Iron Man foam helmet varient

[Cazador]

Hi guys

I am relatively new to the site but I had an idea that I was thinking of.

I saw in another post someone that had paper mache'd the inside of their foam helmet so they could attach a system to motorize the face plate so I was thinking would it be possible to do the same on the outside then bog it so you can get the high quality detail (like the fiberglass method) but for half the price?

I don't have the time or materials at the moment to try this so just wondering what you all think??

Cheers

 

[myk83]

I've just made a "test" helmet out of some foam that I bought a while ago, but dismissed using for a whole suit as it was too flimsy and difficult to cut. This test helmet actually turned out to be the right size and I'm fairly happy with the quality as well, so I was hoping to do paper mache on it to finish it off and make it more rigid.

Hopefully someone has a bit of experience with paper mache over foam and the possible pitfalls of it before I start and ruin everything!!

 

[Cazador]

im thinking the only thing you have to worry about is the connection between the mache and the foam??

you could mache individuall parts of the helmet wait for them to dry then carfully prise it off then hot glue the **** out of it?

 

[myk83]

I'm hoping that if I paper mache inside and out then I can just surround the foam with it, and then it will be solid enough to cut out the pieces and re-attach with magnets/hinge/whatever.

I'm going to make a few test pieces out of foam to paper mache first to check for finish and structure and everything before I tackle the helmet.

I'd love to know if anyone else has tried this type of thing?!

 

[Old Trenchy]

My helmet is made of EVA foam and only coated with PVA glue. It's had a rough 12 months and needs repairs every now and then but it's ok at the moment I guess.

As far as the servo I put in there, I had to place single aluminium flat bar along the middle of the helmet (from the back to the front panel around the forehead) in order to keep it all rigid. I went a tad overkill with the torque of the single servo as I was paranoid about the rare earth magnets that hold the faceplate into place. But it all still works very simply and easily and the foam is still intact.

If you are worried though and still want to go through the bog method I would recommend checking out x-robots.co.uk and the plastic coating on foam method he used. My best friend used it on her Samus build and it works a treat.

 

[Cazador]

Hey Old Trenchy

Yea I checked out XRobots. That is quite a good idea aswell. However Im going to see if i can do this on a relativley low cost budget (minus paying for resin and fiber glass although I have quite a bit left over from last project)

I have a system set up i just need the time now. Hopfully in the next week I can post the first few stages

 

[Old Trenchy]

Don't worry, I'm all about the low cost builds. That's my schtick!

Also not a fan of fibreglass. But I do prefer polyurethane resin and I think that's what James from X-robots uses.