Clone Wars Microseries Phase 1 Grunt /Arc Trooper / Fordo helmet sculpt!

[jimmiroquai]

Hi all!
Just a little intro: I've always been intrigued by Ben Kenobi's mention of the Clone wars in ANH and as a kid, my imagination would run wild as to what these clone wars actually were like. When AOTC came out, it gave me a taste of what it would be like but the experience was marred by the very cheesy parts of the film. Then Gendy Tartarovsky's 2003 Clone Wars micro series came out....now THIS was Clone Wars! I always loved this series even more than the recent 3d version. It just always had more style.

Anyway, here is my attempt at making the Fordo helmet from scratch. While i have some amateur background sculpting with polymer clay in 1/6th scale, this is my first attempt at sculpting (and carving instead of building up) in 1:1.Just a little intro: I've always been intrigued by Ben Kenobi's mention of the Clone wars in ANH and as a kid, my imagination would run wild as to what these clone wars actually were like. When AOTC came out, it gave me a taste of what it would be like but the experience was marred by the very cheesy parts of the film. Then Gendy Tartarovsky's 2003 Clone Wars micro series came out....now THIS was Clone Wars! I always loved this series even more than the recent 3d version. It just always had more style.

Blue prints: This is my study of the Fordo helmet. Looking at the screen caps, the helmet design was very inconsistent and always changing. This is more of an average of the different configurations.

Here are the progress pics:

At this point, i realized that the cardboard skeleton shifted out of position and i could no longer use them as reference for my center lines. As a result, i had major symmetry issues. So i had to remove the foam from the skeleton and stuck the quadrants together and draw new center lines.

Fixing with spray PU foam

More to come...

 

[Delta 40]

That's awesome! I wondered when someone would make this helmet.

 

[themaggot8]

That is gorgeous. I can't wait to see it completed

 

[jimmiroquai]

Thanks!




Sealed the xps foam in acrylic emulsion in preparation for bondo. Also started work on the mohawk.

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Just a coat of two of latex paint to see details better...on to bondo ( and sanding....and more bondo and sanding...)

 

[wildabeast]

looks awesome so far...

 

[Fett 4 Real]

Loved this series. More then tcw cgi show. Will it be an ARC? They were badasses on this show.

 

[Delta 40]

Looking froward to the progress of this project. I'm working on an ODST helmet using the same method.

 

[jimmiroquai]

Thanks! I loved the microseries more than the more recent cgi as well.

The very tedious Bondo stages:



As seen here, i've lost a lot of sharpness from the details...i think an unavoidable step to get the base helmet all smooth.


Next up: Re-sculpting and refining the details...

 

[jimmiroquai]

Locking in the details with epoxy clay, cardboard, more clay...

 

[themaggot8]

This helmet is looking good, and you're doing it surprisingly fast

 

[jimmiroquai]

Thanks! I've finished this bucket already and posting the WIP pics to share the step by step process.

 

[spoudastis]

This looks awesome, really nice build.

 

[Delta 40]

What type of foam did you use again?

 

[jimmiroquai]

Hi! It's called XPS foam over here. It's Extruded polystyrene foam.

 

[spacebob]

This is great, love the clone wars cartoon.
Brilliant work

 

[jimmiroquai]

First casting! This prototype was done in fiberglass. Here it is after the lens and frown were cut out and after a first layer of primer and sanding. I was in the process of laying down a second layer of primer when i ran out. Unfortunately, the primer brought out some errors that need to be fixed. The master will have to be altered a bit and another mold made. Lession learned: primer the master sculpt first!

Here it is next to a KWD season 1-3 animated bucket for size comparison:

 

[wildabeast]

I want one....

 

[jimmiroquai]

Here's the finished helmet...

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And here's the finished armor as well! Presenting ARC Capt. Fordo from the 2003 Cartoon Network Microseries!
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[Solar]

That looks incredible! I just watched all of the 2D animated Clone Wars late last year at the suggestion of a friend and I thought it was incredible. I think it was the more serious and military nature the clones had that drew me in. Anyway I like the paint job and thought the foam and cardboard approach was pretty interesting, I may have to try that myself

 

[CT7567]

Amazing! Looks really good! I loved that animated series. Glad I'm not the only one