HELP! Disaster struck! How to repair a cracked helmet?

Sv3onSA

Active Member
Hi everyone!

I’m currently finishing a Daft Punk helmet (Thomas) for my girlfriend. I had just been doing two coats of sandable primer so that I could sand it smooth and then paint but disaster struck! My makeshift helmet holder fell over while I was looking the other way.

Result : Cracked helmet!!! GrrRRrrrrRRrrr!!!!

I don’t have any pictures right now but I can describe you the situation which should give you a good idea of what I’m dealing with here.

There are two cracks, about 6 inches each that run horizontally from each side of the visor. One runs to the back, the other to the top of the helmet. There is a missing piece at the end of the crack that run to the top, which I found and kept so that I can glue it back. The good thing is that all the pieces fit together almost as if nothing ever happened so I should be able to glue it back without too much trouble. Aside from some minor chipping at one corner of the visor, it goes back together almost seamlessly.

The helmet itself is slush cast from black plastic material. I don’t know exactly what material it is but it slush cast plastic for sure.

One thing I need to emphasize is that this HAS to be wearable this weekend so I want to avoid fiberglass resin at all cost because of the fumes! I have a very short deadline here and I need to be able to sand smooth and paint this helmet tomorrow…

So, my plan is this :

1- I’m gonna glue the pieces back together using gel super glue. This will allow me to put all the pieces in place so that I can work with it.

2- I have some Oatey Fix-it-Stick epoxy putty, so I was thinking of sanding the area around the cracks(inside the helmet) with my dremel to give it something to bite into and then apply strips of putty to the cracks. I’m hoping this will be sufficient to strengthen it, at least for the weekend.

3- Once glued back together and strong, I was thinking of applying a thin layer of bondo on the outside to cover any tiny gaps there may be. Now, the part I’m not sure about is whether I can bondo on top of the sandable primer or if I should sand the primer down, bondo, sand and then primer.

4- Hopefully, I can then apply a fresh coat of primer and resume the build as if nothing ever happened.

Is this a good plan? I don’t have a lot of building experience so maybe there is a better way to do this, hence why I’m asking for opinions here!

Thanks in advance!
 
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if you want a proper fix then its fiberglass.

if your looking for a hard and strong repair this usually means smelly stuff.

the helmet will smell using bondo or the primer if its needed at such short notice.

get her a clothes peg for her nose and it will be fine :p
 
if you want a proper fix then its fiberglass.

if your looking for a hard and strong repair this usually means smelly stuff.

the helmet will smell using bondo or the primer if its needed at such short notice.

get her a clothes peg for her nose and it will be fine [emoji14]
Exactly what I'm trying to avoid... I know for a fact she won't roll with that. If it stinks, it's not going over her head.

I think in this case I'll do a quick repair for now and fiberglass it after the con... Either that or no costuming for her :(
 
maybe you could get away with a generous super glue fix purely as a temp measure.

it shouldn't stink too much and tell her just to be careful with it, and not let it fall off something when shes not looking.

muhahahahah
 
maybe you could get away with a generous super glue fix purely as a temp measure.

it shouldn't stink too much and tell her just to be careful with it, and not let it fall off something when shes not looking.

muhahahahah
Thanks for the advice!!!

Damn right about the being careful part!!!

I felt so bad, you have no idea! This is her build and I ruined it! I kept apologizing for hours even though she wasn't mad in the slightest... I guess she's used to my clumsiness!
 
i had something similar happen a while back so i feel your pain, i had just spend many hours refurbishing an old robot sculpt and was just getting ready to mold, i turned to get something from my other bench only to turn back around to see it roll off and smash on the floor..

i picked it up and slam dunked it into my waste bin, i did it so hard the waste bin broke as well.

i did not do the lottery that night.
 
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