Dealing with the MSH flare out

[bobagoat]

I'm pretty sure those of you who have MSH buckets know what I mean. When fully assembled the mandibles tend to flare out a bit. Not much just a tiny bit.

Is there any way to deal with this?

This is not in anyway a shot at that particular helmet either. It is a fantastic piece and I love mine.

 

[bobagoat]

Nobody?

Maybe some pics will help....I'll post some tonight.

 

[bigkidbiggertoys]

You might be able to correct that when gluing in your visor. My helmet had a bit of a warp that was easy enough to fix this way. If it is more severe, you can use a heat gun & warm up the helmet & coax it back into shape. I have also had luck with this method.

 

[bobagoat]

Even when it has been painted?

 

[BobaFettSlave1]

just out of curiosity, what does MSH stand for?

 

[cal196]

Movie Sized Helmet

 

[Predatormv]

I don't think heating it will help, since it's fiberglass. I have the MSH2, once I put the visor in it, it straightend up. I just looked a pic of mine I acutally made mine reverse flare, the top is out farther than the bottom. Exbit 1.

 

[bigkidbiggertoys]

Heating it up will soften it even if it is fiberglass. I thermoform polyester plastics all the time & that is essentially what fiberglass is, glass fibers interlocked in a polyester resin. ou can still do this after it is painted if you carefully heat it from the inside. Just go slow & don't heat it more than you have to. I would still try adjusting the warp with the visor hotmelt glued into the proper place first though.

 

[MARROW SUN]

Once you get your visor in place it should pull everything together straight. It was pointed out to me that there was a flare in my MS2 but once I put in the visor everything was straight.

 

[bobagoat]

Oh its straight. I'll take a pic and show you what I mean tonight.

I do have a plan to fix it involving sheet metal, some screws, mirror clips, ice and a pitching wedge.

 

[MARROW SUN]

when in doubt, a pitching wedge works. I also like to use my 10lb. Hammer

 

[DL44 Blaster]

I'm about at the LAST stage of painting and as my original MSH sits on my desk ready for visor I just measured and got 1 15/16" a the very bottom of the mandibles and 1 7/8" at the top....a difference of 1/16" and not noticeable to the naked eye. Surely the fiberglass is durable and flexible enough to take the tweak....as I hold mine in that slight bit I'm sure it won't be a problem......I'm still planning on using the as yet untested "Tape method".....

I've long wondered about the 3M automotive tape being another method of installing visors. It's the 5lb. stuff used for putting emblems onto cars so it's REALLY strong and long lasting yet with a little finnese will come out if need be. I'll be giving it a whirl soon so I'll post results since I've mentioned it before but nobody has tried it IIRC.

Steve

 

[bobagoat]

when in doubt, a pitching wedge works. I also like to use my 10lb. Hammer

Both have their uses I've found.

In any event...

Here is my bucket. What I'm talking about should be immediately apparent:

Its a big image so be prepared.

 

[Lynn TXP 0369]

Now I know what your talking about...

Mine did that as well.

Here is what I did to fix it...

After the Visor is installed, I took a thick piece of styrene, .80-.90 mill, then epoxyed it with 5 minute 2 Ton Epoxy to one side near the top of the visor ONLY where it is warped out. DON'T DO BOTH SIDES AT THIS TIME YET!

Let it dry fully to get it's maximum strenght according to the pacakages instructions.

I then covered that side with 2 part Plumbers epoxy stick putty.

Now do the same with the other side with the epoxy the other styrene side to the visor and hold with all your might by pushing that other warped section to get the warp out and hold for a few minutes past the 5 min epoxy set time.

then cover it with the plumbers putty for more strenght.

It will hold strong and fast and it will remove the warp.

HTH,
Lynn

 

[bobagoat]

I was gonna do a similar thing but use a piece of sheet metal instead of styrene but I guess I could try ABS which I have some laying around.

Thanks for the pointers Lynn!

 

[Baddblood]

When I did my MSH1 it had pretty bad flare after I had painted it, so I heated it up carefully, reshaped and instantly installed the visor.

It held it's shape pretty well.