Visor installation?

Show your tips and ideas of how you put yours together. I know there's so many ways. I would like to get ready so when my new FPH arrives.

Here's the method I use...

thansk spidey!!

keep them coming!

I was planning something very similar, but instead of the nut to hold the visor in place I was going to use a rubber washer. Some variation on the method Spideyfett posted is probably the best. It will hold the visor in place and allow it to be changed easily if needed.

I've always been lame and just used hot glue. I don't care much about what the inside looks like though.

Hot glue works too LOL. I'm using hot glue to hold my Vader lenses in.

I just Goop mine in there

Similar to the T nut method, I use regular bolts, grind the head back until its about 1mm thick then fix them to the inside of the helmet using filler, then I place my visor in and secure it using 4 custom made aluminium plates with holes in them the same size as the bolt, then secure with a nut and washer

Originally Posted by Jango72

I use a variation on Spideyfetts method, but I use chicago or boston screws with plastic, kitchen faucet washers.

Nice..I need to try that....

Wait, Seeker's asking for advice on putting together a Fett Helmet? That's like Tiger Woods asking for advice on putting!

Arturo's likes to act like he needs help...so he can seem normal w/his costuming skills!

just to make us feel better.

Well, I am having troubles with this. I bought my T-VIsor from en eBay seller that carries tons of these, and now that I have it I realize that the vertical portion of the 'T' is exactly as wide as the opening on the mask. This leaves no room for attaching it properly. I can't even hot-glue it in there, let alone bolt it.

Ideas?!

I have made this thread sticky.

There are actually three different sizes of T-Visors out there.

1. smallest size, which fits the Rubies style helmets.
2. regular size, which fits most versions like Sgt. Fang, Fettpride, Bobamaker etc.
3. large size, which is for the famed "Mystery helmet".

Your best bet is to follow the posted tutorials on making your own out of a tinted safety face shield. You'll get a perfect fit every time.


And Halo_1, I must say that I love your mounting system.

Originally Posted by Jango72

And Halo_1, I must say that I love your mounting system.

Thank you kind sir...but isn't mine the same setup as the rest Thanks though.

Stay safe,

Tim.

I was actually meaning that I noticed that your visor mounting method is exactly the same as mine, right down to the plastic kitchen faucet washers. Save for the fact that your chicago screws look to be made of brass, I just thought it was cool to see another member that had the exact same idea as me!

Originally Posted by Halo_1

Thank you kind sir...but isn't mine the same setup as the rest Thanks though.

Stay safe,

Tim.

Originally Posted by Jango72

I was actually meaning that I noticed that your visor mounting method is exactly the same as mine, right down to the plastic kitchen faucet washers. Save for the fact that your chicago screws look to be made of brass, I just thought it was cool to see another member that had the exact same idea as me!

LOL! Copy that bro! I had a ton of those Chicago Screws as they are cheap here, both the aluminium and brass types. They are mostly used for Catalogs and Menus here.

In fact the brass ones where the same ones I used for my Gal's Jango belt setup.

Anyhow,

Stay safe,

Tim.

if you dont care about the interior of youre helmet than Id suggest hot gluing it in.It worked for me!

Well wether i hot glue mine in or bolt it in, im sure glad Seeker decided to start this thread, cuz a sec ago i had no idea how too, lol, so thanx guys, lol.

SpideyFett, brilliant idea on replacing the visor, I think I'll try just that.

But I have a question for you Jango72, what did you do about the cosmetics on your mask, don't the Chicago screws show on the outside, did you just paint over them?

How do you secure the bolt shank to helmet?

Originally Posted by Waynok

SpideyFett, brilliant idea on replacing the visor, I think I'll try just that.

But I have a question for you Jango72, what did you do about the cosmetics on your mask, don't the Chicago screws show on the outside, did you just paint over them?

The chicago screw isn't on the outside as it's glued and/or epoxied to the inside similar to SpideyFetts method.

Whats the best size when using these? 3,4 or 5 MM?

Epoxy glue or putty would work too but be VERY careful with the glue because I dripped some on the visor and now I have to wait another 3 days to get a new visor. ><

Originally Posted by Cailieg

For those using bolt attachments, how to you fix the system to the helmet itself? I would not want to try screwing anything into my helmet.... a simpleton's explanation would be welcomed.

