[Question] Making a Power Ranger helmet. Wondering about glue and putting it on

Hello everyone. For Anime Expo 2017 I'm going as the White Ranger (MMPR). I have a few questions about constructing said helmet.

1) I'm going to use hot glue to glue the pieces of the helmet together. However, hot glue can get messy, and can bleed out, making it very obvious and ruining the effect. My question is what is the best way to minimize this and get clean joining, since there are a few places to cut for ease of folding. My current method right now is to use some blue tape to hold it together and prevent that effect. So far on a few tests it seems to work.


2) What is the best way to be able to put on the helmet? I want to have it be a sort of two piece helmet and use latches or something similar to hold the front and back together when I want to wear it.

Thank your for your help.

Also, a picture for reference:
View attachment 734231

The photo reference link doesn't seem to work, what material is your helmet being made out of?

Regarding adhesive, hot glue can be reshaped. Once the gun is heated, use the tip (or a heat gun if you have it) to melt the excess and wipe it evenly with excess material. As for how to put it on, it all depends on your construction.

If you're going with a clamshell, latches work. But that relies on you having a *clean* cut between the pieces. I personally suggest a layered construction. Make the top half of the helmet, and add a connection point like magnets to the bottom. Then the bottom half (lower half of the front mask, underneath the visor is an optimum joining point) clicks on. If your construction is lightweight enough, that will hold and you just need a gentle pull to take it off. It's a little more complicated to make, but it prevents obvious seam lines and latches near the side and creates the shape *perfectly*.

LadyGrimdour said:

Regarding adhesive, hot glue can be reshaped. Once the gun is heated, use the tip (or a heat gun if you have it) to melt the excess and wipe it evenly with excess material. As for how to put it on, it all depends on your construction.

Click to expand...

Huh. I didn't think of that. Thanks.

If you're going with a clamshell, latches work. But that relies on you having a *clean* cut between the pieces. I personally suggest a layered construction. Make the top half of the helmet, and add a connection point like magnets to the bottom. Then the bottom half (lower half of the front mask, underneath the visor is an optimum joining point) clicks on. If your construction is lightweight enough, that will hold and you just need a gentle pull to take it off. It's a little more complicated to make, but it prevents obvious seam lines and latches near the side and creates the shape *perfectly*.

Click to expand...

Do you hae any picutes of how either of those connections work? I'm a visual person so being able to see that would help out a ton.

Believe he means to do something like I did on this helmet, only you'd be doing the front, and hiding the break behind the faceplate.

If you look close, you can see the magnets on the tabs of the back piece.

ShackMan said:

Believe he means to do something like I did on this helmet, only you'd be doing the front, and hiding the break behind the faceplate.

If you look close, you can see the magnets on the tabs of the back piece.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170607/1b27a09bde1245f8ba5b46f0effed25c.jpg

Click to expand...

Exactly that.

Thanks for your help everyone. However, I seem to have run into another problem.

That being I am using a pepakura file. I'm not sure how to get the file to conform to foam, and honestly the more I try to figure it out, the more depressed I get, and trust me this cycle is viscous.



Annime Expo is a mere 3 weeks away (July 1st), so this is crunch time. I ask this: How do I get this to be foam friendly?

'Cardstock/Fiberglass/Bondo' Pep files tend to be different from Foam Pep files. A Lot less pieces as foam will bend to make curves.

Foam Tutorial thread ---> http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=148889

You may have to search for a foam style ranger helm pep file.