pep helmet build-Afghanistan Edition.

[TheGilAbides]

Hey all! So this is my first time actually posting with any sort of contribution but I thought you might all enjoy this.

First, a little about myself. I'm a soldier currently deployed to Afghanistan working on a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP). My job is normally electrician and armament repair. Out here, I sit in a lawn chair all day and wait for helicopters to ask me for rockets or ammo. 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, haven't a day off since I got here in November.

So a few weeks back I was looking at the stack of cardstock my girlfriend had sent me to keep me busy out here and thought, "You know, I'm on the RPF every night looking at people's amazing creations. Why don't I do something like that?" I decided I'd make a little challenge for myself. Using only supplies that I had (cardstock, Eileen's super tacky, and an X-Acto with three spare blades) and other parts that I could scavenge, I would build a Dredd helmet.

Well, slightly before my computer was killed in an unfortunate how-did-my-incompetent-coworker-not-see-that incident, I managed to transfer the pep file as a PDF to my google drive and use my next door office's printer to print out two copies of the helmet. 30 hours a helmet seemed pretty slow to me but I felt pretty good about the pace considering the scoring, the cutting and the gluing that had to be done. Well, my coworkers looked at me in amazement as I knocked these things out. I felt like I could have laser cut the pieces from how hard I was concentrating on those lines. But in a week, I was done.
(Bonus points for guessing the movie)

More to follow soon.


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[Blaxmyth]

Thanks for posting! I'm thrilled to see you working on these! :thumbsup

All the very best for your deployment, and Stay Safe!

 

[Uridium]

Good luck with the build. I used the same pep file myself for my first prop build. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Best piece of advice I can give at this point is don't go to heavy when it comes to applying your Bondo type product. I caused myself a LOT more sanding that should have been necessary due to my noobishness.

As for the bonus points... I'm going to take a punt with "Tango & Cash"

Thanks for posting! I'm thrilled to see you working on these! :thumbsup

All the very best for your deployment, and Stay Safe!

OMG, do you have some sort of 'Spidey Sense' for your pep file being used?????

 

[JudgeGerry]

Great Work and stay safe out in Afghanistan :cool

 

[Bacta]

Rah! Trooper stay safe out there and looking for more progress!

 

[ChiZ]

Looks great! Good work man...And the "Bonus" movie guess? ...Rocky 4 for sure. Training montage in Russia. lol

 

[TheGilAbides]

Thanks for the support guys, means a lot from a community I HIGHLY respect. And ChiZ knocks it out of the park, confirming himself to be the most 'Murican person in this thread!

But I digress

So after I completed the initial peps it was time to find resin. I went down to the local motor pool and found some civilian contractors (AKA: the nicest people ever on deployments). I asked one of them if he had an fiberglass resin I could use and he lead me to a garbage box. Low and behold, two full epoxy resin fiberglass repair kits by SmoothOn. "Take what you need, kid."

I was floored. How lucky am I to find 2 quarts of epoxy resin in the trash? Well, as I'm gathering up my new supplies another contractor walks up and asks what I'm doing. I tell him about the Dredd helmet and he asks if I would need anything else.
"You wouldn't happen to have any Bodo, would ya?" He just holds up a finger and runs off returning a minute later with a clearly once used can and tube of hardener.
2 for 2! I thank him and make my way back to the FARP.

The biggest problem with these cans of resin was they were meant to be mixed entirely. One 8oz jar of part B to a full 24oz can of part A. Simple math told me 3:1 ratio so I pulled out my handy measuring cup I had and started making 4oz batches.

Well, something unfortunate happened. Apparently I didn't measure right because even with what were suppose to be proper markings in my mixing cups I had made, I ended up with about 3oz of part A and half the jar of part B. But even stranger, this mixture took 3 days to dry. Oh well, it worked, just on a different time scale than I expected. And then the inevitable happened.
WARPAGE!
Luckily, I had read Sir Blaxmyth's awesome tips from his thread where he originally posted these peps.

Time to pull out that dollar sewing kit and let out your inner seamstress! Worked like a charm and within the hour I was ready for the second coat.
3 days later, the tacky feel would only be noticeable after holding it for over 2 minutes. I considered this done and began to inspect my piece.
Couple of runs and drips here and there but like we always said in the theatre, "Baw, we'll fix it in editing..."


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[thundrkiss]

Looking good

 

[obiwan kowalski]

My question is, did you use your issued gas mask (M-40, I'm guessing) during the resining process?

