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[Bratus Vehr]

At first my helmet had a few gaps in it.  Now it's a veritable hodge-podge of toicgraphical imperfections that will never come out.  This is after 5 layers of bondo and about a straight hour of sanding with 220 grit:







I must me missing something big, and until I figure out what I'm going wrong I'm going to stop working on it.  I really don't like the idea of all my work for the past months ruined because of this stuff.  Should I not be using sandpaper?  Should I not be using bondo?  Please help!!!

[null]

Hey Bratus

sanding with 220 grit:

Are you using only 220 grit? I've found it much better to use a progression of a few different abrasive grades
ex. 100 grit --> 120 grit --> 200 grit  --> 220 grit

about a straight hour of sanding

Are you using a power sander or are you going by hand? If your going by hand it's gonna take a bit more time than that  .

I really don't like the idea of all my work for the past months ruined because of this stuff

Don't give up man, you've put too much work into it for that! Looking forward to seeing more!

- Null

[seugtai]

Yeah, you need to pull out the course grit to begin with, I start with 60-grit to get it smoothed out to my liking then I progress up to the finer grits to give it that glass like feel. I tend to be covered in a pinkish dust if that tells you anything. 

Looks like you could fill in some more with some bondo where the plastic helmet meets the metal. Looks like it dips a bit there. Just mix up a small amount, golf ball sized and spread a thin layer to fill in those gaps. Make sure your keeping a steady pressure when smoothing out the bondo, a nice light touch.  If you can do that you should end up with a pretty level surface that needs only minimal sanding to even it all out.

I agree with null, don't give up, you'll get it! You've made great progress so far, I'd hate to see this project fall to the waist side.

[Bratus Vehr]

Thanks for the reassurance.  I think i just need more bondo and more sanding.

I use 100grit and then step up to 220 so i think I'm ok there.  And I agree, there's a dip that needs to be built up where the aluminum meets the plastic.
I guess I'll keep at it.  I've had a little more luck using some materials with more give than my metal putty knife.  And I'm most definitely covered in pink dust!

Thanks again, stay tuned...

[Bratus Vehr]

Well I've been off for a week due to an injury.  Had to get 15 stitches in my left hand, but at least it'll make for a nice battle scar.

I've been sanding like a madman with my good hand all week, though, and this bondo is starting to bend a little more to my whims.






(forced perspective makes this one look kind of lop-sided and top-heavy but it isn't)

May not look pretty, but those bondo'd areas are smooth as a baby's bottom.  The top right (left if looking at it head on) part of the vent needs a little work, but that's due to a discrepancy in the metal cut, not the bondo.  I may just cut into it and leave a noticeable bit of battle-damage if the bondo can't build up right.  There are just a few more areas of sanding and I should be ready to prime this tomorrow.  After that I'm sure more imperfections will show themselves, but at least the helmet will look as one piece.
Anything I should know before I continue?

[seugtai]

Yep I think you've got bondoing in the bag, excellent job. Prime away.

[Bratus Vehr]

Some pictures of the prime.  There are some imperfections in the areas that were bondo'd.  Will these be smoothed out a little more when I paint the helmet or should i sand them down and start over on them?







Eventually there will be an antenna array over the left ear, extra trim around the visor, and a halo track that can be seen in my original drawings, but I really wanted to see how this looked.  Any tips?
Thanks again for all the help so far!  Stay tuned...

[Captnrex]

looking good, keep it up!

[Hagen Nor'ak]

I wouldn't worry about the bondo, just treat it as pre planned area's for battle damage. But depending on how many layers of paint you use, it should even out the look a bit. You can always go back and start with a 220 grit and work up to a wet sand, I don't really see the need for it though.

