Iron Man Helmet Resurrected

Scuba Bob

Scuba Bob

Active Member
I tried my hand at my first pepakura Iron Man helmet. I think the shape turned out ok but my sanding and paint job are crap. I didnt have access to a palm sander at the time and was trying to do everything by hand and admittedly rushed it and turned out with this craptacular result...

ironmanhelm1_zpsa13c7b8b.jpg


ironmanhelm2_zps74959b07.jpg


I need advice. Should i get some 40 grit out (i can borrow a sander now) and just run it back down and start again and then work up from there or should i build an entirely new helmet?
 
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Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Actually, it kinda looks like rough-cast aluminum or something. Kinda cool, actually.

That said, it couldn't hurt to try and sand it down now. Worst comes to worse, it still doesn't turn out to your liking at least you've learned a few things that you can put towards your next build, right?

Go for it. Good luck!
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Ooo, that is rough but you should turn it into somekind of zombie Iron man look!
Add some blood and guts and you're good!
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

In my opinion, if the helm fits you, sanding is a good alternative to preserve all the work you´ve done until now. If you have a sander in hand it will be easier. You can make a good helm if you have patience enough and patience, be cool and patience, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, sand, bondo, patience, zzzzzzzzzzzzz.....:lol
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

the helmet is actually a little bit small for my head and a bit of a pain to put on. It might be worth it to start a new helmet from scratch and just do it right from the beginning. Building this helmet was a good learning experience though. Thanks everyone for such constructive criticism. I sent pics to a friend of mine and she said "it looks like you sh*& out something that bears a faint resemblance to an iron man helmet"

My background is in sculpting so this whole sanding thing is new to me lol. What i usually do is get whatever i'm working on butter smooth on the clay and then when i mold and cast it is perfect.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Hey what did you do for the lights in the eyes? they look great! Do you have a link to a tutorial you followed?
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

This is the tutorial I followed. TUTORIAL - IRON MAN HELMET LED LIGHT EYES - YouTubeI made some mods of my own to get them to automatically light when the faceplate is closed and turn off when i open it. I used a flat connector glued to the rim of the helmet and another corresponding one on the faceplate so that then when the helmet is closed, they touch and light up the eyes.

Even though this helmet is a tight fit i think i'll just sand it down, it was a lot of work to make and when it's on it fits nicely and doesnt wobble around.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

you say your background is sculpting? Take a look at what stealth is doing with his iron man and war machine helmets, i think that'll be good for you :p Good luck! :)
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Scuba Bob said:
My background is in sculpting so this whole sanding thing is new to me lol. What i usually do is get whatever i'm working on butter smooth on the clay and then when i mold and cast it is perfect.
Click to expand...

Really, but you can't get yourself to sand this by hand? :facepalm
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

MattCorneIM said:
you say your background is sculpting? Take a look at what stealth is doing with his iron man and war machine helmets, i think that'll be good for you :p Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

I saw that a little too late lol. I'll be starting a helm very soon and using a pepp'd iron man helmet as the armature for it and laying clay on top of it. I did one a while ago straight from clay with no armature and i didnt like how the angles turned out.

haha ya i think smoothing clay is more relaxing to me than sanding. I have no problems plugging my ipod in and working on a sculpt but sanding and worrying about cleaning up dust in my little condo etc is a lot less fun lol. not to say that it couldnt be done, i just didnt want to do it lol.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Since you have a sculpting background, I suggest using some of your sculpting tools on the bondo to smooth it some before it fully cures. Do it before it's too hard to dent with your fingernail. That way, it's less to sand later on after it has fully cured.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

awesome idea, i have some flexible ribs and rakes that will work very nicely for that.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

I used 2 part epoxy putty for my Doom helmet's finer details. I also prefer sculpting to sanding, and with a 15 minute cure time, it was more than enough.
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

umm I have backround in scuplting n I used it when I first started to use bondo so dnt know what to tell ya bout that :lol but to smooth out bondo I wetsand it alot n to help with smoothing get yr self some baseball cards or somthin like it n get some Glazed Spot Putty n using the card will smooth out imperfections easier:)
 
Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Almost got the rough sanding down. i went over it with 40 grit to remove the paint and get back down to the bondo. From there I'll be doing some filler work and then moving up to an eventual wetsand for the final product. Being honest with myself, this mistake wasn't so much a lack of skillset or knowledge of the procedure but shear impatience. I just wanted to see it painted lol. i'm sure we've all gone through that. 2nd paint up will be 1000X better i guarantee it.

Doc, i just had a look at your rondo tutorial and its amazing. I never thought to mix up body filler and resin for coating foam. I'll have to try that. I would swear your helmet is resin not foam, great job.
 
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Re: Iron Man Helmet FAIL

Thats true, but thats why i have like 3 projects at the same time, because the very detailed ones i do them very slow and with patience, but i have small side projects that i can finish fast
 
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