Hasbro Clone Helmet Conversion

Ok, I just got home from work to find my shiny new Hasbro Clone Voice Changer helmet, I 'quickly' assembled it (yes you have to snap it together) as tomorrow I will begin the process of converting it to be as AOTC accurate as possible, size wise its pretty good, I am by no means an expert when it comes to Clones but as soon as I saw these helmets I thought they are just right for converting for any potential clone troopers on a budget, hopefully my progress will be interesting if not fast, I have precious few days off at the moment!! Enjoy!!

oh boy! I'm eager to see how this turns out If the conversion is simple enough I think I'll go out and buy myself one of these

Well there are a lot of seams to cover with Bondo and of course the visor to fix, apart from that I will be scratch building a neck ring to go on the helmet, if it turns out alright then I may consider getting 1 or 2 copies made for my own personal use

*Sits down with popcorn*

This should be good Joe, If it's as easy as you make it look then I may have to buy one myself?

Ha ha you know that phrase 'bitten off more than you can chew' it may apply to this helmet, there are around 20 screws holding this puppy together not to mention all the wiring which is threaded throughout the supporting plastic, it has been very fiddly so far but I am carrying on, I will have a few pics up soon of my 'gutted' Clone helmet

Hey Joe, did you get this from play.com?

I have one of these helmets too, and have been tempted to mod it, can't wait to see what you do with yours.

G-Fett

templates in place to build up the area around the visor, next up, body filer

Woo Hoo!

Great work so far Joe...
So what did you use as the support material? Foamex? Also how did you size the template, by eye?

*checks pp account for clone funds*

I used thin sheets of cardboard, hi tech I know I just thought it would be the easiest thing to use seeing as I'm using the body filler right on top of it and for the size templates I roughed out a few sketches and just did it by eye, once all the filler is on and cured I will compare screen shots to get the visor shape better

Card huh? won't that go a little soft when you apply the filler...

Just a note. While its a cool toy, don't count on it being 501st acceptable for a clone trooper. That doesn't mean you shouldn't convert it, just a warning for those thinking about using the helmet for a costume.

This is purely for my own enjoyment, not a costume but its a good point The card didn't go soft with the filler I am happy to report, more pics later

Originally Posted by Foxbatkllr

Don't count on it being 501st acceptable for a clone trooper.

Good heads up bruv...

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

The card didn't go soft with the filler I am happy to report, more pics later

Dam Joe... I thought I had OCD!
Can't wait to see the pics bruv... keep it up.

Is that Obsessive Clone Disorder, I definitely have that, I've been working on this all day long in between gaps in the rain

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

Is that Obsessive Clone Disorder

Yeah that's the one!

Ok I decided to leave th house last nite for a few hours and so no more phots yet but gimme a few hours and who knows what we might have

Oh look, heres the face plate with a quick blast of primer to help show up any uneven areas of which there are quite a few This is the stage that requires patience, sanding, filler, sanding, primer, filler etc.....

EDIT: Ok having trouble uploading pictures at the mo, will try again later

try try again!! here she is with a few in progress shots of trying to get a nice contour to the front, with the filler I'm using its been a bit of a pain getting it all smooth, think its there now though! And a shot with a coat of primer

That's looking awesome!

Thanks for the kind comments, its been fun so far, cant wait to slap it all together and see how it looks

looking great! i just got one of these myself this weekend, and have plans to do the same thing.

Wowee! That looks surprisingly good! I'll be watching this thread eagerly for updates.

hey headless, any plans or willingness to adjust the helmets of other people who don't have the skills to do the same? *oh please oh please oh please*

Originally Posted by mandosoldier

hey headless, any plans or willingness to adjust the helmets of other people who don't have the skills to do the same? *oh please oh please oh please*

Ha ha, lets just see how mine turns out for now, I might make a complete hash of it

Still loads of details to fill in/sand/adjust but you get the general idea, oh and running out of primer is a pain in the neck

This is looking VERY cool!

Its tempting me to take mine apart....

Joe that looks killer bruv...
I know what you mean about running out of a paint! it really does my head in!

Are you gonna use Halfords appliance paint for the lid?

Well.....I 'might' look at getting a few copies made of the helmet depending how good the finished article is But yeah eventually good old Halfords Appliance Gloss White

Update ****

I've started tackling the main seams of the helmet now, I used devcon epoxy to glue the helmet together, its great stuff really strong, stinks to high heaven so again please use in a well ventilated area!!! kitchens do not count.... Also got myself some more primer, were getting there, think I'm about 50% done on this now and still loving it

Hey Joe, still looking good but it looks you have decide to fill in all the detail on the right ear?

