My custom mando helmet. WIP

Thanks for the mention. :-) Looks great! The fiberglass will definitely make it nice and sturdy. Good luck with the sanding, man... that was my least favorite part. I can't wait to see how yours turns out! What color scheme are you planning?

Well great work needs to be mentioned in any of my posts. It will be a desert varient. I will post pictures of the scheme later tonight.

And boy let me tell ya how heavy this helmet is getting from all the bondo being added to it.

New update

One thick layer of bondo has been added to the dome to get rid of most imperfections, however, I ran out my batch of bondo so there are some areas that are not filled.

The rangefinder part has been taken off because I am making a custom piece to fill that area.

It's surprising what one can do with templates and paper indeed.

Looks good.

Yep look at samlynns work, gyspyboy, and jaiden ( Im sure there are more with amazing helmets from the WOF plans but I might not remember your name.) Their work is absolutely fantastic. Once this is done, I will make a fiberglass mold so that I can cast these whenever I want to. hehe.

I can imagine how heavy it is, man. I only used bondo on the face and cheeks, and only a very thin layer over the dome to fill in the tiny imperfections in the fiberglass. Even then it's not completely perfect, but I'm happy with it. I'm sure yours is going to turn out great, man. Keep sanding!

Yep this needs a ton of sanding, luckily I have an electric sander for it.

New update.

Lots of sanding done! Its so smooth now and it has to be smoothed out even more, I might possibly be getting a rotary sander soon so it will make life so much easier. I currently have one of those vibrating sanders. I have done so much by hand however and its really coming together well.

Post some updated pictures!

Ill try to, I only have pictures from my phone's camera. I cant email them to myself for some reason or photobucket. I am in LA for 2 weeks, and I forgot to bring the proper cables for my phone but ill find a way to upload them soon, so watch out for an update with pictures.

Well I got a rotary sander and worked on it for a long time. However, since this will be a beat up mando helmet I left all the dents from the bondo, it looks like bugs have burrowed in there and its melted in some spots or something lol. I used the same weathering technique as my armor.

Enjoy. I still have to add details which will be illustration board. I have just the right size for this.

I thought the cracks in the ground were on your helmet.
Man that is so cool! Have fun sanding!

Major Update!

First of all I am almost finished with my 300 Spartan Helmet, Just needs more filling, Sanding, filling, Sanding....... lol.



Now on to the mandalorian helmet. I have filled in almost everything and have sanded the hell out of it. Thank god I have an electric sander or else it would have taken ages to sand by hand! I sprayed one very light coat of primer on the helmet itself to see where it needs to be filled, or sanded more.

Almost There!


So Close!


*** I CAN TASTE IT!



.........

That looks waaaay better man. Good job with the sanding. Always the hardest part, in my opinion. :-P

Thanks.

Yea I hate sanding even with an electric sander, the vibrations really kill your hands after a while.

Alright well I have a small update

I just filled all the pinholes, and dents even more but there are some micro-dents, lol, that dont really need to be filled since I will get a fiberglass mold of this.

Originally Posted by 987654321a

Thanks.

Yea I hate sanding even with an electric sander, the vibrations really kill your hands after a while.

Alright well I have a small update

I just filled all the pinholes, and dents even more but there are some micro-dents, lol, that dont really need to be filled since I will get a fiberglass mold of this.

Got another pic to go with that small update? :-P

Well since you guys feed on pictures, even from "small updates" haha. Here are a couple from my "Small Update". Btw, I took theis pic from my camera phone 3 minutes ago. Technology advances pretty fast. Doesnt it?

Hey man, pictures are awesome. Yeah you did a good job filling those spots in.

I think people are tired of me posting pictures on my threads tho. :-P Maybe I overdo it a bit?

Oh no, you definately dont. Your stuff is just amazing. I love progress pictures. I guess some people are just sour..

Lol. I'm gonna have to make a trip down to San Diego to come visit, man. We can talk shop. And by shop, of course I mean all things Fett. :-P

Oh definately!

