LostSonOfSparda
Active Hunter
First off, this isn't a tutorial (I suck at using a dremel) but more of just a log of my progress. Please give me some constructive criticism, I'd like to know how well my work stacks up to everybody else's standards.
Secondly, Sarge's helmet is amazing, but as he stated up front, there are a few minor imperfections; the bumps from the air bubbles.
Thirdly, please excuse the crappy quality of the pictures. My digital camera has a cracked screen so I can't see what exactly I'm trying to take a picture of. I just point it in the general direction of what I'm trying to capture and hope the pic turns out focused. Also the date is wrong, every time I take out the batteries the clock resets itself, and I can't see the menu on the screen to change it since it's cracked. So just ignore the two year old date on all the pics.
First and foremost: saftey first. Don't want annoying chips of resin flying up in your eyes, and don't want to choke inhaling all that dust.
In this pic i cut out the visor, and held it up in the hole, just holding it where it was once attached.
In this pic you can see that nasty bump on the left mandible, (as well as my goofy dog).
In the next pic you may (or may not) be able to make out the raised bumps on the lower cheeks along the bottom edge. While not horrible, the more I looked at them the more they bothered me.
Another left cheek angle.
Here's the right cheek.
Here's the left cheek after sanding with the dremel.
Now, in this shot, you can see how much better it looked once I sanded it by hand with a high grit piece of sandpaper. Notice the absence of that bump on the mandible shown in an earlier pic. (Ignore the right cheek; I had to go back and do more work on that side.)
The bottom tip of the mandibles weren't perfectly symmetrical either. Before:
After (not a good pic, I know, but it DOES look better):
In these next two pics, I was unhappy with where the RF stalk would sit in place. I wanted to insure that when it was up, it was completely vertical. And when down, absolutely horizontal and parallel with the top line of the t-visor.
Now, after some sanding. Much better.
And now the ear pieces. Just a tiny bit of sanding needed.
Finally, once all that was done, I taped in the visor just as a temporary placeholder to see how it looked when I wore the helmet. Not bad.
With all that said and done, I'd like to know what everybody thinks of the work I've done. Don't be afraid to offend, it IS my first helmet and I'm no expert, after all.
Thanks!
-Pete
EDIT: Completely forgot to mention the keyholes on the back. The dremel I was using is old, and while it still works, I couldn't get the bit off to replace it with a cutting disc. It's pretty much FUBAR now. So in the meantime, the slots are still filled in. I might invest in another dremel, or just be cheap and drill them out (carefully!) with a tiny drill bit. Dunno yet.
Secondly, Sarge's helmet is amazing, but as he stated up front, there are a few minor imperfections; the bumps from the air bubbles.
Thirdly, please excuse the crappy quality of the pictures. My digital camera has a cracked screen so I can't see what exactly I'm trying to take a picture of. I just point it in the general direction of what I'm trying to capture and hope the pic turns out focused. Also the date is wrong, every time I take out the batteries the clock resets itself, and I can't see the menu on the screen to change it since it's cracked. So just ignore the two year old date on all the pics.
First and foremost: saftey first. Don't want annoying chips of resin flying up in your eyes, and don't want to choke inhaling all that dust.
In this pic i cut out the visor, and held it up in the hole, just holding it where it was once attached.
In this pic you can see that nasty bump on the left mandible, (as well as my goofy dog).
In the next pic you may (or may not) be able to make out the raised bumps on the lower cheeks along the bottom edge. While not horrible, the more I looked at them the more they bothered me.
Another left cheek angle.
Here's the right cheek.
Here's the left cheek after sanding with the dremel.
Now, in this shot, you can see how much better it looked once I sanded it by hand with a high grit piece of sandpaper. Notice the absence of that bump on the mandible shown in an earlier pic. (Ignore the right cheek; I had to go back and do more work on that side.)
The bottom tip of the mandibles weren't perfectly symmetrical either. Before:
After (not a good pic, I know, but it DOES look better):
In these next two pics, I was unhappy with where the RF stalk would sit in place. I wanted to insure that when it was up, it was completely vertical. And when down, absolutely horizontal and parallel with the top line of the t-visor.
Now, after some sanding. Much better.
And now the ear pieces. Just a tiny bit of sanding needed.
Finally, once all that was done, I taped in the visor just as a temporary placeholder to see how it looked when I wore the helmet. Not bad.
With all that said and done, I'd like to know what everybody thinks of the work I've done. Don't be afraid to offend, it IS my first helmet and I'm no expert, after all.
Thanks!
-Pete
EDIT: Completely forgot to mention the keyholes on the back. The dremel I was using is old, and while it still works, I couldn't get the bit off to replace it with a cutting disc. It's pretty much FUBAR now. So in the meantime, the slots are still filled in. I might invest in another dremel, or just be cheap and drill them out (carefully!) with a tiny drill bit. Dunno yet.
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