Biohazard's Bucket Build

As a carry over from MandoMercs, I'll also outline my progress on my variant/custom helmet here.

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Originally posted @ Mando Mercs:

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Ok, as promised: here are some photos of where I am right now.


I am having trouble attaching the templates to the dome itself. I'm thinking it might be that the dome has a slight slope to it on the sides that I could cut off. Right now, the only modification I have done to the dome is remove the foam liner and the rivets holding the chin strap in. So right now it is just the plastic shell. I also couldn't get the stickers to come off. They are real touch plastic of some sort. I tried some Mineral Spirit solvent type "adhesive remover" stuff and it didn't do anything except shine up the surface for a few seconds till it evaporated.

Well anyways, here we go:

[size=10pt]
The dome:[/size]

This shows how I am holding it upright at this point.





I am trying to attach the dome to the templates, but the dome keeps rolling over and being a pain. I just set the templates around it for this picture. I'm still trying to find that perfect length to the inner surface.





I'm still unsure if this dome is really the right proportion to the lower parts. It just seems a tad low to me, but it could just be that I haven't cut the dome down to size yet.




Here is a sort of cross section of the dome piece. I have plans to cut off the excess lower part and just use the dome. I believe that is what is giving me trouble trying to attach it. I'm not sure though.




Another view of the dome




Just the templates by themselves. I am kind of frustrated that they don't butt up together perfectly, but I did use scissors so, there you go!




Anyways, now that I have my working camera again, I'll be taking regular progress pictures. Any advice on my progress is greatly appreciated.




~Bio

The only thing I see is its tough when you glue it in the front. If you have enough material you should make the outer and inner all one piece and attach it in the back.
if not unwrap it, lay it flat, and glue the front two halves together with a backing, let it dry and then youll be set.

keep going!

Off to a good start. Make sure to use reference pics of the real helmet when constructing the dome to ensure the correct final shape and curve.

Dang, I have been so productive today. I ran out of money a few days ago buying a few DVDs and didn't think about having to buy a Dremmel. The one I used to use was about twelve years old and kept shootin sparks at me whenever I'd touch it. Not good.

So, today I talked my dad into buying me a new one, letting it be a VERY early Christmas gift. Yay.


I dremmeled that extra back part off the skate helmet. Basically the parts that extend behind your ears and go down the back of the head. After that, surprise surprise, the templates fit much better and I could actually get a good form out of it. Here are some pics with captions to show you what I did. No pics of the dremmeling though. One of those things I didn't think about until afterwards. I wasn't even sure it would work, so why get evidence of possible stupidity, right? ;D


Here we go. Templates all taped up and solid. I found out that Scotch tape works MUCH MUCH MUCH better for this stage than masking tape. I am still in awe that it works that well. I think the plastic material the templates and helmet were made of weren't compatible with the masking tape I bought. Don't buy "Duck Tape" masking tape for this. Didn't work for me.





Here is a side view. I think the side to side roundness of the helmet is fine, but the front to back isn't really perfect. I don't care though. I could fix that in the bondo stage if I really wanted to. Not that concerned. This is after all, a variant / custom suit I'm making. No one said Boba and Jango Fett had perfect domes, or that theirs followed any kind of set standard.





Here you can see that the templates were either cut too much (off that extra material tab) or that the helmet dome I am using is slightly too much in circumference. Either way, I had to improvise...





...So to fix this problem, I added an extra segment of the sintra like material I am using (in the form of Garage Sale Signs, thick kind, not thin). I guess this is maybe where the keyholes are supposed to go, but I have decided not to do a keyhole type of back part. Takes out a big chunk of work, and I'm not trying to be Boba.





I couldn't get the front part to sit right. It is supposed to be a kind of dropping off slope from the brim of the dome to the bottom of the faceplate and mandibles. So, I added an extra piece of my Sintra-like material. I rolled it up like a newspaper several times to get it to curve. I taped it in and voila.




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That is where I am at right now. Tomorrow, bright and early, I'm heading over to the store to get more signs to cut up. I'll be trying my best to get the raised parts (aka, faceplate, ear pattern part, and such) on tomorrow and try to get the Cheeks out of the way. Right now, the Cheeks are looking to be the HARDEST part of this project. The other stuff: Bondo, sanding, glassing (maybe?), and painting and all are somewhat familiar to me. The cheeks just .... for some reason .... seem like they will be a real challenge to get in there right.



Good night. See you again Sunday.

~Bio

Bio,
It's looking good, dude!
I found the cheeks turned out to be the easiest part, after all...'course, I psyched myself out at first (like you), but just take your time and use the great templates Alan made, and it should be fine.
I agree with you about the dome shape: it was easier for me to accept the bucket as not being a Jango or Boba...just a variant, so I could live with my dome shape being a little off. You'll find out if you cut the helmet "skirt" off (right under the "stingray" lettering), then the helmet template will fit better, and flare out at the base like it should.
Look at Jango72's and Digifett's builds as you go, also...those guys have some great tips on building one of these!
Keep up the good work, and keep posting the progress pics!
Rob

Ghostsoldier said:

Bio,
Look at Jango72's and Digifett's builds as you go, also...those guys have some great tips on building one of these!
Rob

Click to expand...

:cry Rob, I'm hurt. You forgot about me.:cry

J/K. Keep it up Bio. I would suggest moving the "stiffener" piece on the front to the lower part of the bucket. This way, you don't have to worry about it when it comes time to cut out your T-visor.

David.