Have to stick my tvisor in my MS custom soon and well.....


Alexis
*smiles*

I believe they epoxy the bolt to the inside of the visor area. I think I rememer cruzer drilling holes completly through, but he had an issue where they would pop out through the paint, but he eventually fixed it.

where do you get the tee-bolt shanks? and how long should they be? the people at my local home depot looked at me like i was nuts when i asked about it.

Originally Posted by saint_nasty

where do you get the tee-bolt shanks? and how long should they be? the people at my local home depot looked at me like i was nuts when i asked about it.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words...



You'll find them down the fastener aisle, in the specialty bins. ( the rotating towers with the flip out bins. )

Just ask them for "chicago screws".

i may have to go to lowes, since bozeman has the second smallest home depot in the country.

SN,

If you can't find any, LMK. I can pick em up easy from my AO and have em shipped over.

LMK.

Stay safe,

Tim.

You could either cut out thin strips that overlap the visor and the helmet and hot glue them in. Or depending how thick the visor is you might find similar thickness material and make tabs to be joined to the edges(hot glue). Or get some thin clear plastic sheet and cut out another visor 3mm larger than the original visor and laminate them together. Depending on usage, wear and tear, you could just overlap enough hot glue and edge joint the visor in, holdind it in place til it dries.

With the fastner method, how thick are the washers you guys are using? Thanks!

Originally Posted by escho34

With the fastner method, how thick are the washers you guys are using? Thanks!

The thickness will depend on how long your Chicago Screws are, your visor thickness and how deep-set are your screws embedded into your helm area.

Stay safe,

Tim.

lol ac!!

Hmmm.... I have a conundrum! I went the CHicago screw method, and it worked great.... sort of.... Though I epoxied the bases into the helmet, they popped right off when i put the visor in place!

My bucket it a redone DP vinyl. What then, is the best substance to affix aluminum posts to a Vinyl surface? I had sanded to surface where the contact point is to rough it up a bit, but it didn't seem to help much. I had not however roughed up the aluminum surface of the post. Would that make all the difference? Would a cyanoacrylate (krazy glue) work better?

I guess my question is ultimately, what adhesive will make this thing stick strong enough to hold an elephant? Thanks folks!

Bump! Any thoughts?

Not only rough up the surface of the helmet, but drill mini holes and bore out a bit of a crater in the helmet. Give the JB Weld everything you can for it to grab a hold of. Simply just sanding the surface won't do the job.

Thanks for the input suspect. I made a second go of anchoring these suckers in, and it seems to have done the trick! I not only sanded the contact points, but used the dremel to make cross-hatched scoring on both surfaces. after expoying the surface itself, I goobed some epoxy all around the base too, just for good measure. This seems to have done the trick. I didn't have time to snap some pictures, but I will over the next few days I think.

On a slightly related topic- One of the pokers I have in the fire involves a MR ESB helmet. If the deal goes through I am definitely planning on using the FP/others pincher-fix to shore up the final product.
Since that involves a T-visor replacement, I was thinking about different ways one could get that "Fett gaze".. In so many words, I was wondering if anyone has thought about backing a lightly/medium tinted T-visor with some kind of extremely thin (think less than paper) one-way mirrored material? I was hoping that maybe with this idea one could get a fairly large amount of light into the helmet, but almost no transmittance out- making it absorb light while still being extremely shiny.
F.Y.I. They even got green mirror film-
Is it even worth experimenting with?

I tried my hand at tinting paper a few times with the most horrible results. It's a great idea in retrospect but it quickly becomes nothing more than a giant headache.
Example; tinting glass(like on a car window) is pretty easy but it's still tough to get it right without having any air bubbles between the glass and the window tint. You have to smooth out the tint repeatedly with a squeegee until all of the bubbles are gone. Sounds pretty simple. Now try doing that on a plastic surface that flexes a whole lot. As the plastic changes shape it causes the tint to tighten and loosen causing bubbles and sometimes even tears. Even if you get the tinting finished and set before you put your visor in, you're still screwed. The second you go to put the visor in, you're already starting to bend it a little, which will ruin everything. Trust me. I've tried it 3 times, and every time I've ended up throwing out the piece. I even tried tinting it after the visor was installed but you're working with such a small area that's it's very difficult to get to any of it just to smooth it out.


