Newbie prop-making help?

[scottmale24]

Hello! I am going to be making a helmet of sorts to wear for a costume, and right now the plan is to sculpt it out of foam and then fiberglass over it, because I would like to get experience doing that sort of thing. Before I do anything, though, I'd like to get some input from you guys, who seem super-professional and knowledgeable about these things.

So first off, will the fiberglass resin eat through the foam? Is that not a good route to go? Second, will it weigh a lot and snap my neck? I am quite fond of not having a broken neck.

Third, I guess, is how ambitious is too ambitious for a beginner? I've dabbled in making props and costumes before in the past, but now that I have some minor disposable income and a place to work, I'd really like to kick it up a notch.

Thanks for your time!

 

[brimst0ne13]

ambitiousness depends on the gaudiness and detail i guess, but sky's the limit man. i suggest covering the model with either a layer of clay or woodfiller cuz the foam may melt under the fiberglass resin. most of your fine details are in the bondo work after resining the basic shape.

as for the shaping of foam, dont give up if u shave too much off, u can add claywork to it to build up the form at any time.

 

[scottmale24]

Quick question: what are greeblies? I keep seeing this term pop up, and now I am curious.

 

[MrGzilla]

hey, im relatively new to prop building myself but ive made a few helmets and i think that pepakura is probably the best way to go if youve never done this type of thing before. and id also get some aqua resin because it does not heat up when it dries, its nontoxic, and its a powder/liquid mix so its easyer to mix to just the right thickness for what you need. and of course using bondo over that.

Quick question: what are greeblies? I keep seeing this term pop up, and now I am curious.

ive always been kinda curious about this too but from what ive seen i think there just extra detail peices like knobs or things like that.

 

[FuseNova]

From wiki:



A greeble or nurnie is a small piece of detailing added to break up the surface of an object to add visual interest to a surface or object, particularly in movie special effects. They serve no real purpose other than to add complexity to the object, and cause the flow of the eye over the surface of the object to be interrupted, usually giving the impression of increased size. It is essentially the small detailed technical part of a larger object. The detail can be made from geometric primitives, including cylinders, cubes, and rectangles, combined to create intricate, but meaningless, surface detail. Greebles are commonly found on models or drawings of fictional spacecraft in science fiction.

 

[thegreatgalling]

The greeblies are the force that binds the community, they exist in all things...

Like FuseNova wrote, they are just the little doodads and doohickies that appear on props. Many threads around here will be focused on IDing and/or construction of these pieces.

Welcome to the forum and good luck on your helmet!

 

[JtotheP]

spray adhesiving aluminum foil over the foam will protect it from the resin. The helmet shouldn't be heavy at all unless you have too many (4 or more) layers of fiberglass and too much bondo.