Dredd 2012 Judge helmet based on Blaxmyth's pep file

stormtrooperguy

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I had been posting in that thread but don't want to clutter it up with a work in progress.

I decided that it was about time I experimented with Pepakura, and that the Dredd helmet seemed like a good base. Here we go!

Rather than paper, I build this out of 0.040 styrene, assembled with tape on the outside wherever possible. The idea was that this would make a shell that could be peeled off later.



Once it was assembled, I added some support strips to a few areas and plugged up the face opening with masking tape.



Once it was ready I sprayed the inside with mold release and slush cast Smoothcast 325 on the inside to a wall thickness of about 1/4"

Then the peeling began!



After a fair bit of sanding I got here:



Started reshaping things... closing up the face opening a bit, reshaping around the eyes, and sanding more.



More iteration, and I realized the bottom was too curved. I fixed that up with heat gun and bondo:



 
One thing that came up today is that all the helmets in the movie were a bit different. I've been styling mine after Judge Lex, who wore it angled forward and had it flared out at the bottom more.

I'm going to tune the bucket a bit to look more like Dredd.





 
Chugging along!

I built up all of the detail areas using epoxy putty borders and Bondo for surface filling/smoothing:











After talking to some of the other Judges, I pulled in the flare at the bottom of the helmet a bit.

I have been using Lex as a reference since there are some great screencaps of him, but Dredd's helmet looks much tighter at the bottom.

Now I'm somewhere in the middle... fair ground I think as I'm not really planning to be Dredd specifically.

To do this, I hot glued a 3/4" dowel to the inside of the helmet at the top of the visor. Once that was secure I used calipers to make sure the lines were pretty straight down the front, then taped the sides into position. Another 3/4" dowel went in at the bottom of the helmet, ensuring that the sides would stay in line.

This also prevents flex as I do the final filling/sanding, so it would have had to happen sooner or later.

Since I can't put it on my head anymore, I closed up the face to prepare it for molding. Just a sheet of 0.040 styrene cut to fit and hot glued in.

Last night / this morning I started sanding out the details. I've still got a lot of smoothing and spot filler to do, but I remain happy with the progress!

The badge on the forehead is more styrene. I didn't go for the screen-accurate separate badge. I'm happy with it as-is, and this will make casting and assembling easier.





Once I get everything smoothed out and looking good it will get a week to outgas, then into the silicone it goes.
 
Grumpy helmet is ready to go!



My first experience with Pepakura was pretty awesome. Fun, easy, and a great way to build up the base shape. I'd say that the pep file saved me at least a week (if not more) on this build!
 
I should update my own thread sometime! :)

I finished up everything but the badge, and that should be done tonight.

This proved to be a VERY expensive project.

I finished up the helmet, molded it, and was all happy... only to discover that the brand of spot filler I used reacted with the silicone in some places, leaving me with wet spots in the rubber all over the forehead and badge.

So.... I had to make a second mold. Nothing says fun like $100 worth of wasted rubber!

Since I was revisiting it after only 2 castings, I figured I might as well tweak a bit more. I ended up carving out the built in badge and going with a movie accurate recess and a separate cold cast brass badge.

I picked up the brass powder today, so hopefully I'll have a finished helmet before I sleep again!

I had a couple of choices of red that I was considering. To try to get it as close as I reasonably could (not using $30/can custom paints), I set up a little test area:



This was early morning, diffuse natural lighting only coming through white curtains. Camera and TV are both calibrated as well as possible without special equipment.

I think the right, Rustoleum Colonial Red, is a no-brainer. Not only is it an excellent match but it's the same color I use on my Commander Fox clone trooper armor that gets repainted every other troop. I buy that stuff by the case already!

Here are the two outside:



I need to repaint the bright red one at some point. Even though these are just test helmets I installed lenses in them to prevent warping.

Oh yeah... A shot of the raw casting:

 
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I just eyeballed it on one side then used calipers to help get it about the same on the other. Unfortunately I didn't follow any sort of pattern.

I seem to recall someone posted in this thread (or another one) with a second pep file that has the details.
 
These are fantastic - as if you need me to tell you. Can I ask where you got the Blaxmyth pep file? Is there a specific link of thread, please?

I've started experimenting myself, having only ever worked in clay before, but I don't have the facilities & resources right now to set that up again (married, kids, crazy household & currently recovering from spinal surgery). But I spent last two days carving the helmet & badge out of styrene, of all things, just cos I had some.

It went really well, up until 4.15am this morning, finishing it. I promised myself I'd prime it & photograph it to put on here. Anyone who's worked with styrene might have spotted the critical mistake in my thinking. :(

I sprayed on a very light coat of grey primer, this afternoon, and left it while I had a cuppa. I came back to find a semi-solid pile of mush. Hmmmm. Lesson 1 in working with styrene. Always, always, ALWAYS spot check on an off-cut before applying ANYTHING to it.

Ho hum. I would photograph the pile of mush, resembling a 6 month old watermelon, for your collective amusement at the newbie goof's error, but I hurled it in the bucket in disgust & it disintegrated in grey & white chunks.

I think I'll just save for the clay & kit. I was going to try and use the damn stuff to make my helmet entry, for the compo. That's bu**ered now, unless someone knows something that will safely seal styrene for a cast? (Can you even make a cast from styrene, or was I just dumb & doomed from the get go?)
 
Thanks!

There's another thread in this section... look for posts by him and it should come right up.

By styrene do you mean an EPS foam? If so I've sealed it using urethane resin. Smooth-on has a product called Epsilon that is explicitly designed for sealing eps foam but I haven't tried it yet.
 
Thanks for both those answers. I finally figured out how to/where the "search" button was (I know, duh!) and have the thread, many thanks.

As for the other, I'm looking for UK suppliers or equivalents right now. Thanks again, cos if I can do that, I found it really easy and quick to carve and sculpt in (touch wood), and would do the same for the lawgiver build, as I want something there I can add to my Airsoft Glock's tactical rail on top, and will be modular, allowing function, but also space for LEDs and a LCD display (if I can persuade my techy friend to pitch in, for a pizza or ten).

Once again, thanks, and, hopefully, I'll be able to get my entry in to the competition now! :)
 
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