Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model - unfolded! (updated feb 3rd)

[fskn]

Hiya, folks!

So, I've been dabbling with pepakura recently and one of my projects is a Stormtrooper helmet, which in this case is based on SpaceCowboy's pep model.
I downloaded his, then pushed and pulled vertexes, simplified things, welded features together... But now I've come to a point in which I can't really see what could be wrong or needing adjustments.

Could you guys help me with this, please?

Here's how things are looking like right now:

And here are the files if you guys want to download to visualize the model better:

LATEST:
trooper17f_open_b.pdo

Older versions:

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/CipKrNC.gif
http://i.imgur.com/kqiLL8c.gif
http://i.imgur.com/Bep2kfT.gif

trooper11.obj (broken link?)
trooper11.pdo (broken link?)

trooper12.obj
trooper12.pdo

trooper13.obj
trooper13.pdo

trooper14.obj
trooper14.pdo

trooper17e.obj
trooper17e.pdo


Made the mouth deeper, the dome narrower and rounder, worked on the corners of the mouth, made the back tube a bit thicker next to the earpiece... Made the vocoder deeper to help cutting pieces of 2mm thick cardboard instead of making them with 240g paper, and many other little changes.


I also did some mesh smoothing and imported in Pepakura Designer just to get a feel for what it may end up looking like once I build it and start applying bondo:
http://i.imgur.com/Fz7lzUK.png

I didn't work on the dome features yet. I want to make sure the overall shape is okay before I do that.
EDIT: But now it's on a stage in which I believe it's the next step.

 

[sandy11]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Your links are dead. Please fix them.

 

[archytekt]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Note that I'm no expert, but I'm making my own --> HERE.

Honestly, it's my opinion that Spacecowboy's model is very good. Not sure if you need all this remodeling goin on. I say this because I also did it myself. And after all the bondo and sculpting it's not that important. True, it's good to start with a good base but that you already had.

Just to mention a bit more on the dome, from side view its fine. From the front it has a different shape, wider on the bottom and gets a bit narrow to the top. The original was made of a kayak helmet or similar I think.

On the nose, I also think that it's slightly bigger in relation to the lower lip, but not that much.

What's with that wierd bump you see on the side view??

Is that AutoCAD? Revit? Good luck!

 

[fskn]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Your links are dead. Please fix them.

That's weird... They're working for me.

But I've just uploaded a newer version to mediafire:
trooper12.obj
trooper12.pdo

Made the top and bottom lips more similar in height, but with that the intakes got smaller. (not sure if that's correct)

Note that I'm no expert, but I'm making my own --> HERE.

Honestly, it's my opinion that Spacecowboy's model is very good. Not sure if you need all this remodeling goin on. I say this because I also did it myself. And after all the bondo and sculpting it's not that important. True, it's good to start with a good base but that you already had.

Just to mention a bit more on the dome, from side view its fine. From the front it has a different shape, wider on the bottom and gets a bit narrow to the top. The original was made of a kayak helmet or similar I think.

On the nose, I also think that it's slightly bigger in relation to the lower lip, but not that much.

What's with that wierd bump you see on the side view??

Is that AutoCAD? Revit? Good luck!

Yeah, well, SpaceCowboy has the best model I've seen yet, but even that one has things that bug me. The cheeks are too bumpy/curvy, the face isn't as flat, the dome is too round and many little things that I've changed and I can't remember (the eyes, I think, and the overall thickness of that area).

I also tried to make it a bit easier to build it with paper, welding things together to make it more stable when you fiber glass the inside.
Didn't weld the dome, though, I'm not yet sure how I'm gonna deal with that. I'm not sure if I'm gonna build a support for it or what. Gotta try the 240g/cm² cardboard to see if the helmet gets stable enough.

I plan on making a resin cast too, that's why I'm filling the holes. What made me started on this helmet was Terra1's beautiful, beautiful project.

And yeah, I think that is better to build a more accurate base in cardboard to spend less time and effort with bondo and then sanding.

I think you are correct with the front view of the dome. I gotta narrow the lower loop a bit.
I made a GIF so we can all see what's wrong:

That bump on the side tubes I spotted on some of the ANH helmets, like this one:

And this one:

The side tube from the original helmet seems a bit thinner, but both left and right are different...

The software I'm using is Maya.
I didn't use side planes in this model... Now I think I should have. Even though I have to account for camera distortion, some angles are still the same.
I'll do that next so I can get be sure I have the right angle for the nose.

