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[Callista Gseran]

OK, so I'm working with a Jango 2 piece.


And here it is apart.....


The new visor....an 8x15.5" Green Grinding Shield from Ace.


Some damage I noticed when I took the helmet apart. I'll be fixing this by reinforcing behind it and then epoxying the crack and then epoxying the earcap over it.



I cut out the visor last night using a drywall knife... first time ever cutting out something that way... and it came out pretty good. Here, I've removed the protective film so you get a better feel for how it will look.




And a test inside the buy'ce.... I know it doesn't fit just right. You'll see why in a minute. The protective film is still on in these pics.



Helmet after a hand sanding.


And the inside..... See those little posts? There are holes drilled through the current visor to fit over the posts.... I'm wondering if I should drill holes in the new one or sand them down...

[Slade Kel]

It'll save you a world of trouble to just sand the little nubs off. A dremel is probably the easiest way,but you can cut them off with a razor knife and sand them by hand if you don't have one.

[Callista Gseran]

Thanks Slade. I have a good razor knife (for drywall). I can do that this week. Don't have a dremel, so hand sanding it is....hooray The plus side to that though, is i'm having to take my time, so I can have more time to get the details. Really glad I noticed that crack when I did.

[Slade Kel]

I've done it the razorknife and hand-sanding way, and while tedious, it gets the job done . As for the crack, your plannned fix should be just fine, assuming the earcap covers it all the way. If it doesn't, you can either use a little bit of bondo, or you could even cover the top with a thin layer of some kind of epoxy, then after painting, hit the epoxy with silver so it looks like a weld point. I've done that from time to time, if done right, it adds a nice little battle damage flare.

[Callista Gseran]

The earcap only covers about half of it... so looks like I'll be doing the second option

EDIT: I did some hand sanding of the nubs after hacking them out with my drywall knife....




Also a test fit of the visor I cut (still has the film on it)....




I think it turned out pretty well The visor isn't in there permanently yet, this was just a test fit Hence the tape....

[Dar'manda]

Just make sure when you glue it in that you try to keep the distance between the mandibles the same from top to bottom so the visor doesn't taper inward or outward too much near the bottom.  Of course, visor comes after paint, so can't see what the paint apps look like!  Keep up the good work!

[A'den Naas]

What color are you planing to paint it?
Visor looks good so far.

[Callista Gseran]

paint concept

I borrowed the image from the WOF templates on TDH

[Slade Kel]

Looks straightforward enough . As for the posting issue, at certain times of day server traffic gets high enough to bog things down a bit. It usually just means you have to be patient and/or persistent. Eventually it gets through .

[Dar'kumn Vol]

Looking pretty solid ther kiddo. Remember, timeis your friend. Don't get in a hurry and this will turn out great. What are you using to seam the two halves together? 

I'm partcial to 5 minute epoxy. Put it on the edges, put the helm together, slather on both sides and sand til smooth. Worked greAat on my last one.

[Callista Gseran]

Thanks, Dar'kumn I've got epoxy..... plus I'm thinking to try an experiment that Spanner suggested instead of bondo to even out the dome (its an uneven match along the seam). Microballoons and fiberglass resin, which will make it lighter than if bondo was used, but still achieve the same result

[IronMando]

I think you should add some scallops like you did to the rest of your kit.

[Callista Gseran]

I was thinking that, but not sure how to incorporate them on the bucket yet.. which I tried to say in one of the many times I'd tried to post the scheme

[Saz]

I would suggest that you take each step one at a time.

1. Glue the bucket together (but not the earcaps)
2. Some like to fiberglass the inside of the bucket to hel keep the shape.
3. Give the crack a quick sanding (this will even out a few disparities and gives whatever you use to smooth it out with something to bite onto).
4. Put your filler (be it bondo or whatever) on in small amounts.
5. Build up filler and/or sand in small amounts as you go, it will help you keep smooth.

The one thing you need not do is cram loads on, unless you have a mouse sander, which, with a fresh sanding pad should make short work of any bondo.

Just remember bondo does clog any sandpaper and will wear it out pretty quickly.

[Callista Gseran]

thanks Saz! That list of steps should help a lot. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself here

[Slade Kel]

4. Put your filler (be it bondo or whatever) on in small amounts.
5. Build up filler and/or sand in small amounts as you go, it will help you keep smooth.

The one thing you need not do is cram loads on, unless you have a mouse sander, which, with a fresh sanding pad should make short work of any bondo.

Just remember bondo does clog any sandpaper and will wear it out pretty quickly.

All good points, but I cannot stress the ones quoted above enough. The main mistake most folks make when modding a 2pc into usefulness is too much bondo/other-auto-filler. Some of them literally end up spending weeks sanding, usually because they're doing so by hand, but even with power sanders it sucks. I used too much myself the first time I modded a 2pc with bondo; spent hours with my mouse sander, it was terribly tedious.

[Bare Col'Mera]

Speaking of steps, I posted a step-by-step tutorial for turning a 2-piece into an acceptable piece of kit.  I can email it to you if you like.

[Callista Gseran]

Please DO. I sent you a PM

[Callista Gseran]

Ok..... here's my first go at the helmet.... .I tried very hard to keep the layers thin.

 Helmet epoxied before I started


Mixed Resin and microballoons!


First portion of the resin mix


Dome is fully covered now


First Sanding...


Reinforcing the ear seams.....

[Spanner Murraan]

You know my stance all ready.

[Harro_Jorir'gal]

Just a heas-up, I will be bringing some hobby files to the AP so you can use those to clean op the spatter and edging.

[Callista Gseran]

Yep, I do

Thanks Harro.

[Slade Kel]

It's kind of late now...but there's really no need to cover the entire dome with bondo. All you really needed to do was cover the seam, and extend it maybe two inches to either side, to give yourself enough room to smooth it so that there wouldn't be a noticeable line.

Still, it looks like you put thin, smooth enough coats that you shouldn't have much trouble; it already looks fairly smooth going by the pictures.

[Jeivis Kotep Messerno]

It's kind of late now...but there's really no need to cover the entire dome with bondo. All you really needed to do was cover the seam, and extend it maybe two inches to either side, to give yourself enough room to smooth it so that there wouldn't be a noticeable line.

Still, it looks like you put thin, smooth enough coats that you shouldn't have much trouble; it already looks fairly smooth going by the pictures.

Ditto. The whole covering the dome was really not going to work at all for me. If you can pull it off, I give you props.

[Spanner Murraan]

Dont worry, Slade.  Ill get her squared away today.