Have a good one,
Hagen

[Bratus Vehr]

Spent some time working on my modified keyhole today.  It's got a few 1/4" holes for 1/8" audio jacks that will be hooked up to my headset (in AND out) so I can wire something into or out of my helmet at a later date (I'm thinking some type of radio receiver).  Other than that there's a big ol' hole for a Star Wars-looking computer terminal hookup or perhaps some circuit board, and some louvers to look cool and accentuate the fan I'll be putting behind the whole thing.





The helmet's backside is riddled with imperfections and there's still an obvious dip where the aluminum meets the biker helmet (a problem with the fact that I used joining pieces coming down from the inside of the helmet to attach the mask to).  I'll be putting one of the halo tracks at this area so it's a lot less noticeable, and as for the bumps, after I get done with a second prime, I'll probably bondo anything that still needs it, but I'm not too worried.  Should I be?  As always, your help is much appreciated.
Stay tuned...

[Hagen Nor'ak]

As much of a pain as bondo can be to sand, you do always have the ability to clean it up till your satisfied with it. Just means you and your sander with get ALOT of quality time with each other worse comes to worse.

Have a good one,
Hagen

[Bratus Vehr]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the 3 months with no updates.  Life got pretty hectic there for a while, but I've always tried to keep up with the site.  I've been getting back to work on the helmet too.  Almost ready to paint it, just getting anal about some details.

OK So i had been working on the concentric discs for the antenna array and I hit a creative slump.  I went into my basement to scrounge for things to use and found an old broken architect's T:



here's how it looked like after a bit of work:



I also installed a top antenna more for long-ranged short wave communictions:



It's just a piece of solder wire.  I've also been scrounging fittings together for my breathing tubes, which will actually be filled with electrical leads for my bucket's tech.  I found this:



It's kind of long, and I'm thinking about having just one breathing tube and leaving this there as a sort-of oxygen scrubber or similar device, but I can always add a tube to it later so that's up in the air.
Now I was about ready to prime again after doing plenty of sanding on some of the parts the old prime showed as flawed, but the top mohawk vent keeps breaking (probably because I keep accidentally picking the helmet up by it and it's only a thin bondo structure) so I had to duct tape it and re-bondo.  I'll have to sand and do another coat in a day or so, but here's that:



Well at least I'm back on the horse.  I haven't had too much time to peruse all the posts (I'll get on that now), but if there's any new crusader-era kits you guys would recommend I look at keep me informed.  Until then...

[Adan Ordo]

Looks pretty good

[Adan Ordo]

Good very good

[Bratus Vehr]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of work.  I'm sure most of you thought this build was dead.  Well I think I just needed something to kick me in the butt!  Life hit me pretty hard this winter and I'm just now getting back on my feet.  Without further ado, here are some updates.

First, my work on my halo-tracks is pretty much done.  Lots and lots of sanding has made these things squeaky smooth:






Also, as you can see, I've got my visor trim up and running.

After that, I figured I've spent too long obsessing over small details, so I hit the whole shebang up with a light prime.  I figure, even if it's a big premature, having a finished bucket will motivate me the rest of the way!











And, last but not least, some concept art for the rest of my iron.  Keep in mind, I'm going for demolitions specialist so I'll probably go with a white and red color scheme with some gold accents.  Kind of a 'warning: don't stand near this guy, he blows stuff up' thing.  I've got some extra armor around the neck in honor of Earth-based bomb squads.  Otherwise, I play around a bit with asymmetry and lots of tubes.  Some of the suit is reminiscent of the style of Mandalore the Vindicated, but I've tried not to make any inspiration too blatant in my design.  Let me know what you think.

[Ghostwalker]

any progress on this?
the way you've been cooking this might be nearly done done in the 4 months since the last update. 

[Bratus Vehr]

Heilsa everyone,

Man it's been a while!  I've been through a lot in the old life-erino, but I'm back in the saddle on this build.  Sorry for the seeming necro-post, but rest assured that I am still working!

