My Styrene Pepakura Ironman helmet

C

ColKel

Active Member
Hi. I would like to post a couple pics of my Ironman helmet. I thought instead of using paper board I would try Styrene plastic instead, mostly 1mm and 0.5mm thickness for ease of bending, building up the wall thickness as I went. My aim was to build up to about 3mm wall thickness and then sanding the joins smooth. Below is the result of many months of cutting, gluing and sanding.

Critique and advice is welcome and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thanks.

:cool
 
I haven't tried the traditional cardboard/paper way yet. I thought that I would be able to get more detail into the helmet by using styrene than paper and being from South Africa I couldn't find a product (at that stage) similar to Bondo and by using Styrene I would be able to skip the bondo stage and fill the odd gap or dent with normal Tamiya modelling putty. I would imagine doing it in cardboard is probably easier and alot less messy.
 
To quote Keanu Reeves: "Whoa."

The compound curves must have been a lot of work.

Sent from my Etch-A-Sketch
 
murdoch said:
where did you purchase your styrene plastic and gluing, what type did you use? Nice work man.
Click to expand...

The styrene is the normal white sheets you use for vacuumforming which I suppose you could get from any plastics supplier. The glue I used is the Tamiya Extra Thin Cement you shoulb be able to buy from a shop that sells model kits.

BlackKaos said:
Beautiful helmet so far. Very detailed. I assume you are going to be moulding the helmet and casting it?
Click to expand...

Yes. Its already been molded in silicone but I'm having trouble finding the right casting material. I don't have a lot of experience with fiberglass (which is what I would've liked to cast it in) and the one casting I've made using Smooth-on's Roto doesn't seem to want to keep its shape and warps over time.

NormanF said:
To quote Keanu Reeves: "Whoa."

The compound curves must have been a lot of work.

Sent from my Etch-A-Sketch
Click to expand...

And a lot of patience :behave
 
Truly amazing work. I do find it funny that the main helmet area (minus face plate) looks almost the same as the real master that was machined at Legacy. As to fiberglass, I imagine you don't have access to a Home Depot type business? They sell the materials and the hardest part is just making the mold with a seam down the center of the head so it's in 2 halves that can be laid flat for glassing. Then you trim edges and assemble mold, then glass the seams, vola'!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
wondersquid said:
Truly amazing work. I do find it funny that the main helmet area (minus face plate) looks almost the same as the real master that was machined at Legacy. As to fiberglass, I imagine you don't have access to a Home Depot type business? They sell the materials and the hardest part is just making the mold with a seam down the center of the head so it's in 2 halves that can be laid flat for glassing. Then you trim edges and assemble mold, then glass the seams, vola'!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

I tried to get as much detail as possible and used the helmets from Ironman 2 as reference. I find finding materials in South Africa a real pain. If you're trying to make anything other than a boat or hot tub usually the sales people don't have the knowledge to help you. Just trying to find the equivalent products in South Africa that are normally available in the US is a mission in its self. Unfortunately I've already made the silicone molds as 1 piece molds (due to lack of experience in mold making) and thought I would be able to slush cast the castings. The one casting that i've made using the Smooth-on Roto came out OK but not nearly as nice as I would like. I'm trying to convert the molds into matrix molds with an inner core so that I can just pour the casting material into the molds and let it cure. Hopefully I can get a decent casting that way.
 
Here are a couple pics of the molds and the casting. Please ignore the paint scheme. I'm still trying to find the right paints.
 
ColKel said:
Yes. Its already been molded in silicone but I'm having trouble finding the right casting material. I don't have a lot of experience with fiberglass (which is what I would've liked to cast it in) and the one casting I've made using Smooth-on's Roto doesn't seem to want to keep its shape and warps over time.
Click to expand...


Use their Urethane Plastic. I created a MMPR helmet from that, and it sturdy as heck.

Smooth-Cast® 385 Mineral Filled Product Information | Smooth-On
Smooth-Cast® 320, 321, 322 Product Information | Smooth-On
 
Deelite said:
Use their Urethane Plastic. I created a MMPR helmet from that, and it sturdy as heck.

Smooth-Cast® 385 Mineral Filled Product Information | Smooth-On
Smooth-Cast® 320, 321, 322 Product Information | Smooth-On
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the company that distributes the Smooth-on products in South Africa only keep a limited range of Smooth-on products so my choices are very limited. If you need anything other than what is on their shelves they have to order it from the USA which takes about two months.:cry
 
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