BradleyFett helmet build up

stormtrooperguy

Sr Hunter
I got one of the BradleyFett vacuum formed helmets, and am putting it together to give away as a prize in a raffle the 501st is doing in January.

I set pretty tight goals for myself. 2 days of assembly, 1 day of main painting, 1 day of detailing.

I fell off that a bit due to other distractions during the process, but if you add up the hours spent on it, I'm spot on.

First, the assembly.

The kit comes in 3 pieces, just like the FX stormie kits: front, rear and dome.

The helmet is undented, so the dent was the first thing I addressed:

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Rather than the idea of heating and pressing, I cut out the dent area and fashioned my own dent out of epoxy putty.

The epoxy bonds well to the plastic, but I coated around the interior edges with Goop anyway, just to be safe.

After the dent, I cut out the forehead triangles and keyslots. Not really interesting enough for photos there.

I attached the front to the rear using scrap plastic and rivets:

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The dome was attached to that using epoxy putty to get the initial hold, then a bead of Goop along the whole seam to seal it up.

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Once that was all dry, I used more of the epoxy putty to close up any visible gaps between the front and back. I used wood filler to close up the seam around the dome.

The right earcap needed a bunch of filler behind it, to fill in some gaps. More epoxy to the rescue!

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(oh, and I superglued the Borden connector on while I was at it)

Total time spent on assembly, probably about 4 hours. On to paint!


primer on and looking good.

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Sliver base coat.

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I did the silver about an hour after the primer. This was late at night, so the colors would have to wait. I was hoping to do all the painting in one day, but that would have required a free weekend day, and that wasn't happening.

Fast forward. I didn't do progress pics of the painting, as it would really just look like a rushed version of the paintup I did for my MS3.

I did latex masking / layered weathering. I didn't really go nuts getting every detail. I have a folder with half a dozen of my favorite ROTJ helmet photos, and I spent a couple minutes on each one, trying to capture the major weathering. There aren't going to be any fine scratches or anything on here...

And here it is:
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And for size comparison, here it is next to my MS3

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The idea is to make a nice little plaque for the stand, and have Jeremy Bulloch sign it in a couple of weeks at another local con. So we'll be raffling off a finished, signed Fett helmet.
 
was the MS3 closer to the camera in the picture or is it the size difference that makes it look like it?

Great thread and a good testament to how good one of these lower cost MB helmets can look. Looks like he's going to get a few more orders after people see this thread.
 
tk7602,
What kind of visor did you use? It sounds like the paint job was done for a display, so this might not make any difference: when I put my vac-formed helmet together, I felt like it still seemed like three pieces of plastic glued together instead of one piece. Do you have that sense, or did your bead of goop around all joins solve this for you?

Thanks
 
tk7602,
What kind of visor did you use? It sounds like the paint job was done for a display, so this might not make any difference: when I put my vac-formed helmet together, I felt like it still seemed like three pieces of plastic glued together instead of one piece. Do you have that sense, or did your bead of goop around all joins solve this for you?

Thanks

between the epoxy, goop and rivets, this feels like 1 piece of plastic now. not as solid as a fiberglass one, but as solid as one would expect from plastic.

the visor is a grey welding facemask cut to fit. it is held in with epoxy and hot glue. so it's a thin visor, but it's secured pretty well to both mandibles, which really solidifies the helmet.
 
sorry for the grainy pics. i wasn't motivated enough to go get the good camera.

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my biggest complaint is that the visor came out a bit darker than i wanted. it's not bad, but not the best. i *may* repaint it, but i doubt it.
 
That looks great.Terrific assembly and paintwork.I am kicking myself right now for not doing my dent the same way you did.That is a great idea.I use epoxy putty religiously, and that never came to me.
I am going to have to get another one for my personal bucket. It should be a lot easier the second time around.
Sounds like we use very similar methods though.Great minds think alike huh?lololol
 
Brian, do you mean the mandibles are too dark? If so, use a lighter red in a rattle can and mist it. If you then weather it, it should look lighter. (y)

Also, did you dullcote it yet? It seems pretty shiny still. Looking good though. (y)(y)
 
Brian, do you mean the mandibles are too dark? If so, use a lighter red in a rattle can and mist it. If you then weather it, it should look lighter. (y)


yeah, misting it was my thought... 'cept i have to re-mask all of the damage first, so it will be a bit of a pain.

Also, did you dullcote it yet? It seems pretty shiny still. Looking good though. (y)(y)

nope, i still need to do a bit more painting before final stuff like that.
 
Right on, sounds like you've got it handled. (y)

Actually, if you mist it, you could touch up the silver with one of those metallic silver leaf pens. That way it still looks masked, and it's not as much work.
 
Right on, sounds like you've got it handled. (y)

Actually, if you mist it, you could touch up the silver with one of those metallic silver leaf pens. That way it still looks masked, and it's not as much work.

good point. that would definitely save some time.

the more i look at it, i think i need to, since with final weathering it will darken up even more.

i'm trying so hard to not be a perfectionist about this, but it's hard!
 
Wow- nice to see my kit actually does work! Great looking assembly/paint job on that!

I am back up and running after a very hard October, so if anyone wants a helmet, PM me here.

Mark
 
Nice looking helmet. These kits look pretty good especially for plastic. I really like how you did the dent. Probably the best, and maybe only way, to get an accurate dent in the plastic.
 
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