So I got my lid in, now what??

jokerfish

Jr Hunter
I got my very first piece in today, its a resin cast helmet, and it already firs pretty snug. I have a giant head apparently!

I am going to reinforce it with fiberglass, the bottom mandible is just slightly warped so planned on trimming away some of the extra "junk" on the inside. Now my questions are all basic newb need to know how

First off, how do I cut the visor to fit inside the T-slot? Does it actually fit inside the slot, or should I route out a small recession on the inside to fit it in?

When I get this step finished I will ask more :)

I cant beleive my head is that big, jeeez
 
Just for the record, I know I have a long time before I am actually wearing the helmet with visor in it, I just wanted to cut it down to shape it all up correctly before setting it in for good :)
 
I always do my overall sanding and cleaning before cutting out the visor. Leaving the helmet intact provides some extra structure while you clean everything up. Then after cutting the visor out I finish the cleaning and smaller details. Then I paint and and do as much as possible before putting the visor in. This is mainly so that don't have to try and tape off the visor.

When you put the visor in, it attaches on the inside of the T-slot. If you look through several of the WIP threads in the Boba and Jango helmet sections you can see some nice pictures. Some guys bolt on the visor and some guys use hot glue or adhesive.


Oh... and helmet sizes can vary greatly depending on the maker. I have 3 helmets. A M/L M-DSB a Sgt Fang and an Asok and they all fit differently. There are many other makers out there in addition to the ones I just listed and they all fit a bit different.
 
this one is possibly a sgt fang. I bought it because it was a bit larger than the others from what I was told. I am sure some cleaning up will shave a good bit of extra junk out the inside, so I think I can get it to fit. The worst part is in the back of the helmet where the circuit board dips in. It looks pretty bad, so I will be cleaning that up for sure. I am off the next 2 days, so expect some updates, possibly some crying because I screwed something up, and if I am lucky a pic of my giant head squeezed in it :)

One thing I immediately noticed about the T-slot is that it is very uneven in thickness, thats why I asked about mounting location

Got work to do, be back in a bit!
 
If you don't have a dremel.......get one. Then get some 2 part epoxy and some bondo to fix the dremel marks you will make while working/learning on the helmet.
 
I picked up a bondo fiberglass kit, a can of grey primer and metalic silver spraypaint at Auto Zone, will be heading to Home Depot in a bit to get a dremmel and a few cans of paint. Does a standard Dremmel set come with all the bits I will need, or do I need to get the upgrade pack of bits?

Still not sure how to cut the visor out. Should I just trace over the outside of the helmet and trim it in as needed? Will the dremmel be OK for this, or should I buy snips?
 
snips vs a resin helmet = shatter. get a dremel rotary tool (or a proxxon if you can find it, same type of tool, better construction), i recommend getting one of the multi-speed 300 series like the 395, it's corded, it's variable speed goes from 5000-35000rpm, and it's better built than their new flagship dremel 4000. then get the 225-01 flex shaft attachment, it's basically a smaller grip that lets you get into tighter spaces, and is easier to weild. this part isn't a necessity but using a dremel is like trying to draw a picture with an extra wide sharpie marker, the flex shaft attachment is like using a pencil. be sure to pick up the 4486 keyless chuck, i prefer it to the collet that comes standard on the dremel. the keyless chuck works like most drills where you turn it and there's three points that come together to squeeze the bits in place. there are some bits that are just too small and slide right out of the collet such as: dremel bit #111 engraving cutter. i've been using a cutoff wheel for years now, but i saw in another thread a guy was using these to cut out the visor area and it just seemed too genius not to use, so i got one of these and i absolutely love it. this bit goes and takes that pencil you were using with the flex shaft and turns it into a calligraphy pen.

amazon is having a buy it together sale on the 225-01, the 4486, and the 111 right now; here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-111-Engraving-Cutter-Shank/dp/B000WE5NV0

this is the dremel 395 kit that i have: http://www.amazon.com/Dremel-300-N-...ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1278452929&sr=1-3

and here is the rotary tool i want, it fits all my dremel parts and attachments, and it's made of all metal guts and german engineering so RAWR!: http://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-38472...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1278453025&sr=1-2
 
I just hit wal mart and bought a cordless dremmel for like 40 bucks. Not sure I like it honestly. I saw a nicer one at Home Depot earlier today, I may go back their tomorrow and get that one. I like the idea of the keyless chuck, I will look into those

For those who are into spray can painting, home depot had just about every color mentioned in the rattlecan thread, I had to replace the american accents with rustoleum colors, but they were basically the same.

I need to locate the testors masking stuff though, I have never heard of it
 
Hey Tim! The masking fluid can be any brand, there are a few makers including Grumbacher and Winsor and newton. Any hobby shop or art supply store should have them. They are sometimes geared towards watercolor so you may want to check that section if you go the route of an art supply store.

Guys, i think Tim means cutting the actual visor. The pic of the helmet i saw, the visor area on the actual helmet was already cut out (which is probably why it is slightly warped)

I wouls cut a pice of posterboard the size of your visor lense and keep trimming it till it fits perfect to make a template, then trace it onto your visor and trim it to the same size as your posterboard template.
 
You might regret the cordless dremel, they typically are lower power and for some of the more hard uses Mine had seen prior to me getting the corded version, the battery life was somewhat dissapointing, i dont touch my cordless dremel at all anymore, in fact im not sure where it is.
 
This cordless dremmel sucks. Its going back tonight or tomorrow AM when I get done touching up the helmet. I saw a much nicer 3 piece set up for about 90 bucks at Home Depot, might look into that one. Cordless sucks!
 
+1 to the comment about cordless dremels. I own 4-5 different dremels with 2 being cordless at my motorcycle shop. I don't do heavy work with them, but even so, their batteries would go out fast. One battery operated "stylus" dremel went out completely after a handful of uses and required me sending it into Dremel to get the battery and motor replaced. I hardly if ever use them now and mainly just use extension cables if I need to use one in a tight spot.
 
i don't know about the power issues, but i do know that you'll be using your dremel for extended periods of time and a cordless just doesn't have the battery life to keep up. did you click on any of the links in my previous post for some inspiration?
 
saint_nasty, I did click the links, thanks for that!

I have the 300 model, but cordless right now. I will be "upgrading" to a corded model today. The power on that cheap one is just terrible, and the battery life was not worth it. I guess if you just use it once a month for 5 minutes, its a good tool, but certainly not what I am going to need. I saw that home depot had a few other brands other than dremmel, I just didnt know anything about them, so I left them alone.

As far as progress goes, I did heat the helmet up and reshape it a bit. I may go a second round with that so I can pinch it in a little to squeeze my fat head it in a little better, lol

Today I plan on finishing up the dremmel work, priming it, and hopefully getting silver on it. I picked up my masking fluid today, all my paints yesterday so expect to see some color soon! I will start a progession thread in case anyone wants to see my multiple mess ups!
 
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