Dtrasler
Sr Member
I posted "My Early Disasters" part one in the props section, sorry. I'll try and avoid future disasters like that one.
Having failed to make a decent Mando Bucket, I decided I had been too ambitious, and should try something simpler. Unfortunately, passing another Sports Equipment sale, I picked up an old skiing helmet and thought it would make a perfect base for a Scout Trooper Helmet. And now I had actually invested in some foam for building, and watched some YouTube videos on making armour. I had practically RESEARCHED! Only not much. And nothing relevant. And the foam was flooring tiles, and I had nothing sharp enough to cut it cleanly, but....DETAILS!
I didn't start keeping records of this straight away. I've cut a rectangle of foam for the top, then cut a disc out of that rectangle and pushed it down onto the top of the helmet. Then I've placed the disc back on, and filled in the gap around the edge, making the raised central portion of the helmet. This time around I had three reference pictures in the workroom with me, plus one rough diagram with some measurements. I had looked at all of these things, but used no measurements when cutting. I always think I will be able to smooth things out later on. I am always wrong about this.
The white stuff in the front is some lightweight packing foam that I glued in place to give the front of the cowl the right angles and some support while I put everything together. This turned out to be a mistake because they WEREN'T the right angles. I would find that out later.
I meant to go slowly and be thorough, but I'm too impatient. I had some pipe lagging handy, and thought that would be perfect for the vent intakes on either side. To me, this is part of the iconic look of the helmet, and I was excited to get it into place and have everything start to look right. So excited, in fact, that I did not measure, or check the reference photos. Is it only me who works like this? Everyone else here seems a little more...competent.
This angle shows my other glaring error. I wanted a straight edge for the upper edge of the helmet, but the flooring tiles have this jigsaw pattern edge so they can fit together. If you want a straight edge, leave the inserts in, but you still get the zig-zag line. Only a fool would try and fill it with hot glue, though, right? Because you can't sand that stuff...
True to form, I've tried adding paint to make it look better. I'm also ridiculously proud, at this point, of finding I can use my hot glue gun to melt those neat bits along the bottom. Never mind the ugly zig-zags I can't get rid off, look at the neat melting!
Also, nothing is symmetrical. Ever.
The view from the other side proves that the ugly goes all the way around. And the little hint of green shows where the top piece of foam isn't lining up with the side pieces. I have used a lot of filler, though. At this point it only takes two grown men to lift the helmet, but I'm not even halfway done.
By the simple expedient of adding more paint and more filler and more filler and more filler, I have hidden those damn zig-zags at last. But you'll note you can still see that little bit of green. One mistake at a time.....
Things are going well, so it's time to remove that foam that was supporting and shaping the....WHAT THE HELL? The front of the cowling is all over the place! It's not symmetrical! It's not squared off! It looks like it was cut out by a man with garden shears and a bag on his head. It does not resemble the reference photos at all.
The obvious and sensible thing to do at this point would be to tear down and start over. I did not do that. I built the faceplate. Because I am stubborn and refuse to admit I have made huge, glaring, obvious errors. I would like to say that I measured the faceplate carefully, and cut out the eyepiece using a template. I would LOVE to say that. It would be a lie.
I cut it out by eye alone. With a scalpel blade that I was holding in my fingers. I didn't have a scalpel blade holder. or a sharp knife. Or, as it seems, two brain cells to rub together. It is not symmetrical.
So there's a lot to sort out. Some major flaws that need attention. I decided to ignore those a fit a small, thin piece of foam to the side of the helmet. It's a genuine detail, and it needed to be there, it just shouldn't have been the priority. Or purple.
This picture shows that the faceplate piece is way too big, but it also shows that the whole thing looks quite like the intended helmet. As long as you aren't looking at a reference photo. Time for more filler.
As well as shaping the snout, I wanted to fix the edge of the cowl, and I thought filler would be easier to shape than the foam. The problem was, I didn't have a good idea of what, exactly, was wrong with the cowl. I wouldn't figure it out until much later.