I had seen your helmet before. It's looking pretty good!

Thanks a bunch for your help!

 

[Toxx]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

On the last pic you can see that the tube of the back cap is much bigger in diameter than the cheek-tube.

One reason for the shape of the "ears" to hide the gap were both parts don't match.

Your side tube seems to be spot on, I've used an older pep were the tubes came out bigger.

Check out the pictures of my build:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/anh-asyme...t-wip-complete-159152/index4.html#post2601536


.

 

[archytekt]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Gotta try the 240g/cm² cardboard to see if the helmet gets stable enough.

Too thick. Trust me (I did that mistake), you don't need that much. Above 90g will do fine. You can even use regular printing paper if you're gentle not to distort anything while you resin it.
240gr paper will take more effort to cut, bend and glue together, than 120gr paper for example. And costs more...
Bottom line, if you use that and don't get it done properly, there is no use in having all the work, to end up with a distorted base model.

What made me started on this helmet was Terra1's beautiful, beautiful project.

Yes indeed. Both Terra1 (idealized) and Toxx's (more accurate) helms even different, are amazing in their own way.

So, get done with it, and start that sh**t cuz I think you pretty much have the design ready and looking good for the real deal!

 

[fskn]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

New version up in the first post!

On the last pic you can see that the tube of the back cap is much bigger in diameter than the cheek-tube.

One reason for the shape of the "ears" to hide the gap were both parts don't match.

Your side tube seems to be spot on, I've used an older pep were the tubes came out bigger.

Check out the pictures of my build:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/anh-asyme...t-wip-complete-159152/index4.html#post2601536
.

Yeah, I actually looked at A LOT of pictures and saved every reference that I could get my hands on, including Shepperton's original(?) molds and saw what you said. That the "mask" fits inside the dome+back part, and the seam (or gap) is covered by the earpiece.

I considered making a "step" there, because I intend (for now, at least) to make the whole helmet a single piece (except for the ears, vocoder and aerators), but that could make it harder to fiberglass later.

If I ever decide to make the helmet a 2-parter, I'll consider that. For now I made the back tube a bit bigger to try and sell the impression that the tubes are superimposed.
But it would be certainly cool to have a more accurate helmet in every way possible.

While I was doing my research I saw your build too, along with Terra1's and... somebody else's... The one that cost about $10 to make or something. xD
Yours is pretty impressive! Looks like it weights a ton!
It's just paper and bondo, right?

Too thick. Trust me (I did that mistake), you don't need that much. Above 90g will do fine. You can even use regular printing paper if you're gentle not to distort anything while you resin it.
240gr paper will take more effort to cut, bend and glue together, than 120gr paper for example. And costs more...
Bottom line, if you use that and don't get it done properly, there is no use in having all the work, to end up with a distorted base model.

Yes indeed. Both Terra1 (idealized) and Toxx's (more accurate) helms even different, are amazing in their own way.

So, get done with it, and start that sh**t cuz I think you pretty much have the design ready and looking good for the real deal!

Past December I gave a shot with 90g paper just to see how everything would fit together and anyway, just to give a first try with pepakura (and certainly I made quite a few mistakes along the way) and man... The thing is flimsy. So I went ahead and bought 240g and will give it a shot with that now. I may not build the whole thing if it seems too unwieldy, but as I already have 30 or 40 sheets... I have to at least try and see what happens. If only to get a feel for the material.

* * *
Alright, I think the next step is the dome features (the sunken shapes, dunno how you guys call those). Do you think it's better to make them in the model or after the bondo phase?
If it's after applying bondo (actually a 3M alternative they sell down here), then I'll be unfolding this baby. But I think it could be harder to get them in the right spot if done later.

 

[Toxx]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

New version up in the first post!


Yeah, I actually looked at A LOT of pictures and saved every reference that I could get my hands on, including Shepperton's original(?) molds and saw what you said. That the "mask" fits inside the dome+back part, and the seam (or gap) is covered by the earpiece.

Even AA of SDS don't use the "original" molds, the rear caps seems to be a recast and his "tears" are cleaned from the little structure in it!

You know the site Star Wars Helmets as a reference?

While I was doing my research I saw your build too, along with Terra1's and... somebody else's... The one that cost about $10 to make or something. xD
Yours is pretty impressive! Looks like it weights a ton!
It's just paper and bondo, right?

Paper, epoxy, fiberglasmatt, bondo, milliput, fimo air lightweight (for the "ears", primer, paint....

