Modifying the Nico Helmet

DarthSaiyan8697 · February 12

On 2/11/2024 at 9:37 AM, TKModder421 said:

Also there's an exciting possibility coming down the line. I'll update as things come together.

Edited February 12 by DarthSaiyan8697

**TKModder421[TK]** · February 16

Here are a few test print pics of the new ears

**revlimiter[Staff]** · February 16

Seriously. :jc_doublethumbup:

**Tilheyra[IPM]** · February 16

I can't say I know anything about 3D printing, but I am amazed at the fine level of detail with your print! It looks great!!!

**gmrhodes13[Staff]** · February 16

6 hours ago, TKModder421 said:

DarthSaiyan8697 · February 16

6 hours ago, TKModder421 said:

Here are a few test print pics of the new ears

image.jpeg.9aaac84905af86ab71f923236e5553c4.jpeg

DarthSaiyan8697 · February 16

10 hours ago, TKModder421 said:

Here are a few test print pics of the new ears

I like how it looks similar to the original prop, NGL. I think the outer part of the ear needs to be round and smooth, and the frontal portion of the helmet should be straightened a bit, but I am not sure whether or not the frontal part is good enough. What other plans are you going to add for the mod?

Edited February 17 by DarthSaiyan8697

**TKModder421[TK]** · February 17

I like how it looks similar to the original prop, NGL. I think the outer part of the ear needs to be round and smooth, and the frontal portion of the helmet should be straightened a bit, but I am not sure whether or not the frontal part is good enough. What other plans are you going to add for the mod?

Honestly I think I’ve taken it about as far as I can go with it. I think if I was able, I would make the forehead slope a bit more and take some square-ness out of the dome. I’d fix the teeth and make the area where the vocoder sits a bit more upside down U shaped. And give a slight curve to the vocoder tubes. I’d also fix the trap recess above the temples and make them a bit less round. There’s lots of things I would do if I could. But I think if the community wants a more accurate helmet we need to get someone who is great at 3D sculpting that also has a passion for this helmet. Or someone to get a 3D scan of a production helmet

**revlimiter[Staff]** · February 17

The work you've done has been extraordinary. :salute: I salute you sir.

**TKModder421[TK]** · February 17

31 minutes ago, revlimiter said:

The work you've done has been extraordinary. I salute you sir.

Thank you sir! And thank you everyone for all the kind words, it means a lot to me that the community appreciates my efforts. I only did it for the love of this costume (maybe it's more of an obsession lol), I wish I had the skills to make the helmet I truly want. But I have faith someone will release one that gets closer than what I've been able to do. But in the meantime I'm happy to give the community a slightly more refined option for now :smiley-sw013:

DarthSaiyan8697 · February 17

6 minutes ago, TKModder421 said:

Thank you sir! And thank you everyone for all the kind words, it means a lot to me that the community appreciates my efforts. I only did it for the love of this costume (maybe it's more of an obsession lol), I wish I had the skills to make the helmet I truly want. But I have faith someone will release one that gets closer than what I've been able to do. But in the meantime I'm happy to give the community a slightly more refined option for now

I have to admit. You put a lot of effort on making the helmet as accurate as possible. Big kudos.

Wombat · February 21

Glad to see the ear muff printed really nice in resin. :smiley-sw013:

Edited February 21 by Wombat

**TKModder421[TK]** · March 9

On 2/21/2024 at 3:37 AM, Wombat said:

Glad to see the ear muff printed really nice in resin.

Sorry I missed this before! Yeah it really looks awesome. Thanks so much for for your help with that Matt!!

**jsilvius[Staff]** · April 21

@TKModder421 pm sent.

Sent from my SM-N981U1 using Tapatalk

**TKModder421[TK]** · April 24

[mention=34575]TKModder421[/mention] pm sent.

Sent from my SM-N981U1 using Tapatalk

Hey, haven’t seen a DM

**jsilvius[Staff]** · April 24

12 minutes ago, TKModder421 said:

Hey, haven’t seen a DM

hmmm... I'll resend it.

**jsilvius[Staff]** · April 24

9 hours ago, TKModder421 said:

Hey, haven’t seen a DM

Hey @TKModder421,

I resent the DM and shot you an email on your FISD listed email address.

**TKModder421[TK]** · August 29

Oh man! I'm sorry, crazy that time flies so fast and I can barely keep up lol!

I've had my slow progress staring me in the face for many months.

It wasn't mad... it was just disappointed lol

So I had gotten it up to 1000 grit months ago, I just needed to paint.

Problem was I just didn't make any time to prep for paint. Taping, washing, and rigging is just so time consuming.

I finally kicked myself in the butt and started the process.

I decided that I wanted to paint the inside of the helmet first, mostly because the weird off-day-glo-green resin it was printed from just looked so damn ugly.

So I taped it up and painted the inside of the helmet, and of course managed not to take any pics. Doh!

Anyway, after painting the inside and again taping up what I needed to, I finally got around to laying down the outer paint...

That was the first coat. Using the Behr #52 White Gloss rattle can

This is after the 3rd coat on my makeshift rigging system

I fashioned some heavy duty picture hanging wire into rigs and held them in place on the helmet parts with painters tape and drilled holes into a big wooden block to hold the rigged pieces between coats and to dry/cure

After a few days of letting it cure, I put the main pieces together just to see it!

I didn't take pics but I painted the tears, traps, teeth and ear greebs with Testors admiral gray with a clear matte coat, and the vocoder and the printed brow trim with Rustoleum 2X black ultra matte. Oh and I painted the tube stripe backing with Model Master's French Blue that I lightened up a bit by mixing a bit of white in with it.

My plan is to now lightly wet sand the white parts of the helmet with 1000 then 2000 to remove any egg shell/orange peel texture from the rattle can and then buff it up to a shine with automotive swirl and scratch remover.

I'll probably mock everything up and take some pics first though... so more WIP pics to come

**gmrhodes13[Staff]** · August 29

Looking forward to seeing more soon

**TKModder421[TK]** · August 29

Alright, got it mocked up, using a TIE pilot bust as a stand, and I gotta say I'm loving it so far. The printed brow trim actually looks pretty damn good.

Once I get the white parts all smoothed and shined up I'm going to add the black paint to the tear and trap recesses and adhere everything together, just gotta make the time to do that next!