When life gives you lemons... Use a lot of bondo.

[Doomkitten]

So I am doing my very first build.
the first helmet I got was a cheap re-cast from eBay (not my decision, but the gift of a wonderful wifey)
after posting that up I went ahead and ordered the FP2 ESB hopefully it gets in sooner rather than later (supposedly 90days or so)
in the meanwhile I figure I would show a cautionary tale about that helmet
and I am open to suggestions as to how to improve since I have never done a build before.

1: the standard visor insert that I got falls a little too short to the bottom, (the cheek rises inside get in the way. ) I suppose I could sand them until it fits but i fear messing with the integrity of it, and even making it too thin.

2: the left side slot for the visor is not perfectly parallel, it wasn't during the cast and I don't really want to widen it to make it straight... This is super minor but it bothers me.

3: when sizing the ear caps I saw that they were not flush at all they had tons of gaps. I ended up having to use a lot of bondo to try and make it look somewhat seamless. (I am actually not sure if needs to look seamless but it was so wonky on there that I can put a groove in afterwards.)

4: the keyhole slots were a nightmare.... I tried to cut and clean them out as best as possible and eventually just ended up having to create my own slots.

5: I did not picture the RF or the stalk, as I will probably just order that separate as the amount of poor casting issues in it is too numerous.

when my paints get in I will paint and finish it to the best of my abilities and I hope it was a good learning experience.

if anyone has a suggestion as to how to fix any of these issues mentioned I am all ears!!

 

[killerkeith]

Looks exactly like the lid I got from Asok, and I had the same issues except that the stalk was alluminum.

 

[Duder777]

I have seen much worse from ebay. You are doing the right thing on the ears making them the right size, you just have a lot of sanding ahead of you. I would go to t-visor.com to get a visor size that fits better so you do not have to worry about that part. They are cheap. You have some filing and sanding ahead of you on the key slots, but that will not be too bad since the shapes are pretty square with just right angles. Getting a good circuit board to show through correctly may be a challenge, but not too bad either. I would contact animefan to see if he can make you a rangefinder and stalk, and maybe the ears, too, if you are not happy wit what you are making. Just my two cents.

 

[Jc27]

Asok sent you a lid like that? That's surprising, normally her kids are great.

 

[toofastrobot]

It's not an Asok helmet, its a recast from eBay his wife (unknowingly) got him as a gift.

 

[killerkeith]

Asok sent you a lid like that? That's surprising, normally her kids are great.

The ear pieces are al

Actually, I mentioned that my Asok helmet had the same issue, which to me was no issue at all. The GMH is not a computer generated helmet, so obviously isn't symmetrical. The key slot is just a pain in the ass, period, and the ear pieces are always going to need leveling no matter what. Not an issue of bad casting.
If that lid from eBay, then you lucked out because the one I bought a few years ago was complete garbage and that one ain't looking to shabby. But don't let your wife buy on eBay just the same.