Let my first words in this thread pay tribute to wizardofflight. Without his templates, I would not be attempting this. If my bucket turns out well, it's thanks to him, if it turns out like crap, then it's my fault. 
I was waiting to start this thread until I had some pics to post, but I haven't had time to download them off my camera. I also didn't get as far as I had hoped last weekend. All I was able to do is cut the pieces out of the sintra sheet.
Last night I was grilling some steaks and I was looking at the grill and thinking about my bucket and.... you guessed it:
I grilled the bigger sintra pieces to heat them up to start shaping them.
Worked liked a charm, although I don't recommend actually placing them on the grill. Just hold it over the heat and bend it. I did lay one piece on the warming rack above the main grill and that left some grill marks, but it's where the keyhole slots are going to end up being anyway.
Here is a summary of my efforts thus far:
Version 1.00 (Concept abandoned):
Total Project Investment (including failed attempts): $19.48
Pics to come!
I was waiting to start this thread until I had some pics to post, but I haven't had time to download them off my camera. I also didn't get as far as I had hoped last weekend. All I was able to do is cut the pieces out of the sintra sheet.
Last night I was grilling some steaks and I was looking at the grill and thinking about my bucket and.... you guessed it:
I grilled the bigger sintra pieces to heat them up to start shaping them.
Worked liked a charm, although I don't recommend actually placing them on the grill. Just hold it over the heat and bend it. I did lay one piece on the warming rack above the main grill and that left some grill marks, but it's where the keyhole slots are going to end up being anyway.
Here is a summary of my efforts thus far:
Version 1.00 (Concept abandoned):
- Sterilite trashcan ($10.99) - Cut and shaped the pieces only to find out that polypropylene plastic doesn't glue well.
- 4'x4' 4mm thick sintra sheet with part of a sign glued to it (free - out of a dumpster behind a sign shop) - only about 2.5'X1' actually needed for the main helmet pieces
- Toy batting helmet from Toys R Us for the dome ($2.50) - Turned out it's made of polyethylene (the "other" plastic that resists glue).
- Same sintra pieces from 1.01 - Glue will not work on side with the sign even after the sign was peeled off. Will have to sand down inside surfaces that need to be glued.
- Dome will probably be scratchbuilt.
- Templates were modified so that the "inside surface" plate glues behind the ear pieces (no seam in the back). This also seems to have the nice effect of flaring out the sides a little. Next time I will modify the template to put the seam for the "trim" behind the right earpiece as well.
Total Project Investment (including failed attempts): $19.48
Pics to come!
