Re: Daft Punk Helmet Build - FINISHED! p.16 for pics & vid
Oof. That is a hefty list of lessons learned. In order of the process itself, here's some tips for whoever tries to copy this build:
...thats all I can think of for right now. If I come up with more, I'll be sure to toss them out here.
So, if it was 17 months ago and you had the knowledge you have now, what sort of changes in technique would we have seen?
Oof. That is a hefty list of lessons learned. In order of the process itself, here's some tips for whoever tries to copy this build:
- Start with a lifecast or a head form to get the helmet size correct. I got lucky, but in retrospect, that idea with the cardboard profiles would have worked much better if I had a head (not my own!) to scale them to.
- The clay/foam thing wasn't a bad idea, and I might even do it again for building up mass. Using apoxie sculpt so early was kind of dumb though.
- Spend less time finessing little imperfections when the general shape isn't correct yet. I had a lot of work which eventually got buried under more bondo, making it ultimately pointless.
- Make a mounting rig for leaving things to dry. Balancing a sculpt on a roll of tape is stupid.
- Krylon Ruddy Brown primer CAN be wetsanded - Krylon Dull Gray CAN NOT!
- Waxing the sculpt seemed to make pulling casts much easier. I used turtle wax (automotive)
- Make the vacuumform buck out of something that cant melt - like plaster. A hollow, resin buck won't hold its shape for long.
- Don't wax a vac-form buck that will be pulling clear visors. The wax transfers to the plastic and clouds it.
- When chroming, ask the platers to use their own primer. It works better with the paint. Make sure to tell them NOT to oven-dry it, unless you use polyester resin and glass fibers. Urethane resin will melt.
- Test boards before installing components.
- Molex plugs don't make things easier if you're using 24ga wire. You're just wasting money - solder them directly to the boards.
- Test boards before installing components, dammit.
- 3M Weatherstrip adhesive could fasten an egg yolk to a sheet of glass. Use it outside, because its horribly toxic. DON'T put the damn helmet on until it cures completely.
...thats all I can think of for right now. If I come up with more, I'll be sure to toss them out here.