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[Jaa'det Otxoa]

OK, so I decided to start on my J2P Wip here! 
 I figure'd it would be a good starting point and was pretty much what I could afford 

So, here we go...

I am basing my build on a couple of tutorials from TDH:

http://bcm00vist405.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/rubies-2-piece-helmet-tutorial.pdf

and

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/converting-rubies-2-piece-jango-esb-boba-my-take-39845/
(and converted to .pdf)

First think I did was the keyholes and sanding down the moulding spot on the back of the dome:

(I know the top one is larger than the others... there's a plan for that! 8) )

Next, I removed the crappy lens by dremeling off all of the nubs (I left a few in place to help with alignment when I get the green welding visor cut)


Instead of replacing the cheeks to get the nice flat look they are supposed to have, I figured I would try the reinforcing method first...
So here goes...

1. Cheek reinforcement:
I created a template that would reinforce the cheeks and keep them from twisting,
In the picture above you can see that I marked both cheeks with a line where the bottom of the template will line up (about 3/4 " from bottom.

Here is the brace I cut out of a plastic bucket against the WOF base alignment template to make sure I got the angle right:


2. Jigs:
I made jigs out of scrap 1x4's, the back pieces are just squared off and the front is rounded to match the profile of the top curve of the cheeks:

Each jig uses 3 screws to give even pressure to hold the cheeks flat (2 on top and 1 slightly higher in the middle on the bottom) I also added a couple of scrap pieces of 1/8" hardiboard to create a really good "pinch"


I also made an extra brace out of a piece of coat hanger that fits into holes drilled into the hardiboard to hold the braces at the right angle while the parts are drying:


3. Reinforcement installation:
Next, I roughed up the interior surface of the cheeks and the back side of the brace with 60 grit sandpaper (THIS IS IMPORTANT! The epoxy will NOT stick to the smooth surface, trust me I found out the hard way ), cleaned all parts with mineral spirits (to remove the label on the brace and clean the inside of the cheeks after sanding), then wipe everything down really good with rubbing alcohol. (do this in a well ventilated area, those fumes can be strong!  )
Now, I epoxied the brace in place, aligning it with the marks I made on the cheeks earlier (adding 3 additional alignment marks around the edge to make sure you get things straight will help)
And braced with the jigs:

Once it dried I cleaned up the bottom edge to remove any epoxy that squeezed out while the jigs were in place and made braces out of Hardiboard that matches the lower profile of the cheeks and epoxied them in place:
(you can also see the additional alignment marks I made here


I also have the craft ring glued together and shaped to fit around the keyholes, in my case I thought the 9" craft ring actually works better than the 10" one (10" makes the bottom flare out too much IMHO!

More to come!  Thanks for visiting! 

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Tiny update...

So this is what the cheeks look like after the bracing was installed:

IMHO I believe it looks much better  , also with the additional bracing it pulls the sides out making the profile much more accurate
(you can see how it lines up better with the WOF helmet template underneath)
Also, by keeping the original structure without cutting out parts to replace the cheek inserts the integrity is kept intact! 

[Ran]

Awesome! I love it when people change the cheeks, it looks to corny when they leave them curved the way they are. I'll be following this one.

[droodles]

I'm confused. Instead of replacing the cheeks you just flattened them?

If that's right then pretty awesome idea. Much better than cutting and gluing IMO.

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Awesome! I love it when people change the cheeks, it looks to corny when they leave them curved the way they are. I'll be following this one.

Thanks vod, I thought changing the cheeks was important, every other bucket that I have come across has flat cheeks    even the Rubie's 1-piece Jango (I have one of those too)!  These masks were probably molded with the cheeks flat from the factory but because of the thickness of the plastic and the way they ship them with the back of the dome inverted into the front it deforms the cheeks... Figured this was the easier and more stable way of fixing a design flaw!

I'm confused. Instead of replacing the cheeks you just flattened them?

If that's right then pretty awesome idea. Much better than cutting and gluing IMO.

Yep, just flattened them, thought it was a better idea rather than cutting the cheeks out, fitting new ones, hoping the seams don't fail, bondoing, sanding, blah, blah, blah  ... well you get the idea.  I always say K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple & STABLE! I feel this method keeps from adding another failure point to the somewhat flimsy material  .

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Update time!

Got the 2 halves of the dome epoxied together and the reinforcement for the back in place...

