Skullman - pic heavy

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN helm -Test Casts pg2!- PIC HEAVY

Thanks everyone!

The run is pretty much confirmed to happen, I just need to figure out a few things before the JY thread goes up.

One of them is: what's considered a sellable quality cast?
I've never bought or sold any props or kits before so I'm fairly clueless here.
Is there some kind of minimum quality standard in the community?
I've browsed through the JY a few times to see what a standard run thread is like and I occasionally see stuff like "needs trimming, bondo filling" and I know people here are plenty used to working with raw casts and kits but how "crappy" can the cast be before genuine dissatisfaction?


Or am I just overthinking this and as long as the buyer is fully informed of what they're getting and the price is appropriate then it's all fine? >_>

At this point I've used up my resin, 12 casts total.
-1 already cut & primed and gonna be built as a finished sample and for keeping
-1 more major void cast for myself
-2 are structurally iffy
-4 need some apoxie/bondo filling on my end because the defect affect sculpt/detail

That leaves 4 with defects minor enough that glazing putty and primer will take care of them and maybe the occasional bondo/epoxy bubble, so potentially sellable if that's acceptable.


Examples of the fairly minor stuff:


More problematic defects examples:




So yeah, trying to figure that out before JY thread...
Would appreciate any input.

 

[whiteraven]

Re: SKULLMAN helm -Test Casts pg2!- PIC HEAVY

Ok, I have no clue who the character is... but the coolness factor of the helmet has my interest. Great build!

 

[DarthBatman]

Re: SKULLMAN helm -Test Casts pg2!- PIC HEAVY

This is so flippin' coooool!!!

 

[maverick626]

Re: SKULLMAN helm -Test Casts pg2!- PIC HEAVY

the "minor stuff" is far better than the quality of Gamesworkshop "finecast" model line , i think you could sell that quality , as long as the helmets are phisically sound and able to whitstand the journey thrugh the varios postal services ( ahem , european user here ) .
one thing , how big is the "nose"? because i might want to shave a bit of that area in order to get a better range of view wearing the helmet

 

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN helm -Test Casts pg2!- PIC HEAVY

Thanks whiteraven and DarthBatman!

one thing , how big is the "nose"? because i might want to shave a bit of that area in order to get a better range of view wearing the helmet

Not really sure what you mean by "nose". Field of view is fairly limited, mostly by the brows., and once the lenses go in there might be some more view issues >_>

Speaking of lenses...I'm strugling in a sea of discouragement trying to make them.

Taking way too long because I don't quite know what I'm doing, just working from the idea that it should be vacuumformed and the mold should have little holes in the crevaces to suck the plastic down...

Montage of just slapping stuff together yaaaaay

Did a first pull before polishing up the mold just to see if it even worked. It did, but crappilly because I overdid it with the heat. Too much initial heat before the pull, so wrinkles everywhere and too thin, then too much heat gun for bubbles and tears.


Polished up the mold and did a 2nd pull. Less initial heat this time, more careful with the heat gun so much better results but still a few bubbles. Bigger problem is that it pulled the primer off the resin parts of the master...

Not sure if this is adheasion problems to the resin, I don't remember cleaning it properly before priming or will heated up plastic always pull paint off the master? Would love any tips.

Also on the first pull the resin bits were unprimed and the PETG seemed to get cloudy over those parts. Does resin not like being a vacuuforming master?



On the side I did a test pull of the "pupil" master before the main mold was done to make sute the 1mm (0.040") PETG I bought would actually form into the detail. It did so that was a relief. Although maybe I should have went with 1.5mm(0.060")?

Also did a paint test. The original idea I had was LED in the middle of the pupil, clear red on the front, silver on the back so the light doesn't blind the wearer. Plastic around the pupil would remain clear or maybe smoked/tinted to still see. Tamiya Clear Red looking a bit Orange-y, but still mostly like intended. Thoughts?

(mess up the LED so not light test )

 

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

Sanded down the primer almost completely, still clouding

Thought it was microscopic scratches from the sanding since I noticed when heated up to form really close the plastic picks up even the wood grain of the vacuuform machine. Sanded it some more with 800 grit, then buffed with dremil. Still clouding

And this time it started picking up scratched near the top rim where it's just rough sanding.

Decided to paint test it anyway. Again pupil clear red on outside, silver on inside. Rest was left clear.

Aaaaaaand I couldn't see anything at all out of that eye even with the little bits around the pupil clear. Might try repositioning it a bit but still....

