Dizzy's custom bucket WIP

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

bringin this over from the rpf so you guys can see the work i do. this helmet was cast from a master built by echo5633, the master is a custom sculpt over an original pepakura model by spacecowboy. however it was a bit too small, the front was touching my nose, so i extended the face outward 3/4 inch, and i couldnt see out the eyes so i lowered the face/raised the cap 1/4 inch. like han solo "ive made a lot of custom modifications myself". anyway here goes...

 

 

i'm making this thread to show those of you who may have bought the cast and are disappointed it doesnt fit you. ill show you how to make it bigger (thats what she said) by cutting and extending the face and cap, however theres only so big you can go before itll start to look deformed! im guessing a maximum of one inch between the cuts i made would be as far as you could go, i personally will be extending the pieces 3/4 inch to accommodate my forehead and nose. this may not work for everyone since the casts are consistent but our skulls are different.

 

the measurement of the helmet is just over 10" tall and the same wide if you're wondering about scale factor. my stormtrooper pepakura armor i'm making is scaled perfectly to my body, so i didnt want that "bobble-head" effect i'd get with a regular screen-accurate 12" helmet. when i first put it on i couldnt even get my eyes up to the eyeholes. i am separating the cap from the face to extend the brow area, thus lowering the face so i can see out of it, and extending the face from the back so it doesnt squish my nose.

 

if you have this helmet in your display case now cuz you couldnt wear it, you may want to give my method a try! even if it STILL wont fit, the line and everything are still bondo'd and covered up by the brow trim anyway :happy

 

 

i scored a line from the 'step' in the back and went around to about 1/4 inch above the brow, using the blade of a hacksaw.

 

 

the left side may be a fraction off so just make it as straight as you can

 

the right side is perfect

 

i keep scoring around evenly so it wont separate prematurely, when its thin enough itll come apart cleanly, no dremel required (yet)

 

if you havent already, when you dremel the neck and eyes out so it fits around your melon, you can put on the 2 pieces and now you know my dilemma!

 

i hold the face off my shoulders, lowering my arms as if i'm standing straight, and the eyes are correctly lined up (mind the crookedness of the cap)

 

so this will be the final size, the gap will be filled with fiberglass-backed resined cardstock, just like many armor builds. now that ive extended the cap between 3/4 inch, my head rests comfortably inside and i can move my head around. so this helmet now fits almost perfect, i still have some dremeling to do because my nose is touching the inside frown

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

i dremeled out the areas that had thick amounts of material, high points, and the edges of the brow, back, and neck. ive made all the areas no thinner than 1/8th of an inch to keep structural integrity while reducing thickness/overall weight.

 

you can see there's a lot of excess material here. filing this down gives me more room inside

 

the right eye area im assuming was warped on the original during resining, this resulted in the right cheek being more 'sunk in' than the left, so i dremeled some space out so they are more even

 

you can see i thinned out the edge on the right side. i did my best to level out the asymmetry of the eyes, but i still might run into a problem when i put the lenses in, ill worry about that when the time comes. my plan is to use flat (curved) lenses

 

here i cut and thinned out the neck for the neck trim

 

 

now about the nose problem, it was pushing on my nose, but barely. it wasnt uncomfortable, just about as much pressure as when the cop askes you to touch your nose.. if you know what im talking about. but i figured, if im going to be at a con in this thing for a few hours, im not gonna want a smushed red nose when i pull it off. this led me to want to extend the face outward, bigger heads may want to do this as well.

 

i used the same cutting technique as before, making a small score in the top and keeping the blade straight, then keep cutting the groove.

 

i'm cutting 1/4 inch before the ears so the bondo will hide well when im done and the extension pieces will have some space to grab on to. its also less work because i dont have to redo the ears. all im doing is extending so it fits me better.

 

heres the top view for where i cut. i cut in the same place on the other side after i took this pic. this will enable me to make sure the ears are even from a top view when assembled while adding a bit of space on each side

 

next i noticed the left (with helmet on) side eye is bigger than the right, the right is "squinting", i will make these the same size before i get to making the extensions

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

i know the stunt helmet has that bump in the right eye, but i dont like it!

 

i traced the eye on spare cardstock, then cut it out

 

i took the stencil, applied it over the squinty eye, and colored in the difference with a sharpie, this shows that i was right about the eyes being different

 

now i just have to dremel the black part away for them to be even. liek dis:

 

thats better :happy

 

so while i have this eye template, i traced 1/4 inch around the lens on this clone trooper voice changer visor with a silver sharpie. i had taken apart the clone helmet to pull out the voice changer fyi. the paper is flat but the tracing is true to the curve, you cant tell from the camera angle

 

both eyelenses are on each end of the visor so in case i have to replace one someday i can just cut out another from the remaining area in the center! smart huh?

 

 

now to the point of this thread! i held up the front and back separated at a length i was comfortable with that it doesnt touch my nose, which is 3/4, the width of my middle finger

 

i cut 2 inches of cardstock and put a line 3/4 inch thick as a reference of where the sides need to be, the ends are to glue to the pieces

 

ive superglued the pieces to the ends like so, though hot glue would have been easier, this step is only temporary

 

heres a tip, put it upside down so that the pieces will stay even when you put the cap on

 

now i have to resin and fiberglass the extensions before cutting and sizing the cap, almost coming together!

