Pacific Rim Gypsy Danger Drivesuit Helmet

[TimAnderson310]

Hey, everyone, first build here! I've had a few ideas bouncing around my mind for builds, and I've finally mustered the courage to have a go at one-- or two, rather: the Becket brothers' drivesuit helmets from Pacific Rim. I wanted to tackle two of them at once so I can feel like any little mistake won't sink my whole project. Even if things go horribly wrong, I ought to have at least one good one by the end of this. And if they both turn out well, I want to give one of them to my brother-- probably the biggest Pacific Rim fan I know. He and I often joke about how we'd be completely drift-compatible if we ever needed to actually build Jaegers, so it would be cool for us each to have one.

Before I start sharing my work so far, though, I want to give credit to MrPinski for his amazing PacRim helmet that inspired me to make this my first. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out HERE.

I've started out by modifying MrPinski's blueprints and creating a front view as well. I've then cut those profiles out of MDF, and I'm going to fill the shape with foam sheets and sculpt, etc... I'll post progress shots as I get work done on it. Wish me luck!

 

[Crimson490]

Off to a good start. Good luck!

 

[TimAnderson310]

Thanks, Crimson490! Your Tron builds have been a huge inspiration, fantastic work yourself!

Over the weekend, I cut up some foam sheets and started to fill in the forms. I'm actually really glad that I'm doing two, because I was able to discover a couple of tools/methods doing the first one that made the second one go much more smoothly (it helps to use a really sharp knife with a long enough blade, who'd have thunk?). Doing two at once definitely seems to be helping to lessen the learning curve a bit.

 

[TimAnderson310]

It isn't too complicated to carve the helmet's form out of foam. To quote the great Michelangelo, "I just remove everything that doesn't look like the Gypsy Danger pilot drivesuit helmet." Or something like that; I may be paraphrasing...

Tonight, I carved out the first helmet, and even after taking these pictures, I noticed some glaring wonkiness, so I sanded some more afterwards. I'm gonna seal it next and then Bondo the whole thing. And then I'll get started on the other one while this one dries.

 

[MrPinski]

I really wish I was better with my computer... Haha

looks good so far! Good luck!

 

[TimAnderson310]

Thanks, MrPinski! your helmet is what pushed me over the line from lurker/admirer to getting my own hands dirty! I'm good on the computer (it's what I do all day), but I really wish I was better with my hands, haha, so here goes!

- - - Updated - - -

I've got a random question/request to anyone who may have some good visual reference from cons or whatnot... Do any of you have any good photos of the case in which they carry the spinal clamps for their drivesuits (image below)? It's only got about 3 seconds of screen time, but I'd like to build a box in which to store my completed helmet (talk about putting the cart before the horse, right?), and I think that would be a cool source of inspiration. Problem is, it's only got about 3 seconds of screen time, so it's hard to get a clear view, and it doesn't seem to be among the Propstore auction items, so there's no reference there. Any leads would help, thanks!

Reference:

 

[MrPinski]

Check out the YouTube video that Legacy put out for the suits. It's in there I think.

 

[TimAnderson310]

Oh, awesome, thanks! I'll have to look into that!

 

[Ishyko]

I can't wait to see your finished helmets. I'm really glad you're doing the Alaska one. I have to admit that's one of my favorites. Everyone likes the black but I love the scuffed up look of the first one we see. It looks like it's coming along great.

If you don't feel like building a case you could look online for some transit cases perhaps. I was going to suggest pilot helmets but they tend to toss those in a bag (the 501st uses those for their 'bucket' but then they still pack the whole armor in a much larger bin on wheels - holds armor, helmet, clothes, tools, repair parts, runs $35 - $80 at Lowes).

I also wanted to bring your attention to the convention thread I posted for a Pacific Rim/multimedia con, Shatterdome Con in Northern Virginia. The reason... I have "Legacy Effects" - Shane Mahan and Lindsay MacGowan, the manufacturers of the drivesuits coming I wanted to make sure people like you didn't miss out if you could make it.

Keep up the great work! I plan on making some drivesuits myself but I wanted one to be battle damaged Raleigh

 

[TimAnderson310]

So a lot of time has passed, and there's been a slight change of plans. I've just been so busy lately with my day job, illustration work, and family stuff. I also realized while I was working previously on this project that I didn't have enough space to work comfortably. So, this helmet project kinda branched off into a whole garage refurb/workbench build, haha. Now that the workbench is complete enough to continue, I've shifted gears just a tad.

I thought it would be fun to do a smaller scale helmet build, to get a grasp on the shapes and forms of the helmet before going full-scale. In considering many options, I decided to sculpt the helmet at 1/3 size using NSP (Hard) modeling clay. This way it's small enough to hold in my hand and work on it more easily than the full sized version, and I can also easily mold it and make multiple castings later on. It's basically the same design as the Gypsy Danger helmets they use later on, so I can do variants with different paint jobs. Plus, it'll be a good size to place on my desk at work without being too obtrusive.

So far, I made a core out of aluminum foil, and I've blocked out the basic mass with the clay. I plan on working in the major shapes and forms, working up most of the details on one side, and then matching the other side for symmetry. I've used this clay once before for creature design back in art school, but I've never attempted perfect symmetry like this. If anyone's got any tips on that, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks!