Cardboard Helmet Question

Jgbeerman

New Hunter
Evening-

I am at the very beginning of building my cardboard helmet. I am following AntMan's Tutorial http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/antmans-second-cardboard-scratch-build-24821/

I have taped the outer parts together as shown in step one. My big question at the moment is should I use a glue stick to attach the paper pattern to the matboard? I was thinking that would be good so the visor and cheek cuts could be made at another point without losing exactly where it is.

I assume that the cheek and visor cuts should be made while the visor is still a flat piece, instead of trying to do it when it has been glued into a circle.

Any little tips and tricks would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
talked it over with the wife, she agreed with the glue stick, so I will be doing that right after I am done typing

I am still looking for any input on when to cut the visor and cheek pieces.
 
I would suggest to glue the outer face template to the inner part (by aligning the lower and not the upper edges), then cut out the T-visor and the cheek area, but also the back plate area too. If you first cut out those areas and then glue it on the inner part, it is possible that you won't align the 2 parts correctly and the whole helmet will have a slightly twisted look.

I hope this helps!
 
I was also thinking of using steam to bend the mat board instead of a sponge or spritz bottle as suggested. The plan is to use the bathroom as a giant steam box and slowly bend. Has anyone tried steam?
 
I don't know if that will get the board wet enough, you may get cracks and folds. As long as you're careful the sponge method works well. You want it to be moist but not wet or saturated as the card will begin to de-laminate from itself.
 
I don't know if that will get the board wet enough, you may get cracks and folds. As long as you're careful the sponge method works well. You want it to be moist but not wet or saturated as the card will begin to de-laminate from itself.

That's true!

You better use a sponge or a misting bottle and apply a small amount of water only on the areas that needs bending.
 
well i tried the steam method on just a small scrap piece this morning just to see how it would fair and it worked great. I had a light steam going and it bent like a champ. I just went slow and if i felt too much resistance I waited a little bit longer. The board did not feel over saturated at all.

I will report back with how it goes on the larger pieces soon.

- - - Updated - - -

I appreciate the input RafalFett and BobaFiend but based on the sample I tried this morning I am going to give it a shot!
 
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Steam worked PERFECT. Steamed up the bathroom and put the mat board on a drying rack and went in and bent it every 5 minutes to slowly work it into a circle. Took about 20 minutes total for the inside piece, less time for the outer piece.
 
Steam worked PERFECT. Steamed up the bathroom and put the mat board on a drying rack and went in and bent it every 5 minutes to slowly work it into a circle. Took about 20 minutes total for the inside piece, less time for the outer piece.

That's good news! As soon as possible, show us your progress to see the result of the steam bath.
 
put in many hours of work yesterday, let me go take a picture

i just bought some bondo today, but that might have to wait a bit because the wife does not want me to do that indoors and its a bit cold outside

- - - Updated - - -

photo(1).JPG

There you go, its a bit rough at this point, but I am very excited! on to the ears!

photo(1).JPG
 
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will do!
I put bondo on last night and will get it sanded as soon as it is nice enough to go outside, no place to sand in the apartment. I will work on the ears until then
 
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