Steampunk Ironman Helmet WIP - 5/3 pics of LordGaga's Build!

So would this be Steam-Iron man?

clonesix said:

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So would this be Steam-Iron man?

Which, if left unattended, would become Rust-Man.

Ok, it has OFFICIALLY begun! Digitizit and I will be working on building the helmet element of this costume.

Before I get started, I need to thank Johnnymuffintop for providing a pep file for the helmet. It's low-poly and pretty basic, but it helps out a BUNCH to have that as a resource. Johnny posted the link in the first page, but I'll post it again HERE in case you still need it.

That pep looks roughly like this...


And while I intend to use this as a basis for the general shape of the faceplate build, I thought a pre-padded, pre-fitted helmet would serve us well as the base for the helmet's dome.

Digitizit picked up a helmet that 'almost' fits his massive cranium (24"), and we are off to the races!


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As background, Digitizit and I both live in Knoxville, TN. We live ~10 minutes away from each other and both of us have wives, kids, jobs and at least two other side projects going at any one time. So this work, like some of my other stuff, will have to fit around our very busy schedules - that's just a disclaimer.

Part of that schedule is my family's upcoming vacation to FL to visit my folks (and play in their pool). And since I can't take Digitizit's HEAD with me to Florida, I asked if we could create a model of it this weekend for me to have.

Being a clever guy, Digitizit quickly offered to (bravely) allow me to create a duct tape mold of his head.

If any of his neighbors end up asking about this first picture, please assure them that it was 'all very innocent'.




After (bravely) letting me cut him out of that with an Exacto knife, we taped it back together and prepared to cast it.


At this point, I have to credit Digitizit for all the specific know-how. Cause rather than just 'stuffing' this (like I did for Mikey's mannequin) he offered to cast it with 10lb 2-part expanding foam.



I was VERY impressed with this stuff and am looking forward to inventing another reason to use it! If you haven't seen how this stuff works, here's a quick video of it expanding (extra commentary provided by 1yr old Digitizit-Junior)!




The result of this whole process is a rough model of Digitizit's head without any fine details, but it's perfect for what I need it for!!!

Here is the final model with the skate helmet...




And here is one in the paper pep I did...




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Now, for reference, I took the two best images we have in the BY DESIGN artwork and put that right beside pictures of the model head with the helmet. Here's what it looks like...

SIDE VIEW


FRONT VIEW



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So, there's our starting point. We'll both keep this WIP thread updated as we start to build this!

OMG, I look like a gimp. A cheap, low budget gimp at that.

That was my first time using the foam, if you don't count the test I did the night before just to see how much time we had to work with this stuff. And yes, it gets REALLY hot. Almost too hot to hold onto.

I can't WAIT to see how this thing turns out. I thought the pep looked amazing! I managed to track down the artist and told him we were doing this, and he was thrilled. Based on Indiefilmgeek's previous work (and all the stuff I see him work on that never makes it to the RPF), I have zero doubt that this will be an amazing build once finished.

This will be so awesome cant wait to see more!

Increased the total height of the paper pep by a centimeter last night. I also printed and cut out all the new pieces for that construction. I just had time to glue together some of the face-plate before I went to bed, but I think it will fit better than the first pep.


The things I'm currently working through in my head are:

1. The brow ridge. The pep doesn't show the same brow ridge along the top of the faceplate as the technical sketches do. I'll probably solve this by just modifying the card stock pep to match the drawings, but I also want to keep in mind that I'll be cutting this faceplate open at some point (so I can make it open and close). I'll need to remember that fact as I fabricate those changes.

2. The chin area (behind/below the faceplace). There are obviously components along the check areas of the helmet, but since the main drawing of this is from the front and since the side views don't show the chin area, I'm considering what I can do to fabricate that area around what we have as reference. I'm actually looking forward to this section (and the eyes) quite a bit. The pep has no detail included in this section, so it's going to be a lot of scratch-building, found objects and physically testing the build to see if it works. All that sounds like a BLAST!



For now, I'm back to my day job... where I'm swamped in work as we hash out which trailers to program this weekend before MIB3 (what fun).

Have a great Monday!

Modifying the paper pep...

After reviewing the original drawing, I have determined that the pep isn't as accurate on the faceplate as I'd like. The basic issue is that the main flat faceplate area (over the nose) looks like it's a flat piece with two plates on TOP of that plate which have a gap between them (which produces the look of the mouth). The pep doesn't have a layered plate look and the 'mouth' is produced by a groove into the 'nose' plate itself.

So, I decided to cut the assembled 'nose' pieces out of the pep I have and replace it with a smooth single piece that will then add the two top plates to.

Here is the original piece as I began to cut out the nose piece...


Here is the replacement next to the original pep piece...


