisited my helmet today though, and remade the keyslot on the original and doing some tidying up. Much happier. I will be posting some pics soon once I've tweaked all I want to tweak then I'll do a run through of the moulding process. That seems to be requested quite a lot. I'm no expert but I'll do my best and I hope it helps the ones that haven't attempted it yet! That's about it for now. Back to the real world. Cheers.

Hehe lifes more important than this stuff, hope your new job is goin well. Good to see you starting this back up.
O and pm sent

Welsh

Great work on the molding.
You have something to paint now.
When you gonna start the painting?

Back on the project at last. Sorry if anyone's been following this and is wondering what's going on. I decided to remould the helmet. I was never happy with the first one. So I'm just gathering some photos together and I'll run through my mould with a couple of tips for any of you guys new to this like me. Hopefully it will help you avoid some of the mistakes I made and save you time, and a fair bit of money (silicone is not cheap). So bear with me a bit longer, I've just run out of materials and I've got an order in. I'm getting there.

Oh and sorry Aero, I didn't answer your question. shouldn't be too long now. quite looking forward to seeing what my painting ability is like.

Right then. Been busy. Mould number 2. Quick run through of the process and highlighting some mistakes I made previously that I have hopefully now put right. Would like to think this will help some chaps that are new to this too. Sorry if it seems obvious to a lot of you, but I know some of you are a bit nervous about moulding as I was. Any advice for your first mould, especially learning from the mistakes of others, I think is very useful.

First thing is get your measurements right. Didn't do this on very first attempt and had a disaster. Another thing is the first layer is your detail. Make sure all the air bubbles are gone. Leave the rubber to settle as in the pics. This was after leaving the silicone twenty minutes. Had lots of air bubbles on my first mould so made sure I left it longer this time.

After this, brush it on. Made sure to leave a nice wide base this time too.

Ok, next stage once the first layer has gone off, is to build up the layers. I was planning on getting a much thicker mould this time so it would hold it's shape in the support cast much better than the one before when I was getting an uneven cast. so decided not to skimp on the rubber! It's expensive stuff, but it's even more of a problem if you find the final result is no good and it's gone to waste.

Mix up your silicone and add the thixotropic agent. This will thicken it up and stop it running off the mould. The first layer has captured the fine detail, now it's a case of thickening it up. It will look quite rough at this stage. Tried to keep it free of undercuts and big uneven lumps as much as possible. Added three layers.

nice, keep the pic's coming.

Next stage, after I was happy with the mould thickness, was to add the fin and key for the support cast. Did this by placing some cardboard offcuts around the midline and then run a bead of thixo'd silicone to hold it in place both sides.

After this I added some beads of silicone down the sides of the mould to act as a key, so it will sit accurately in the support cast. It was still quite uneven at this stage so I added thin layer of unthickened silicone to smooth out some of the irregularities. The smoother the rubber, the better it will sit in the support cast.

Mould done, support cast next. Smelly bit. Wear an aspirator.

Don your rubber gloves and cut up some matting. prepare your resin and I found it useful in a tray. Wet your matting and lay on one side of the mould and fully cover that side. Any dry bits of matting then use a brush to make sure its all wetted with resin.

After it has hardened then remove the cardboard and place some silver foil as a separator. Repeat with resin and matting on this side. I added another layer in some of the thinner areas after this but this isn't on the photos.

Finally add some screws at several points on the central fin. This will ensure the support cast stays together in exactly the correct position each time.

Lookin good brother! I love doing this stuff also! What brand/ version of silicone rubber are you using? I use rebound 25 from smooth on and have found it excellent. Ive pulled over 20 Vader buckets from a mold made of that stuff and its still going strong. The mix ratio is 1:1 so its easier to mix as well. I am actully doing a run of Fett buckets in the new year. It was also made from scratch like yours. Excellent work brother!

Then it's a case of demoulding the thing. That was a sweaty, sweary half an hour. Silicone sticks very well to anything with a grain ie. wood. I'd placed mine on plywood. Wow.

I did try to save my original, but as the mould was so much thicker and the support cast was so much stronger, it did not come off so well as you can see by the pics. Retrievable I think but I was a bit upset after all that work getting it as good as I could. However, I now had a fine mould to make as many lids as I wanted!!!!

I must admit I was quite pleased with my efforts. now to cast a bucket!

Ok, respirator and gloves again. Time to cast a bucket. Assemble the mould and support cast, fasten all screws well.

Gelcoat first. Mixed up and brushed onto the interior of the mould. Make sure of a nice even spread and get right into all nooks and crannies. Allow it to go off until tacky. Don't allow it to go off completely or there's a good chance the next layer won't bond to the gelcoat.

For the next layer I used a filled styrene resin. I mixed the resin with 'fillite' which is alumina-silicate powder. Cheap and light, it makes the resin go a long way. Brush on a couple of layers of this. Only the first layer is shown here. The second layer smoothed it over a bit better. I then finished with a layer of resin and matting.

There was then a lot of crossing of fingers!!!!!

To say I was pleased is an understatement.

A couple of airblows and the tusks will need adjusting a bit, but overall very happy. Earpieces are coming on. Moulds are pretty much done. Will upload some pics soon. I am off for a very relieved, well-deserved drink.

Will be back soon. cheers.

Thanks very much for your kind words Darth Voorhees. Comments like this keep me going. I looked into Rebound, but its hard to get hold of smooth-on stuff in the UK. I use an RTV silicone from TOMPS.com. Seems pretty good stuff. Takes a while to go off but I just have to take my time. It's great fun doing this stuff. Wish I'd started years ago. Love to see your Vader. Any pics on the forum?

Thanks Aero. I'm still going!

Hello stranger, nice to see you back working on this, got to say that was a pretty impressive haul of updates.
I said it before and I'll say it again mate, that is one fine looking lid. I love watching threads like this, all the way till the end, brilliant stuff. Sorry to hear about your master, but the resulting cast looks perfect mate, would love to see some primer on it to see all those lovely details

Welsh

Thanks Welsh. I've been away or a while but I've not been idle. Sanding and priming in progress and the earpieces are in the mould today. Might get some motivation to start painting once this weather starts to clear a bit. The snow showers and freezing temperatures are kind of putting me off. Would imagine a similar scene around your neck of the woods too. How's the jetpack going?

Yeh the snows a bugger, if you do paint make sure you dont paint outside then bring it in as Ive heard this can make the paint crack and crinkle
Yeh we've had about a foot an a half of snow, pretty annoying when you got stuff arriving lol. The jetpack is at a standstill at the moment, my airbrush packed in about a month ago so I got to get a new one now after Xmas. Just got to paint the white and tank tops and the body is done

You still planning on doing a run on these, now that you got that mold perfected you should have an army of boba's soon lol.

Welsh

With the cold at the moment I don't think there's any danger of me doing any painting. Just doing some adjusting on the lid in the relative warmth of the garage. I still plan to do a run on these early in the new year, but I'm going to get some painting and tweaking done to this one first to ensure all the bits fit together ok and people will be happy with what I send them. The right side has warped slightly so I'm just sanding it out a bit. Can't tell unless you look really closely though so I'm still happy.

The rangefinder is coming on slowly. Just trying to work out how to do a hollow stalk and cast it. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Found some pics of your jetpack the other day. Looks a fine job mate. Hope my painting skills are comparable to yours. I see you're doing an SE Fett. I think that's the way I'm going to go. Prefer the gauntlets and the jetpack on that one.

Take care and a Merry Christmas.

Cheers mate, im sure if your painting skills are anything as good as your building skills youre going to have a cracking fett, you going to try for the 501st?
Yeh Se is the way to go, nothing against ESB but I just prefer the mix of colours and styles. I may pick one of these lids up after Xmas, one can never have to many helmets lol. Ive got a MR and a BM lid ive been commissioned to do coming after the new years so if you want me to review yours I can, from the pics it does look like a stunning helmet

Merry Christmas to you to mate,
Welsh

501st is definitely a goal of mine. The rate I'm going though, I may be an old man before I'm a member but never mind!

I would appreciate a review of the helmet. That would be cool. Hope to get back on the case after Christmas. Got a load of studying and work to do between now and the end of January but I've got a good feeling about next year and i'm sure I'll be setting aside a little time to get down to the garage!!! Good luck with your commisions.

Take care,

Chris

Where did you get the silicone for the mould?

the silicone I used was from tomps.com. It's RTV silicone and is good stuff. I used the slow catalyst for some reason and it really is slow, so if you do get some from Tomps you may want to go for the fast stuff.

I just discovered this thread and I must say you do some amazing work my friend. You definitely have talent. Great job! Any chance in seeing the finished bucket?

Excellent work! Like Mr Hyde, I just found this thread. I wish I had seen it before I completed my scratch build. All of your pictures would have answered a lot of questions I had during the process. Now, I am anxious to remake my ear pieces and fix some other small details that are bothering me. After reading this thread I am also tempted to make a mould. At least if I do decide to make one I know where to come if I have any questions.

Are you posting updates somewhere else? The last post from you that I see is in January. Would love to see the finished helmet or any progress you have made.

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the kind words. I haven't been able to do much to helmet this year. I have had so much else to do, including completely re-landscaping my back garden. The helmet is still sitting in my garage waiting for my attention. Hopefully will start back on it in the new year. Keep watching, there is still more to come and I have got some ear-mould pics to post at some point. Once you get into it it, doing moulds isn't as scary as you think.

Once again, thanks for looking. I will get this bucket finished if its the last thing I do!

You could always go for modifying a Hasbro Boba Fett Helmet. I've seen lots of people do that and make it Legion worthy.