Daft Punk Thomas (TRON/R.A.M.) Helmet Build

I've always wanted a Daft Punk helmet, but I have a big head and most of the helmets out there are pretty small so I decided to build my own. This build's gonna be pretty much like Volpin's famous build, but instead, I'll be working on a newer version of the helmet that better matches Thomas's helmet seen in Tron Legacy and Random Access Memories. Granted, the helmet is pretty much the same, but the ears are slightly different. I'm not planning on chroming the helmet when I cast it the first time around but I'd like to do one eventually.

Finally, big thanks to Volpin for his blueprints, inspiration and tutorials. Without his work, I'd definitely be lost. :lol I've seen Harrison's helmet in person too and it was really stunning. Here's a picture of him with my Tom Servo puppet at DragonCon '11, haha.



Okay, so on to the build!

Again, this build is gonna be just like Harrison's so there's no real surprises here, haha.

First off, I printed out the blueprints and cut up some plywood from a previous project to make the frame.



Then I assembled the frame together using wood glue and L-brackets.



Then extruded foam from Home Depot was added attached using Gorilla Glue.



Once the foam was in place, I used a coping saw to give the helmet some curves and finished it off with a orbital sander.



I then coated the foam with Smooth-on Shell-Shock and Smoothcast 320 resin. I kinda went a little overboard with the resin, I think.



I put some bondo and Smooth-On's version of Apoxie Sculpt to give the helmet some shape. Thing's starting to get heavy now!



Meanwhile, I started work on the visor!





After lots and lots and LOTS of sanding, coating, sanding, coating, I got this:



Quick primer coat and some spot putty passes.



I want to get this as smooth as possible but every time I primer it, I tend to see some subtle "lumpyness" to the shape. I'm hoping that some more spot putty skim coats would fix it but I'd like to hear some advice if anyone has any. Other than that, I'm very happy with what I got so far and I'm hoping to put on the visor very soon!

Hope you all like it so far!

Looking nice! Subscribed.

Great start! Looking forward to see more!

The trick that really helped me smooth out the lumps was using a long strap of sandpaper.



That way it always hits the highspots and never touches the low spots. Efficient material removal without the influence of your fingers.

nick daring said:

The trick that really helped me smooth out the lumps was using a long strap of sandpaper.

http://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j471/nickdaring1/b4eccfac.jpg

That way it always hits the highspots and never touches the low spots. Efficient material removal without the influence of your fingers.

Click to expand...

Nick, you're a genius! Thanks a lot! I'll do that as soon as Tropical Storm Andrea stops trying to blow down my house, lol.

Looking great so far! Volpin and a couple others helped me out with my buckets and they turned out great! ....you should really consider getting it chromed tho...the TBANG helm looks GORGEOUS with a fresh chrome. Subscribed!

Looking good. Subscribed. Always enjoy seeing these come together.

Thanks a lot for the compliments, guys!

I did some research the other night to double check everything so far. I made sure I used only pictures from R.A.M. or Tron-related media. After searching for a couple of hours, I found some great reference photos for the ears and I think I may have made a discovery with the rear of the helmet. I think there's an actual "lip" around the back edge of the dome.





I went ahead and sanded this detail in on my bucket. I also looked at how the RAM/Tron ears differ from the Electroma pucks and came up with this blueprint.



I have a friend who has a lathe so hopefully, I can borrow it from him and use it to make the ears soon! If I can't use it, I have a backup plan with some PVC pipe and apoxie sculpt.

I'm gonna go rebuild the visor as I'm unhappy with the way I cut out the top and bottom visor parts and I'm also going to check the symmetry of the helmet with my contour gauge.

More pics to come soon!

Looks great so far, can never get enough DP builds.

Ill be watching this closely.

Always interested in watching DP builds progress, so I've subscribed to the thread =]

Visor is ready to be attached to the dome!



Test fit!

Grinding the slot that holds the visor in place. Slowly getting there!

Loving the progress, keep the pics coming!

I realized that the visor was sitting in a weird position and I wanted to fix it so I had to go back in with the dremel and grind another slot. I eventually found the right spot for the visor and slid it in the slot. Now I need to fill up the other slots I made and sand them down.



Overall, I'm very happy with the helmet so far