I carefully measured the line I would need to trim down the faceplate.
KIDDING! I just drew a line that looked right.
And then I had to find more foam to fill in this gap at the back. No, you're right, the two sides aren't quite the same, are they?
But I had to admit, cut down and with a ton more filler, this was looking better and better. Or just slightly less crap.
That's my cue to grab the paint. The can was nearly empty, but there was enough to make it all a bit whiter, which helps me see what it could be like.
I had been feeling there was something wrong with the cowl, and checking the reference photos showed me I had it too square. I cut it down and reshaped it, making it more curved. Then I smoothed off the snout and tried to understand how the contours ran from the snout to the cowl. This is seriously complicated, and hard to parse even with a lot of reference photos. Every time I thought I had figured it out, I saw another picture that made me think I was wrong. Plus, sculpting in filler is very hard. Don't try it.
More filler, more sanding, more paint, and some contrasting black for the snout. I so badly wanted it to look cool. Sadly, those contours were making it look tired and hung over.
I spent quite some time adding filler, sanding, adding filler and sanding, and then I went to town with a new white spray can. I used the whole thing. Multiple coats. I kept hoping than more paint would somehow smooth out the lumps and dents in the surface. Isn't paint self-levelling? Apparently not. But I was done with sanding. This was as good as it was going to get.
Rather than sanding and filling the front of the snout, I cut another piece of the thin purple foam and sprayed it black, then glued that in. Smoother than more filler would have been, but not glossy enough really. The visor is more of the same school binder covering that I used for the Mando bucket. Cheap, remember?
So the surface looks rougher than the surface of the moon, so what? Why not just bang on and add some authentic details, and hope that draws the eye. Or get everyone to stand far, far away to admire it?
I made the widgets for the front of the snout from more foam and some old screw jackets and stuff. The scale is...sigh...wrong, and the paint wasn't the matte grey I wanted to use but (I'm really sorry) some stone-effect landscaping spray that was intended for plant pots.
I think any Imperial Scout who wore this helmet would deliberately fly his speeder into a tree.
Having failed to make a decent Mando Bucket, I decided I had been too ambitious, and should try something simpler. Unfortunately, passing another Sports Equipment sale, I picked up an old skiing helmet and thought it would make a perfect base for a Scout Trooper Helmet. And now I had actually invested in some foam for building, and watched some YouTube videos on making armour. I had practically RESEARCHED! Only not much. And nothing relevant. And the foam was flooring tiles, and I had nothing sharp enough to cut it cleanly, but....DETAILS!
I didn't start keeping records of this straight away. I've cut a rectangle of foam for the top, then cut a disc out of that rectangle and pushed it down onto the top of the helmet. Then I've placed the disc back on, and filled in the gap around the edge, making the raised central portion of the helmet. This time around I had three reference pictures in the workroom with me, plus one rough diagram with some measurements. I had looked at all of these things, but used no measurements when cutting. I always think I will be able to smooth things out later on. I am always wrong about this.
The white stuff in the front is some lightweight packing foam that I glued in place to give the front of the cowl the right angles and some support while I put everything together. This turned out to be a mistake because they WEREN'T the right angles. I would find that out later.
I meant to go slowly and be thorough, but I'm too impatient. I had some pipe lagging handy, and thought that would be perfect for the vent intakes on either side. To me, this is part of the iconic look of the helmet, and I was excited to get it into place and have everything start to look right. So excited, in fact, that I did not measure, or check the reference photos. Is it only me who works like this? Everyone else here seems a little more...competent.
This angle shows my other glaring error. I wanted a straight edge for the upper edge of the helmet, but the flooring tiles have this jigsaw pattern edge so they can fit together. If you want a straight edge, leave the inserts in, but you still get the zig-zag line. Only a fool would try and fill it with hot glue, though, right? Because you can't sand that stuff...
True to form, I've tried adding paint to make it look better. I'm also ridiculously proud, at this point, of finding I can use my hot glue gun to melt those neat bits along the bottom. Never mind the ugly zig-zags I can't get rid off, look at the neat melting!
