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[Havelock]

Part of the bucket.  That's my vote.   

[GardenGeek]

I agree, definitely part of the helmet (now I know the details!). I think the side and back montrals should be covered as well at the top, and then the rest of the Montral should have  segmented armor. Doesn't make sense for the top pieces to be bare and the rest covered.

[Mercy]

Well, the tail and lekku will definitely be armored down to the neck, but for practical reasons (that is, being able to turn my head) the parts below the neck have to be  bare with maybe some small decorative plates.

I'm going to start mocking up the rest of the helm in cardstock tonight. If it comes out good I'll probably resin it over. Sintra doesn't seem to like compound curves.

[Jorad Werde]

No, compound curves are very difficult in Sintra

[Kavryn Falco]

Commenting so I get updates

Gotta say, this is one of the most complex helmets I've seen anyone attempt here, but I'm rooting for you

[Mercy]

OK, I have a rough paper mockup done, but realized I'm out of sintra, so about a week til I can do any more building.

Also have a concern that I need to deal with...this thing weighs a ton! It's already about 6 1/2 pounds. comparable to a tournament grade steel bucket helm. I really don't want to add any more heavy bondo/epoxy/whatever, so I had to rethink a few things.

I also wanted to give more of a sense that it wasn't just a funky helmet...there is an alien in there. So this design should give the viewer a peek at whats underneath.

The plan is to first attach the naked lekku to the sides, from where the connect with the horns on down, then armor over it.
The gaps below the horns are a peekaboo hole to see the flesh underneath. These armored sides would be two segments (see the curved line near the bottom) and will give the detachable look. The lekku below the shoulders would hang bare with maybe some small decorative plates and maybe a dangly bit on the tip.





The backside for the tail gets a treatment too, but I'm not 100% happy with how this is right now. The idea will stay, but I'll probably re-work the specifics.



I hope the pictures put across the idea I'm working towards. Not sure if they do, but the mockup has most of it cemented in my brain now.
Just waiting on materials.

Thanks for your input

[Natan Vizsla]

If it gets any heavier I would try doing resin casting of it. It will make it much more spacious and lightweight since the montrals will be hollow as well as the space for the lekku. Then just reinforce the hollow sections to add strength. Talk to a helmet expert about that since I am just spitballing here.

[Bowfanny]

Well, I'm no expert but my enthusiasm is directed more towards helmet building than anything else, and I do agree with Natan on casting the Montrals to make hollow forms so that they are lighter weight.

[Mercy]

I'd love to cast the thing, but I haven't a clue how to do it

The montrals are only maybe a pound a piece...they're hollow, filled with poly batting, and then covered in apoxie sculpt.
I think a lot of the weight is the bucket itself. It was a butchered HBF, and I fiberglassed the heck out of it... overkill on the resin.

Do any of you know what's involved in a full helmet casting? Is it something that a muppet can do on the first try? Materials? Tools?

[Bowfanny]

I'd love to cast the thing, but I haven't a clue how to do it

The montrals are only maybe a pound a piece...they're hollow, filled with poly batting, and then covered in apoxie sculpt.
I think a lot of the weight is the bucket itself. It was a butchered HBF, and I fiberglassed the heck out of it... overkill on the resin.

Do any of you know what's involved in a full helmet casting? Is it something that a muppet can do on the first try? Materials? Tools?

Casting is not an easy process for the beginner but it's doable; however, it's not a cheep process. The silicone alone costs roughly $200 and then there's the cost of resin to cast it, and the little stuff like non sulphur clay so the mould can set properly. And whatever is used for the mother mould(the hard shell that keeps things from warping) my personal opinion would be a two part mould that leaves a seam line. And to rotocast the thing. There are companies that can do it for you but they charge you to do it. I've done one helmet, I'll be redoing that helmet mould a second time because of my lack of patience the first time!

[Mercy]

Meh...

My learning style involves screwing up and starting over a few times...this would be an expensive lesson...
I'll just have to exercise the old neck muscles

[Bowfanny]

Meh...