First step was to glue the bucket together, I roughed up all surfaces/edges that would be mating with 60 grit sandpaper, wiped down with alcohol and epoxied the halves together.
(BTW, if anybody is curious I am using Gorilla 5 Minute Epoxy for this  )
Once I finally got the pins and edges aligned (pain in the shebs!! ) I taped the halves together using painters tape being sure to pull the tape as tight as I could without tearing it, also to make sure the edges under the earcaps set well I used a couple of clamps to hold things tight while they dried and wrapped a short length of coat hanger around the larger "pins" on the right earcap:


Now that the dome is one piece it's time to start adding more reinforcement:

To reinforce the back edge and get the shape of the bucket right I grabbed a 9" bamboo craft ring and glued the 2 halves together with wood glue
Once dried I used my trusty dremel to cut a notch in the ring to allow the ring to fit snug under the keyholes in the back of the buy'ce:

I think I mentioned this earlier but, I used the 9" ring as opposed to the 10" because it more closely matches the angle created when using the WOF templates...

Next, I cut the ring in half (line up the notch on the keyholes and cut a little longer than you need so that the ring goes just past the back inner edge of the earcaps)
and clamped the cut ring into place and mark exactly where the ring meets the back edge of the earcaps:


Once marked, I used a straight edge to make a straight line from one mark to the other, as well as adding a 45^o bevel on the inner layer of the glued craft rings, then cut and sanded all inner edges (any place that will not be touching the inside of the bucket):
Finished reinforcement ring and end detail:


Now that the reinforcement is cut, smoothed and test fit, both surfaces are roughed up with 60 grit, glued together and clamped.
(This time I opted for E6000 as opposed to the Gorilla epoxy, BTW, be sure things are well ventilated when using this stuff! )
Be sure that you align the front edge of the reinforcing ring to make sure things are nice and straight:
Clamped and aligned:


NEXT:
More reinforcement! (Earcaps & Dome)

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Reinforcement time!

Ear reinforcement to be more specific...

For the reinforcement on the ear caps I decided to go with the hardiboard again, why? structural rigidity!!   

So I traced out the inside of the ear caps using posterboard to make a template for the hardiboard
(CLICK HERE for a .pdf version of the templates I made, the scale is 1 block = 1/2")
Once I cut them out and cleaned them up a bit I test fit to make sure things lined up (center cut out is made to go around the alignment tab molded into the helmet)
Test fit good, I drilled a 3/16" hole through the Left ear cap (& reinforcement plate), 1/2" down & 1/4" forward of the center seam, then, on the Right ear cap I drilled a 3/16" hole through the reinforcement on the front lower "corner" of the existing rangefinder hole (you'll see why later  ).

Next I roughed up both surfaces and used my trusty E6000 to glue the reinforcements in place, making sure that the bottom edge is clamped good so that the helmet lies flat against the reinforcement:


You can see a few things I did here:
1. I used a scrap piece of hardiboard to apply even pressure across the outer edges of the center of the reinforcement
2. The smaller clamp is directly over the seam to keep it nice and flat to the reinforcement
3. There are screws in the holes I mentioned earlier... here's why... My clamps weren't long enough! 

Here is what it looks like from the outside:


The screws help hold the top edge of the earcap tight to the reinforcement (the scrap of board is used on the outside of the right side because I didn't have a washer big enough to cover the entire rangefinder hole), these will be removed later, once the glue dries.

So this is where my buy'ce stands at the moment:


Next Step:
Dome reinforcement!! 

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

More reinforcements!!!

Dome time:

While roaming around my basement looking for something to use as reinforcement for the seam in the dome I came across these:


They are the page guards out of a binder, being that they are only about 1mm thick I figured that they would be easy to shape to fit tightly between the posts in the dome of the buy'ce.

I used a scrap of card stock to take accurate measurements between the posts then cut and trimmed the plastic using a pair of tin snips to cut out the braces... to make them fit as tight to the posts as possible I trimmed off about a mm or 2 halfway up the edges (makes a kinda "T" shape, except for the side pieces where you only have to trim one edge), they fit tight enough to where they "click" into place when you push the middle down.

Here they are all cut out and shaped:

You can see that they are all labeled (L1,R1,L2...) which are also marked on the inside of the dome as well, the middle 4 are really the same size but there are slight differences in the way that they were trimmed when test fitting.

