Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Helmet Build V2

[SamuraiEdgar]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

This is looking awesome dude. Im always blown away by at how badass you guys are a making Daft Punk helmets.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Thanks....there's a learning curve but I feel I have pretty much perfected my method. These helmets are kind of annoying to build because every square millimetre has to be perfect, or else they look....bad.

Thanks again everyone. I did some final Bondo work tonight, now it's just a matter of sharpening edges and filling pin holes.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Oof......Long day.

WETSANDING!

Gross, right? 300 grit, 800 grit, 1000 grit, then 2000. I usually do 600 also but I'm out and I didn't want to stall my progress.

BUFFED AND WAXED!!!!!!

Starting the clay.

Well, tomorrow is the big day. This is........nerve wacking.........but exciting at the same time! Wish me luck, my friends!

 

[rosskow]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

I wish you the best of luck, I know how nervous you can be, I was nervous when I did my first moulding and that was just a little ear cap mould.

Look forward to seeing your hard work pay off.

 

[Drack]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Good luck man this is one sweet sculpt. I know what you mean about being nervous though I was the same with my helmet mould.

Tom.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Thanks guys. The first few coats went well, but there are some spots with thickened rubber that haven't cured as fast as the other spots. So, either I'm screwed for the first half or I'm just being paranoid. We'll see.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

It's been a while....feels like forever.

Sorry I haven't been posting more, but I thought I would just do a giant image dump once some good progress was gained.

In the beginning I was going to document my moldmaking to show what to do, but in this case, I'm gonna show you what NOT to do, which sometimes are the best lessons of all. These lessons are the end result of some late nights and some aggravated patience, which just goes to show how challenging moldmaking can be.

The first few coats went well, actually. Started off with a print coat, with silicone thinner added for extra detail capture. Remember, the first coat is where all your details show;the rest are just supporting layers so your silicone doesn't tear or warp while casting.

Had a brush hair fall off during the second coat, but I'm hoping it doesn't affect the overall casts.

Making the registration keys. In retrospect, I should have used something with rounder corners, but once again, I'm hoping it won't affect the mold.

Thickened silicone added in the ear canals for leveling undercuts.

Back half done. I believe I used around.....6 or 7 coats. Overkill? Yes, but I didn't want to take any risks.

So, the back half wasn't that bad....it's the front half that gave me trouble.

Everything started normal, except for some hair brushes left behind in the print coat.....this will affect the casts, I just hope not in a major way. I didn't bother to take too many pics of the front half during the coats because I was........lazy? No excuse, I know. I'm sorry.

So here's the front half and the back half all done.

Here's the issue: NOT ENOUGH REGISTRATION KEYS ON THE FRONT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought i could get away with only a couple but looking back I should have used at least 2 or 4 more. I'm hoping for the best.

So, the mother mold was the next hurdle to tackle.....and that's where I @$#% everything up.

I thought I could get away with a two part mother mold separated right down the middle.........nope.......didn't work, I had to break it off and waste 50 dollars in plast-paste in order to start again. I checked back to the pros.....namely Volpin, MrPinski, and Beastman, looking for inspiration. I knew that those guys made their mother molds with MDF partitions, but I thought I could skip that part and just wing it. Another bad idea. In the end though, I came up with this, and I will continue working on it this week until I'm done.

More to come.

 

[rosskow]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Despite your setbacks and fails, looks good from here, but just incase, ill cross my fingers.

And as you said, failure and going wrong is usually for the best...in the long run.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Despite your setbacks and fails, looks good from here, but just incase, ill cross my fingers.

And as you said, failure and going wrong is usually for the best...in the long run.

Thanks rosskow....I'm crossing my fingers as well, trying to stay positive.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Sorry for the complete crap photos but I've pulled two helmets so far. Mold works good!!!!!!!!

 

[pRoJectEarth7]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Sweet!... I'm loving this...:love

Congrats... cheers! :thumbsup

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Thanks man! Your builds have been very inspirational so that means a lot coming from you.

:cheers:cheers:cheers

 

[rosskow]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Looks great, you'll be cranking them out now, sorry for the terrible word play, couldn't resist.

Where will you get your visor's?

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Looks great, you'll be cranking them out now, sorry for the terrible word play, couldn't resist.

Where will you get your visor's?

Haha............

I ordered about 4 giant sheets of PETG off of ebay about 5 months ago that I still have an abundance of, so that's what I use for visors.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Midnight Cowboy]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Hey Crank729.

I'm using the same pepakura for making my helmet (Dung0Beetle_Thomas-Tron (cama900 unfold).pdo). I printed it at the default scale of the file, but I can barely fit into my head (and I don't really have a big one). Which scale did you use? I also want to put electronics inside but there's no room for it.

BTW, your project is looking awesome

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Okay, update time.

Here's one of the casts in ONYX plastic from Smooth On.

A couple of notes about ONYX so far.

I was told this this stuff was pretty hard to work with but I found it quite easy. No noticeable bubbles or warping or de-lamination. The one thing that did annoy me was that it was hard to tell how thick the cast was before pulling it out of the mold. Also, it's very hard to see all the little imperfections in the black casts. So far, though.....it's working great.

This was the second cast, partially filled and sanded. So far I have spent about 4 hours filling and sanding....but it's better than 4 months!

A close up of the surface. There are some little bubbles where the Mold seam line is, but these are easily taken care of with twenty minutes of bondo work.

Mine vs. Volpin's. His is wider than mine, while mine is more narrow. Either way, I'm happy with the way it came out.

I will be selling casts eventually, it's just a matter of time. Thanks for reading guys, and as always.....more to come.

 

[rosskow]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

I think that last picture would make decent looking album cover.

As normal, looks great.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

Doing some cast clean up. This is my clients but mine isn't far behind! Each cast seems to have its own problems but so far it's been a very fun experience.

Most notable problems are on the under visor brim ( small bump ) and the corner visor slope ( tiny bump ). Everything else is pretty solid. The back half on each cast differs. Some have really bad dents while others have next to no blemishes. It's odd.

As 2012 comes to a close I just wanted to say some things. First off, thanks to all those who continue to follow my work on this board and on my page in my signature. Quite a few of you have continued to encourage and compliment my work and it means a lot to me, so thank you all very much!!!!!!1

These were most of the projects I finished this year, and looking back I wouldn't change a thing. It was all very enjoyable and satisfactory.

Here's looking at you, 2012.

And as always...More to come.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

L.E. Props

If you don't feel like reading through this entire thread this blog entry here will catch you up on the last 4 months.

 

[Crank729]

Re: Thomas Bangalter Daft Punk Encore build

I haven't been doing much work on my own personal Encore helmet, but I have been helping a friend work on his own custom design. Here's how it's going.

The headphones are encased right into the ear pucks, completely hidden ( apart from the cords ) on the outside.

And finally...a size reference. I didn't realize how fricking big this thing is until I saw my cousin ( about 5'10 ) wearing it. It fits me, and that's all I really care about.

More to come.