My learning style involves screwing up and starting over a few times...this would be an expensive lesson...
I'll just have to exercise the old neck muscles

If you don't mind Vod I'd enjoy mimicking your helmet here in the near future on a J2P build I'm doing(1 of 5 anyways)

[Adenn Kyram]

You can do a cheap and dirty one time mold with silicone caulking and or plaster.  It isn't pretty but it'll make a single pull maybe two. Cast in fiberglass for price and weight.  Just an idea. Good luck and nice bucket.

[Bowfanny]

You can do a cheap and dirty one time mold with silicone caulking and or plaster.  It isn't pretty but it'll make a single pull maybe two. Cast in fiberglass for price and weight.  Just an idea. Good luck and nice bucket.

I've tried the silicon caulk method, my results were not pleasing to say the least. Moral of the story is use mold release before applying silicon caulking, don't use dollar store clay as it has sulfers in it, and make it a two part separating mould because the caulking mold is not stretchy at all. It'll still run you around $25-$50 for materials and the plaster can be put over the top to act as a mother mould and works just fine!

[Laaran Kar'ta]

i think your design is genius vod! I can't wait to see what else you do....I'm afraid I don't know the proper names for the..."tenticles"? but are they going to be soft or more solid? I was thinking you could put your poly batting inside a nylon stocking to help with texture.

[Mercy]

i think your design is genius vod! I can't wait to see what else you do....I'm afraid I don't know the proper names for the..."tenticles"? but are they going to be soft or more solid? I was thinking you could put your poly batting inside a nylon stocking to help with texture.

Yes the lekku (tentacles) and tail will be flexible. I used poly fill to shape the horns before I epoxied them, and it worked well.
Right now my stand-in lekku are sheet foam rolled in a pair of cloth tights/leggings/whatever women call them, but they don't have the natural movement I'm looking for, so stuffing them with poly fill is the next approach I plan to try.

[Laaran Kar'ta]

Try the stockings. I've seen them used before and they really give that "natural" feel. Buy some like Leggs to test out on lol

[GardenGeek]

Looking great I'm very much liking how your idea is coming together

[Jorad Werde]

This is coming along real nice.  I love obviously non-human mando builds. 

[Zor Rax]

This is a really intriguing build, must say it looks awesome so far! Really curious to see how it pans out via alien. Really cool that its Asoka based. Having just read some of the darth vader comics and seeing another spin on Mandalorian - this character you are creating seems spot on with how TFA seems to be heading as far as coolness and originality. Kudos.

[Mercy]

Phew, this has been a long day of mando-making!
Sintra came in today, so was working on the helmet.

I wanted to take on a very ambitious design for my first build, and now I'm paying for it in time and trial and error
Building this helmet is tricky enough, but to get the symmetry and shape just perfect to satisfy my OCD has been a HUUUUGE challenge.

Armor for the head tail should be easier...there's no left/right to deal with. Then comes the sanding, mounting of new parts, and figuring a way to blend the lekku into the (bottom of) the horns.






The last big detail to begin thinking about is how to incorporate Akul-tooth jewelry. Normally for Togruta it is a headdress, but I'm not sure that's the way to go on this build. Or maybe it is...

I'm putting this out to the community...let's hear your ideas!

Thanks

[Naasad Tal]

I seriously can't wait to see this bucket done! as far as the jewelry goes, you could easily just hang it on your bucket, I've seen a couple folks hang padawan braids & other trophies from their ear caps & you could do the same thing.

[IWantToBelieve]

It's looking really good so far! I can't wait to see the Lekku and after it's painted. Are you going to give the helmet the red skin accented with the white markings? Also, the only place I can think of to put the Akul-tooth jewelry would be across the brow, maybe? Or around the cheek bones to make it look like actual teeth? Can't wait to see more progress!

[Mercy]

The helmet and lekku will get the same paint scheme you see in my avatar.

I'm doing the red base, though not bright red like you normally see, and the markings will be Ahsoka Tano orange.

Ed: btw, I decided that the only way to do the markings on the helmet and lekku the way I imagine it would be to use an airbrush. I've never used one, but I ordered it up on Amazon last night. Looks like I'll be learning myself a new skill

[IWantToBelieve]

Ah, nice color choice! I was contemplating going a dark brownish read, like Season 2 Sabine, but chose Brown and Green for the more earthy palette! Can't wait to see it all colored up. And yeah, only idea I have for the jewelery is across the brown pointing up, or on the mandibles/cheeks, looking like real teeth.