eva/security visor solution

[Sigma LS]

Gonna make it a big premier then instead of a WIP? Looking forward to it. I hope you got them to cut you a good deal.

 

[NZTK]

I didn't want to do a WIP thread, because I don't really like the helmet design, and many things could have gone wrong during its making, that would have made me walk away from the project. I enjoyed the challenge of the visor though, forming it was simple but, I learnt a lot about coating processes, and Im pretty confidant I could replicate almost any visor I wanted now. My current project is the same, Its being entered in a competition on another board, the competition rules prohibit WIP pictures being posted until the end of the competition. I will post lovely bright large images of the EVA soon. Please don't repost that little cell phone photo I took anywhere.

 

[4ng31]

Just a side-note, window tinting a visor with that severe of an angle is not going to work...window tine is meant for windows...little to no curves, which can be done with heat treating the film (heat gun).

You would have to have some serious, serious experience in window tinting to pull this off if it's even possible.

 

[WarHead9705]

This is why I know what I am talking about.
[attachment=2987SC00412.JPG]
Unlike 80% of this forum, Im am not content to say "I'm gonna do this and that" I actually like to do things before posting all about my plans.
The visor in the picture is just a rough painted test pull, I have since polished the master and improved the details. Also, I have solved the visibility problem.

The pulls are what i had in mine(as in my head, don't know how you would spell that) But do that with all my visors. To save move when make them for other people.

 

[Vrogy]

Just a side-note, window tinting a visor with that severe of an angle is not going to work...window tine is meant for windows...little to no curves, which can be done with heat treating the film (heat gun).

You would have to have some serious, serious experience in window tinting to pull this off if it's even possible.

I think this was said earlier in the thread.
Also, I hear you liek mudkips?

(mods: this is totally in the wrong section by now.. should be in Molded.)

 

[dylan snyder09]

hey i had an idea. i found this stuff called Tamiya clear paint. it spray paint for modeling. it preserves the see-throughness of the original object while giving it a tint. so i was thinking if you make a a high detail vac form of the faceplate(with the grooves and such) and a vac form of a simpler face plate(slyfos eva visor pep as an example). you paint orange and yellow(Clear mind you) on the detailed visor, place that over the simple visor. then on the simple visor, take some not too dark window tint on the inside part of the simple visor. that way you may be able to cut the tint without it being noticed. the 2 clear visors should cover up the cut lines. that is my guess though. here is a pic. ask questions because i think i explained this horribly. it makes sense to me though

 

[Sean Bradley]

This is why I know what I am talking about.
[attachment=2987SC00412.JPG]
Unlike 80% of this forum, Im am not content to say "I'm gonna do this and that" I actually like to do things before posting all about my plans.
The visor in the picture is just a rough painted test pull, I have since polished the master and improved the details. Also, I have solved the visibility problem.

Just wondering NZ-TK, are you going to divulge your process for us on how you achieved this? It sounds like you outsourced the mirroring... I'd love to know more about it, I'm hoping to do the same with slyflo's Pepakura EVA.

 

[NZTK]

Well, I laid it out plain and simple in a previous post, I even made the text bright red. People seem to ignore everything I say, so I'm not going to repeat myself again. Im not trying to sound like a jerk, all the info is there.

 

[dylan snyder09]

yeah i understand you are trying to not be a jerk. but is my way somewhat feasible? it is pretty much taking your way a bit further. but if you dont think it is worth is just let me know. i'm planning on building a vac form table here fairly soon so i'll be able to test my ideas without being a nuisance.

 

[NZTK]

I'm sure your way would work fine, I'm just not sure what the point of doing two layers would be, I think you'd probably see the inner visor too much, with the right paint you'd only need to do a few coats on the inside, then back that with a spray tint and it would work fine. If you're looking into a clear object that is back sprayed, a lack of light behind it would make it appear opaque.

 

[dylan snyder09]

ok, good. so how did you make the original visor that you vac formed from? clay?

 

[NZTK]

i made a pepakura one, then turned it into a vac buck.

 

[crackhead09]

yeah i fugured because you can still fiberglass, bondo the visor and then just vaccum form the the visor to make it oh and if it hasnt been asked are you plan on selling those eva visors to people later on after you have finished yours?

 

[Sean Bradley]

Well, I laid it out plain and simple in a previous post, I even made the text bright red. People seem to ignore everything I say, so I'm not going to repeat myself again. Im not trying to sound like a jerk, all the info is there.

Interesting. Ever read this?: http://405th.com/forums/index.php?s=&s...ost&p=78319

or

http://405th.com/forums/index.php?s=&s...ost&p=37199


Nice to see that someone made it work! Very cool! Can't wait to see more pics of your EVA helmet!

