Silvabullet's cheap visor alternative tutorial guide type thing

Silvabullet · Jan 31, 2016

Having recently completed my first helmet build one of the main conundrums I was having was where to get a cheap visor and how to fit it. All my research online for gold visors identified that I was gonna have to spend about £30 for one. Didn't like that idea so looked for alternatives. And that is where this guide comes from; a cheap/easy method to build and fit a gold Halo visor. Big amounts of credit to the community who's ideas I happily 'borrowed'.

First things first materials:

Clear plastic tote/under bed storage box = £2 in Asda

Gold window tint = £6.95 1m x 50cm (amazon)

That's nine quid and enough materials to make about six visors if you're careful, and even more if you buy a couple more totes.

Next step: cutting, boiling, and shaping the plastic.

MNCProps · Jan 31, 2016

I can confirm, it work. I used that exact same method for my samus helmet Visor.

Silvabullet · Jan 31, 2016

I don't have a dremel so had to carefully cut out the visor from the tote with a Stanley blade. Be very careful at this stage as the tote is brittle if you use to much pressure.

Boil a large pot of water and place your rectangle in the pot. If you don't have a huge pot then no worries as it will bend quickly as the steam hits it (like spaghetti) then you can bend it in. ⚠ hot water burns. Also make sure you wash the pot out throughly afterwards - melting plastic won't make your food taste very nice.

Boil it for about 10mins or until the plastic is pliable (poke it with some tongs). Once it is, hook it out, take hold of the ends and start bending it to the shape you want whilst at the same time transfering it to some cold water. Hold the shape and as it cools it will keep the new shape.

Next up, adding tint.

Silvabullet · Jan 31, 2016

Hopefully you still have your measurements from when you made the tote rectangle. Roll out your tint sheet and mark out the measurements and carefully cut out with a sharp blade. Be careful with what straight edge you use - a metal rule will mark the sheet.

Wash your plastic rectangle with soapy water. Don't worry about drying it to much, the tint sheet likes the moisture. It is important that you have the right curve on your plastic as otherwise the tint will bubble when you bend it into your helmet. Carefully peel the back off your tint and gradually squeegee it onto the plastic. It's like fitting a new cover to your phone! If you do it right you should eliminate any air bubbles.

At this stage you can cut the rectangle to a more visory shape if you want.

I then used some adhesive backed velcro dots to fit the visor into the helmet (£1.95 for a pack of 16) and voila! Gold tinted Halo visor.

The view from inside is nice and clear.

Well I hope this mini tut was of use to some of you. Any questions on this tut then please feel free to comment or message me. Happy building.

Blondiebot · Jan 31, 2016

Thank you for sharing, going to have to save this post for when I get to that step on my helmet!

Benton188 · Jan 31, 2016

Very nice tutorial. I've been wondering how to make cheap visors and I like your method. One question though, would it be possible to shape the plastic with a heat gun or would it cause damage (bubbling) to the plastic?

Silvabullet · Jan 31, 2016

I suppose you could - I don't have one but did consider using my wife's hair dryer.
I've seen other tutorials ( mostly around vacuum forming) where visor melt does cause white streaks, etc.
TBH the boiling water method works fine for what I need but it's amazing what a bit of experimenting can accomplish. At only a few £ a go for the plastic tote at least if you muck it up you can just try again.

Benton188 · Jan 31, 2016

Cool cool. Though the last time I used boiling water to help shape plastic it actually ruined it, so It's got me on edge. Also, do you happen to have a link to the page on amazon where you got the tint from? I've been browsing and I can't tell which color gold is the best. I like the hue of the tint you used.

p.s. 9pounds=$13 for those in the U.S. Check local listings lol

Silvabullet · Jan 31, 2016

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00...indow+film&dpPl=1&dpID=51x9VsUFlmL&ref=plSrch

Here's the link. It's amazon UK so don't know if you can get it on the US site.

They do it in a blue as well which I think I'll get for my next build.

Tigrera · Jan 31, 2016

Thanks for posting this! Might have to try this for a visor for the ODST helmet my oldest wants me to make for him. Wasn't quite sure how I'd pull the shape of that visor off inexpensively.

Jme · Jan 31, 2016

Brilliant.

I have been following your build thread and thought that this was a great method with great results. Thank you so much for posting a tut.

Saved.

"I'm just a witness"

sovietpenguin06 · Jan 31, 2016

Quite, interesting !

Im just wondering if you know the specific type of plastic your tote is made from.
Also, how easily does it bend once heated ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Justin508 · Jan 31, 2016

Probably going to use this on my armor when I start building it, however the helmet will be last, Im going to try and make the armor the way I have it in Halo 4 (with extras)

Silvabullet · Feb 1, 2016

The plastic is just something cheap (hence £2 for the tote). Once heated it bends very easy. Once cooled it still has bend which makes it easy to fit. You can get thicker totes but I found the visibility in those to be clouded (yes, I stood in the shop with totes on my head). A minor draw back to this method is that the tint has to be on the inside curve so excessive removal or to much 'play' (by which I mean, give or wiggle as opposed to larking about) may cause air bubbles to appear so make sure your curve is nice and tight and a good fit to the helmet. To combat this in future I might cut an additional frame out to give it support.
If you have a dremel you could probably make a duel visor using this method which would also increase the structural integrity.
At the end of the day this method Is for a quick/cheap alternative to a more pricier motorcycle visor. If you are worried about quality then go that route I suppose.

Thank you for all the likes and comments, I am pleased that people have found this tutorial helpful.

Dirtdives2424 · Feb 1, 2016

Great tutorial. Have to remember this for later on. One tip, after cutting out the visor section from the helmet, keep it and use it to get the correct curvature of the visor. Lay it on a flat surface w/ the ends facing up and you could just lay the heated plastic down on to it. The weight should keep the visor from moving around. Trim as needed and install as you plan. I would also make sure the cutout section is smooth on the inside so the visor doesn't get any unusual shapes in it while cooling.

GingerOfMidgard · Feb 1, 2016

This is super helpful, never thought about using a tote.. Nice work! ^_^

soldier466 · Feb 2, 2016

I was just thinking of how I was going to do my visor, this is perfect. Thank you

PerniciousDuke · Feb 2, 2016

Silvabullet said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00...indow+film&dpPl=1&dpID=51x9VsUFlmL&ref=plSrch

Here's the link. It's amazon UK so don't know if you can get it on the US site.

They do it in a blue as well which I think I'll get for my next build.

Window tint is not looking cheap on this side of the pond... Anybody have good luck finding any? I guess when you consider how much you get it's not bad, but everybody I'm finding is doing $20 or more. :/

Thanks for posting Silva! I just ruined my $20 visor trying to install it and I'm thinking of going a different route on the retry.

Chrispy137 · Feb 2, 2016

Will be trying this on atleast one of my helmets

Dirtdives2424 · Feb 3, 2016

PerniciousDuke said:
Window tint is not looking cheap on this side of the pond... Anybody have good luck finding any? I guess when you consider how much you get it's not bad, but everybody I'm finding is doing $20 or more. :/

Thanks for posting Silva! I just ruined my $20 visor trying to install it and I'm thinking of going a different route on the retry.

Look in to NUSOLIS. They might have cheaper stuff bu the shipping will bring up the price.

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