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

i decided to cut the cap cuz its my day off and im too tired to drive 2 miles to walmart for resin. anywho, i used some masking tape to get the measurement line for where i need to cut.

 

i suggest use the face cuts for the reference point, because the back has that ledge and may throw you off

 

then keep it straight to the other side. how did i know what was center? the front of the temples to the cut are 1 inch.

 

more detail into how i do my cuts. as easy as it would be to use a band or jigsaw, i have niether, plus using the hacksaw blade i have much mor control over the angle, camber, and pressure i put into the groove

 

just keep sawing the groove, keeping the trench even so no half snaps until you want it to. look at the control! the precision! ooohh, aaahhh.... :lol

 

i figured now would be a good time to make a template of the temple, since im cutting it i will have to move it and make a new one to make up for the measurement change. i just pressed in on a post it note to keep for later

 

then do the same 3/4 inch strip thing between the 2 orange peel shapes. i cut slits in the front because its more concave

 

then same thing keep it on a flat surface so the edges are level

 

progress so far. you cant really say "well now the ears look too far back" because on the contrary they are perfectly lined up to my ears in the helmet

 

what you guys think so far? it feels comfortable now...

 

...but i still have to extend the cap up more. you can see that the extra space has already enabled me to see when i tilt the front down

 

but keeping it straight its not enough just yet, thats my eyebrow in the middle

 

i did the same measuring technique but this time im only separating the face and cap 1/4 inch. this means the temples have to be re-carved 1/4 inch down, and the back of the temple 3/4 inch forward in order for the brow to be correct.

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

i put 2 coats of resin on the extensions and am resining the horizontal cap extension now, will update again after fiberglass. i would highly recommend purchasing a cast from echo, he put a lot of work into the master and its fairly accurate mind the small size, but thats the point of this tutorial - making it fit. this project is actually quite fun and saves a lot of time, ive just been busy building my armor simultaneously, not to mention you really get a 'custom' fit if you're "short for a stormtrooper".

 

 

been busy with the armor, PLUS im getting "official" armor in soon (as compared to pepakura armor, actual abs 501st armor...)

 

i ended up only extending the cap 1/4 inch instead of 1/2". i just did the same thing as the sides, put a long cardstock strip around the cap, extensions are now fiberglassed. also added some glass to between the eyes for strength

 

cut out the hero teeth and put some cardstock stunt style teeth in. the center tooth is the center tooth from the hero, just filed down skinnier for the stunt, i kept it for a guide when i bondo the other teeth plus i keep some structural integrity

 

then resin/fiberglassed the teeth, the stray fibers will be dremeled away when its dry

 

next step is to sand and start bondo on the whole helmet, finally!

[TrooperJay]

Holy moly! Looks like you got your work cut out for ya there Derek. Looking good, complete modification for your own personal fit. Oh the places we go for our TK armor!

 

Cheers!

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

thanks! the only thing is that the ears look too far back now, but its not that important to me, and actually they line up with my ears inside the helmet, so i could put some speakers in or something, too early to think of electronics now though

Edited September 24, 2012 by DizzyStormtrooper

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

since the cap was raised 1/4in and moved forward 3/4in, it split the temples, so the rear and top will need to be moved 1/4in down and 3/4 forward as well. here ive marked the new temple out. the diagonal lines need to be drilled

 

heres the dremel bit i use, its like a drill bit in the shape of a ball for engraving i think, but it cuts very smoothly in the plastic for the work im doing

 

i made a little groove outline so i know where to stop the bondo, and milled out the rest of the material slowly in the style of a CNC machine

 

the new temple is done

 

now the old space (vertical lines) can be filled in with bondo

 

i start with a rough layer in the extension groove, start to fill in the brow area, and do a little uneven areas on the face. the right cheek in dipped in slightly so im building up bondo there to even out the face more

 

building up the ledge in the back. you can see im shortening the rear temples 1/4in also

 

filled in the rest of the brow and the cheek, most of the extension, etc. still have a little bit to add to the teeth and fill in the old temple areas

 

i also took the liberty of being incredibly nitpicky about all the tiny imperfections, so i circled them and will fill those in so ill have a helm as smooth as slave leia's body

so after i fill these in ill give it a sanding and hopefully ready for primer

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Rubbing down bondo is such a pain, especialy in those corners and tight spots, got your work cut out for you. Keep up the good work, you will get there in the end

[Spectre]

Wow, you're sure going above and beyond.

You're doing well mate, keep up the awesome work!

[Dizzydevil105]

that looks like a ton of work man hope it pays off i would try to just buy a different helmet but i am lazy lol!!!! any way looks good look forward to the finished project

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

I got it before my armor, plus its more durable than any vacuformed plastic. I'll have to cast it again when its done due to the weight of the bondo, but I've been busy in real life and haven't had time to update, just being really picky about smoothing everything and getting the traps correct.

 

As for my armor I've got some thigh trimming to do then I'll start gluing it up

[Ironside]

Looks like an awesome project! Keep it up Trooper!