 

[NZTK]

I Think I had read those before, I wasn't sure if you were meaning specific posts, or the whole thing. In my opinion there were some good ideas and some not so good ones in both. I wasn't meaning that what I was saying hasn't been said before, I was just getting tired of seeing the same threads come up, with the same comments over and over. Your post

Everybody thinks that they're going to re-invent the visor... The mirror finish thats on these visors isn't something that you can apply at home. It doesn't come in a can, on on a roll

Is absolutely correct, with the exception of the Jonestones gold metal foil I mentioned. It is, however, bloody hard to apply cleanly but it can be done. As far as I'm aware there is no way to apply iridium coating at home, and the the only way to emulate it would be (like you say) with a high vacuum chamber (10 to the -5 Torrs to be exact) I have looked into this, and was fortunate enough to spend some time talking to the head of electro-chemistry at my old school, about weather it could be done in an artists studio. Unfortunately that level of vacuum is pretty much out of the reach of the home prop builder, to maintain that vacuum requires a reasonably high tech lab set up with gas detectors, two scientific pumps and in this case a rather large vacuum bell. It can take 2 days under constant vacuum before the seals have finished out gassing, before you get the gold white hot so it can evaporate properly. It's certainly not impossible, but you'd need to have access to a lab
My main point is this

That, to me at least, is not a gold visor, its a yellow visor with a high specular layer on top, this look can be achieved perfectly by back spraying clear plastic with clear pearlised yellow paint you wouldn't be able to see into it as the inside would be dark. In real life gold is much browner than that. Certainly the indent details could be described as gold, but for the most part its yellow.

 

[Sean Bradley]

A+++ You've done your homework on this, undoubtedly. Thanks for the insight on the vacuum mettalization, and for doing that research for us.

I agree with your conclusion about the color of the visors. I've always described it as orange-gold, but I agree that pearlesent yellew is more accurate.

Were you able to find a commercially available spraypaint that approximates the clear pearlesent yellow, or did you have to custom mix the color and apply with an airbrush?

Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, but I'm going to be facing this challenge myself very shortly..

 

[NZTK]

I have done quite a bit of homework on this, I spent a few years at university studying various subjects before deciding on my degree (which in the end had nothing to do with materials science.... ethnomusicology, go figure I just like Japanese music is all) So have spent a little bit of time in various labs and I always found physics and electro-chemistry interesting subjects but, Im no scientist, I'm just a guy with a short attention span and an unhealthy amount of interests. The process isn't really vacuum metallisation, its more vapour depositing or sputter coating but, the latter is more complicated as it requires the substrate to act as a cathode, Im not sure if plastics can do that. Vacuum metallisation is usually used to metalize opaque parts and is more similar to a coat of plasticised chrome or similar, it gets used on toys a lot, it usually requires an opaque strike layer for the particles to adhere to. I get paints custom mixed and put it cans for me, it only costs a few dollars more than a premixed can. I am getting two more batches mixed this weekend, as I wasn't happy with the last one I got. there is a bit of trial and error involved to get the right amounts of tint and pearl. I may get one done with a bit of metal flake in as well this time. On the subject of commercially available paints, I haven't tried them but you could look into Dupli-Color's Metal Cast Yellow, or a Xirallic clear gold/yellow, I think Xirallic is about 150$ per litre though but, again I haven't tried those yet they were just recommended to me by a friend who works as an auto body sprayer. Even if people can still see through a paint tinted visor, you could quite easily add some black mesh to the inside that would darken it considerably. The visor Im getting coated will not be a useable costume piece, the coated one is being sprayed with luminore brass, it is only a display visor for looking cool in photographs. I toyed with the idea of getting one coated and leaving the small trapezoid shape just above the jaw clear, using a little bit of window tint behind it and building a simple periscope into the helmet but, honestly I just don't think I can be bothered because I don't really wear this stuff (Im too short to be a Spartan anyway), I just want a job making props so I make things for my portfolio. The visors are interchangeable though, they sit quite snugly in the helmet with no support, so I can just pop them in and out.

 

[kerotan 36]

Once my EVA armor/helmet is done I plan on making the visor removable. I am almost done with the visor I would post pics but my webcam isn't working.

 

[Rowinish]

NZ-TK how did you make the very small grooves in the vacuform visor?

 

[trooper45]

I am gonna try this with a clear plastic later during the spring when i can be in my garage, and i was thinking of trying to find a gold film to put over the clear plastic, like they have on astronaut helmets

anyone know exactly WHY astronauts have that gold film? it makes sense with MC seeing as how he can float through space and all, but why that even? it shouldnt have mattered, maybe nasa just thought gold looked cool...