My 2 cents.
thanks for listening.

Whew- thanks for the warning suspect! Sounds like a major S.I.A.P. that just got avioded there. What kind of lens do you recommend to get the really dark yet still lusterly appearance?
I've seen straight dark tint and dark green...

I picked up a tinted face shield from Harbor Freight for less than $5. Heard about it on these forums. Looks like it should work pretty well after trimming to the right size.

i just got my MR helmet. Any suggestions on what to use for installing a new visor? Some sort of bonding glue? or bolts perhaps? Also, does anyone know if a BM visor would fit in there, or should i custom cut my own?

I used this method they all are talking about with the T bolts on my MR clone bucket with great success. I used plastic weld to hold them in and had no issues. you could also use resin as well just keep in mind resin expands a tad so if the T bolt is got a hollow base it could get into the threads and give you a hard time.

hey guys, question,

my helmet doesn't have a flat surface for the visor installation, rather, it has edges that protrude a bit creating only an outline surface

You can't see it that well in this picture, but hopefully it gives you an idea


I don't really care too much about the inside look, but the visor doesn't exactly line up exactly to hit all the points (sides, bottom, and T intersection) for bolts.

What would you guys recommend?

I'm not exactly sure, but it looks like you have either a DP or Rubies. I had the same problem with my son's Rubies. What I had to do is CAREFULLY trim the inside of the visor area to make the visor sit flush.

David.

hmmm... yeah, I bought my helmet second hand from a guy who didn't know much about it either. Its made of a resin, so its possible that its a DP or Rubies (the rangefinder flips down).

anyhow, I was afraid I'd have to do that... (so I'm still kinda hoping someone might suggest something else, heh) did you use glue or bolts after that?

I used hot glue.

David.

Wow, really your explication is great¡¡¡ I din't know how to make moving to my visor, I did 2 mini helmets to my childs, and they always ask me why they doesn't have movement.

TKS, Finally the visor´s helmets to my childs are going to be movement.

Regards

Originally Posted by Jaiden

I used hot glue.

David.

cool, thanks, I'll probably get to a bit of slicing later tonight

Nice way to do that...i just use hot glue too....

whats the best material to use for a visor????

I found the bolts an excellent system to use. Looks neater and easy to change. I just pre-drilled two other visors ready for use. Before this thread I was going to hot glue it in.

looks really wierd......... donno what it is.........

Originally Posted by Jangojack350

whats the best material to use for a visor????

Welding face shield. For the time and money, I'd say go with T-visor.com.

David.

well back when I did a Clone helmet for a friend he found some fiber glass and was able to cut it and mold it and then he slapped some of that do it yourself window tinting on it and I cut him a recess in the visor line and he snapped it right in. Sure it didnt look too kosher but it worked for him

Originally Posted by DarthTuburculosis

well back when I did a Clone helmet for a friend he found some fiber glass and was able to cut it and mold it and then he slapped some of that do it yourself window tinting on it and I cut him a recess in the visor line and he snapped it right in. Sure it didnt look too kosher but it worked for him

I saw something like this on the mercs website. this is where I found it.

http://www.darksidesithlord.com/my-c...eation-01.html


The guy heats up some plexiglass from a paper holder until its the shape he wants and then he he cuts out the visor and tents it. you should check it out. It looks good.

Thanks for lots of great information.

Thanks for the advice. I used glue at first but the heat just made it unstickyish...

Since were talking about the visor, What do you guys do about the visor fogging up. Am I just a heavy breather or what. It doesn't effect my vision unliss I have to look down. There was this spray I used when I would scuba dive but I never knew the name and it was something that was around and never looked at the name. Most guys just spit on there lense. Not for me. I saw a fan in the pix and thought that was a good idea. What do the veterans have to say on this? Thank you.

I have the Novus Plastic polish for my TK costume. Bottle #1 is a cleaner and works well as a defogger in my TK helmet and my snowmobile helmet.

FANS!!! You want to keep the air temp on the inside as close to the air temp on the outside, and the moisture out. I haven't installed fans in my Boba bucket yet, but I may go with two squirrel cage fans for circulation. One to blow air down and out, the other to bring it in. Plus the fresh air blowing in keeps you from feeling enclosed.