I have yet to finish all the detail bits but I am following screen grabs of the clones, like this one the holes needed to be left unfilled so I could screw the thing back together before epoxying it

Oops my bad... please carry on.... :o

Its ok Gav, I forgive you mate

That's looking really cool. Nice work!

Looking great! After watching the cartoon! This first clone armor is really growing on me.

This is so cool. You're doing a fantastic job!
*settles in with popcorn*

wow, this thing is turning out great, these really are nice helmets for the money, and after a bit of TLC turn into something really nice. In October the red version with the lights is released

Great job Joe, fair play to you mate, youre churning out some projects at the minute!

Looks great so far! I cant wait to get one and do this to it.

That actually looks pretty accurate so far! Good Job!

Wow! That looks really awesome!

Very good job so far, and I'll be watching this thread =D.

-Naas

That is looking great.
One question and I might have over looked it.
What did you use to fill in the visor area?Was it only cardboard or was cardboard use for the templates?
Did you happen to take photos of the inside of the face during priming and shaping?
Sorry I guess it was three question.

*cough*
Updates...

Cough cough, just finished work...getting on it now though, give me an hour or 2 and I'll have something for you all

Interesting! This reminds me of the Rubies that I modified the hell out of. I will say that when you do a direct modification to something like this, the weight becomes a major factor to consider, if you plan on trooping with it. Both of my Bacara helmets are direct mods to existing helmets (Javamonkey V3 and M.R.) they weigh a ton due to the bondo and epoxy putties. You are effectively wearing a master. I pinched a nerve in my neck at SDCC, after wearing my M.R. for a period of about 3 hours on Preview night.

Keep up the good work!

Alright you demanding lot Heres part of an afternoons work, I say part as I had to dash off to the dentist half way through with filler stuck to my fingers, I've basically begun the unenviable task of filling in all the little tiny gaps in the fin as well as refining the surface of the dome filling in any holes and imperfections, I want to get it as smooth and flawless as possible, enjoy the pics thanks for all the positive comments so far

See if you can spot where I ran out of filler Gav

Great stuff!

Screw holes Gav!

anyway to do all this and make it still be able to talk and everything else it does?

Brilliant job so far, can't wait to see the end result.

G-Fett

Originally Posted by old_jedi_mind_trick

Screw holes Gav!

Cheeky Git!

Great work Joe...
I'm surprised the dome needs filling and sanding, I mean I havn't seen these up close but pressumed it was injection moulded?

The dome is 2 halves which don't line up very well at all , even when assembled there is a gap of a few mm between the halves

Oh yeah I just looked at your first post!

scary isn't it

Starting the weekend with a bit of filler related action, nothing like fumes at 9:30 in the morning I think I've crossed the half way point on this project, all thats left to do now is fill in all the back details/joins and then drill out another vent underneath the 'ears' on each side

That lid is gonna look amazing when it's done! Fantastic! :thumbup

Thanks again for all the kind comments, I've been getting really positive feedback about this project and its kept me going, although my arms will drop off soon as a result of all the sanding....

Looking pretty good HH! I can imagine how sore your arms are...keep up the good work!

Looking good. Does the voice changer still work

Hell no, ripped that all out on day one, I would never have been able to rip it all apart without damaging the voice changer wiring

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

although my arms will drop off soon as a result of all the sanding....

Yeah right.... "sanding"
Lookin really cool Joe, shame the voice changer didn't survive? is it not a case of replacing it and connecting a few 'loose' wires...

Seamless, well almost

Looking good man! I'm watching this with great interest.

Holy smokes!! that is some really great work Joe.....

this is awesome! I've started mine but I've never used bondo before and I'm afraid of doing it wrong and destroying the helmet. any tips for first time bondo users?

Originally Posted by xfettx

this is awesome! I've started mine but I've never used bondo before and I'm afraid of doing it wrong and destroying the helmet. any tips for first time bondo users?

For $30... if you screw it up, oh well. That's what makes the "mass-produced" part of this so nice.

Alright I havent posted here because I am shocked at how good you made a $30 helmet look. I liked your progress so much that I went ahead and bought my own. It seems pretty easy because all there is to it is to fill the seams and either buy a new visor or modify the current one.

Looking brilliant man! Say, what kind of filler are you using there?

G-Fett

Looks like regular old bondo body filler. There are more fillers out there however, and you can even make your own body filler with resin and talc.

I'm using Isopon p38 as you cant get Bondo over here in the UK, advice would be prep the area you are going to apply to the filler to, it needs sanding i.e. it wont take to a shiny or painted surface very well, also mix it in very small quantities otherwise it hardens whilst your applying it, and USE IN A VENTILATED AREA!!! This stuff stinks and its harmful so be careful make sure you wash any off your hands if you get it on there

Very nice! I like the attention to detail and what you've done so far to make your mods.