Here is the replacement piece now attached to the final pep build (the original scaling pep is beside it so you can tell the difference...


And here is a very bad picture of the two plates that will be added on top of the new 'nose' plate...


I've also filled the rest of the 'holes' in the skate helmet. I have bondo with me, but I completely forgot my set of sanding sponges (subconsciously trying to avoid sanding, maybe?!)

So, I'll be running out to the store in a bit to get that project started! I just wish it wasn't 98 degrees in Florida this week... the garage work is going to suck.

I like the changes! Yeah, I agree, this is more accurate to the way the drawing looks. Great eye!

It's hot here too, so don't feel too bad.

Some more work done...

1. Mounted Digitizit's head (rock is just holding things in place while the liquid nail cures).


2. Sanded the resin hole-filler in the helmet and hit it with a round of finishing putty.




3. I also took on the brow ridge. Again, the pep is a great start but on the artwork you can see that there is a groove between the brows. So, I created a new piece for that section.




And here is what the faceplate looks like with the new 'note' plate attached and brow ridge. The rivets are just penciled onto the foam plate as a test to see what they will look like. I haven't measured or perfectly placed them, but from the artwork this is where they appear to be. I think they'll look pretty cool when done.)


4. Finally, I attached the pep dome to the faceplate in preparation of my work to determine where/how the pep will connect with the skate helmet. I've got it taped together here for reference in these pics. Here's where we are...

FRONT:


SIDE:

**Mikey was in the background when I took this one, and waved 'HI' to everyone on RPF!

Nice progress.

I'm sad that you don't live in my garage. Amazing work on the head! You should go on vacation more often. I'm REALLY looking forward to the painting stage!!

Started to work on connecting the paper pep to the helmet in preparation for hardening it all with fiberglass.

Here is what I have so far...

FRONT:


1/2 FRONT:


SIDE:


BACK:


HIGH ANGLE:


I still have some work to do on the 'jaw' area - which will need to be connected to the back of the helmet so it remains in place when the faceplate is up or down.

...but that's work for tomorrow!

Awesome work!!

I'm excited to see this coming along. Puttin' a lot of methodical thinking into the ole' ironpunk man.

Thanks, LoC and Judge!

Did some more modifications today. Most of this surrounded the ear pieces. From the technical drawing sketches, it looks like the circular ear pieces are behind the outer helmet armor but in front of the jaw-line details. Unfortunately, the pep flares the ear pieces out away from the helmet.

So, to make it closer to my read of the artwork, I cut out two thick plastic circle pieces and glued them to the sides of the helmet as a place-holder. I built up the sides and back of the helmet to overlap those circles. I then built some depth into those circle pieces with the jaw-line area behind those.

This seems to both match the technical drawing side-view sketches while also matching the look of the finished artwork facing forward.

Here is a close up of the final ear-piece work...


I also filled in the eye holes right before I started fiberglassing. This will help those holes maintain their shape.


Here is the helmet ready for it's first outer coat of fiberglass resin....


...and here is what it looks like as it dries tonight.


Tomorrow (Monday), I'll take the helmet off the model head, turn it over and fiberglass the inside with scrap material (usually t-shirt or sweat shirt material). Then it will be time to start making it look good again with some serious bondo and sanding!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day - and a HUGE 'thank you' to all our men and women who are serving (or have served) in our armed forces! They are the REAL heroes, folks.

Mate, that is looking so good. You're inspiring me to want to try a resin build with something as awesome and unique as this.

I'm following your progress eagerly!

i've been waiting to see something new from you since mikey's iron man suit! this is really an awesome build.

This build is looking great!

Well done.

Good luck on your ambitious and interesting build.
I'm looking forward to your progress!
Great idea!

This is a great build, and you're off to a great start!

Thank you very, very much for your encouragement. Tonight was rough and it's easier to push through bad build nights when you've got a community like RPF supporting you!

I made two attempts to fiberglass the inside of the helmet with fabric as the re-enforcing material. I think the humidity, cheap foam brushes and the non-cotton materials I was using conspired to kill both of my tries. I ended up pulling most of the resin soaked material out of the inside both times.

I'll get better foam brushes and go back to pure cotton t-shirt material (like I used with Mikey's build) before my next attempt. I'll also plan to go much slower than I did with my Ironman build. I'll try setting the bucket on it's side and just do the lowest inside section. I understand that will take 4x as long as hitting it all in one take, but hopefully with gravity in full cooperation I'll have some better luck.

Again, thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll be back soon with pictures of my progress.

very awesome. I love the source material and looks like this will be an excellent costume

indie dont use foam brushes they tend to mess up when you fiberglass. good explenation of why is up on youtube (the ironman start to finish tutorial thing) i forgot who made it but its a good tutorial theherotutorials or something i believe it was called