11b30b4 Tutorial ROTK Black Series Helmet Mod

[11b30b4[TK]]

11B30B4’s Black Series Helmet Mod

 

Given that many of the pics from some of the BS mod threads are no longer accessible I have decided to post this thread to hopefully help others looking to do this mod.

 

It should be noted that I have a full set of ROTK armor from Jimmiroquai along with his helmet and I am convinced that his helmet is a near copy (ahem) of the Black Series helmet. Regardless, using Jimms helmet as a reference of what the finished product should look like helped me a good bit. My complete ROTK build can be found here: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/44463-11b30b4’s-rotk-build/

 

Jimmiroquai and several other companies as well as a few members here on FISD are selling ROTK helmets and anyone having trouble deciding to buy a helmet or modifying a BS should seriously consider buying a helmet if they are not comfortable with the work required to complete this modification.

 

The following modifications were performed to this helmet to ensure it met level 3 FISD and 501^st approval.

1-      Cover and blend the rear battery box and speaker openings.

2-      Lower the brow trim so that gap between brow and eyes is approximately 1/8”.

3-      Extend the jawline of the helmet to allow for proper placement and exposed gap of Vocoder.

4-      Fabricate replacement Vocoder.

5-      Replaced the Hovi Mics

Ok, for this modification I used the following:

BS ROTK helmet

Apoxie Sculpt 2 part epoxy putty

PC-7 2 part epoxy putty (I put that $h!t on everything)

CA Super Glue

CA Glue Accelerator

Flex Seal Black liquid rubber

3mm Sentra

.09mm High Impact Poly Styrene (HIPS)

Various needle files

Dremel with lots of accessories

Heat gun

Bondo

Automotive glazing putty

Black breathable fabric

French Blue breathable fabric

Correct Hovi mics

Dark Grey plastic window screen mesh for frown

Painter’s masking tape

Various small clamps.

5/8” U-shape rubber seal

Rust Oleum 2X grey primer

Rust Oleum 2x White Gloss spray paint

5” section of 2” x 4”

Petroleum Jelly

Baking soda

100 grit sandpaper

150 grit sandpaper

220 grit sandpaper

Airbrush

Grey airbrush paint

Black airbrush paint

 

Step 1 Disassembly

Disassemble the helmet completely and remove all the electronics.

 

 

Step 2 Chop shop

First, using a knife and then a sanding drum on the dremel, I removed the rubber neck seal on the front half of the helmet. Next, I cut out the Vocoder with the Dremel. You can also see I filled in the Hovi mic holes with PC-7. The neck seal on the back is not molded into the plastic and can be removed by hand.

 

 

Next, I cut out part of the rear insert so that adding an actual neck seal once the helmet is assembled won’t be an issue.

 

 

Step 3 extending the jaw line

First, I cut a piece of HIPS to fill the Vocoder gap. I used a heat gun to shape it then glued it in place with superglue. The superglue is used to just hold it in place until we can weld it in place with PC-7. Once the rubber neck seal is removed from the inside and outside of the front half, you will have a nice trench on the inside edge to rest the HIPS in. I made a pattern with a sheet of paper of how I wanted the extended jaw line to look then cut pattern out of HIPS. I then used the heat gun to shape the piece and then super glued it in place. Once the inside was glued in place, I taped on the original paper pattern to the outside and traced the original jaw line then cut it off the pattern. Next I cut another piece of HIPS, heated and shaped it then superglued it to the first piece and used clamps to hold them in place. Repeat this process for the other side. It should be noted that doing this modification will cause (at least in my case) the bottom of the helmet to hit the shoulder straps and chest plate of the armor.

 

 

 

With some 150 grit sandpaper rough up the HIPS, front jaw line, and Vocoder sides to allow the PC-7 to make a good bond. Next, mix up some PC-7 and apply it to the front jaw line/ Vocoder area and the inside of the helmet. With wet fingers smooth the PC-7 out and sculpt the jaw line area. Do not worry about extending the seams on the sides from the mask part to the face. We will use a file to sculpt it later. The PC-7 will need 24 hours to cure.

