Attempted BF bucket using WOF plans

[samlynn79]

Well, original color plan was to make the helmet look like Boba Fett's would have when it was brand new. Then the dome ended up being slightly taller to to a misinterpretation of the templates, and the cheeks are slightly more flared, so I decided I would just do my own Mando variant. I've chosen arctic white, metallic silver, and gloss black. The dome will be gloss black, mandibles and face arctic white, with black/silver cheeks. The ear pieces and RF are painted in all three colors.

And no, I don't sleep. Sleep is a crutch. Marines don't sleep as a rule.

Here's the helmet as of right now. Three coats of primer, ready to sand down and bondo some details (right cheek vertical line needs to be straightened up, fill the seams in the front brow, and behind both ears)

Here's some of the detail work I put into the ear pieces.

 

[Southern hunter]

Man, that makes me sick! :angry

I WISH my scratch built helmet had turned out anywhere CLOSE to that. I just tore the dome off of mine and had to trash the whole bottom half of the helmet because it's the wrong size for my noggin. I'm on either the third or fourth attempt at a bucket, now. I think it's best not to keep track, it will only frustrate me.

Seriously, keep up the good work! :cheers

I debated about making mine a custom mando or a post-Sarlaac pit helmet. I'm leaving the helmet alone for now and am moving to the jet pack. BTW, the armor is WAY easier to cut out and shape than the helmet, IMHO.



If you paint as well as you build, this is going to be one awesome helmet!
Keep us posted.

 

[samlynn79]

Yeah, I saw your build thread, Southern, I can sympathize. I managed to get the dome on the first attempt, but the bucket was my third. This being my first attempt at building anything period, I'm astonished it's gone the way it has. Thanks for all your comments and guidances, guys! I've been so focused on this build, that I really haven't done much else. I work on it every day after work until I hit the sack, and all weekend long. I'm hoping to have the helmet done by the holidays, so I can get to work on the armor. I can't wait to get that started! I've got a ton of ideas. I have the WOF templates for everything, but I've got ideas to craft a few extra pieces as well - bicep, thigh, and shin armor.
I've got a couple desert flight suits that I brought back from Iraq, as well as Nomex flight gloves, and an extra pair of Marine Corps issue boots that should all do nicely for part of my suit. I still have to come up with some kind of vest to attach the chest armor to.
I hope the final bondo/sand/prime/paint goes as well as the rest has so far.

 

[Southern hunter]

On the bright side, the armor goes WAY faster than the helmet. As far as custom goes, there are several great ones out there. One guy had a chainmail type neckseal. It worked with his look.

This is another cool one:

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showthread.php?t=17412
Keep up the good work.

Semper Fi! :cheers

 

[Jaiden]

On the bright side, the armor goes WAY faster than the helmet. As far as custom goes, there are several great ones out there. One guy had a chainmail type neckseal. It worked with his look.

I couldn't agree more about the armor. I got all mine cut out in less than a few hours.

The chainmail armor maker you are referring to is DarianOrdo from the Mercs website.

David.

 

[samlynn79]

I'm going to try to Sterilite trashcan method for getting the base armor form. It will also be a bit thicker than the sign plastic I've been using for the helmet. I'm probably going to use the sign plastic for the gauntlets, and then bondo or fiberglass them for strength.

I also just ordered a visor from http://www.t-visor.com, should be here right in time for bondo/paint to be done.

 

[Jaiden]

I also just ordered a visor from http://www.t-visor.com, should be here right in time for bondo/paint to be done.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to have to get mine from there. They've got great prices and I honestly don't think I could do it any cheaper.

David.

 

[samlynn79]

Got some bondo work done today on my lunch hour. Trying to straighten up that right cheek line so it doesn't curve toward the ear pieces quite so much. I'll probably finish sanding and put one more layer on. The left cheek is very roughly sanded, I'm hoping to finish that one tonight.

