Bring it by when you get back to town if you want some help with the fiberglass. I love working with the stuff! I may even have some mat laying around somewhere.
Bring it by when you get back to town if you want some help with the fiberglass. I love working with the stuff! I may even have some mat laying around somewhere.
The resin breaks down the foam, which is why you were having so much difficulty as far as that goes with the foam brushes.
Stock up on these. You can just throw them away or if you're bent on using them again, an acetone bath will break down the resin so you can clean them, but they're so cheap I'd say just toss them.
Last edited by -VERTIGO-; May 29, 2012 at 1:11 PM.
Got to love Harbor Freight! That's a good price too. We've got one in town, and I'm always looking for any excuse to go!JacobRyan said:
Would have LOVED to find something like this over the weekend! You're TOTALLY right about the foam brushes. I used these disposable brushes you linked to when I did Mikey's build, but for some reason after hitting Ace, Walmart and another local hardware store the cheapest brushes I could find were almost $2 each. And even though Digitizit is paying for materials, I just couldn't justify paying those prices. I opted for a bunch of 50 cent foam brushes and will just throw them away when they start to fall apart.JacobRyan said:
The biggest challenge has turned out to be filling the gap between the pep and the outside of the helmet. I've been pouring resin slowly into those gaps, but, like any liquid, this crap finds every tiny hole to 'leak' out of. So, I have been pouring a bit of resin into the gaps then holding cloth or something else over any leaks that show up until the resin start to kick. It's time consuming, but without the resin in those areas, I'll never be able to bondo and smooth areas like the brow-ridges without crushing the paper pep.
Here is a look at the outside of the helmet right now. You can see the dark spots where the resin has been poured into the existing gaps and re-enforced the paper pep.
SIDE:
BROW RIDGE:
And now that most of what I can fill is taken care of, I've finished up most of the resin work on the inside. It's not 'pretty', but luckily no-one (other than Digitizit) is going to SEE this part of the build! You'll notice the blue painter's tape covers most of the inside of the bucket. This got sloppy, and I'm glad I went ahead and covered that with tape so only the every edges of the skate helmet will have any hardened resin on them.
BACK:
SIDE:
FRONT:
So, the 'hard' part is done. Now it's mostly clean up and prep for the bondo stages. That's the most time-consuming, but at least it begins to start looking decent... I always thing this stage is the ugliest of the whole build.
Thanks for the input, advice and encouragement!
The build you're doing is fantastic man, and the work you did for your children is just fantastic. Keep up the great work and I can't wait to see the final result!
Thanks for posting a pic! I wondered how yours was coming along.Johnnymuffintop said:
Progress is coming along well!
Finally got a picture of mine online.
Spoiler:
Also, for anyone that's interested, got a more accurate (but crappier model) pdo of the helmet, get it here.
I can see you also worked in some of the mods I'm adding (brow-ridge furrow, nose-plate separation from the faceplate, etc). Are you still using this for mostly protection rather than costuming?
Yeah, though this one is now going on the shelf due to starting my Mk 3 build. That one was just Smooth-Cast 300 and bondo, not exactly the best for protection. Gonna strictly use it for costuming now, once I finish the suit. Speaking of which, I'm working on some foam patterns for the "Iron Man By Design" suit if you're interested.
The $10 welding goggles I ordered for the eyes finally came in! Here are the goggles with the welding lenses in them.
These came with clear lenses, but I really want to do more than just 'light' these eyes. My goal is to make it look like there is very complex and 'deep' optical tech involved in this Victorian Age vision system.
So, I found some magnifying domes that were the same 50mm diameter as the welding goggle lenses. Here's what they look like compared to the flat clear lenses.
And here is what the top and bottom of the magnifying domes look like.
Now, with the dome toward the inside and the flat bottom of the magnifying dome toward the front, here is the assembly of these lenses in the goggles.
With both of these lenses installed (and no lights added) it looks like these goggles are for a VERY myopic welder!
They're weird enough to actually make me look stranger than normal!
...but with a light source added they look pretty kicka$$! Unfortunately, it doesn't photographic well, so I had to make a quick video of it. Check it out here:
Last edited by indiefilmgeek; May 30, 2012 at 7:03 PM.
