BonzRus
New Member
Thanks HH, yeah it had pretty meager beginnings....if it could talk it would say, "I was born from a poor sheet of foam"...
Foam Sculpting My First Bio - Beyond The Final Rung
- Thread starter BonzRus
- Start date
Thanks HH, yeah it had pretty meager beginnings....if it could talk it would say, "I was born from a poor sheet of foam"...
BonzRus
New Member
Well, it looks a lot different with a coat of primer on it. This is when it gets really fun. I love working on the final shaping and detail. Hopefully it won't be too much longer and I will be ready to start making the mold. Yay!
It has been completely sanded, filled and the first coat of gray primer applied. This always brings out some of the flaws which calls for a little more filler and then a coat of white primer.
There are just few more places to touch up and then I will start wet sanding it with 320 grit paper. It is starting to get very smooth.
It has been completely sanded, filled and the first coat of gray primer applied. This always brings out some of the flaws which calls for a little more filler and then a coat of white primer.
There are just few more places to touch up and then I will start wet sanding it with 320 grit paper. It is starting to get very smooth.
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PredatrHuntr
Master Member
Dang that looks good!
BonzRus
New Member
Thanks for the comments! I am quite pleased with how it is turning out so far. I just want to keep 'plugging' away at it...no pun intended...
BonzRus
New Member
Thank you both. I greatly appreciate the comments and encouragement from people like you here on the Lair who I consider to be far more skilled at this than myself. I do hope to have castings of it before Christmas.
I decided to spend some time smoothing the inside of the helmet over the weekend. I didn't want to get the outside finish too far along before doing this such that I would mess it up in the process of fiberglassing the inside. A little Spackle did just the trick to smooth it and then based on some information I found in another thread, I picked up some "Fix-it Stick" epoxy putty from Lowes plumbing department ($7) and used it to finish the inside edge. This was the first time I have ever used this stuff and I was greatly impressed. It works relatively easy for about 5 minutes and sets up rock hard in about 20.
I then used my Dremel with a sanding drum to smooth it and create a lip all around the rear flanges.
And it was ready for fiberglass.
Then, this morning before heading in to work I fiberglassed the inside of it.
Remember that this is basically what I am shooting for it to look like on the inside...it's pretty close so far.
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BonzRus
New Member
Hey Reyals, yes I do plan on detailing out the inside or at least providing the option for such. I have a couple different directions I could go depending on how I make the mold. I am glad you feel I am making a contribution here with this thread, much appreciated! I have so much to learn from the Lair myself and do want to be able to help others out as well but I have only just begun.
PredatrHuntr
Master Member
Can't wait to see the inside
BonzRus
New Member
Just a quick update on where I am at with this. I picked up some Acrylic sheet from Lowes for $2. It is 0.080" thick, perhaps just a bit thinner than I figure my lenses will be when made but it will work for what I need it to do. The Acrylic is easy to work with. Just heat it in an oven at about 300 F for around 8 minutes and form it how ever you want. I found that a 6" PVC coupling I had lying around fit the countour of the back of the eyes in the helmet so I drew the eye outline on it from the front with a fine Sharpie marker for both eyes and then taped a piece of Muslin over the coupling. You can still just make out the outline of the eyes through it. I then cut the Acrylic, heated it and formed it over the coupling where the eye outlines were. Then I laid the pieces inside the helmet and drew the flange outline on the back of each piece. I made these oversized for a reason which will be explained at a later date. I then shaped the the lenses with my Dremel and a sanding drum. Anyway, next I will build up a lip around each lense using the Fix-it Stick putty. My goal with this is to create a socket, if you will, for the future lenses to fit in. These are just being used as a form to help shape the putty and will be removed afterwards. This will give me the desired detail around the lenses inside the helmet, make it very easy to install the lenses and also make them easy to replace if ever desired. These forms can also be used to help make the future lenses so they fit just right in the sockets. I intend to create lenses with mesh sandwiched between a reflective outer and darker inner surface and sealed with silicone double sided tape around the edges to create thermal lenses in the end which should help inhibit fogging up. This is a big experiment so we shall see how that turns out in the end. After the initial fit these forms need a little more shaping with heat to get them just right before I can build up the putty around the edges of them. Here are a few more pics that I hope help explain what I am talking about.
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Uglimofo
Well-Known Member
Hey Steve, Great work so far! I really like the bio lense idea with several layers. The original Predator bio lenses had that reflective quality to them in the movie. I have a few bios now and NONE have a good edge to mount lenses on. I am really excited to see this thing take shape.
BonzRus
New Member
Thanks Sean. I have ideas, they may not always be good ideas but I am willing to give them a try. Some of them turn out to be gems and others are duds...it is at least fun to try. This is just a part of my trying to detail out the inside. I want the lense mounting to at least resemble the image so it must be integral to the helmet. The rest of the detail can be created separately and later added to the helmet. I saw in another thread that the original lenses were a sandwiched mesh type construction so I am trying to stay true to that.
BonzRus
New Member
Well, I got a fair amount done over the weekend. I finished the work around the lenses and added the detail to the breathing tubes port. It is now coated in dark gray primer and ready for lots of wet sanding etc. Here are a few more pics. and a video of the latest.
Some black electricians tape around the edges of the temporary lenses to help make them slightly oversized during the flange build up. I wrapped the lesnes in clear Saran Wrap to keep them from sticking to the Fix-it Stick putty while I built up the flange as I did not know how much the putty would stick to the lenses. In the end it wasn't really necessary.
The flange built up with lenses in place.
For this detail I used strips of Styrene plastic and the Fix-it Stick. It turned out better than I thought it might.
A few shots with the make shift lenses in place...the cut out in the mouth area is for a battery.
And the vid...
I also picked up some of the things I will need to make the lenses and detail the inside.
Some black electricians tape around the edges of the temporary lenses to help make them slightly oversized during the flange build up. I wrapped the lesnes in clear Saran Wrap to keep them from sticking to the Fix-it Stick putty while I built up the flange as I did not know how much the putty would stick to the lenses. In the end it wasn't really necessary.
The flange built up with lenses in place.
For this detail I used strips of Styrene plastic and the Fix-it Stick. It turned out better than I thought it might.
A few shots with the make shift lenses in place...the cut out in the mouth area is for a battery.
And the vid...
I also picked up some of the things I will need to make the lenses and detail the inside.
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PredatrHuntr
Master Member
Nice progress...the helmet looks great. I like the idea of putting a hole in the mouth for the battery. Looking forward to seeing the detail kit...
