What is the best way to make a helmet?

I could use your help guys.

I spent about 60 hours sculpting a shock trooper helmet. I bought a really expensive silicone and it worked great. I messed up because I didn't make any locks or keys. So It wouldn't fit into the fiberglass jacket. Never the less my first attempt failed miserably and my awesome sculpt was ruined. not by the moulding process but something else happened.

My question is. What is the BEST way to make a helmet from start to finish? Is vacuum forming a good way? I want to make a really sturdy helmet and I don't care how many steps are involved. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys
Jeffro

well, I made mine from sintra. then I made a fiberglass mold and take casts of that. I tried vac-forming and am currently selling a vac-formed helm as well as a fiberglass one. Either way you have to make a mold somehow first, and i recomend either clay (difficult) or sintra (merely hard).

Was the sculpt ruined by the molding process?
How did the mold turn out?

what are locks and keys?

Originally Posted by skirata

what are locks and keys?

Locks and keys are shapes sculpted into the laytex and fiberglass portions of your mold to ensure that they line up well and flush. This is normaly done on the dividing line of the mold halves.

Originally Posted by MUNKRAWK

I could use your help guys.

I spent about 60 hours sculpting a shock trooper helmet. I bought a really expensive silicone and it worked great. I messed up because I didn't make any locks or keys. So It wouldn't fit into the fiberglass jacket. Never the less my first attempt failed miserably and my awesome sculpt was ruined. not by the moulding process but something else happened.

My question is. What is the BEST way to make a helmet from start to finish? Is vacuum forming a good way? I want to make a really sturdy helmet and I don't care how many steps are involved. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys
Jeffro

Thats truly a bummer man! Similar thing happened to me a few years ago.

What kind of clay do you use by the way? (For your busts?)

THe sculpt was ruined by falling off a high table.

I use super sculpey, I have alot of it so I dicided to go with that, works well

what kind of silicon did yu use? where did you get it?

what keeps the silicon from sticking to the clay? or wood?

I can't remember the name,, but It was a high and silicone, and you spray the clay with a release agent.

release agent? such as pam cooking spray? vasoline?

I ordered it from the silicone company, It was called Mold Release 500 or something like that,

ok cool enough.