SgtFang Mystery Helmet - A Review and Progress Thread

[batninja]

I've done the preliminary sanding on the imperfections along the rear quarter of the helmet. There are a couple of spots to re-putty, and I'll post pictures tomorrow.

As for the keyslots, I'm not happy with the thickness of the resin in that area; it's not uniform on all the slots. I may fabricate a keyslot board out of a spare piece of styrene, and install it instead. I'll have to sleep on the idea. It would be a shame to replace that after all the work I did to hollow out the original slots.

More to follow tomorrow...

 

[MandalorFett]

Mr. Bat,
I'm a total noob when it comes to this type of hobby work. Thanks for all the step-by-step info. I'll push my luck a little further and ask, how do you keep the cut lines so straight on the mandibles and visor area with the Dremmel? Also, what kind/brand of filler putty are you using? I noticed you're not using Bondo.

Thanks.

 

[batninja]

To me, Bondo is great if you're restructuring something (i.e. building a helmet from scratch or making major repairs), and it's very difficult to sand. Since the mystery helmet is resin, I needed something that sanded easier.

Regular white model putty is what I'm using to fill in small holes. The brand is Squadron. I usually prefer Testors red putty, but the local HobbyTown was out of stock.

As for the straight lines, all I can suggest is patience. This is my fourth career helmet, and it gets a little easier each time. If you're using a variable speed Dremel, keep the speed around 5. Do one section at a time, and be aware of where your blade is at all times. Going slower will keep you from having to putty/sand a section later.

I don't draw any cutting lines on the helmet, but maybe that might help others.

Also, after any Dremel drum-sanding, go over the area with regular sandpaper. This helps to flatten out edges as well.

 

[GCNgamer128]

That's some mighty fine Dremel work so far!
Since I have one of these on the way, I'm just curious about how much work I'll have to do to it.
Is this area I've marked some kind of 'depression' in the surface? I'm wondering if it's something to be filled in, or if the angle of the lighting is making it look weird.

It does look like a depression, you might want to fill it in with more puddy and sand it down.

 

[batninja]

It does look like a depression, you might want to fill it in with more puddy and sand it down.

Yes, GCN, I verified that in post #38. It is a depression, and I decided to add a small bit of putty to even it out. It's not very pronounced, and the final paintjob will hide most of it anyway.

Most of the fill work is done now, and I'll do some more sanding later this afternoon. I'll do some wet-sanding and then a coat of primer sometime this week.

 

[batninja]

Okay, I just sanded some some, and I'm happy with the overall look of the rear quarter:

I've also worked a bit more on the keyholes:

One thing I forgot to do was trim the 'stop' on the right earcap. I bought a new accurate BKBT stalk, and due to the angle, I'll have to trim a little off the resin (see the pencil marks):

I've still got some areas to go over again, but I should be pretty close to the first coat of primer. The paint will help me determine if there are any more issues.

 

[evan4218]

Looking good man, you sure are moving fast on that bad boy!

 

[Hammer of Might]

Okay, I just sanded some some, and I'm happy with the overall look of the rear quarter:

I've also worked a bit more on the keyholes:

One thing I forgot to do was trim the 'stop' on the right earcap. I bought a new accurate BKBT stalk, and due to the angle, I'll have to trim a little off the resin (see the pencil marks):

I've still got some areas to go over again, but I should be pretty close to the first coat of primer. The paint will help me determine if there are any more issues.

Nice work so far! if you dont mind my asking, how are you going to put the stalk in? with a small screw or something?

 

[GrottyFurball]

whats a covertec clip?

my squadron is green. I hate it

 

[batninja]

Nice work so far! if you dont mind my asking, how are you going to put the stalk in? with a small screw or something?

I'm going to use one of HyperDyne's remote servo system for the stalk. I won't know exactly how I'll secure it until I get it. Until then, I'll just use a simple nut and bolt. In order to fit the nut flat under the earcap, I'll have to bevel out the stalk hole. SpideyFett has some pics of this in another thread, and I should be able to get the stalk beveled this weekend (I'll post pics).

whats a covertec clip?

my squadron is green. I hate it

A CoverTec clip (used for cell phones) is what the prequel Jedis use to hold their lightsabers to their belts. Since I'm a Dremel Jedi, I hang my Dremel...never mind, you get the idea.

I can't stand green Squadron putty. I know there are those that use it exclusively, but I was never happy with the drying time and the hardness. It just didn't seem as easy to sand as the white stuff.

 

[GrottyFurball]

oh ok. Yeah I hate the green stuff a lot. Where can I get the different colored stuff? my hobby shop only has green squadron and white testors.

 

[Hammer of Might]

I'm going to use one of HyperDyne's remote servo system for the stalk. I won't know exactly how I'll secure it until I get it. Until then, I'll just use a simple nut and bolt. In order to fit the nut flat under the earcap, I'll have to bevel out the stalk hole. SpideyFett has some pics of this in another thread, and I should be able to get the stalk beveled this weekend (I'll post pics).

.

awesome, thanks for reply. I'll have to subscribe to this thread.

 

[batninja]

oh ok. Yeah I hate the green stuff a lot. Where can I get the different colored stuff? my hobby shop only has green squadron and white testors.

I got this from HobbyTownUSA, but I suppose most any brand will work.

 

[Buckeye 01]

oh ok. Yeah I hate the green stuff a lot. Where can I get the different colored stuff? my hobby shop only has green squadron and white testors.

You can also head over to your local automotive paint and body store and get a tube of glaze. It works very well, but bondo is king.

 

[batninja]

A slight detour...

While working with the stalk last night, I noticed that the seat for the stalk is just barely the same width as the stalk. When I install the servo system later, the stalk may produce a little unwanted friction when operating.

Looking at the screen-used helmet, I notice that the correct way to avoid this is to sand the seat toward the helmet, as the seat is not quite as thick on the movie helmet. However, I didn't want to take a chance on sanding too much or sanding unevenly.

So I took a spare piece of 1/16" styrene and made an 'extension' to widen the gap a little. I'll glue this to the exisiting seat, and putty/sand the edges until they're uniform.

More to follow...

 

[sithlord23]

Batninja, so your helmet had the stalk angle thing too?

I was looking at my BKBT stalk, lined up with my Sarge helmet, a couple of days ago. And, I had to shave off about that same amount of the RF stalk holder, as you have marked. Otherwise, that stalk just sits off angle, like in your photo.

No big deal, it just took a minute to trim. I thought it might've just been my helmet.

 

[batninja]

Update 8/24...

Over the last couple of days, I've worked alot on the stalk spacer. For more pictures, visit my PhotoBucket album: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v715/batninja/Mystery Helmet/?start=all


Using Gorilla Glue (wonderful stuff!), I glued the spacer to the stalk seat:

After putty, sand and primer, you can see that the spacer worked perfectly!

I was so excited, I went ahead and did a base primer, just to see what it looked like. I sanded with 320-grit sandpaper, and did a final wet-sand with 400-grit. I need to grab some shots of the rear of the helmet, because it came out great!

Next step: I'll add a small brace between the front mandibles, and begin the white primer.

 

[webchief]

Looks great Eric!

 

[DarthMiller]

UMMM..I think I need to hire you to do all my PREP work in the future...GREAT JOB!!

 

[Devilstar2k2]

BN,

Did you ever reinforce the thin area by the keyholes? If so, how did you go about it? Just putty and sand? That area looks pretty scary... lol... I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it.


-Shawn