Stargate Horus moving helmet- update: tutorial done!

[Honus]

I've been wanting to build one of these helmets for a very long time but there was no way I could spend the cash to sculpt one and do a proper casting so I had to improvise by using the pepakura model provided by nintendude and movieman as a base (a HUGE thank you to you guys!) I certainly wasn't going for accuracy as this is intended to be a low budget costume helmet instead of an accurate replica.

When I set out to build this I wanted it to be light weight, low cost and most importantly I wanted it to move.

The helmet is constructed of cardstock, paper mache and foam sheet with some thin plywood for the head mech and fan parts. I still need to fit the covers for the fans and do some finishing and painting but so far I'm pretty happy with it.

Here's the tutorial- enjoy!
Animatronic Stargate helmet

 

[Sean]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

wicked Cool!any video in the future of the mechanism working?

 

[Rysjin7717]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

I've been wanting to build one of these helmets for a very long time but there was no way I could spend the cash to sculpt one and do a proper casting so I had to improvise by using the pepakura model provided by nintendude and movieman as a base (a HUGE thank you to you guys!) I certainly wasn't going for accuracy as this is intended to be a costume helmet instead of an accurate replica.

When I set out to build this I wanted it to be light weight, low cost and most importantly I wanted it to move.

The helmet is constructed of cardstock, paper mache and foam sheet with some thin plywood for the head mech and fan parts. I still need to fit the covers for the fans and do some finishing and painting but so far I'm pretty happy with it.

I'll have video of it moving along with a full tutorial soon.

Here's ya answer.

 

[Nobby]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

now that is sweeeeeeeet!

great work dude!

 

[vctrsone]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

wow! dude i love stargate..your making me want to make stargate props.

cant wait to see it finished.

I might look into making one of the gold glove style weapons (sorry cant remember name) since I work in brass and copper.

il be watching this thread anyway.

 

[Nobby]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

I might look into making one of the gold glove style weapons (sorry cant remember name) since I work in brass and copper.

Talk to Pete SSS.
He has made them in the pst and says they're a real pain in the butt

 

[Honus]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Updated first post to include test video.

 

[Nobby]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

those animatronics are fantastic!!!!!!

 

[vctrsone]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget

Talk to Pete SSS.
He has made them in the pst and says they're a real pain in the butt

its a pretty simple design compared to my lightsabers. I dont think il have any trouble creating it (I say this now LOL)...like i say brass and copper is what I do.

I will check out petes one too tho.


and nice vid! really really love those animatronics....I might have to start getting into making some animatronic systems...now that ive got my lightsaber electricals down pat.

this is why I love props..constant learning!......and awe lol

 

[Jonny B]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

You JERK! You have any idea what this means now? I HAVE to learn electronics so I can make mine look THIS DAMN COOL!

I've seen a few with moving heads before, but NONE cought the "Birdness" (I know not a word but only way I can think to describe it) of the movements of the head like yours does.

 

[Honus]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Thanks guys- glad you like it! The animatronic system is really simple- it just runs the same program in a loop so turn it on and you're good to go. I figured it was easier and more practical to do it this way so all I have to do is tell each servo where to go. During a pause in the video is when the eyes will light up once I install them- they'll just fade in and out.

Originally I had envisioned a system that had the hand device that would control the helmet. I had bend sensors on the fingers and it used a wireless radio to link to the helmet so when you moved your fingers the helmet would move accordingly. In actual practice it was a bit cumbersome and was hard to control.

As far as the head mechanism goes I could make it much smaller and lighter. I originally used smaller servos but I didn't realize the gears in them were damaged until after I had built the mechanism so I had to rebuild it using some larger servos I had laying around. With smaller servos the side to side movement range would be greater due to improved clearance but it's not too bad as it is. The head would also be able to sit a bit further back.

While designing the head mechanism I looked at how a lot of birds moved their heads and many of them seem to tilt slightly as they rotate so this mechanism does the same thing. The forward servo allows for tilt independent of rotation so you can get a pretty good range of motion.

If anyone is ever interested in getting an animatronic system built just let me know.

 

[Jonny B]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

....

If anyone is ever interested in getting an animatronic system built just let me know.

Well, to be perfectly honest, we're doing a small production run of horus heads to sell. Light weight, vaccuformed parts in "Kit" form or fully painted and deco'd. It'll be in the begining of the year, Feb-March. What would these cost to make? Seriously, this kind of puts it over the top in the cool-factor.
It's like the Aliens "Marines Motion Tracker"...prop was dead on acurate but it went WAY up in the "Holy C##P I have to have that!" when added the electronics that went thump...thump...thump..and when you pressed a hidden button it went TING TING TING! exactly like in the movie.