Another update! Pictures to come, the whole thing has been sanded and primered!

Still some small sanding left but That will have to come tomorow because its getting very dark now.

When I moved all my crafting from the kitchen table to my spare bedroom, I do all my sanding in there now. I keep my wife pacified by cleaning up the room and vacuuming every evening when I'm done working. :-P

Good thing you have someone to clean up after you, I have myself to clean up after myself. And let me tell ya, its a pain in the rear to clean up all the sanded bondo.

Lol, by saying "I keep my wife pacified" I mean that I clean it up myself, so she doesn't have to do it. :-P

Oh haha. Then nevermind. Welcome to the clean up after yourself club!

Alright update pictures.
Tomorow will be finalized sanding

This is a picture from before. For some reason it didnt upload

New update!

Details are starting to be added in preperation for molding. I ran out of glue so ill have to go out and get some more.

Awsome man, can't wait to see it done!

Thanks for the kind words!

Small update! More details added. Keep in mind, body filler will be used to smooth and fill, and even things out on the details. This will also be made into a boba fett, then molded. Then the dent will be filled and a jango fett mold will be made, (the jango helmets will use an alluminum filler so they can be polished up) and last but not least! everything will be filled and smoothed out and made into a custom mandolorian that can be customized in any way. Also keep in mind that these three helmets are for myself, but if there is any interest in it, in the future ill be glad to mold an extra one or two for sale.



The rangefinder piece will be sanded tomorow and filled.


The stalk will also be sanded and filled


The dent will also be there tomorow.

Lol, I ran out of glue and bondo too. Still haven't made time to run out to the store and get more. Maybe tomorrow...

But yours looks great. Good idea on the molds, too! Maybe do the Jango first, and then put in the dent, rather than put in the dent, and then mold it for Boba, and then fill and sand, and do Jango? Just an idea.

Very very cool.

Yea actually you are right, it would be much smarter. Less work for me, haha.

Work smarter. Not harder. :-P

Hehe, thats right.

New update, Sanded even more! Today Im filling in all the final pinholes, and areas that need to be filled in prep for molding.

I just finished all my final sanding for this helmet and its on to the painting stage. Its been primered. A layer of rustoleum Satin Oregano has been added, and is currently drying. Also some minor details have been painted on...Just killin time.

If you can spot it you get a dr. pepper!

Here is a picture of both spartan and mando helmets together.


Painted, almost done!


The back of the helmet





I am hoping to get this done by mid next week. Next up is a custom side panel for it.

New update in the first post!

New update! I just reinforced the cheeks so they dont "TeH fAiL" on me and deform.



I learned that the application of fiberglass filler is easy, not the sanding part. Its even hard with an electric sander....



Sexy shot of an ugly part.

Yeah dude, that part really sucks. That dust will get EVERYWHERE, so please make sure you're using some kind of mask over your mouth. Bondo-glass dust is VERY unpleasant.

So thats why I was growing an extra arm out of my ear. haha jk

Yea man, thanks for the warning. I do use a respirator and has P95 filters and Organic Filters. P95 blocks out dust, Organic blocks out fumes. I dont want to be coughing blood haha.

dude nice work on both helmets, but the one in the middles a little plain.

The middle one is screen accurate right? Lookin' good so far!

Thanks guys for the compliments. Yea the middle helmet took a while to complete but it was a success, I tried getting it as round as I could. The tag was the hardest part however, because that required constant re adjusting.

So I'm guising you got it from someone in the UK......The top horn seems to be cast in green tinted resin.

Well I have been extremely Lazy the past couple months and havent done anything mandowise.

So I am back for good to start up again. I just finished sanding the helmet down a little bit and is waiting for body filler. I am going back to work on the armor pieces to make them more defined and aged.

Not much of an update but here is my helmet. It is mostly smoothed out. I am going out on sunday to get some body filler for it to fill all the pinholes and smooth it out.


And if you are wondering whats to the right of my helmet. Those are replica german stick grenades that were made in one day out of fiberglass filler. Ask me if you want to know the steps.