 

 

 

Step 4 Vocoder

There are a few ways to do this mod. I could have simply made a mold and re-cast the Vocoder that came with my Jimmiroquai helmet but that would have been re-casting, something I do not choose to do, so I decided to make a Vocoder from scratch. First, I made a sculpted surface that would support the sculpted vocoder. I made the “rest” surface out of a piece of 2 x 4. Next, I mixed up some Apoxie Sculpt and then rolled 7 pieces approximately 3/16” in diameter.

 

 

I laid the pieces on the rest and pressed them into each other to make sure they would all be bonded into one piece. Wet fingers and some sculpting tools may help. Once I had the Vocoder shaped, I removed it from the rest and covered the rest with petroleum jelly to prevent the Apoxie Sculpt from adhering to the wood then placed the Vocoder back on the rest and let it sit for 24 hours.

 

 

 

Step 5 Ear Cap Button

Once all the electronics have been removed, I super glued the ear bump button inside the ear cap and then applied a layer of PC-7 on the inside to fuse the ear bumps to the ear cap.

 

 

Step 6 Battery box and speaker openings

After all the electronics have been removed, I filled the inside of the battery box with PC-7 then super glued the battery box cap on. I used PC-7 on the inside of the speaker openings and pressed it through to the outside. With wet fingers I smoothed the speaker openings on the outside. Initially, I used PC-7 on the outside seam of the battery box; however, I forgot to rough up the surrounding plastic with 150 grit sandpaper so even after the PC-had cured, it pealed off. I later realized that for this thin seam, the best option would be to fill the seam with superglue and apply baking soda over the super glue. The baking soda will cause the superglue to instantly solidify and the mixture of the baking soda and super glue is basically plastic. This can be sanded and painted. However, the mixture is slightly porous and will require some glazing putty later. In this picture I had not removed the PC-7 around the battery box yet.

 

 

Step 6 cutting vents (optional)

So, like my Jimmiroquai helmet, I wanted to vent this helmet as much as possible. On the inside of the helmet, there are some structural supports that lay on top of the areas I want to vent. In some places I removed the supports and, in some areas, I cut around and reinforced the supports. On the dome I added a piece of HIPS for the insert to rest on. I used a Dremel with a very small diamond wheel point bit (#7134) to rough cut out all the vent holes on the side tubes, tear traps, and rear. I had to clean the melted plastic off the bit between cutting each vent line. Once the vents were rough cut, I finished them with needle files.

 

 

 

Step 7 Brow Trim

The brow trim has a rubber seal that is molded into the plastic so again I used a knife and then a Dremel with a sanding drum to remove the rubber trim. You will notice that the plastic is not flat once the rubber is removed. This is not an issue because we will be incasing the existing plastic brow with sentra. First I cut a strip of 3/16” wide piece of sentra and then super glued this strip under the existing brow. Next, using the Dremel and sanding drum I ground down the existing brow trim to be even with the sentra. Next I cut a piece of sentra 5/8” wide and super glued it over the brow and even with the bottom strip of sentra. Next, I filled any gaps with super glue and baking soda. Lastly, I sanded the top of the brow to be even with the top of the front half of the helmet.

 

 

Step 8 Sanding

Sanding is a process, if you just go at it with 100 grit sandpaper and not crisscross your strokes you will end up with sanding lines. You should tackle every part of sanding starting with 100 grit and alternate your strokes then move up in grit to 220 grit alternating every stroke. I would suggest you not apply a lot of pressure, and wet sanding is way more effective. Do not go any finer than 220 grit or your paint may not stick to the plastic. If you are truly looking for that automotive finish you will want to use automotive primer and paints and sand between each layer of paint and clear coats; however, for this helmet I will be using spray paint so I will not be going that crazy with sanding. Four my purpose, I simply want to even out most of the modifications I performed. After I get to the 220 grit, I spay a layer of primer on to expose any issues. In some of these pictures, I circle the problem areas with a sharpie to re sand or fill with Bondo or glazing putty.