Fully equipped it is still at 1450 gramm, not that lightweight than a vacuformed one, but still "wearable"

And as archytect says, i've also used 100g/m² as a "thicker printerpaper". It was stable enough to get stiffed by the epoxy i've used.

 

[fskn]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Even AA of SDS don't use the "original" molds, the rear caps seems to be a recast and his "tears" are cleaned from the little structure in it!

You know the site Star Wars Helmets as a reference?

SDS's look the closest to the ones in the movies, so I'm basing my helmet on theirs... but also on an HD cap of ANH and pretty much every other image that I've found floating around...

I am familiar with SWH yes, though I haven't yet read it throughly.
But thanks to you pointing to that website I've spotted some other minor things that needed adjustments. Thank you for that.

My latest version has now "droopier" cheeks/tears and is a bit wider near the earpieces.
I'm a little worried about the corners of the mouth as they seem a little too tall, yet I can't seem to fix them without changing the angle that forms the mouth, visible in profile. (although maybe i should do exactly that)

The dome doesn't fit the back cap properly, so I'll have to work on that too.

Paper, epoxy, fiberglasmatt, bondo, milliput, fimo air lightweight (for the "ears", primer, paint....

Fully equipped it is still at 1450 gramm, not that lightweight than a vacuformed one, but still "wearable"

And as archytect says, i've also used 100g/m² as a "thicker printerpaper". It was stable enough to get stiffed by the epoxy i've used.

Oh, I plan on using some similar technique for mine's ears. I'm thinking of using some jar lids and some putty. Not sure yet if I'm gonna follow that route.

Thanks a lot for your input.
Here's my latest version, the one I've been working on today:

trooper14.obj
trooper14.pdo

3/4 view doesn't look very good on Maya for some weird reason. Maybe it's my video card.

 

[fskn]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model - Help needed! (updated jan 28)

Okay, I think this is my last revision. Unless there are any glaring mistakes (which at this moment I don't think there are), I'll start unfolding and building this guy as a paper model.

I'll come back and post the unfolded PDO, once it's done.

trooper17e.obj

trooper17e.pdo

As usual, I made a lot of small adjustments -- and eventually got lost and probably remade a lot of stuff which might've been better before --, but perhaps the most important bit was that I joined/welded the back of the helmet (which was already merged with the face) to the dome in order to help glue them together later on.
So now it's mostly one piece.

I didn't join the top of the mask to the dome in case anybody could want to fit a rubber brow there. (I think I'm gonna do that.)

Changed the eyes, the tears, the angle of the mouth, the intakes, cheek tubes... Well, pretty much everything except for the earpieces aerators and brow.

And as you can see I also made the dome even more rounded by adding a few edge loops, and added the trapezoids.
More cutting, scoring and folding, but I think it'll be worth the time invested.

 

[fskn]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model - unfolding coming soon (updated jan 30)

Alrightey, the unfolded version is finally here.

trooper17f_open_b.pdo

I think it's gonna work fine, but if anybody has some problems with it, or would like something laid out differently, please tell me and I'll gladly make changes.

 

[jaykazama]

wow thanks for this!

 

[fskn]

wow thanks for this!

Hey, my pleasure in giving back to the community.

I have actually refined this model a bit more (small details like the corners of the mouth), but have yet to unfold it.

 

[SpaceCowboy]

Great job with your mods, fskn!

 

[Leigh]

Thought I'd revive this one...

I've just had a go at this (my first ever Pep) & I'm impressed! goes together easily & produces a great looking model! Top Job fskn :thumbsup

Thanks for sharing the files

 

[undeadmith]

Re: Yet another Stormtrooper Pepakura model (just the model for now) - Help needed!

Too thick. Trust me (I did that mistake), you don't need that much. Above 90g will do fine. You can even use regular printing paper if you're gentle not to distort anything while you resin it.
240gr paper will take more effort to cut, bend and glue together, than 120gr paper for example. And costs more...
Bottom line, if you use that and don't get it done properly, there is no use in having all the work, to end up with a distorted base model.



Yes indeed. Both Terra1 (idealized) and Toxx's (more accurate) helms even different, are amazing in their own way.

So, get done with it, and start that sh**t cuz I think you pretty much have the design ready and looking good for the real deal!

i always use 220-240 paper i like the fact that you have to do more work, it makes accidental creasing less likely and the finished moddel is already verry strong i find