On my TK I noticed that the lenses don't touch the helmet 100%, there are a few little gaps, allowing air to move. I may do the same with my Boba, leave a little gap, as long as it goes unseen.

Good luck !

Where inside the helmet would you put the fans? Need all the Ideas I can find!!

Thanks Timmer. Squirrel cage fans are what, The computer fans? How about a power supply. I'm getting a hollow stalk and RF and if I put two fans in along with the LEDs, what is going to power all that up. As I mentioned before, The helmet in past threads has a cool set up. I will PM him to find out. Thanks for the help.

Squirrel cage fans look like a hair dryer without the handle. The computer fans are generally flat, but I guess both are found inside various computers.


Here's a link: http://www.buyextras.com/dcbrblfa.html

20 dBA is a not too loud, but a friend recommended keep below 45 dBA, it might be pretty loud in your helmet.

How exactly do the fans work ? do they extract to somewhere or pick up and pull fresh air through a vent ?
Cheers.

Halo_1;297451]Quick question, which helmet do you own, and did you get the correct 'sized' visor? I know 'R' offers 3 versions so as to NOT have this problem.

My set up...



Stay safe,

Tim.[/QUOTE]

I believe that the squirrel cage fans pick up air at the center of the circular part, then obviously blow it out the straight part. The computer fans as shown above look like they circulate whatever air is in the helmet, unless they are vented from behind somehow. Any air circulation is a plus. My local Vader has zero fans, I can't figure out how he survives ! That's a really nice, cleanly designed bucket interior you have Slinger !!

Another option, which I haven't really seen anyone do, is to mount a fan over the keyslots in the back of the helmet. On one hand, you give up accuracy by losing the calculator piece normally placed there, on the other, it's a sweet spot to ventilate ( provided your hair doesn't get caught ! ).

I also thought about getting speaker grill cloth or some other thin material to cover the keyslots. You could paint it or silkscreen it to look like the calc. part, but have a fan there to blow air out, or draw it in.

can anyone give me tips on getting the right sizes and dimmensions of the helmet? im goin to make my very own helmet out of sheet metal, and i will need a 1 2 3 guide from the beggining to end, im kinda new here and i cant really get around here well,so if anyone could please be of assistance to a Boba bro i would greatly appreciate it.

What's the best way to line up the holes when doing the bolt method.

I was thinking of first drilling the holes in the visor, placing it in the right spot then just marking through the hole with a marking pen of some kind. I'm just concerned about the angle of the nut, if I glue it in at the wrong angle, it won't line up with the bolt coming through the visor.

Any thoughts ?

Just curious everyone,how do u tent you visor,and what would you recemind to use for the visor it self? ty=]

Are there any drawbacks to only cutting out the eye slot part of the helmet before installing a visor? I'm thinking mostly about structural integrity and longevity.

The helmet will probably be stronger with it still left in but the overall look of the helmet, IMHO, will be horrible. The visor will be skewed and stick out more than it should and not uniform across the face. And you will be cutting down on your field of vision by more than 50%...(probably more) You will have about the same line of sight as a stormtropper ie. not being able to se where or into what you are walking. small kids, stairs, shrubberies.

All very good points, have you personally encountered warping due to completely removing the visor area?

With my first helmet (a shameless recast of ebay) the mandibles warped inwards but this was reprimanded when i installed the visor. with my BobaMaker helmet i had no such troubles.

Excellent, thanks!

Originally Posted by Timmer

What's the best way to line up the holes when doing the bolt method.

I was thinking of first drilling the holes in the visor, placing it in the right spot then just marking through the hole with a marking pen of some kind. I'm just concerned about the angle of the nut, if I glue it in at the wrong angle, it won't line up with the bolt coming through the visor.

Any thoughts ?

The best way to ensure that your bolts will line up with the holes in the visor is to first make a thin cardboard mack-up of your T-Visor. You can make as many as you need, punch as many holes as needed and they can also be used as a filler for when you paint up the base colors.

All you need to do is to trace your T-visor onto some cereal box cardboard, then cut it out. Test fit the new template to ensur eit will fit good ( and that you didn't accidentally cut off the wrong part... don't ask ) then you can arrange where you'd like for the mounting bolts to be situated. Once you've punched the holes in your template, you can now use it as a tracing quide to align the holes both on the visor and inside the helmet.

