Helmet seems way too big..?

[GStam66]

Hey everyone! I've decided on making a Boba Fett costume for Halloween this year. I started work on it a week or so ago, and I think I've made some decent progress so far... Until I started the helmet, that is. :facepalm

I downloaded WizardofFlight's helmet template (pdf), printed it out, put it on some thick posterboard, and cut it out. After assembling the dome, I realized that the helmet was going to be way too big. When putting the dome on my head, it goes down past my eyebrows, and there seems to be a very large gap between the sides of the dome and my head. I assembled the outer frame of the helmet and put it on my head as well, and when I put the back of my head right up to the inside of the helmet, there's about an inch or more of space between my nose and where the visor would be.

Not sure where I went wrong, or how I can resize the templates so they are a bit smaller (didnt see any option when printing, only had "fit to page"/"shrink to page"/etc).

I'd really like to get this helmet together and have it look good, so any advice/input would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[BobaFiend]

You'll need room for padding inside the helmet. You can use it to raise up the lid significantly as well as secure it horizontally. It sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[GStam66]

I've uploaded some pics of the helmet with the armor, for scale comparison. I used the armor templates that were considered "medium sized" (5'7"-5'8")

I know I kinda effed up the jetpack, its about 3 inches too short. :/

Yeah, I kind of figured I'd need a little room for padding, but it seems like there is going to need to be about 1" of padding, and almost 1.5" of padding at the top of the dome, so that the helmet doesnt make me look like a bobble-head lol.

 

[stormtrooperguy]

And inch on either side sounds right. I've got about a 1" perimeter of foam around the inside brow, and about 1.25" in the top.

 

[GStam66]

Alright, sounds good. Just wanted to make sure I didnt scale the helmet incorrectly or anything. Reference photos show that the helmet edges line up with the collar armor, the same way mine seem to line up. Good sign I guess. I want to try and make it as accurate as possible. I'm a bit of a perfectionist with this stuff, but also a cheap-*** haha. I'd rather spend an additional few hours than a few extra bucks.

Hell, I can always add a little padding under the armor plates to make em appear bigger, if I feel that the finished helmet still looks to big on me.

Thanks for all the advice so far! I'll keep ya posted as I continue working.

 

[DarthVeach]

I think it probably just feels big by itself. My FP Budget that I had seemed huge to me, but with all the other components on I think you'll be fine!

 

[BGHunter]

Looks right to me, the helmet allways seems big at first ,and the WOF helmet is slightly bigger than a , master replica or mystery helmet which are both movie sized

 

[GStam66]

I do have a couple more questions though, didnt want to clutter up the board by starting a seperate thread.

What size visor works best with the WizardofFlight's templates? I was planning on grabbing one from here: T-Visor.com - Home

I was planning on using paper mache to solidify the helmet a bit, but after browsing the boards a bit, I haven't really seen many people do that route with their helmets. I made a paper mache sith mask before, and I noticed that after a few layers, the mask seemed to be losing its hard edges/bends/angles/corners a little, as the paper mache was making it start to look "blobby". Finished product still looked ok, but the paper mache just rounded the creases a bit. Is paper mache ok to use on the helmets? (I think of the mask and I worry about the cheekbone parts losing their definition) I used a pretty strong posterboard/sign as a base, plus I plan on putting a coathanger-esque wire frame inside around the base of the helmet for support. I have little to no experience with bondo/epoxy/fiberglass/resin, etc, and would rather not **** the helmet up while experimenting. Plus I'm trying to get this whole costume done on a low budget. :/

Thanks in advance!

 

[GStam66]

Well, I started making the helmet shaping base out of some thick cardboard, then fixed my visor template up a bit, and before I knew it, I WAS IN THE ZONE!

But as it turns out, the "cross" part of the base was too big, so when I formed the outer face of the helmet around it, the outer face was too big, and the dome piece was kinda bouncing around inside. So I got annoyed, trashed the base, made the circumference of the top of the helmet match the dome, and basically formed the helmet freehand while attaching the dome the same way. I think I lucked out because it seems that the helmet turned out ok, and I probably won't be able to do that again lol.




There are a few edges that may need to be sanded down or smoothed out a bit, but other than that I'm content with this helmet so far.

Fits a lot better too! Still seems a little tall, as if the bottom of the helmet might bump up against the collar armor, but that seems fixable.

 

[BGHunter]

T visor ,Id say make your own from a green welders face shield,

Do a google search on Pep work Ive seen a few people get slush pollyuratyhain resins and mix them and just swerl it round in the helmet , that will work some what ,
can even brush some on the out s

 

[RafalFett]

I can't tell for sure from your images, but it seems that you ommited to use the inner template for your helmet, which is an essential part, mainly because of the back of the helmet that is composed by two layers. Generally, the helmet looks OK and the armor too.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

For a cheap visor that won't be to much for paper id say contact trooperbay.com or net he sells some thinner material thats very flexible

 

[GStam66]

Thanks for the input everyone.
Ill hit up trooperbay and check out the visors there too.
Rafal, I didn't have the inner surface cut out when I fist misjudged the outer surface/mask size (pic of helmet with armor), but it is in the final product. When I cut out the inner surface template, that's when I had my "Oh... Well I'm an idiot..." Moment, and realized the helmet would fit fine lol.

Since I'm not too keen on fiberglass and resin, what about straight up bondo, and polyurethane coating before painting? The cardboard/posterboard I used is pretty strong on its own. Id say its as strong as a standard cardboard box, but doesnt have those creases, flexes better, and is about as thick as 2-3 sheets of posterboard. I figure I shouldnt need too much, just enough to solidify the helmet a little more, like at the back where there's only one layer of the cardboard/posterboard.