Daft Punk Thomas Helmet-First Prop build !

TheSonarSuit

Active Member
Hey guys long time lurker, I undertook my first serious replica prop project this summer during the holidays and thought I would post it up here :) I'll write up a shortened version of the build log on my blog, although its still gonna be pretty long :lol

I used a free pepakura file I found online and built up a while ago, at the time it was the only one freely available but since then there's been some great pepakura files released which would have helped me a lot if I had had them when I started this project haha. The file was low poly and wasn't up to scratch on its own but made a good enough base to start on. Here it is resined:

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I didnt bother resining the ears as they were extremely inaccurate and huuuge, and removed them swiftly, I gathered up all my reference pics and started plotting out more accurate shapes compared to the real deal helmet. To make my work easier and save time I used styrene sheet plastic for the smooth flat areas on the helmet, here I've added in the visor, the jaw and the side panels. I cut away the original pepakura jaw piece because it was the wrong shape. I also began filling in the bottom visor lip with bondo:

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After looking through my reference pics I realised just how off this model was, the dome wasn't anywhere near the size it should be, I solved that by scaling up profile photos of the original helmet and drawing out the shapes on card, I transferred those to 2mm styrene to make a guide frame for the correct shapes. I bulked them out with cheap plaster and insulation foam before skimming with Bondo. I started mapping out the ear size and placement and built out the top visor lip at this point using one of my guides.

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I filled the front section of the dome first, I started using a filler primer to help smooth out the piece and make it a pretty colour :D the frame that crosses through the middle of the helmet is also a guide for where the seam line is on the actual helmet and will help me when I engrave it into my own.

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I filled in the back sections of the dome next, I found a contour gage thingy in the basement too which helped keep the whole thing fairly symmetrical; that and a mountain of sanding sponges helped keep this project going haha. I used a piece of string as my guide for engraving the split line. I pulled it taut across the dome and used a quick dab of hot glue to tack it in place

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Whilst I had the scribe and mini files out I added the nose vent details to the underneath, these will hopefully work like a cut here line on the casts I pull off this.

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Next up I tackled the ear pods, at first I designed them in Solid-works and was going to have them machined, but after getting a price estimate back Mr krabs mode kicked in so I looked for a cheaper way to make them. A pepakura designer by the name of Dungbeetle released his awesome models of Thomas and Guys helmets, shamefully it was too late to use his helmet model but I could use the ear piece from it for my own helmet, so after scaling it to fit my own helmet I printed out the ear pod and assembled. Using my cheapo logic I then coated the inside of the pepped ear with Sonite wax from smooth on, gave it a skin layer of Bondo and then built up its thickness with fibreglass.

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Because I coated the paper with wax beforehand it peeled straight off the earpod and left me with a solid sandable piece, all I had to do was sand away the texture the paper had left behind and it was ready for moulding.

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To make sure the earpod was a snug fit in the helmet I added tabs on the inside of the helmet that acted like shelves so that it would sit at the correct depth. Next I wrapped the earpod in clingfilm so it stayed clean and seperated, slathered the opening on the helmet with Isopon and pushed the earpod into place. Then it was a simple matter of removing the earpod and sanding the excess filler flush with the rest of the surface.

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After that the whole thing was wet sanded from 240 grit up to 1500 grit and was ready for moulding !

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I next made blueprints for the glove plates in Illustrator and transferred them to styrene to make my Vac-form bucks for the gloves:

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the plates were pulled in thin PETG plastic:

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the backs of the plates were filled with bondo ans sanded smooth to create a surface I could use to glue the plates down to the gloves:

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They were then painted and glued to opera gloves, I only took photos of the process when making my Guy Manuel gloves but there is another silver set for Thomas :rolleyes

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The helmet was moulded in Rebound 25 with a fiberglass shell, the earpods were moulded similarly:

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The helmet was cast out of fiberglass and then padded on the inside to stop it from wobbling around, the visor area was cut out, but I left a small lip all the way round to mount the visor to.A tinted piece of the clear plastic I used on the gloves was inserted as a visor the whole thing was painted up.

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The costume was debuted at Manchester Comicon this year and I got some nice comments on it and a few photos too :)
 
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Nice work man are those your vac pulls I've seen on eBay recently?
What chrome paint did you use it looks quite good
 
Nice work man are those your vac pulls I've seen on eBay recently?
What chrome paint did you use it looks quite good

Thanks for the comment, I haven't offered my glove plates before but sometimes I put up casts of the helmet on ebay, the paint is by rustoleum.
 
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