 

 

Also be advised that there is a molded seam on both sides of the front half (outlined in red) of the helmet that you will want to sand away. You will want to sand all of the external parts of the helmet to make sure the paint will stick. I forgot to mention that I used a needle file to extend and define the seam from the chin section to the edge of the neck opening.

 

 

Step 9 Priming and painting

Once everything is sanded, wash all the parts with warm water and a few drops of dish washing detergent. Rinse the parts and let them hang dry. Once they are completely dry, hang then and apply the primer per the directions on the can. An hours later apply the white gloss per the directions on the can and let the parts cure for 48 hours. After I painted the parts I noticed a few issues. The battery box had a small issue (yellow circle) as well as one place that I did sand away a super glue drip (yellow circle) but I guess I did not do a good enough job. These are not big issues for me since I will be making a sandtrooper with this helmet but someone striving for TK level 3 may want to address these issues. Sand, fill sand again, and repaint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I sanded and primed the Vocoder.

 

 

I sprayed the Vocoder with flex seal, I think the paint on flex seal would have turned out better. In all honestly, the Vocoder on my Jimmiroquai helmet is painted semigloss black and not rubberized.

 

 

This is how far I got this past weekend. This week I hope to finish the helmet. Thanks for the interest.

Edited October 2, 2019 by 11b30b4

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great detailed build, thanks for sharing, nice work

[Darth147[TK]]

Great build 

going to have to change mine up a lot more 

especially like the extended jaw line 

great job 

[11b30b4[TK]]

Gmrhodes13 and Darth147, Thank you.

 

Updated 10-2-2019

 

Step 10 Masking and Detailing

Unfortunately, I got carried away with the build and did not take many of the pictures that I should have. Regardless, the only parts left to be painted should be the tear traps, ear bumps, temples, brow, rear vents, and teeth. I masked off everything except these areas with various width masking tapes. Tamiya produces several different width masking tapes and are available at model supply stores and amazon. Once everything is masked, I sanded all the areas to be painted with 220 grit sandpaper. I was not trying to remove the white gloss, rather to roughen it up. Next, I used my airbrush and shoot the Admiral Grey or medium grey on all the noted areas except the brow. Next, I used a small signature brush to hand paint the black outline of each grey boxed area and the small oval on each ear bump. Next, I applied masking tape over the mouth and tear traps (be careful to not let the masking tape touch the painted teeth or tear traps) then applied the flex-seal to the brow and then carefully removed all the masking tape. There were a few areas that required touch up but overall, I like how everything came out.

 

Step 11 Back all vents and mesh

For all the vents except the tube vents I used a breathable black fabric like a spandex. I used super glue to apply the fabric in place. Try to not get the super glue on the fabric that will be seen because it can turn white.

 

 

Next, back the tube vents with a breathable blue fabric. I got this fabric from JoAnn’s when I built my ROTK. Next, I cut some dark grey plastic window screen to fit the mouth and superglued it in place. I mixed some PC-7 and applied it to the mesh to make sure it stays in place.

 

 

Step 12 Install inserts

I installed the lenses, nose guard, head straps, front support frame and both side (tube) plates.

 

 

I installed the ear caps and then rear insert inside the rear half. Lastly, I installed the insert inside the top dome and superglued the rear part of the insert to the added plastic support between the rear vents.

 

 

Step 13 Assembly and finishing

I attached the front and rear half’s together then attached the dome. This was the first time I put this helmet on and realized just how useless the head straps were. I will scrap those things and add my own support system. Also, the rear insert forced my face closer to the front of the helmet. I may alter the insert further, but I will not worry about it now.  Next, I inspected the neck opening and noticed two areas (red lines) that plastic must be removed from each ear cap before applying the neck opening seal. I removed this plastic with a Dremel then applied the U-shape neck seal.