Also, nothing is symmetrical. Ever.
The view from the other side proves that the ugly goes all the way around. And the little hint of green shows where the top piece of foam isn't lining up with the side pieces. I have used a lot of filler, though. At this point it only takes two grown men to lift the helmet, but I'm not even halfway done.
By the simple expedient of adding more paint and more filler and more filler and more filler, I have hidden those damn zig-zags at last. But you'll note you can still see that little bit of green. One mistake at a time.....
Things are going well, so it's time to remove that foam that was supporting and shaping the....WHAT THE HELL? The front of the cowling is all over the place! It's not symmetrical! It's not squared off! It looks like it was cut out by a man with garden shears and a bag on his head. It does not resemble the reference photos at all.
The obvious and sensible thing to do at this point would be to tear down and start over. I did not do that. I built the faceplate. Because I am stubborn and refuse to admit I have made huge, glaring, obvious errors. I would like to say that I measured the faceplate carefully, and cut out the eyepiece using a template. I would LOVE to say that. It would be a lie.
I cut it out by eye alone. With a scalpel blade that I was holding in my fingers. I didn't have a scalpel blade holder. or a sharp knife. Or, as it seems, two brain cells to rub together. It is not symmetrical.
So there's a lot to sort out. Some major flaws that need attention. I decided to ignore those a fit a small, thin piece of foam to the side of the helmet. It's a genuine detail, and it needed to be there, it just shouldn't have been the priority. Or purple.
This picture shows that the faceplate piece is way too big, but it also shows that the whole thing looks quite like the intended helmet. As long as you aren't looking at a reference photo. Time for more filler.
As well as shaping the snout, I wanted to fix the edge of the cowl, and I thought filler would be easier to shape than the foam. The problem was, I didn't have a good idea of what, exactly, was wrong with the cowl. I wouldn't figure it out until much later.
I carefully measured the line I would need to trim down the faceplate.
KIDDING! I just drew a line that looked right.
And then I had to find more foam to fill in this gap at the back. No, you're right, the two sides aren't quite the same, are they?
But I had to admit, cut down and with a ton more filler, this was looking better and better. Or just slightly less crap.
That's my cue to grab the paint. The can was nearly empty, but there was enough to make it all a bit whiter, which helps me see what it could be like.
I had been feeling there was something wrong with the cowl, and checking the reference photos showed me I had it too square. I cut it down and reshaped it, making it more curved. Then I smoothed off the snout and tried to understand how the contours ran from the snout to the cowl. This is seriously complicated, and hard to parse even with a lot of reference photos. Every time I thought I had figured it out, I saw another picture that made me think I was wrong. Plus, sculpting in filler is very hard. Don't try it.
More filler, more sanding, more paint, and some contrasting black for the snout. I so badly wanted it to look cool. Sadly, those contours were making it look tired and hung over.
I spent quite some time adding filler, sanding, adding filler and sanding, and then I went to town with a new white spray can. I used the whole thing. Multiple coats. I kept hoping than more paint would somehow smooth out the lumps and dents in the surface. Isn't paint self-levelling? Apparently not. But I was done with sanding. This was as good as it was going to get.
Rather than sanding and filling the front of the snout, I cut another piece of the thin purple foam and sprayed it black, then glued that in. Smoother than more filler would have been, but not glossy enough really. The visor is more of the same school binder covering that I used for the Mando bucket. Cheap, remember?
So the surface looks rougher than the surface of the moon, so what? Why not just bang on and add some authentic details, and hope that draws the eye. Or get everyone to stand far, far away to admire it?
I made the widgets for the front of the snout from more foam and some old screw jackets and stuff. The scale is...sigh...wrong, and the paint wasn't the matte grey I wanted to use but (I'm really sorry) some stone-effect landscaping spray that was intended for plant pots.
I think any Imperial Scout who wore this helmet would deliberately fly his speeder into a tree.