Boba fett helmet pep build (my first build) WIP still...

terra1 said:

---

hey again rosskow

bondo should be dry enough to sand after 20 mins sometimes less, it sounds like you didn't add enough hardener.

does it crumble off easy? if so id probably try pick it all off and start fresh.

the mix ratio stated on the tin is not very helpfull, i made this little diagram to show how i mix.

the more hardener you use the faster it will turn, be generous with it and if it seems to set to quick just add less next mix batch.

id suggest waiting for a bit before you try picking it all off incase someone else has a better suggestion.

The fact that use use Actual size with out knowing the persons screen resolution and screen size makes me laugh a little. I'm envisioning a 24" monitor at 800x600 with this HUGE amount of bondo spread across it.

It you can just rub it off then I think you need to start over with a new batch. Terra1's diagram is accurate, at least that's how I do mine. If you didn't already do this, before you bondo it, lightly sand your entire helmet so the bondo will stick better.

alright wiseguy! even if the screen's resolution dictates the diagram's size the ratio remain's the same

MiDri said:

---

The fact that use use Actual size with out knowing the persons screen resolution and screen size makes me laugh a little. I'm envisioning a 24" monitor at 800x600 with this HUGE amount of bondo spread across it.

rosskow said:

---

i dont know quite how to take the "looks like a cake i made at the weekend! lol..." comment hooper, i'll take it as a compliment cause i love me a bit of cake

sorry mate, it was meant in a light hearted many and no offence3 was intended......it just looks like the icing on the cake I made!

plus, if your budget can spread to it...a black and decker mouse sander tales a heck of a lot of effort out of the job.

On the bondo/hardener side, I usually go for a golf ball size lump of bondo to a pea size of hardener...seems to have done me ok so far

well after cutting and hacking at the crumbly/tacky bondo i got most of it off, the, it was mainly the left cheek and the back that was suffering from my poor workmanship.

i think i've got the majority of it sorted out though. as i've been sanding it i didnt feel i did much at all untill i looked at the previous pictures i had of it from the morning, so...

day 7

started off with cutting at it with a knife, peeling it like an apple to get all the soft bits. it wasn't really soft, but i will defonetly need to change my ratio looking at your diagram terra1, thank you for that, your right about the instruction on the tin, bloody awful




tried give a bit of shape the ear bit and cheek on the right side


still need to tackle the left cheek and ear


even though my bondo-ing was a rather big fail! im still hapyp with how its going, got to stay optimistic

thank you for your help and advice everyone

hooper said:

---

sorry mate, it was meant in a light hearted many and no offence3 was intended......it just looks like the icing on the cake I made!

plus, if your budget can spread to it...a black and decker mouse sander tales a heck of a lot of effort out of the job.

On the bondo/hardener side, I usually go for a golf ball size lump of bondo to a pea size of hardener...seems to have done me ok so far

forget about it, i thought it looks more like butter cream poorly spread out though, when i looked at it, it reminded me of a cake i made

hopefully the help from you and other will help me when i add some more bondo either tomorrow or the day after, the sanding is really tiring and takes a lengthy time

+1 on the Black and Decker mouse sander! That thing makes sanding a TON easier and it is small enough that you can get into the little details. I got mine for $30 at Lowes.

got mine in the UK for a shade under £30

Rosskow, I'm not sure what you have for filler brands across the pond there...but the actual Bondo brand here also makes little plastic spreaders that are, conveniently, the exact same color as properly mixed Bondo should be. If your brand has something similar, it's an excellent gauge as to how good your mix is.

I've got to find a milliput equivalent over here.

Rick Hanson said:

---

Rosskow, I'm not sure what you have for filler brands across the pond there...but the actual Bondo brand here also makes little plastic spreaders that are, conveniently, the exact same color as properly mixed Bondo should be. If your brand has something similar, it's an excellent gauge as to how good your mix is.

i bloody wish, that would make mixing it up a hell of a lot easier. im still working on getting the perfect mix, hopefully without too many disasters

day 8

only a small update, tore pretty much the whole of the right cheek off, since it was like a dogs back-side, have to re-do that at a later date


sanded down the dome more and added some filler, think i for the ratio correct this time, feel tougher after half an hour than the right cheek did after 36 hours.

went on alot smoother this time as well, an old credit card works wonders along with the correctly mixed filler, great advice, thank you


i sense alot of sanding down in my future

that looks a lot smoother mate, sure makes a big difference when it comes to sanding , you'll soon find that you don't even need to think about how much hardener your adding.

got some old cards in my drawer might give that trick a try in a minute (when i've got a quick 2 hr session )

yip filler looking loads better! hows it feeling now? it set nicely?

