My First Helmet Kit! (Super Sentai/Power Rangers Helmet Build)

[KChan]

So, a couple weeks ago I was the lucky winner of a shiny new helmet kit from Eric0101 Cosplay! It arrived today, and boy am I excited to start working on it! I feel like finishing a kit will be the perfect way to get started in taking my propmaking to the next level, as the hardest parts - sculpting, casting, etc - have already been done for me. Also, if you've never heard of him, look up Eric on Facebook. His work is amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I won a kit from him.

Anyways, here it is, right out of the box!

And displayed proudly with all of the supplies I've gathered thus far:

I still need a dremel, fiberglass resin/hardener, and another sanding block, but I've got most of the stuff I need to do the body work. I'm still deciding if I want to use automotive spraypaint, or run the Tamiya Color paint I already have through the airbrush. Any feedback you guys can offer regarding that decision would be very helpful.

I have, however, run into a bit of a dilemma. According to most tutorials, people fill the imperfections with bondo first, then sand, prime, and repeat as necessary, and then cut the helmet in two with a dremel along a conveniently marked line put there by the kit maker. However, the place where the mold came together left a bit of a mess around the entirety of the helmet, which will take a bit of work to fix, and it's right next to the scored line where I'm supposed to cut the helmet. So far, I've thought of three options:

• Bondo the helmet first anyways. I'll risk covering up the scored line, but it will ensure both halves are even.
• Cut the helmet first. I'll have to wait a week or two before I can afford a dremel, but I won't lose that line. I will, however, risk making the helmet halves uneven while bondoing them separately.
• Take my hobby knife and score the line a little deeper, giving me something a little more defined to work with in case parts get bondoed over.

This is my first time working in a helmet kit, and I can't afford to lose that line where I'm supposed to cut, but I don't want to do the wrong thing and screw up the entire build. If anyone has any advice for how I should proceed, I'd love to hear it!

 

[smashterlink]

Looks like a pretty sweet cast you got there. I usually do the same as you did and take a picture with all my materials laid out before I begin. I think sometimes the build up to the actual work is the most fun. Doing all the research and reading tutorials and other people's WIP threads can be very fun (to me anyway).

As for the scored line, I'm no helmet expert (I'm actually getting ready to start my first helmet sculpt), but I definitely would not cut the helmet first. Seems like you would risk having the two halves becoming uneven. How deep is the scored line? Seems like you could just follow that groove with like a toothpick or something with a fine point before the bondo dries so you could keep the guide line. But again, not an expert in the helmet field...yet. HAHA Good luck. I'm sure some experts will chime in and give you the great advice you need. Hope to see more progress soon.

 

[KChan]

Thanks! I've certainly had a lot of fun preparing, reading tutorials, and finding supplies. It's really exciting getting ready! I'm just super terrified to mess it up. XD And yeah, the cast itself is amazing. It has a great feel to it, and Eric does superb work. I'm super grateful to have won it.

That's a really good idea with the toothpick. I have some modeling tools I bought for working with the bondo, and there are a couple in there that would be perfect for the job. Of course, I didn't think of that until after I'd posted. Go figure. The line itself is pretty shallow, which is why I'm so worried about losing it. Here's a better shot of the side of the helmet:

As you can see, the line is pretty faint, especially next to to the comparatively giant gash running down the side there. Thankfully, most of it is an indentation, but there are parts that stick up awkwardly. That, plus its proximity to the guide line, are what have me worried the most.

 

[Technoboots]

Personally, if I was working on the kit, I would get some electrical tape and put on so that the edge of the tape touches the cut line. I would then put on the filler and skim it so that it's as smooth as it can be to save some time sanding later on. After a couple of minutes after the filler had been put on I'd then remove the tape, you should then be left with a mostly filled gash and your cut line would still be there.

 

[KChan]

That's a good idea, thanks!

Well, I finally got both the time and the courage to take the first step and try to fill in the gash! Thanks to some modeling/sculpting tools I found at the craft store, it wasn't terribly hard to keep the bondo only where I needed it (on the helmet at least. My work area is a hot mess ), and I was able to draw the line back in on the small part where I did have to cover it.

I seem to be having trouble with the amount of hardener to use, though. The first batch I mixed, according to the directions on the can, seemed to harden within a couple minutes and I ended up wasting most of it because I couldn't work it fast enough. It seems like no matter how little hardener I put in, it's always too much. It's getting better each time I do it, but those early batches are going to be a pain to sand. They're super messy and hardened too quickly for me to smooth them out at all.

Pictures to come once I get everything sanded!

 

[sain]

That line looks fairly straight. Couldn't you just bondo and fill and the re-score the line right before you cut it in half?

 

[KChan]

I was worried that I would lose the line and be unable to replicate it. Fortunately, the portions of the line I actually ended up needing to cover were so small that I was able to re-score before the bondo even cured.

Sanding is finished, so it's picture time!

Once I'm sure I'm happy with it, I'm going to go over the minor holes with spot filler and make sure everything is super smooth.

I'm not sure where to go from here, to be honest. There are parts where I feel the helmet looks almost dented (you can sort of see it in the middle of the three pictures I just posted), and I'm tempted to try to fill it in and make it look smooth, but I also feel like if I go over every single little discrepancy trying to make the helmet perfectly round, I'll never get anywhere. Hmmm.

 

[Pittbull535]

It definitely takes time and it is up to you how perfect you want it what I do is a skim coat of bondo and sand it down to shape with 80 grit just before it fully hardens you can cover a lot ground that way in a short time here is a pic so you can see