Thanks Ian, a nice simple solution, I'm all for that.

Maybe I'll run into you in the future, I'm with Garrison Excelsior, but I'm In the Albany, NY area. I know that my comrades in the Rochester and Buffalo region meet up with our brothers and sisters from The Great White North from time to time.

I appreciate the tips,
Tim

No worries Tim, perhaps you can make it to FanExpo in Toronto this year. It's at the end of August.

I'll have to look into the rules for crossing the border. I know that at some point this year they will no longer allow just a NY State drivers license, I'd have to get a passport I believe

a good way to hold the cardboard mock up in place while you line things up is to use some of that wall putty that 3M puts out for putting posters on walls without leaving marks. also, if you end up using epoxy putty to place your visor, the putty will help with the best areas to apply that as well

Thanks for the tip WhiteShadow, I appreciate it !

chicago screws are working great...and the improvement on the visor has corrected almost all of the warping I was running in to

First, how much does the visor still need to curve to match the shape of the helmet?

Second, how much flex does the visor have? ( so long as your visor isn't made of acrylic, it should be fairly flexible )

If your visor has plenty of flex, and it is only maybe a centimeter or two off of the contour of the helmet, then leave it be. Once you have the chicago screws glued in, all you have to do is gently flex the temples of the visor to fit it in. The added pressure of the visor pushing outwards against the helmet will help to hold it in place.

You're right Jango72, it is pretty close and does seem to have enough flex. I'll leave it as it is.

Thanks for the advice !

when using the chicago/boston method is it best to drill holes into the actual visor, or to use the screws on the edges of the visor to hold it in place.....also what kinda set up is good for keeping the helmet tight on your head?

I put holes into the actual visor, just make sure that you factor in enough play to allow for easy installation. The only spot that the screws only grip the sides is at the bottom of the mandibles. For that, I made a small half circle notch for the screws to sit in.

As for the inside fittings, the two most popular methods are...
1. Custom cut foam
2. Hardhat liner

These methods are great. I would never of thought to use screws/bolts to hold the visor in place. I would of gone all slap dash and used industrial webbing like I did with my 1st TK lid.
Is there anywhere in the UK where I could source a visor for my ESB bucket? Ive looked on Ebay but can only find places in the US which will incour heavy postal charges if not import and exise charges at UK customs.
Thanks, Mike.

ok i have no idea what material to use for my visor. can somebody help me? a link to a site wud be great

T-Visor.com is the premier place to get visors. But, you could get a tinted face shield from just about any hardware store and cut it to fit.

David.

I'm wondering about everyone who used the chicago bolts... how do you keep the large end from showing on the outside? I haven't actually gotten my helmet yet... Sgt. Fang is shipping it out to me this upcoming week so I haven't examined the problem first hand. I'm in the planning stage right now and the idea seems sound, but it also seems that (without having seen the setup first hand) the large round end of the bolt would be visible. How was this solved?

Pardon the newbie question but this is my first attempt at a costume and I don't feel like messing up is much of an option for me.

Thanks in advance everyone.

There won't actually be any parts on the outside of the helmet. The "nut" part of the Chicago or T-screw is attached to the inside of the helmet, and then the visor ( with the holes for the nut ) slides over that, then possibbly a washer, and then the bolt part. The visor material should be sufficiently dark enough to keep anyone from seeing in.

The Chicago screw nuts DO NOT go through a hole in the actual helmet outside to inside, if that's what you might be picturing. Check back earlier in this thread for diagrams.

Hope that helps.

Timmer has set you on the right path. I epoxied my bolts to the inside, one side benefit of this is that there will now be a small gap between the visor and the helmet that's just big enough to allow some air to vent around and help to prevent fogging.

It's not perfect at stopping fogging, but it does help... and don't worry, the gap isn't big enough to notice.

Which is better Spideyfett's method or hot glue?

Neither.

My method is the best... in my own humble opinion.

Another option, which I haven't really seen anyone do, is to mount a fan over the keyslots in the back of the helmet. On one hand, you give up accuracy by losing the calculator piece normally placed there, on the other, it's a sweet spot to ventilate ( provided your hair doesn't get caught ! ).

Yeah thats a awsome idea it would make use of the key slots giving them a real functional purpose.