I did one similar based on the Obi-Wan Kenobi figure helmet (that was never seen in the movie) but I still think it turned out okay. My son loves it. You can read about it here in my blog.

I can't wait to see what you do with the rest of it. I may just have to follow your lead and invest another $30 to mod another bucket.

Nicely done!

David.

Well, I hoped to get more done on this over the weekend but alas all I've done is tidy up all the horrible large seams on the back quarters of the helmet, I have put a red line on the picture to illustrate the real pain in the backside areas, I do intend to make a copy of this helmet now as was mentioned in a previous post, if I were to end up wearing this as part of a costume it would weigh a ton, therefore I will tidy it up as best I can and then consider getting a copy made, its nice to see other people tackling the same project

Great effort Joe... the more you put in now the better the 'Clone' will be! do you see what I did there?

Your wit and humour never cease to amaze me Gav ha ha

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

Your wit and humour never cease to amaze me Gav ha ha

Ok, so I won't give up the day job!

This is coming out fantastic! I love watching the progress on these Hasbro helmets. I plan on doing the same exact thing to one.

i started in on mine last night. so much fun

Everyone else will finish theirs before I do, damned night shifts!!

You will beat me though because I can start on this until this saturday!!!

Great progress though Its look really neat so far.

looking great~

Anything new??

I wish, got a few too many projects on the go at the moment

FPH - ESB colours, final painting
MR Laws AT-AT costume
Clone Helmet
Halo_1 Dr Doom Mask
Wolf Predator Costume - painting undermask and torso armour
FP V3 Armour (may have to get someone to paint this for me.....8))

wow, your project list looks fun!

i've bumped my clone stuff up to the top of my list, so it should be zipping along. my $30 hasbro helmet made me get an armor kit, and now i'm building a whole suit!

This helmet is going to look great once you're finished, and I too plan to modify one for myself.

As for these not being accepted for a 501st Clone costume... why not? They look far better than any modified Kellogs that I've seen. Below is a pic of one of my squad mates wearing an un-modified hasbro with his clone armor.

Originally Posted by Foxbatkllr

Just a note. While its a cool toy, don't count on it being 501st acceptable for a clone trooper. That doesn't mean you shouldn't convert it, just a warning for those thinking about using the helmet for a costume.

Even if it successfully converted?

this is a really amazing conversion. im hoping to buy a hasbro in the near future, and i will try following this conversion as well as a few others.

back in one of the first steps when u filled in the visor, u said u used templates. id be great if u threw them up here so i could get me visor looking that good. thanks

Originally Posted by LittleBuddy

this is a really amazing conversion. im hoping to buy a hasbro in the near future, and i will try following this conversion as well as a few others.

back in one of the first steps when u filled in the visor, u said u used templates. id be great if u threw them up here so i could get me visor looking that good. thanks

i just traced it out and threw it away when i was done... i didn't think ahead to save them in any sort of electronic form.

Holy Thread Resurrection Batman!!

Ok after a few weeks of not even looking at this helmet I decided to pick up and carry on, mainly thanks to the fact that Brian got his finished and cast in less time than it took me to primer mine All I have done lately is to round off the corners of the visor as they were a little to angled for my liking, I have also built up the around the top of the visor by a few MM as I felt it was too wide, I am nearly there with this, although I need to decide what to do about the chin, its massive, I may just cut it off and rebuild it!

how heavy is the helment now?

just wondering i'm satrting mine now ^^

Its got a fair old weight to it, but I am planning on using this as a master to make a copy from

Argh!!! Ok, I have been feeling unwell lately and so whilst highly medicated I decided to bite the bullet and cut off the clones chin!! I have been toying with the idea of this for a while as the chin is very cartoony, it sticks out quite far, really I want a helmet that leans more towards the AOTC clones, so having removed this section I will now start re-building it, giving the clone a face lift if you like!

Man you really did bite the bullet buddy... I'm sure you'll pull it off as I've seen what you can do to little projects...!

Ok, here is the slightly trimmed back chin, taped into position to give the overall look of how the new profile will appear, I think it looks loads better, next up, tons of filler, my favourite...........

Lookin good bud...
I always liked these and must get one for my collection!

Ha, may be able to help you out with that real soon mate Ok I decided that instead of slapping a load of filler on the chin and sanding and sanding endlessly to get the right contour I would just build another chin out of styrene, lay it over the old chin and fill in the seams, lazy I know

Giddy, this looks quite exiting.

Originally Posted by HeadlessHunter

Ha, may be able to help you out with that real soon mate

Sweet...
Great work buddy and brave, but looks like your gonna pull it off!

Yeah not far to go on this now, should have it done by Christmas, ho ho ho