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[Draceline]

So, for my first helmet, I am planning on a scratch build. I'm on a relatively small income, so I'm getting supplies as I can afford them. A prebuilt helmet is a bit out of my price range at the moment.

So, I have been digging through the forums and have decided that for my build I would like either a classic Fett style Mando helmet, or a Night Owl. I'm currently trying to decide how I want to proceed; whether I should do a Pepakura build or if I should scale the WOF template down.

Also, in my digging, I found a Pep file for a Night Owl that was originally intended for EVA foam. Would it be entirely crazy to attempt to use this template to build a 3mm Sintra helmet? It has far fewer cuts than a normal Pepakura project...

I found said Pep here!

[Bowfanny]

I've modified pep files for use with 5 gallon buckets so it's not far fetched to change it over to Sintra.

[Draceline]

I built a mockup of the WOF template out of cardboard about a week ago, having managed to print it before I ran out of BLUE ink (stupid printer), and just managed to upload the picture to a sharing site. It doesn't feel right size wise. Too wide, but I need the size for my glasses and my hair. It's just the wrong shape.

I don't believe this will be my final decision. The inside corners of the eyes are too high, so I focus on them, not what's outside, so I've since cut them out. But they will be even higher once there's padding in the helmet. I'm already liable to be looking out the nose....

No. Not good.

Also, the bottom edge feels a bit low. I DO have a neck, it just doesn't exactly show here. Again, that would be different with padding, but not by much. I had the dome supports taped inside the lower section, so it was already taken up a little.

[Bowfanny]

That's a bit large on you Vod. You could almost wear it as a tent.

[Draceline]

That's a bit large on you Vod. You could almost wear it as a tent.

That was my thought....it was a no.

But glasses....glasses are a pain.

[Bowfanny]

That was my thought....it was a no.

But glasses....glasses are a pain.

From our other conversation your ability to create costumes will come in handy. Best way I've found is measure your head around your glasses then divide by 3.14 to get diameter with glasses. Then add half inch to inch to get a decent width for your head. Shoulder armor will bulk you out enough that the width can be slightly bigger than half your shoulder width and still look fine in armor.

[Draceline]

From our other conversation your ability to create costumes will come in handy. Best way I've found is measure your head around your glasses then divide by 3.14 to get diameter with glasses. Then add half inch to inch to get a decent width for your head. Shoulder armor will bulk you out enough that the width can be slightly bigger than half your shoulder width and still look fine in armor.

Wow... Why did I not think of that?? My head has been out of the game apparently. No pun intended.

Math. I haven't mathed properly for a diameter of a circle in a while... maybe thats why. I've gotten used to circumference measurements being more important.

I'll do that next time I dig out my tape measure.

[Bowfanny]

Wow... Why did I not think of that?? My head has been out of the game apparently. No pun intended.

Math. I haven't mathed properly for a diameter of a circle in a while... maybe thats why. I've gotten used to circumference measurements being more important.

I'll do that next time I dig out my tape measure.

Over 20 helmet builds Vod, I've only messed up once, and learned my lesson!

[Draceline]

Alright, so counting my glasses, but not my ponytail (I'll braid it), I measured a 24 inch circumference exactly. So, divided by pi, roughly 7.6 inches. Add an inch to an inch and a half for 8.6 to 9 inches.

Ideally I know the measurements will be different back to front than they are side to side, but this is the best I can do with the information you gave me, Bow. I'm not up to doing the specifics of the oval shape right now.

Where do I go from here?

[Bowfanny]

Alright, so counting my glasses, but not my ponytail (I'll braid it), I measured a 24 inch circumference exactly. So, divided by pi, roughly 7.6 inches. Add an inch to an inch and a half for 8.6 to 9 inches.

Ideally I know the measurements will be different back to front than they are side to side, but this is the best I can do with the information you gave me, Bow. I'm not up to doing the specifics of the oval shape right now.

Where do I go from here?

Easily enough you scale the pep helmet to the width you found. The front to back measurements will adjust when the scale for the side measurements. It works.

[Draceline]

Good to know. I was having trouble with the scaling on anything else I worked on. I'm not used to millimeters. I'm also running Pepakura designer on a MacBook Pro through wineskin, so everything works a little wonky anyway.

Thanks for the help!

[Bowfanny]

Oya Vod. Also a nice tip is if you have an IPhone there's an app called Carpenters Helper Lite that converts the mm to inches for me lol

[Draceline]

These aren't the Droids you're looking for. No iPhone here, but I've got another utility that does the same thing on my LG phone. It's still a pain going back and forth, but doable.

No, my issue stemmed more from trying to envision my own dimensions in millimeters without being able to have an example with known proportions right in front of me. I'm a visual learner I suppose.

Hopefully I can get ink this weekend.

[Bowfanny]

Lol droids

[Verco Nuhla]

I will say, from my single failure at a WOF scratchbuild, be very careful if you go with fiberglass and bondo. My issue was that I didnt spread it evenly enough, and I also had issues with finding bubbles when I was sanding. I was also a fool and didn't always have the proper supports inside the bucket while I was layering the 'glass, so it warped and ended up a wee bit lopsided. Not trying to discourage you from a scratch-build, just be careful and learn from my mistakes lol

I do like the Night Owl helmet as well, if the WOF build doesn't turn out right then the simplified Night Owl would look killer with your kit's color scheme. I might be buying my official bucket but I love a good scratch-build!

(Also, ultimate props for the Trigun shirt in your pic. Love it!!!)

[Bowfanny]

That's a good point Verco,
Also the reason I modified the night owl pep file to include a proper visor support.

[Verco Nuhla]

There is indeed a hidden beauty in simplicity lol

[Bowfanny]

There is indeed a hidden beauty in simplicity lol

Indeed.

[Draceline]

I will say, from my single failure at a WOF scratchbuild, be very careful if you go with fiberglass and bondo. My issue was that I didnt spread it evenly enough, and I also had issues with finding bubbles when I was sanding. I was also a fool and didn't always have the proper supports inside the bucket while I was layering the 'glass, so it warped and ended up a wee bit lopsided. Not trying to discourage you from a scratch-build, just be careful and learn from my mistakes lol

I do like the Night Owl helmet as well, if the WOF build doesn't turn out right then the simplified Night Owl would look killer with your kit's color scheme. I might be buying my official bucket but I love a good scratch-build!

(Also, ultimate props for the Trigun shirt in your pic. Love it!!!)

I'm admittedly OCD about projects I that work on. If I don't do it right the first time, I tend to work work work until I fix it..... So I'll take your advice (though I planned on the supports anyway). I have enough work ahead of me. I don't like having to fix things.

I'm still deciding whether I want to try a fiberglass or sintra helmet. I haven't had the chance to start playing with the sintra yet, so I'm not confident about how easily I'll be able to bully it to the shape I want. I don't have the immediate cash for a prefab helmet. I buy supplies as I can afford them.

I really like both Fett and Night Owl designs of helmet...I will likely end up with both eventually. I like having options. Ideally I'd like to have a combination of the two for this kit. Night owl eyes, widened a little so I can see more easily, with the Fett or Death Watch style cheeks. I think the lines of each put together will be fierce.

And thank you! I love that shirt! It was a Teefury find. I think they brought it back in their gallery.

There is indeed a hidden beauty in simplicity lol

Very very true. And rest assured, I am actively trying to avoid gaudy. Heh.

[Pax]

Hey, vod!
  Sintra is actually pretty easy to work with, you just have to make sure you account for the thickness.  I opted in my build to reinforce my sintra with fiberglass, because sintra does have an unfortunate tendency to snap if forced too far when cold (like, if you drop it).  When working it, I usually use a heat gun, and I always heat both sides.  I like to hold it to the light in such a way that I can see the shine off the surface, and when I see the shape of the shine start to change, I know it's softening.  Apply heat for just a moment after that, then shape.  If it won't do what I want, or hold the shape I want, it's probably gone cold again, so I heat again.  No forcing, ever.  I know some guys who have a lot of success forcing it when it's just a bit cooler than that, which can set the shape pretty well, but I find that far too nerve-wracking.     The cheeks on my helmet are sintra with fiberglass reinforcement inside, and apoxie sculpt smoothing the epoxy join to the face.  If that part can be done with sintra, I'm not sure what couldn't be (so long as you're careful and patient).  If you need a really sharp angle, try scoring the sintra (did some of that on my armor), or just joining two pieces.  Just do yourself a favor and don't make your own dome.  That way lies madness.   

[Verco Nuhla]

Excellent advice Pax, I'm looking at a Sintra scratchbuild myself so that'll come in handy for me too. One of the things I found was an old crash helmet that looked something like this:



The one I found didn't have ear covers and it had a broken visor with swiveling clips, but essentially the same very Mandalorian dome shape. I intend to build the rest of the bucket with Sintra and connect the two using cement or fiberglass, that may be something you want to look into if you need a dome for a Sintra build.

I definitely also like the idea of combining the Night Owl face with the Fett cheeks, something about the Night Owl cheeks has always bothered me anyways... They always looked a little too long and angular, in my (very humble) opinion  Hope the build works out!

[Draceline]

I finally got ink for my printer and have since been working on my helmet. For now, I went with the normal paper Pepakura version of the Night Owl I posted at the beginning of the thread. I used card stock and Turbo Tacky Glue.

This was in progress.


And finished!




Sadly, once I finished it, I found that it was a little bit too small. I could manage to get it onto my head, but ONLY if I took my glasses off and had my hair hanging loose. That...can't happen...my vision will be impaired enough by the bucket. I can't go without my glasses.

Also, even with the glasses off and my hair down, my nose was squashed up against the visor. No. The dimensions of this helmet are wrong.

Happily, one of my clanmates wanted one of these. Therefore, this one shall go to him.

So I'm printing a new version, scaled up slightly. If that doesn't work, I'm going to go with a different helmet. Maybe I'll print one of the pep files Bowfanny sent me.

[TrooperJasher]

In my experience, there aren't many prefab helmets that have enough room for glasses... the only helmet I've been able to get on with my hair up is a Halo one... As for fiberglass and resin, it's pretty easy, just take a little bit at a time, or try using a polyurethane resin instead of polyester.

On a side note, that is an extremely clean pepped helmet you have, shame it's too small

[Bowfanny]

It's a beauty of a pep job. When I first started making my pre vizsla helmet I actually made it so that it would fit me with the ponytail I had at the time. I've since had it cut off and it's got a little wiggle room. Can't wait to see the next pep masterpiece you do!

[Fenris Claddanna]

A suggestion for helmets and glasses: I also wear glasses and thought I couldn't wear them under my bucket(Target Boba). What I found out, though, is the main reason for this is the cheek indents don't provide enough clearance, if the helmet is put on straight(visor to the front). If I rotate the bucket ninety degrees to either side(visor on the left or right), slide it on, and then rotate it back to normal orientation, my glasses fit underneath. Granted, the visor does push on them a hair, but that's because of the style of glasses I have. Perhaps this is worth a shot? If you've ever seen a Stormtrooper put their helmet on, it's the exact same process.

Regardless, that is a nice pep build, and I look forward to seeing your progress.