I got to take mesurements and high res pictures of the screen used Horus a while ago so we're almost dead on. However, one may be comming up for sale soonish and if so we'll mold right off an original. Provided it doesn't cost me a second morgage!

 

[Nwerke]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Ooooh!!!!!!!!!! Colour me interested.

Honus, your stuff is great! I'm loving this build. Couldn't imagine papier mache looking so good!

 

[Rysjin7717]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Honus< it seems ta me like it's a bit jerkey in it's movements when turning th' head an all raptor type birds tilt their heads like that good observation. I think that ya could smoothen th' movement out a bit make it look more natural instead of it being a more forced movement but that might be due ta some clearance issues inside th' actual helmet.

 

[Eveningarwen]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

absolutely love! We're planning on doing an Anubis Guard costume and want the head to move and eyes to light up so it's great seeing this!

 

[Honus]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Jonny B- I'll work up some numbers and send you a PM later. A vac form kit would be really cool- I always thought that would be a great way to produce these at a reasonable cost but I was worried that it would hard to capture all the detail.

One of the other things I might do is connect a sound board to play audio files in sync with the movements. It would be tough to do in a costume due to limited space but it would make a killer display.

Rysjin7717- Most of that jerkiness you see is due to the whole head moving around since the stand isn't very stable. Once you're wearing the helmet it's greatly reduced. The big problem with servos is that they have rapid acceleration/deceleration and that can add to that jerky movement, especially if the piece you're moving weighs a lot. Fortunately the head is very light weight, especially compared to the rest of the helmet so that helps a lot. You can add filtering to the code to smooth the movements/reduce speed and change servo acceleration/deceleration rates but that can have some side effects too- you often get "steps" as the servos move which I think looks even worse. I'm working on some smoothing code to slow it down a bit so we'll see how it goes.

Eveningarwen- I'll have a full tutorial up on Instructables.com soon (I'll post a link) so you'll be able to make the Anubis version. I'll have to make one of the Anubis heads to see if there are any changes that will have to be made to the head mech to make it fit.

 

[Badmonkey]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Eveningarwen- I'll have a full tutorial up on Instructables.com soon (I'll post a link) so you'll be able to make the Anubis version. I'll have to make one of the Anubis heads to see if there are any changes that will have to be made to the head mech to make it fit.

That would be great Honus! I'll be making the Anubis costume with EveningArwen so I really look forward to seeing the tutorial. If you don't get around to trying the Anubis version before I do, I'll definitely share what changes were needed.

Awesome build mate!!!

 

[EyeintheSky]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

If anyone is ever interested in getting an animatronic system built just let me know.

Great job! I'm really interested!

 

[Rysjin7717]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Jonny B- I'll work up some numbers and send you a PM later. A vac form kit would be really cool- I always thought that would be a great way to produce these at a reasonable cost but I was worried that it would hard to capture all the detail.

One of the other things I might do is connect a sound board to play audio files in sync with the movements. It would be tough to do in a costume due to limited space but it would make a killer display.

Rysjin7717- Most of that jerkiness you see is due to the whole head moving around since the stand isn't very stable. Once you're wearing the helmet it's greatly reduced. The big problem with servos is that they have rapid acceleration/deceleration and that can add to that jerky movement, especially if the piece you're moving weighs a lot. Fortunately the head is very light weight, especially compared to the rest of the helmet so that helps a lot. You can add filtering to the code to smooth the movements/reduce speed and change servo acceleration/deceleration rates but that can have some side effects too- you often get "steps" as the servos move which I think looks even worse. I'm working on some smoothing code to slow it down a bit so we'll see how it goes.

Eveningarwen- I'll have a full tutorial up on Instructables.com soon (I'll post a link) so you'll be able to make the Anubis version. I'll have to make one of the Anubis heads to see if there are any changes that will have to be made to the head mech to make it fit.

Honus, Idk that thanx for clearin that up i'm sure that by th' time this is finished it'll look a lot better as far as th' animatronics are concerned . i really love watchin how ya builds go from idea ta finished. i consider ya ta be th' authority when it comes electronics for costumes bra. thumbsupthumbsup:cool

 

[Mole]

Re: Stargate Horus moving helmet- low budget -video

Wow! That's really nice! Love the way it moves.