Here are a couple of pics showing the slight shaping of the braces, note that they are actually slightly "domed" and not just a simple bend, I did this because there is no real way to keep good pressure on the braces while the E6000 is drying:


And here they are in place: (Please excuse the messy application... I got a little happy with the glue in the first (middle) 2 braces  )


I did manage to find this clear disk (think it was the lens from an old clock) that was the exact diameter of the dome so I figured I would offer a little pressure on the braces while they set:


That's it for now...

Next Bondo & ear caps!

[Zolar Kresh]

You are setting the bar very high for how to mod a Jango two piece. I shall follow this with much interest.

[Dralin Cass]

Why didn't I think of this? I just wanted to bondo the dome and resin the inside on mine. Lol

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

You are setting the bar very high for how to mod a Jango two piece. I shall follow this with much interest.

Thanks vod! Just sharing the method to my madness  for a quality budget build!

Why didn't I think of this? I just wanted to bondo the dome and resin the inside on mine. Lol

This is similar to the method used in one of the links I provided at the beginning of the thread, think he used old ID's or library cards, figure'd this would work a little better since it pretty much eliminates the gap completely! 
Besides I don't think my wife would like the smell of fibergalss resin coming from the basement! 

[droodles]

I always say K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple & STABLE!

You weren't kidding when you said stable.  You, my good fellow, appear to be serious about reinforcing this helmet.  Should end up a very solid helmet given what you've done so far.

[Kelan Ord]

Very well done. Good job sir.

[Tracyn Ordo]

This is coming along very well! You seem to have a grip on everything

I too am glad to see you fixed the curve of the cheeks, it's one of my pet peeves when people go to all the effort of modding a j2p but don't fix that small thing

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Thanks Vode! 

I've seen alot of quality builds both on our forum and TDH and I'm trying to take bits & pieces from those as well as adding my own tweaks to make my bucket as accurate, stable and cheap as possible... then pass on the knowledge!

[Niabi]

Keep it up vod and this will be one Awesome bucket

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Keep it up vod and this will be one Awesome bucket

Thanks, Niabi...    I am hoping so as well! 

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

UPDATE TIME!!

Earcaps!
So one thing that bugged me about this bucket is the ear caps  , more specifically the one on the right side...
one piece, poorly molded, clearly too short... you get the point, Right? 

So here is how I am "dealing" with this...

First, the Left ear cap:

1. This one doesn't really need any work, just glue it on, right?   
So I sanded the sides of the bucket down with 220 grit sandpaper, wiped them down to get a clean mating surface and glued it down with the gorilla epoxy.

Here is it with the clamp on to keep pressure while it dries:


2. Then I noticed the gap at the top...  so I filled it with a little extra epoxy and smoothed the excess epoxy down:

Here are the front and back shots once it was filled:


Now to the "problem child"

1. I marked the ear cap with a couple lines where I will be cutting (I used the WOF template pg7 and scaled it down to where the width of the ear cap is approximately 1.5"):


here it is chopped up:


2. I cleaned up the upper portion a bit by smoothing out the profile and the angled protrusion (in hindsight I should have cut the protrusion off at the point where the lower part was cut-off so that it was about 1/8" longer with a longer angle cut)


3. Next I positioned the pieces in the right place on the side (the bottom is snapped onto the ball mount and top is aligned with the curve stamped into the side of the bucket just above the brow line and taped)


And from the front:


4.  So this hi-lights a few things:
     a. The lower portion of the ear cap is too deep
     b. The gap between the pieces is pretty big
     c. You can see the bottom of the upper ball-mount for the ear cap

...now to address these things:
5. First thing I did while I had the parts aligned was mark the position of the lower portion of the ear cap
(I would suggest sanding the side down with 220# sandpaper before doing this so that you don't have to re-mark everything before epoxying it in place like I did  )


6. Next I marked the lower portion of the ear cap for to trim off about 5mm or so (it should be just thicker than the other ear cap)


7. Here is the trimmed piece, don't forget to trim down the socket for the ball-mount or you will get a gap!


8. If you try test fitting the piece now you will notice that it still doesn't sit flush because the lower ball mount is too tall,
Here is how I trimmed mine so that it sits perfectly flush, you will notice that the back portion is angled, I did this to keep as much of the sphere intact and if you look at the ear cap in profile you will notice that the mount is just behind the center line and has an angled top, so try to match the angle without going past the halfway point of the sphere:


9. Here is what the lower portion of the ear cap now looks like:


Looks much better and gives the slight depth difference that the Boba buy'ce has IMHO 8)

Next I used the alignment marks I made earlier and epoxied the lower ear cap in place, using 2 clamps, one in the middle and one on the bottom edge, to hold it flush while it is drying.

