An introduction, I guess.

[DirePanda]

Hello everyone!
For the past few years I have started making helmets from EVA foam. Simple stuff. But because I am on a limited income due to medical, EVA foam is way too expensive to use. I can afford to buy some sheets maybe a few times a year, and it gives me full on panic attacks because I'm so afraid of messing up and ruining everything causes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
So I gave it up. And for a while I'd get the bug in my system to try to make something and then get depressed because I couldn't.
I feel like a complete idiot when I realized last week that I don't HAVE to use EVA foam just because that's what I have experience with. So I found online a place where I can order a bunch of cardboard sheets dirt cheap, like 60 sheets for $42 - and those are 24x30" sheets. And I've been making lists of supplies to purchase a little at a time next month to give it a good deep dive.
I live in an apartment so I can't use resin and fiberglass, or auto body filler. And I think I might have a decent solution to the resin part: using the blue shop towels and wood glue and basically papier-mâché the piece, sand everything down, and replace body filler with flexible wall filler.
So starting next month, I will get back into the swing of things and post some progress works for you all.
Wish me luck.

 

[Zoogami Snowfox]

Sometimes you just got to use what you can get, but as long as you enjoy building, don’t put yourself down over mistakes. Every small step are experiences to learn and grow from.

When I started building, I did so many things wrong in the build process. I look back now and smile, for even when a build wasn’t the best, it was the journey and fun wearing it, that made it all worth it.

The toughest critic is your own mind.
The community here is amazing and very supportive. We have your back!
Welcome to the 405th!

 

[DirePanda]

Thanks
The very first helmet I ever made was back in high school. Back then youtube was barely a thought and if you could find the right information you were looking for online, it's because it took you literal days of wading through inane stuff.
So I made an original creation out of foam core poster board and electrical tape and did a pretty good paintjob with white gesso as a base, acrylics for color, and spray paint for weathering. And I had ZERO idea what I was even doing for the whole thing lol
But yeah, that was my first experience.

 

[Zoogami Snowfox]

That reminds me of my first helmet where I fibreglassed on the outside instead of the inside, or when I used way too much filler over a pep helmet that used sticky tape like it was paint!
Ah good times.

Feel free to post any pics of your builds no matter how unique they may be!

 

[DirePanda]

Will do. And thanks for the encouragement.