day 9

more sanding and smoothing and adding more filler to sand and smooth



still to smooth out some imperfection on the dome (the shaded areas needed some blucking up that i added before the end of the day)

day 10

used some thinner filler to plug the little gaps


next, try to figure out how to sort this mess out, neatly and accurately


after using nothing but credit cards, timber cut offs as sanding blocks and the sand paper its self i then spent the next 5 hours of my built using an electric and normal planer, a circular saw, belt sander, disc sander, sand paper on its own, and a tennon saw, and a few more manual and electrical tools and came out with this...



going need to figure out the different levels/thickness on the helmet before i hack off the ears and implant my new MDF ones, but should pay off in the end with a cleaner and sharper finish... or so i think

happy building everyone!

getting there mate, can see it's starting to come together now.

there's times when it feels like you're getting nowhere....then it all starts to come together in abundance

stick at it, it'll be worth it

Any updates on this? How did that MDF work out?

not really got much done in last couple of days, been slow progress.

after getting my "ears" made up i set to getting a clean/smooth finish to start the ridge/lip/frown that goes all the way around the helmet.

got it all smoothed out and ready to have an attempt to putting a frown around it.

i've got an idea of how to do it on but not too sure how it'll work out, might have picture update tonight, more than likely be tomorrow though.

almost had my ridge around the helmet finished off, put on last filler layer and then thought i'd go make my dinner, leaving it outside to dry and keep it from making my house stink. sit down with my dinner 40 minutes later and look outside and its raining/heavy. so now my helmet got covered in water will this mess with it and cause problems? if anyone read this and can help me with any know-how or advice please do so.

still can't believe i left it outside :/

ooo sorry to hear that mate

while i was wet sanding mine water soaked through from the inside to the paper pepakura, i noticed a hairline crack on the outer surface the next day, not sure if the paper had swollen up.

if your bondo is thick enough it should be fine, my crack was at a very thin patch where i must have nearly sanded through the resin layer.

rosskow said:

---

almost had my ridge around the helmet finished off, put on last filler layer and then thought i'd go make my dinner, leaving it outside to dry and keep it from making my house stink. sit down with my dinner 40 minutes later and look outside and its raining/heavy. so now my helmet got covered in water will this mess with it and cause problems? if anyone read this and can help me with any know-how or advice please do so.

still can't believe i left it outside :/

you should still be good.. though the body filler may have soaked up some of the water. give it time to dry out some and then go at it again with your favorite method of sanding...

One tip for future pepakura builds , Work on one section of the helmet at a time.

terra1 said:

---

ooo sorry to hear that mate

while i was wet sanding mine water soaked through from the inside to the paper pepakura, i noticed a hairline crack on the outer surface the next day, not sure if the paper had swollen up.

if your bondo is thick enough it should be fine, my crack was at a very thin patch where i must have nearly sanded through the resin layer.

twistedxknights said:

---

you should still be good.. though the body filler may have soaked up some of the water. give it time to dry out some and then go at it again with your favorite method of sanding...

One tip for future pepakura builds , Work on one section of the helmet at a time.

well the inside of my helmet was pretty much bone dry, couldn't really see or feel any water , with the cool/cold feeling from the rain water giving it a chill. i've had it in the airing cupboard for couple of hours, had a look at it, seemed okay but im not about it give it the all clear just yet.

thank you for the reassuring and comforting words, helps puts my mind at ease a little

well for anyone out there still looking at this build i have a rather small update considering the time i've been away building

well it came to doing the ridge around the helmet and i wasn't too sure what to use as a base to add filler to so i first looked around the house and couldn't find anything. went to DIY store to find something, i found something like a plastic/rubber seal the perfect width and thickness but for the price it wasn't worth it.

being the cheap and stuborn person i am i decided to use some corrugated card board and cut to size/shape and glue it in place. adding a small amount of filler because i figured this method wasn't going to work anyway. was going to sand it but realised the card could just be squashed because of the gaps, as it was corrugated. rip that off.

got some thinner card, and double it up, had a nightmare lining it up and sticking in place. threw some filler on it, sanded it, more filler, sanded it, more filler and so on and so on until about 4 days after first putting on the card on i have got to this point shown below.


badly drawn star wars logo done during a rainy after noon




the back need alot of attention thats the second thing of my now "to-do" list after the 'ears'

i have added another bit of filler to certain parts of the ridge after taking this pictures as i wasn't happy with some of it as im anal retentive

thoughts, advice, questions, constructive criticism?

I think it is looking pretty good. Getting that detail back into it after all the filler is where the work is at. I need to work on mine some more, I set it down for a couple weeks and I think it's time to get back to it. Looks like you have some sanding in your future.

I'm also assuming that you didn't have too much trouble with your water scare?