Black Mask (AO) WIP

So I've been meaning to upload this for a few weeks now. I'm relatively new to pepakura, this being my first "official" build (my previous was a spartan helmet from Halo, just to essentially familiarize myself with the process).

I used BlackKaos's pattern, definitely worth the $15, super easy to put together! Would definitely recommend his work to anyone interested.

I used the default size initially, however unfortunately it was slightly too small for my head. The paper version just barely fit and was super tight absolutely no wiggle room. For my second (and current) version, I increased size slightly to adjust fit.



I'm using SmoothCast 321 for strengthening, and also in place of resin with fiberglass cloth.



I didn't get any pictures of the fiberglass cloth on the inside, but inside was lined w/ 1 layer of fiberglass cloth. I sanded any of the jagged edges, etc. from the inside. Additionally I also used a very small amount of SmoothCast 320 (essentially same thing as 321, but with a pot life of only 3 minutes) to coat the inside and give it a smooth finish (no pointy edges). It also helps strengthen the helmet further.



Next was Bondo, which is turning into the bane of my existence. I think my first problem was I put on too thick of a coat of Bondo, which turned into much more sanding I had to do. Secondly, I wasn't entirely sure where/when in the process to separate the helmet into it's pieces so it can be put on. I did it after my first coat of Bondo, however I have a feeling I should have done it earlier. I used a Dremel to cut, and chose a preexisting seam along which to cut.



Finally, I'm having some issues with what I'll call pitting, I'm not sure if my mouse sander is a POS (it's brand new Skil brand), or if it's something else, but my sander is having a hard time leaving a truly smooth surface. I primed it in the picture below so the pitting would be visible in the picture. I guess I should also note, I'm actually doing the teeth out of plastic (finger) nails, using a technique I learned a few years ago for creating zombie prosthetics... hoping it will give them greater detail (as well as make it a little easier on me), but more on that later.



That's where I'm at currently, will resume when I get back in town. I'm also currently trying to decide the best way to attach the back... Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm still working up to working with Bondo, but from what I've seen it seems like the "pitting" you're experiencing is par for the course. It could have something to do with the orbital sander you're using, but more likely than not it's just what you end up with after a first pass. From everything I've read, the bondo process is long and arduous and consisting primarily of one sanding phase after the next until you get the smoothest finish you can manage.

Hopefully someone with more experience will get in here and have some good advice for you, though.

Please keep us updated. This looks great so far.

Thanks for the encouragement Kord! I'm hoping you're right, that it's normal. The sander is actually just a basic mouse style sander, not an orbital. I figured it'd be a little less aggressive than an orbital. I should have specified above, the picture of the pitting is actually after two coats of Bondo. The second coat I learned my lesson and applied with a much lighter touch. After a second round of sanding it seemed to fix some of the "pitting" but also create new spots.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the compliment! I was wondering when someone was going to post a build thread for my Blackmask helmet pep. I'm not sure how you cut the back but I have posted someone screen shots of where the seam is on the video game helmet and how I would separate the two halves. I would also add a hinge at the top in the center with someone magnets on the inside sides of the helmet so the back closes tight and stays closed. That's how I'm going to do my helmet when I get around to making it.

I see. Once again, I can't stress enough that I might as well be pulling this out of my ass for all the practical experience I have, but I think at this point you should be switching over to spot filling and hand sanding. The power sander is great for bringing everything down to a more uniform smoothness and roughing out the overall shape, but it's not particularly delicate.

I had so much fun building this design too, you do incredible work, BlackKaos. I had to give it a few tries before I finally got it so that it fit. My first attempt went to hell when it came to painting, the second was too rigid after I used a fiber glass weave that was too thick, but finally on the third attempt I was pretty happy with how it turned out. The teeth threw me on my first 2 attempts, but on the third shot they came out great.