 

[TheGilAbides]

You mean that issued gas mask with the organic filter I'm required to haul around this country even though their has been no use for it? Of course not! Never thought of it even though I trip over it on the floor everyday. But I'll be damned if that isn't a great idea for future projects! Actually, I think because of the wrong mixing proportions there wasn't really any fumes. At least until my mixing cup started sizzling and hardening.

Anyways, the next step was pouring in some Rondo. I did this 1:1 mixture completely by eyeballing it. My mixing cups are roughly 3 inches across so, based on the Bondo mixing instructions, I just filled it to about 1/4 inch then tried to match it with the resin.

I poured it in and spent about 5 minutes sloshing it around (actually it was closer to turning at an angle and watching Rondo slowly ooze down the sides).
After a second coat I left the helmet in a rocket shelter to dry where it would hopefully be safe from rotor wash.
After a day of drying it was time to Bondo.

This proved to be more difficult for me. I was so used to the 20+ minutes of work time I had with the resin that I was totally unprepared for the 2-3 minutes with the Bondo. Luckily I managed to get everything on what I would consider lightly and smoothly for the first coat.
Now, being an electrician/ARMT tech I don't have easy access to a sander. I went back to the motor pool and asked my guy if he had one. No such luck but he did have a stack of medium grit sandpaper. So, I went back to the FARP, grabbed the office stapler from next door and found a block of wood on the ground.

Yep, that worked.

So, after finishing up my first coat I applied my second and came to a startling conclusion. I don't have enough Bondo. Unfortunately that was the only can in the motor pool so I was stuck with whatever this next coat gave me. There won't be any raised edges, it'll be bumpy and irregularly shaped, and have significant pitting. Again, I'll fix it in editing by making that all weathering.
One thing I did learn on the first coat was to use a mask or you'll be tasting Bondo for a few days. So for the second coat I grabbed what I could to protect my breathing.

This turned out to be great at both keeping the dust down and creating awkward moments when an Afghan General walks around the corner of your building towards his helicopter and makes eye contact with you.


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[Blaxmyth]

Hey, you look like you're making great progress. I hope you can score some more supplies soon. It makes me grateful for having ready access to pretty much anything I need(and can afford...).

As before, Stay Safe.

Regards, Phil

 

[Uridium]

It looks like I'm too late, but I would suggest that you are being a little heavy handed with the Bondo. (Same mistake i did).
You've now got too much sanding to do.

Anyway, from your pictures, you are doing great! Keep up the good work and you will have an awesome helm.

 

[Ray48]

Thanks for your service and hope you are home soon. Your helmet is looking good, especially working with discards. While you are finishing it ,scrounge a helmet pad kit for inside and see if motorpool p has a spare welding shield......maybe a new one since an old one will be scuffed up. If you have to buy one they are pretty steep. I was lucky to find one that was discontinued and the store couldn't find the price on the last one so I offered $20 and they took it. Most other shields on the shelf were twice that. You can find that kind of thing on the web but I wanted to be sure I could actually see through it! They come in different tints. I opted for the 4. The 4 is a little less easy to see through but conceals your face with flash pictures. The 3 is probably a better compromise , but like me, you'll probably take what you find free. Good luck, hope you are home soon and safe.

 

[leafman]

Thanks for your service and hope you are home soon. Your helmet is looking good, especially working with discards. While you are finishing it ,scrounge a helmet pad kit for inside and see if motorpool p has a spare welding shield......maybe a new one since an old one will be scuffed up. If you have to buy one they are pretty steep. I was lucky to find one that was discontinued and the store couldn't find the price on the last one so I offered $20 and they took it. Most other shields on the shelf were twice that. You can find that kind of thing on the web but I wanted to be sure I could actually see through it! They come in different tints. I opted for the 4. The 4 is a little less easy to see through but conceals your face with flash pictures. The 3 is probably a better compromise , but like me, you'll probably take what you find free. Good luck, hope you are home soon and safe.

I managed to get a replacement face shield (Hobart brand shade #3) for about $8. You can get them on Amazon for $10.37+shipping.

TheGilAbides: If you can't find something for a visor over there, send me a pm, I think I have enough left of the face shield I bought to make another visor.

 

[Ray48]

Anyone who wants a shield close to movie quality should note that the curved type is the kind you need and the lower edge has a "lip" about 1/16" wide . If you aren't concerned about the look, anything will do fairly well.