So, I realized that I was getting a little intimidated by the body armor, so I just said 'screw that!' and dove right in.  I bought some sheet steel and started working on the breast plates and ab-plate.  Here's what I've got so far:

Me working on the folds in the plates:




A pic of the plates over my flight suit:



The belt was added to give you an idea of where my girth belt would be.
Notice the respirator unit in the middle: I'm heading to a local electronics shop tomorrow to get some ICs to make that little box have some cycling LEDs.  It will also have air-hose hook-ups and valves as per my design drawings.  More pics of that after I start working on it.
It looks like the breast plates are a little big, but I don't know: I am going for heavy armor and the mobility is good in them.  What do you all think?

Also, While taking apart a microphone/headset for the inside of my bucket, I salvaged some cool parts:



I think the spring steel will work nicely as an accent to my otherwise-bondo-heavy halo tracks.  What do you think:



Well I thank all of you for sticking with me on this build.  It looks like the Mercs have grown quite a bit since my last activity.  Hopefully I can be a part of some future growth!

BONUS:
One of the main things I'm struggling with is my color scheme.  I think a nice deep red would look good on the olive flight suit I have, but I don't know what else.  I spent some time working on a new version of my design drawing.  Perhaps some of you more experienced builders can hit it with some paint buckets and toss me an idea or two.  I'd sure appreciate it.

[Kane Friax]

This is looking EPIC! keep it up!

-Kane

[Bratus Vehr]

@ Kane:  Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.  I need it.

Well I got kind of sick of my boring 'T' visor hole.  Also, it being so thin and so low made the forehead look even bigger than it already is.  The helmet already looks a little top heavy, so I made the visor a bit bigger, bringing it all the way up to the halo tracks:


   

While I was at it, I thought I'd mimic the shape of the mohawk base lower in the visor.  After some drimmeling and a quick fabrication of some new accents (they were some challenging little pieces of metal) I have this:



Will this present any CRL problems?

As you can see, I have left out the accents on top (in between the halo tracks and the mohawk base).  I have a question: do you think I should cut the visor up to the top of the halo tracks or leave it flush with the bottom of the halo tracks?  Here's what I'm talking about:

   

Which one looks better?
Also, as promised, here is the progress on the respirator.  I'm still studying up on my electronics before I install the circuit board for the cycling lights.  I basically want to make a 3-LED chaser circuit.  Anyone have any tips on this?

   

And, last but not least, here are two proposed color schemes.  Please let me know what you think.  I'm leaning towards the desert / earth tones one.

   

Next on the agenda is to chrome out my bucket once I get the accents all done up.  I've got the paint already.

As always, your input is appreciated!!

[Kane Friax]

Whoa

just keeps gettin better!

i'm partial to the dessert option myself.

-Kane

[Bratus Vehr]

A few progress reports:

I have really been obsessing over small details on my helmet.  I would like to move on, but something is driving me to finish it first.
I made a steel housing for a small 50mm fan I got for air intake into the bucket and stuck it out the back of my helmet.

 



While we are back there, let me show you the piece of board I have set to go into my keyhole:



I also worked a bit on getting the chaser circuit for my respirator unit up and running.  It works just fine on the testboard, now I just need to transfer it to perferated board.  This little guy cycles through the three LEDs (green, oj, and red) in a binary count from 0 to 5.  That looks kinda like this:
. . .      * . .         . * .        * * .        . . *
The cycle executes in about 2.5 seconds, so it looks pretty snazzy.  Here is a picture of the breadboard in action:



The capacitor is from an old DVD player, and some of the LEDs and resistors are from an old keyboard I had (they were the caps lock and num lock lights).

My other little project has been my rebreather.  I cut holes every inch or so on the outside and installed some LEDs in it to give it a little more depth.  I coated some of the parts with aluminum foil so the light would reflect better.







I need to order a visor insert.  Does anyone know where to get these (i mean industrial ones, not the t-visor.com ones).  The next step is finding the colors I want and painting my bucket.  It's pretty close to done (electronics aside).