All that time spent on the lens mold and it doesn't work properly. Even if it did the lenses won't let you see......I can't even think of a Plan B right now :cry

 

[hydin]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

They make a transparent red that is a hell of a lot clearer than that.

Even comes in a spray can. Should fix up the viewing problem through the colors at least.

No idea about the vacforming though, that's something that I don't have any experience with.

Chris

 

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

They make a transparent red that is a hell of a lot clearer than that.

Even comes in a spray can. Should fix up the viewing problem through the colors at least.

No idea about the vacforming though, that's something that I don't have any experience with.

Chris

Well the idea was never to see through the red, but around it.
The pupil is suppose to light up, so can't really see through that.
That's why it's clear red on the outside, and silver on the inside to reflect away from the eye behind it.

I've repositioned the lens a bit and now there's some view, but not much. I'm guessing that might actually work out yet with a bit of fiddling.

Vacuum forming is still the big thing. Pretty much every single project I have lines up next has some kind of vacuum formed clear parts somwhere and I need to figure out what material and finishes are appropriate for the master before I start on those :\

 

[nick daring]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

I always see plaster used to form Vacuform bucks. Maybe you could create one by simplay pouring plaster back into the first faulty pull and use that as your new buck?

I say try the clear red and see how it works out. Being able to see is good.

Nick

 

[maverick626]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

one thing i used for my hideous first costume ever ( the thing was horrible as sin , but was my frst ever attempt at this kind of stuff...) was that instead of using translucent lenses and stuf inside to replicate the eye , y used a standar dark glass tint ( think the one for sunglasses ) , and to simulate the red inside black type of effect , i placed 2 small led lamps for book reading , inside the cheeks , aimed at my eyeballs , and tinted the lamps red in order to give a strong redlight so the effect was that of black and the eyething was achieved by the refracted redlight on my eyeballs , i i could i´ll post pictures of that , unfortunately my pc crashed and lost all of the pictures except 3 ...

anyway , sounds a silly idea , but it looked ok and let me see enough not to walk to a wall ...

 

[whiteraven]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

Ever thought of using a UV reactant clear red paint? So the lense is clear unless a (small hidden) blacklight LED is lit up?

Clear Neon Paint

Might be an idea?

 

[mcoatsey]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

love the work dude, you have given me some thought/ideas as to do a opening hinge for my next RedHood version 2 helmet. Truly amazing work

 

[zookone]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

Ever thought of using a UV reactant clear red paint? So the lense is clear unless a (small hidden) blacklight LED is lit up?

Clear Neon Paint

Might be an idea?

I would strongly discourage UV lights near the eyes. I worked on a black light tron costume and I though the UV light was going to destroy my eyes...

 

[Grave]

Re: SKULLMAN -Test Casts pg2, lens advice?- PIC HEAVY

you could get away with what i did. 5mm pvc laminate in red. completely transpartent. see through no problem. it was $7 for a 1.5x2ft sheet at mercury crafts. i think they have that in TO. they do in london.

 

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

Thanks everyone for comments and info!

In other news......SKULLS!

JAWS!!!!

And finally useful eye lenses!

Lenses aren't perfect, but they're finally usable. No long progress post now because I really really need to get started on the next project. But long story short I ended up fiddling more with the mold then casting it in Ultra-cal 30. Vacuum forming over the stone mold has no more sticky and opacity problems. Also after some adjustments to the master since the old pulls there's a bit more visibility, so at least now you can safely navigate.

Anyway, hooray for Junkyard thread!

Skullman Helm anime version



EDIT: Forgot to mention that I probably won't be finishing my own helm for a while. Con in 3 weeks and I need to start and finish a whole new project in that time~! Fun fun fun!

 

[jblakey]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

wow - awesome work! and it was awesome to see the whole project from the start!

amazing!

Thanks,
jason

 

[animefan]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

very nice, happy you finally finished, ill be looking to get one some time.

 

[Terrible Rid]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

woooww this is really amazing....

 

[Im Beneath Doom]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

That's one sexy helmet, man. Great job

edit: Any plans on releasing pep files for it?

 

[TMBountyHunter]

Re: SKULLMAN - PIC HEAVY - finally made it to JY

Thanks!

There are no pep files for this. The 3D model I made never made it into physical space or even out of Blender because I ended up not really liking it and the entire pep process (which I never tried before at that point in time) seemed to troublesome.

I do still have the .blend file if anyone wants it. It's quite different than the "finished" helmet but it'd be interesting to see if it does end up being useful to anyone. (All info and pics on it here)

View attachment skullman_blender.zip