Help: Loki Pepakura helmet

outatime26

Active Member
I've just finished my first proper pep file project and it all went quite well.
The sizing is finally right, the first helmet I made was much to big for my small head, so I'm pretty happy with that.

But the horn on the right seems to stick out at a really strange angle. The first one I made didn't stick this far out. But I can't see where I haven't matched it up properly.

I was wondering is it worth taking the horn off, or part of it, and redoing the top portion. Or should I go ahead and stick it with resin then get a heat gun and try and move it into the correct place after?
 
Here's a reference picture.
It just sticks out really far on the right.
2013-03-08001906_zps12ddb848.jpg
 
I think you're better off fixing it now. Can you flex it into shape to match the other side? If so, build yourself a jig to hold it in place, and then resin coat the outside to freeze it there until you fiberglass.
 
It would be better and easier to fix it now. Just build a jig or supports like laelee said and resin the inside. I would then not fiberglass it but maybe coat it with a few layers of casting resin and then spray some expanding foam inside the horns to keep it light but solid.
 
Sewing thread is handy for pulling parts back into line, and it sands off easily after resining. The pep looks good and should certainly be fixable. Every pep seems to have some symmetry problems like this, and I have also used ice block sticks and bamboo skewers to help straighten out warps and twists.
 
Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to just try and redo the horn later on :)
Another thing, I was going to just cover the outside of the horns in the resin and then use the resin and the cloth as far as I could on the inside of the horns.
Do you think they'll be strong enough?
I'd try and put at least 3 or 4 coats of resin on the parts of the horn with no fibreglass cloth on the inside.
 
Okay I just remade the top portion of the horn from about 1/3 of the way down and it looks exactly the same.
I can't for the life of me figure out where this is going wrong
 
I think you'll probably need to resin the outside of the horn to stiffen it, then pour some mixed resin and bondo down inside to give it strength.
 
Looks great!

If you do a search for 'rondo' there's a heap of tutorials, but basically it's a mix of ordinary resin and bondo - which is a mix of resin and talc thickener (more or less). I've been thinking of adding some fibreglass threads which I've chopped up into short lengths with scissors, just to give it more strength.
 
Thank you!
Ooo that's a great idea :)
So do I add the same amount of hardener for the slush bit on the inside? Or am I just tipping it in before it turns into a gel consistency so it moves around more?
I've watched a ton of tutorials on resining and smoothing etc but I just have no idea how to tackle the inside of the horns without having to take them apart again, which I seriously do not want to do.
I'm going to try and use the fibreglass mat as far as I can up the inside of the horns and add some expanding foam for extra strength later on.
 
Yeah, all I do is add as much hardener to the mixed resin & bondo as I would if it were all resin.

I found it mixes easier if you put the resin into the mixing cup first. Hot dog sticks are great mixers.

Might pay to stiffen the pep with a thin coat of resin first. I emphasise the 'thin coat' as I found out the hard way that too much resin on raw card can soften it and cause the individual panels to distort. It was too easy to get carried away and keep adding resin, which made a lot of work later on. Now I always have several projects on the go so I always have somewhere for leftover bits of mixed resin.

Have fun! :thumbsup
 
Yeah I rescaled it. Can't remember by how much.
I measured the diameter of my head which is just under 17cm and then used that to scale it so that the diameter of the helmet was just over 18cm.
 
Here's some pictures of how it fits
2013-03-09170252_zpsc0d37a09.jpg


Thinking of bringing the front bits in a bit so it goes in towards my chin a bit more. Like so
2013-03-09170510_zps6c93bb82.jpg


Thinking of just measuring that distance and making a little card strip to keep them closer together while I'm putting the resin on and such
What do you think?
 
That's what I do. rig it where you want it, then resin to hold it in shape until you reinforce. Looks great! Just make sure if you pull those sections in, you can still get it on :lol
 
Scale looks great! When you have the exact distance you want to have the chin guards spaced at, you can use a piece of heavy card as a spacer. It will allow the guards to keep their shape while the resin sets. If you leave the spacer unresined, it's easier to remove later.
 
Thank you!
Ooo that's a great idea :)
So do I add the same amount of hardener for the slush bit on the inside? Or am I just tipping it in before it turns into a gel consistency so it moves around more?
I've watched a ton of tutorials on resining and smoothing etc but I just have no idea how to tackle the inside of the horns without having to take them apart again, which I seriously do not want to do.
I'm going to try and use the fibreglass mat as far as I can up the inside of the horns and add some expanding foam for extra strength later on.


im currently helping someone who is also doing this helmet. i run a prop/ costume making art class in a shop local to me, but i also offer help out freely to everyone who cant make it. also i have pics and videos on my facebook and youtube.

links below. do shout me for help.

all the best!



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