Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet

Crimson490

Hey Tron-fans out there! I have officially caught the modeling bug. After I finished the CLU helmet, I just couldn't stop thinking about my next project.

Hopefully I can do justice to this very challenging shape, and I hope this thread is enjoyable to those watching the progress.

If you see something that doesn't quite look right - comment! There isn't a lot of reference material to go on, so all help is appreciated.

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Crimson490

The foam model is starting to take shape. it's so easy working with this stuff to rough in the basic form. Its not quite right yet, but the details will get ironed out with the bondo.

Another thing i did, which i did for the CLU helmet, is make a "poor man's" sculpt stand which helps me to work on the helmet hands-free. This comes in really handy when it'll be time to pour the silicon. I like the spray foam can cause it's taller than most spray paint cans - gets the model up off the table better to work underneath. also, the cap let's me swivel the model and it works great for quick release/attach of the sculpt from the stand.

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Crimson490

Latest update: First 2 coats of bondo and 1st sanding. Still have some tweaking to do on the chin/jaw line, but getting closer!

stay tuned...

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G17RDY

Fantastic progress so far, really seeing the Quorra shape coming through on the final picture.

Great idea with the 'poor mans' sculpting stand, may have to steal that one, in fact i'll be using a lot of your techniques if and when i come to sculpt a helmet!

Crimson490

Thanks! Hope this stuff is helpful.

today's progress:
more bondo and sanding. i can't keep track of how many coats i've done!
still ironing out the jaw, and starting to do the rear 'vents'. The cheek looks a little puffy to me...not sure.

Once i get one side of the helmet right, i'll do the other side.

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Crimson490

slowly making progress...this is a tough shape!
I'm starting to rough in the side vents. I also took about a half inch off the neck behind the jawline.

I think i need to work on the nose a little. It dents in to far.

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Crimson490

I've had a really hard time getting the jaw and chin right. Though my original iteration didn't look too bad, it just wasn't quite right. But now i think i'm almost there...I've extended the chin and the back of the head a bit.

i'll refine it a little more, then tackle the other side.

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IRONFETT

looks good to me so far!

Skaar

Amazing!
I loved your clu helmet and this one doesn't look like it will disappoint

Crimson490

Thanks!
I'm starting to work on the symmetry now...
First, i'll match up the top surface, then when that's good i'll work my way down the side. It's nice to have definitive edges on the helmet to measure against. The profile gauge is also very helpful at zeroing in on fine differences that my eye can't see, though it is a tedious process. We'll see if it pays off.

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Primo50

Nice, im a fan of this movie and looks like you are coming out with another great piece

Crimson490

Thanks! More progress on the mirrored side:

I'm using the profile tool to capture the shape of the finished side at different locations, then tracing the shapes onto cardboard. The cardboard cutouts are nice for quick reference to show where i need to add or remove material.

The top is about done, and the upper surface on the side is about 70% there.

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pandamajik

I just made a curved helmet as well and struggled a bit with symmetry even though I had a contour gauge. What was your method of getting a really accurate center line and marking those distances? (Actually I guess the numbers you have marked don't have to correlate with distances such as inches if you're just matching the two sides at those points.) I personally had difficulty in assuring that my "center" line was truly on center the entire way and I had to redo some areas as a result of correcting the center line halfway through.

Crimson490

Here's a couple ways you can establish a good centerline:

-The quick and dirty way is to use a string and a good eye. This isn't fail-proof though as the line can wander if you're not careful.

-The most accurate way is to cut a hole in a sturdy and flat piece of cardboard, or plywood etc. slightly larger than your helmet. This cardboard is your 'centerplane' which if you can hold it steady with your scuplt generally in the middle, you can trace a line all the way around the helmet. If you don't think you can trace the line accurately enough, make a few dots at various points and then use the string/trace method to connect them. Technically, you only need three points to establish a plane, but a few more might help keep you from letting your string wander too much.

Good luck!

Jaedena

This looks absolutely fantastic! Keep up the good work!

I love that you're showing detailed pics on how you're doing the sculpt. I've been thinking about trying a sculpt myself and this information is going to be very valuable to me.

pandamajik

Thanks for the info. I used the string method combined with the lines on the inside of the helmet since it was a pep model. I don't know why it never occurred to me to use a piece of cardboard as a sturdier plane but I'll be sure to use that method in the future since it seems a lot better.

Crimson490

Quorra Re-rezzing...

Top is done, upper side is done, working now on the lower side/jaw.

I'm also starting to fiddle around with lighting. My plan is to use the ~$25 Glowhut white EL tape (comes with 9v inverter) cut into as many sections as there are lights on the helmet and wire them in series. I count 8 sections...maybe 9. The 1.4m length should be sufficient to do them all.

For now, i plan to use copper tape w/ soldered wire running off them. mcmaster sells 3ft spools of 1/4 wide tape for ~$9. i just wanted to do a sanity check with splicing the tape with the copper. no problem. the laminate peels off the back nicely. the copper sticks, and we have light!

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MOGUAI

Looking really nice keep on the good work!

thenextavenger

keep up the good work!

Crimson490

thank you. i've been pretty swamped recently, but will get back into it asap!

staticweb23

OMG, That's so awesome, I can't wait to see the final end results and to get one of those.. Nice work sir, very nice work.

IRONFETT

Not really tron related but foam related, im workin on a clone wars bo katan. I made my carboard "skeleton" then added up layers of the foam. I did some minor sculpting in the foam and when i came out in the morning the entire left side pruned up and shrunk in. I lost all the details and alot of the basic shape i had. Have you ever had great stuff shrink on you?

Crimson490

hmm. i haven't had that problem, but i have noticed that as it is expanding and setting up, big air bubbles can grow inside. I usually spray and walk away. Maybe you disturbed one of these air pockets while it was still soft, and it caved in on you.

Also, for what it's worth, i have only used the 'window & door' great stuff, which is a low-pressure expandable foam. Not sure if the high-pressure/high-expansion great stuff performs differently...

Onephattsi2

very nice!! your work is amazing to say the least!!!

Crimson490

Alright, it's about time i got back to work on this.

Here's a few pics of the finished left side. looks like I need to do a little tweaking here and there to get it identical to the right, and it still needs the rear 'vent' features. I photoshopped some lights, just to give me something to look forward to!

It still needs the raised center details, and lots of smoothing out.

Stay tuned for more progress in the coming week (i hope!).

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