Next steps:
Remolding the gap between the ear caps with this!


 

[Dralin Cass]

More!!

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Tiny update

Started molding the lower vent on the right ear cap...

So using the plastic weld from the last post I roughly molded the sides of the lower ear cap vent and cut a small insert out of hardiboard

Here is what the hardiboard vent insert looks like:

it is 1" wide and 3/4" long with parallel 45^o cuts on the top & bottom

Here is what the rough molded sides look like after a bit of work:


And with the insert in place:


The insert will be glued in once the sides are fully cured and shaved down to the right size

Here are a few tips I figured out during this step:
1. Rough mold the Plastic Weld to be a little bit larger than what you want the final piece to be so you can do the "fine tuning" of the shape later
2. Cut the insert and test fit FIRST (avoids having to try to dremel/cut any pieces that don't quite fit right while the sticky Plastic Weld is still curing  )
3. Be patient, this stuff starts to set after about 10-15 minutes but there is about a 5-10 minute time period ("Sweet spot") where it isn't super sticky anymore but isn't so hard that you can't mold it easily

Now to let it cure

Next steps: Shaping and more molding! 

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Shaping time! 

So as you could see on the last post the sides were a little tall for the vent insert...
To remedy this I cut them down to the right height with my Dremel then cleaned it up with a utility knife to get a clean cut.

Next I took my palm sander with some 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the sides and top:
Front:


Side Low:


Side:


Here is a close up where i still have a little bit of work to fix  the inner edges of the sides of the lower ear cap vent: 


I built up the inner edges with a bit more Plastic Weld so that it could be cut/shaped to leave a nice sharp edge! 

Next is to start on the upper ear cap...

First thing I did was make a filler/brace out of a scrap of hardiboard and shaped the back edge to the shape of the mating surface:


Next I placed it into the upper ear cap and back-filled with Plastic Weld:


Here you can see the profile of the brace with the cut-out for the slight peak from the seam in the side of the buy'ce:


Once the back-filled Plastic Weld set I taped the upper ear cap down onto the piece of packing tape used to hold the WOF template together and used the WOF ear cap template as a guide to roughly fill in the remaining shape of the upper portion of the ear cap.
Here it is after being untaped and starting on the shaping:


The packing tape allowed the Plastic Weld to release easily and leave a smooth, even outer surface...

NEXT STEPS:
More shaping! 

[Tracyn Ordo]

This is coming along really nicely dude!

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

This is coming along really nicely dude!

Thanks, Vod! Hoping to get the rest of this ear cap done so I can get the bondo going before I have to turn my work area in the basement into "Santa Fett's Workshop"

[Jaa'det Otxoa]

Shaping time!

Next on the list was to build the upper right ear cap...

So here is what I started with:


And after an hour or so of shaping with various tools in this order: 
- Start with 60 grit on palm sander
- 150 grit drum on Dremel
- Cutting wheel on Dremel
- 220 grit on palm sander
- Utility knife to straighten inside corners
- 220 grit wrapped around a 1" x 2" scrap of hardiboard

And this is what I came up with:


Once that was shaped I tapped a hole in the back side of the upper ear cap with my multi-purpose cutting bit (Dremel #561) (will post pics  soon) i realized I needed to reshape the upper ball mount so the Upper ear cap lined up straight, so I pretty much cut the entire lower half off with a cutting wheel (being careful not to nick the nearby molded pieces):


You can also see that I tapped the vent holes in the middle plate of the lower ear cap.

So this is what the pieces look like in place:


I am thinking that it needs a slight trim on the back side to bring the profile closer to the bucket or I may just sand the outer edge down, I am also going to tuck the lower edge of the vent insert about 3mm down from where it is and trim the top of the sides to match up because the gap/overlap is too tight to me...

Let me know what you think? 

Next step:

Ear cap trim and fit!

[Novoc Mereel]

Wow, you're really doing a great job here, ner vod!