My Early Disasters pt 2 - A Biker Scout Helmet - How hard can it be?

Heh. Who would have thought I could add in a new screw up this late in the game? I found a spare can of white spray paint kicking about, so I gave the whole helm another coat while waiting on the next phase and.... It crinkled. I believe this happens because of science.
WP_20151028_002.jpg
Sanding and respraying might help... Hasn't so far. Really annoyed that this might ruin the project and add more time to the completion date. I have a hankering for a First Order helmet, and that's going to be very tricky (Planning another Atlanthia-style bargain basement build, rather than buying the base and modding. Because, you know, money....) Also, I'm supposed to be knocking out a Halo Helm because I bought that visor months ago. That's a long list of things to screw up and I still haven't finished wrecking this one yet.
 
le1120 said:
Hey it's ok, it's a learning process, you never learn until you make mistakes
Click to expand...

I should be SO knowledgable by now!

Thanks le1120, I appreciate the support.

To combat the crinkly glooms, I took off the masking tape to see how the visor-alteration has worked out. Not bad, is the answer. First, the helmet as was:
WP_20150725_012.jpg
Now, the helmet as is:
WP_20151028_003.jpg
Damn that sideways upload! Anyone know why that is?
And here's the reference picture:
C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_images(1).jpg
 
Ok, the bathroom and various other things have been taking up too much of my building time, but I've been thinking...I know, I know, better late than never, right? Anyway, I'm never going to get this thing clone smooth. The surfacing was too rushed a couple of steps back, and the paint/plastic reaction is stuffing up the bits that were good. I think I have a new plan.

I'm going to sand down what I can, then paint over the whole helmet with white poster paint, deliberately leaving the brush strokes visible. Then I'm going to paint in the scoring and dirt and the blue markings of Captain Rex from the Clone Wars series. The animation design of the series was to show the characters as if they were painted, and that will work for the helmet, at least to cover up some of the more egregious areas. Big words, biiiiiiig words.

BUT....there's always a but.... This means I have to build a rangefinder. And attach it. And have it stick at least approximately vertical most of the time. This may be an issue. If ANYONE out there has any suggestions, or a line to guy with a 3D printer and some patience dealing with a funble-fingered Nerf-herder, then I'd a appreciate a word or two in the comments....

Meanwhile, I'm sanding and painting.
 
And that's what I'm going with. Stage One, get the black bits back to black.... Mask and spray!
WP_20151120_001.jpg
And then start painting in the blue...
WP_20151120_005.jpg

More painting with better brushes after next week - they actually want me in work almost EVERY DAY... Have they no compassion?
 
I remembered this evening about grabbing five minutes here and there, and got some more painting in. The fact that the art style of The Clone Wars Cartoons is heavy on the brush strokes means I don't have to be too precise with my own brush work.
WP_20151122_004.jpgWP_20151122_003.jpg
Damn that sideways upload! Will I never learn?
The irony is that the bits I just sprayed in black are actually blue, according to my reference pic:
WP_20151121_022 2.jpg
Huh. At least my pictures are consistently sideways....

No luck with the rangefinder yet....
 
So a couple more brush strokes, and some careful sideways photography, and things are looking up. Next step is to dirty up the recessed areas a little, and add the yellow stripes. Then give some serious cogitation to the matter of the viewfinder.

Certainly not going to just bash together any old rubbish and hot glue it on, no....

WP_20151122_007.jpgWP_20151122_006.jpg
 
Duplicate post removed!

Following that, I added the yellow and the dirtying, but haven't finished the blue paint around back. Or had any sensible thoughts about the rangefinder.
WP_20151123_003.jpgWP_20151123_004.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ok, tales of the strange and wonderous:

I'm planning on making the rangefinder. I have reference photos. I have a bit of dowel. I have good intentions and a short attention span. Anyway, while I'm marking up the spot to drill a hole (why? Well, at some point I'm going to make some kind of axle for the rangefinder to rotate around...somehow. And I'll need a hole for that, right?) Anyway, I check the inside of the helmet to make sure I'm not drilling into anything vital (because this started out as a voice-changer helmet, and that part still works) and I find a small screw holding in a plate. I remove both screw and plate and find that the circle I was about to drill into comes free!
WP_20151130_003.jpg
Obviously, this is awesome news. It means I can fit my axle without drilling into the plastic, and I have a cover plate to go on the outside of whatever hinge mechanism I construct. Yes, I'm still going to make a pig's ear of the whole thing one way or another, but this is a good start!
 
Oops.

Turns out, drilling into the side of the helmet has cracked some of the oh-so-careful surfacing work I did. Bugger.

WP_20151212_001.jpg
Two things prevent me returning this area to a pristine state before continuing:

1. My slapdash nature

2. The slightly more urgent and wife-driven bathroom reno.

Also "pristine state"? Who am I trying to kid here?
 
Right. The Rangefinder.

It's important not to rush this. I should sit down and plan the whole thing out on paper. Maybe even do some practice runs to get the hinging mechanism right.

But let's face it, I'm not going to.
The last time I checked in, I'd cut a small piece of dowel that would work as an axle for the rangefinder arm to swivel on. I had a longer piece of dowel to make the arm. Today I drilled into one end of the axle and fitted a small screw that would work as a stopper, allowing the axle to rotate only 90 degrees - either up, or forward.
WP_20160114_003.jpg
You can't see the screw in this photo because it's on the other end of the dowel, obviously. I cut a notch in the end of the rangefinder arm, and then screwed it to the visible end of the axle.
WP_20160114_004.jpg

Then I cut a circle of flooring foam and glued that around the axle. Then I cut out a disc of hard plastic from a coffee can lid and faced the foam with that. That worked as a shock absorber that stopped the arm wobbling (mostly) as it rotates. Then I glued the original disc I removed from the side of the helmet back onto the rangefinder arm.

WP_20160114_005.jpg

And that's where I stop for now. Hope to get back to it before February.
 
The fearless often learn the fastest (or die trying). You're probably gaining a ton of skills just by going for it! keep freestyling man, it looks great.
 

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