I'm still going to put a light coat of bondo on the entire surface, just to fill in the little flat spots and pits where there were air pockets in the fiberglass. Probably end up doing that tomorrow on lunch... it's too cold outside to do it when I get home from work, and I don't want to stink up the house and **** off my wife.
I still have to build up that curved flat spot where the RF earpiece mounts to. I'm experimenting with a way to do that, probably going to build a form made of the same plastic (similar to building a wooden form and filling it with concrete) and fill it with bondo, then sand it smooth and level. I might do the same thing on the left for the long ear piece, just not so pronounced. I'd like the entire brow line to be thicker than the 1mm plastic, so I might try something similar for that... or I might end up just laying down a layer of bondo, and dremeling it.
Do you guys have any ideas on how to thicken the brow line? I'm sure some of you have experience with this part.
Thanks for your help.

 

[samlynn79]

My wife's cat is sleeping behind me in the chair while I posted pictures of the bondo work today.

 

[Jaiden]

I'd like the entire brow line to be thicker than the 1mm plastic, so I might try something similar for that... or I might end up just laying down a layer of bondo, and dremeling it.
Do you guys have any ideas on how to thicken the brow line? I'm sure some of you have experience with this part.
Thanks for your help.

Here's what I did in my thread. Specifically posts 34, 49, 51, 52, and 59.

I started with one extra layer of material, then a layer of glass, followed by a build up of three layers of Bondo (sanding in between and using a Dremel in the end to make sharper lines). After all that, I ended up with about 1/4 inch (about 5mm) of material on top of the plastic. For me, this was the easiest. Others may have different ideas. Look at all of them and pick one you are comfortable with.

Keep it up. You're doing great so far!
:cheers

David.

 

[Gypsyboy]

Looking nice. To thicken the brow line you might want to just glue another thin layer of plastic over top of what you have. For fine surface refining I recommend using glazing and spot putty rather than the auto body filler. It's not quite as noxious (although it's still recommended to use outdoors or in good ventillation) and you can more easily sand it into a nice smooth surface. If you're plastic has been sanded it will have texture for the putty to grab onto and hold in place.

Here's a trick I use with small pieces when I want to putty them indoors. I keep a metal cookie can handy and do small areas quickly. Then I just pop the thing into the cookie can and leave it for the day. I can take it outside long enough to air out the stink left in the box, but then the thing is relatively stink-free enough to bring back indoors. I then stand over a basin with water and wetsand into it. No stink, no dust, easy clean up.

GB

 

[samlynn79]

That's a great idea, GB... I'll have to try that. All my primers are wet-sandable too, so that should work nicely. I hate all the dust that comes from sanding bondo and primer.

 

[samlynn79]

Got my T-visor in today, hoping to get the bondo/sanding and priming done this weekend so I can install it.

 

[Southern hunter]

If you have any trouble with the T-visor, you can always buy a Shade 5 Dark Green (for ESB) fett or Smoke Grey (for ROTJ) face shield from a welding supply store. Mine was about $10.

Your helmet is looking great by the way. :cheers

 

[samlynn79]

I don't forsee any problems with the visor... I slid it up inside the helmet, and it's a perfect fit from the top edge to the bottom edge, with plenty of room on either side of the cheeks to mount it in at least six places, which should definitely take alot of flex out of the face. I'm going to try mounting it with small screws to kind of bracket the visor. I might try the upside down screws mounted to the helmet with jbweld, and then small wingnuts or locknuts. I'll mess with it when I get to that step. In the meantime, I've still got more bondo/sanding to do.

 

[samlynn79]

Got the rest of the bondo/sanding done, washed it all off, wetsanded it, and applied three coats of paint to the dome and back. I used Rustoleum's Appliance Expoxy for a good hard shell that will resist cracking, flaking, and scratching.

 

[987654321a]

Shiny!

I love your progress on the helmet. It does however suck that your dome is too high, but amazing work so far.

 

[samlynn79]

I honestly don't mind the dome being too high. I have a big head, so it works out. Lets me put a little padding at the top, too.

The cheeks are going to be silver, the same silver that I used on the ear pieces.

 

[samlynn79]

I just realized I haven't posted any pictures of me, the guy behind the helmet. This is my wife Ailene and I.

 

[samlynn79]

Couple more updates for today. While the paint on the cheeks dries, I installed all the ear pieces and rangefinder. Once I get the center cheeks painted silver, I'm going to coat the whole thing in clearcoat.