Thanks for the advise guys. Really does help.

I got fed up with how the templates were looking yesterday and instead of doing the cheeks like I planned, I got out my spare sign I bought and cut out, very very carefully, new plastic templates. They look so much better. I just did a quick scissor up of the original ones, but these I used a brand new xacto knife and too about twenty minutes each to get the new "mask" parts cut out. I just trimmed up the inner surface ones. I think I used too thick a sharpie on the orginal ones so they ended up aobut a 1/4 of an inch too large.

Anyways, I'm assembling it tonight and tomorrow. I'll have some more pics of the new version up tomorrow.

~bio

Those signs take a curve really nice, don't they. I will have to stock up on those for future projects. Your bucket is coming along great. I look forward to seeing more.

Jaiden said:

:cry Rob, I'm hurt. You forgot about me.:cry

J/K. Keep it up Bio. I would suggest moving the "stiffener" piece on the front to the lower part of the bucket. This way, you don't have to worry about it when it comes time to cut out your T-visor.

David.

Click to expand...

Dave...I feel like a total ***......sorry about that...how could I have forgotten you, of all people?!
Just pass it off to my old age...tomorrow is my birthday, and my mind is already gone!
Rob

Happy birthday Rob! You'll probably get this late, so I'll drop you a PM too.


Cheeks should be done Tuesday at latest. Thanks for all the inspiring words guys!


~Bio

Phew, this week turned out to be a doozy for me. I had a ton more work than I thought I would. My boss seems to think I'm the only one who can do my line of work....at my work, so she picks me to do all the important stuff....which is about 35% of the days work for my department.

Anyways....on to the post:



I decided to wait for the pics until I got the cheeks done. Tonight had I time to finish the right cheek. I didn't take any progress pics between putting the mask on and such, but it is pretty straight forward. The right cheek isn't perfect, but .... as Even on TDH said to me over a IM one time, this is just your template for the bondo, don't worry about it looking perfect because it won't most likey. Just use it as a base to apply the bondo and nothing more....

The right cheek is completed. It isn't perfect, but oh well.... I'm tired of working on it for now...




Here is a higher angle view of it.




Here we have an inside look. the connection between the templates at the face wasn't holding on so well, so I put in a small piece of foam to help support the flat face it is supposed to be. Holding up well.

I had to cut a "nose hole" in the foam to put the thing on. When I get the bondo on this thing and it dries, I'm pulling the foam out.





Here you can see the seam between the cheek pieces. They don't bother me much, but if someone says it needs to be fixed, I'll have to go back and trim them up again....I don't want to though, but if I have too.....








~Bio

Looking good, Bio!:cheers

You hit it when you said the templates are a base. I wouldn't worry so much about trimming the cheeks right now. Save that for the Bondo.

Take your time! If you try to work too fast or too often, you'll get burnt out.

Have fun!

David.

Lookin' good!
Be sure to add the craft ring at the base as a final touch...because we're using the thin plastic signs, it will help keep the bottom flare of the helmet in shape!
Rob

Right O! I'll have to find a place that sells them. My local walmart didn't carry them. I'll have to go shopping for once!


~Bio

Bio,
I hadda get mine at a craft/fabric store...
Rob

I think I found a store that might carry them. I've used them only a few times, but now that I am having them in my mind, I'm pretty sure they would be the ones to carry it, if there are any around here.

I'm going out of town for the Holidays, but I'll be back in on Saturday or so, and it will be my first stop when I do.


~bio

I, somehow got sidetracked with the holiday season and haven't worked on it much. Tonight, I forced myself to sit down and finish the right cheek. It's done. I think it looks a lot better than the left cheek, which annoys me because it isn't symmetrical. Whatever. Here are some pics:

Here you can see the completed "bondo base." Over the christmas break I'll be trying Jaidens method of Glassing before I put the bondo on. If anyone has advice on that, let me know!




I removed the foam straight-piece. It was starting to bend and let go of the tape, so I got some of that doublestick stuff and made a brace out of three strips of "Garage Sale Signs" (Which I will from now on refer to as sintra. Basically the same thing.)




Yes! I cut holes in the Tvisor. I had to see! Makes wearing it while at the computer much more effective. Anyways, there is a gap on this side too. Obviously something went awry with the templates, but I'll just fill them in with bondo. No biggie.




Now, for a question!

Will the scotch tape I used be bad for the bondo to ... bond to? I've had bad experience with paint not sticking to surfaces that aren't rough enough at the start, and I'd like to avoid it.

Also, Jaiden, if you read this...been so long I hope you haven't forgotten about me! ;D What should my next step be? Glass the bucket and let dry, then bondo it up? I'm planning on doing the ears while the glass and bondo dry and such. I figure there is at least four hours of good solid drying time for me to complete the ears (broken up to drying the glass and the bondo seperately).

Try using hot glue. It's invaluable for this. I ran beads along every seam on the inside of my helmet. When the hot glue is nice and cooled down - don't use too much, it will melt the plastic - you can take the tape off.

I may try that. I bet I've used a mile of tape on the thing. I use less each time. I'm learning how to place it correctly I guess. I used to stitch it, in a way. Laying a long strip down and then crossing it a bunch of times like a stitch. I'm much more conservative now!

I may just get lazy and throw the bondo on there. Who knows... I don't even know yet!

Just keep in mind that in order for the bondo to stick properly to your plastic, you'll have to "rough" it up with sandpaper... if your plastic is covered with tape, it will gum up your sandpaper.