Sounds like a plan! Yeah, any patterns you'd like to share would be awesome. Feel free to either email them to me or just post them in this thread. I think it would be cool to have any of your work on this helmet/suit included here so anyone looking to work on this type of build in the future will have all the info we have collected in one place!Johnnymuffintop said:
Just watched the video. That looks GREAT! I can't wait for you to get back so I can see the progress in person.
The photo of you with the goggles is priceless! This should be your new profile picture.
I cleaned up some of the nastiest edges with my dremel and test fit the fiberglassed helmet on the model head. It fits perfectly... I also popped it on my (much smaller) head to see what it looked like.
This morning I started the bondo stage. Here's the set up just prior to application:
And here is what the back and sides look like after this first application...
RIGHT SIDE:
BACK:
LEFT SIDE:
Now, I'll wait for this to dry and begin sanding!
Dang you sir! You're making me want to start designing my own SP Iron Man! This is going to be far too epic!
Jump in JR - the more the merrier!
I got to sand the back and sides a bit...
...and applied bondo to the brow.
Not sure what else I'll get to do today... We have plans for the beach this afternoon and Allison and I might catch a movie tonight.
I'll post an update when I have one!
We're not worthy!
Looking fantastic so far sir, I was thinking if I did mine though I might pull some inspiration from the Rocketeer. Keep up the great work!
As someone who's build one of these before, I have a couple suggestions for the final build.
One: the panels on the sides, I'd suggest cutting a large hole out from them and covering it in a dark, thin fabric so that you can maintain some fresh air coming in.
Secondly: Notice on the original art piece there's vents in the back. I didn't add those on mine and it gets quite hot in there. An update to this build will have the vents and some tiny PC fans in it.
Yeah, Digitizit will just have to deal with the ear pieces being solid, but I know he's already planning the fan trick with the vents you talked about! I figure it will probably help with the air flow - although having a faceplate that opens will certainly be more useful to help with heat and air-flow than even those vents!Johnnymuffintop said:
Believe me, I've already started thinking about ways to keep cool in this suit. Having once spent 9 hours in an Alien suit made out of expanding foam, I know how hot it can get. Being cool will be key with this costume!
Really awesome idea to incorporate the prefab helmet! Got your curves instantly! Looking great! I cannot wait to see how this build turns out! Ill be watching and suffering with you as I do my first build. You definately will have a one of a kind!
I know you will benefit from the fans in the suit/helmet. I have read about some people trying it with great results! I know you'd rather not be a Steamy Punk! :P LOL!
Last edited by electraflier; May 31, 2012 at 3:30 PM. Reason: missed comment
Ok, so I did end up getting a bit more done tonight!
Here's is the brow sanded after two coats of bondo as well as the first round of bondo and sanding on the 'jaw' area of the left side. I've also gotten the first coat of bondo onto the right side 'jaw' area, but haven't had time to sand it down yet.
Last picture of the night!
**disclaimer: I'm not going to be as crazy detailed on these 'jaw' areas as I intend to be on other spaces. From the pictures these spaces seem to be filled up with pipes and other do-dads rather than smooth open spaces, so I figure it's just not worth killing myself trying to make these areas smooth as a baby's bottom when I'll be covering them with steampunk crap and then painting the rest flat black so it doesn't show up.
Night all!
Another thing to think about is that in the Steam Punk universe all of this would be hand forged steel metal and not all nice and ultra machine lathed high tech alloys turned out like our old familiar shell head! Having a few hammer dings and scrapes would be natural as all the pipes, hoses and gears are fitted and welded the old fashioned way! You are really on to something and already looking way to cool! I'd love some Pep's someday!!!
You'll need a steam punk Crimson Dynamo or Titanium Man too!
Loving your work Indie. This is really inspiring stuff.
Thanks, Trouble and bamboodia! And, Electraflier, I fully intend to use that 'hand-forged' excuse as often as possible when anyone asks about my many build mistakes!
*****
So, I couldn't wait any longer and HAD to cut out one of the eye ports to try the welding goggle lens. Now, I hadn't test-fit this AT ALL, so I was a little nervous that things might not work together. But even with this VERY weak pen-light behind it you can see it's pretty close to being a perfect fit!
As you can see from the side view, the lens is a bit further back and turned slightly from flush forward; however, I think there's some room for tinkering with it.
My biggest fear is still the lack of room 'depth-wise' for the lenses and LEDs. Digitizit and I will need to take a look at that when I get back to Tennessee this weekend, but for now... I'm just pleased that it looks pretty good!
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