 

 

Next, using a ¼” drill bit I drilled the two mounting holes for the Hovi mics and applied the correct Hovi mics. I got my Hovi mics from Etsy and they required assembly.  Here is the link to the ones I used:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/245863441/star-wars-screen-accurate-11-hovi-mix?ref=yr_purchases

 Lastly, I test fit the Vocoder then sanded the back side of the Vocoder where it would touch the helmet to remove any flex seal and allow a good surface for super glue. Next, I glued the Vocoder in place. This completed the helmet for the most part. If I do anything further, it will be to install a better support system and fans.

 

 

Reviewing the Level helmet CRLS, there are a few incorrect details (I struck through the incorrect information) in the CRLs but for the most part they are correct:

Helmet

ü  Traps (trapezoids on dome of helmet) and tears (area beneath the corners of eye lenses) are gray.

ü  Rear traps and tears have vertical black lines.

ü  Lenses are flat material, green in color, sufficiently dark enough to obscure the costumer's eyes.

ü  The “ear” bars are gray or painted gray, with a black outline. They may have between one to four painted black rank stripes.

ü  Frown is painted gray and does not leave the teeth area. Eight total teeth on the frown are cut out.

ü  Tube stripes are medium blue, numbering between 9 and 16 per side with the curve bends extending backwards.

ü  Vocoder (vertically ribbed chin detail) is painted black.

ü  Aerators/Hovi mix tips (cylinders on either side of the vocoder) are black or painted black.

ü  (VERTICAL LINES ON) Tears and traps may not be hand painted.

ü  Tube stripes are recessed, and the recessed section painted blue or backed by blue mesh.

ü  Frown mesh must be present and be wire screen mesh. It shall be dark metallic or dark grey in color.

ü  Note: The helmet is accurate in detail and proportion to official references. It should be symmetrical unlike an ANH helmet.

ü  Many commercially available helmets or those considered disproportionate in size or shape are ineligible. (UNLESS PROPERLY MODIFIED)

 

OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable):

ü  Rank bar area on ear must be of the correct RO style and pattern, no ANH style ear bumps allowed.

ü  Head opening has black trim running all along the edge.

ü  Brow trim should be positioned 1/4" above the eyes.

ü  Ear screws must not have a visible slot mark and be flush to the ear.

ü  Any gap between the ears and helmet will only appear to be a seam, not any bigger.

ü  Correct 'Hovi mic' aerator tips.

ü  Chin section has a well defined seam from the angles of the mouth.

 

OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable):

ü  Only 12 tube stripes per side are allowed.

ü  The Tube stripes are completely hollowed out with a blue section underneath.

ü  Rank bar area on ear must be of the correct RO style and pattern, no ANH style ear bumps allowed.

ü  Frown wire screen mesh is dark grey in color, and there is nothing behind it that closes off the gaps.

ü  Vocoder is tubular in nature with a visible gap between the outermost section and the helmet.

ü  The inside of each tear will be a raised area that is grey, with the black lines being engraved, not painted.

ü  The frown shall be recessed to the proper depth, unlike standard ANH.

 

Based on the CRLs, this helmet is now Level 3 approvable.

Here are the final pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the interest.

[TerribleBen[TK]]

I like it. Great looking bucket.  Going to copy most of this. Where did you get the U seal for the neck hole. Thanx

[Junos]

2 minutes ago, TerribleBen said:

I like it. Great looking bucket.  Going to copy most of this. Where did you get the U seal for the neck hole. Thanx

Trooperbay sells rubber helmet seals

[TerribleBen[TK]]

Yeah I saw those.  S. Profile.  I think the U looks better. 

[11b30b4[TK]]

TerribleBen, I got the U seal off Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NDVCKG4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[TerribleBen[TK]]

Thank you.