RomanW
Member
I'm full of surprises...
If I was to do this again, I would assemble it with the visor, but initially I wanted to make the visor bigger for when I made the buck, and cut down a bunch of time in making said buck.
Learning experience.
Halo Reach CQB
- Thread starter RomanW
- Start date
- Status
I'm full of surprises...
If I was to do this again, I would assemble it with the visor, but initially I wanted to make the visor bigger for when I made the buck, and cut down a bunch of time in making said buck.
Learning experience.
RomanW
Member
I feel it's time for a long over due update. Life has been a bit crazy with selling our home, starting to move, a baby coming in a week, and countless other things that come into play.
I've started to move onto the bondo process after fixing my visor fitment issues. I watched the vids that Cereal Kill3r made (That guy is a friggin genius... Sorry to hear about your dad Dave, praying for you bud, hope to see you back soon!), and have started to file down the high points on the visor. Hopefully I can start bondo-ing and get the visor buck progressing.
Any tips, or suggestions on reinforcing the back of the visor? I've read that high density foam, and wood works well, but I'm not quite sure how to apply that to the fiberglass portion.
More to come! (Hopefully soon...)
I've started to move onto the bondo process after fixing my visor fitment issues. I watched the vids that Cereal Kill3r made (That guy is a friggin genius... Sorry to hear about your dad Dave, praying for you bud, hope to see you back soon!), and have started to file down the high points on the visor. Hopefully I can start bondo-ing and get the visor buck progressing.
Any tips, or suggestions on reinforcing the back of the visor? I've read that high density foam, and wood works well, but I'm not quite sure how to apply that to the fiberglass portion.
More to come! (Hopefully soon...)
RomanW
Member
Visor shaping = Done!
Now onto the helmet...
I had a few bubbles form under the glass while laying it, despite my best efforts to avoid them. I want to have both the visor and helmet prepped for Bondo at the same time so I'm not going back and forth doing two different processes at the same time, just in case anyone is wondering why I've put the visor to the side. I had a difficult time deciding whether or not to repair the bubbles, but I figured if I'm this far, I might as well do it right, and not rush this process.
I wasn't sure how to fix them at first, or how to fill them, but I eventually decided to go with filling them with resin.
So I stared by outlining the bubbles:
Then after turning it into a lamp shade, I 'drilled' holes on either end of the bubbles with my favorite tool:
Then I used a super duper custom syringe (Drugs aren't cool, stay in school kids) to inject the resin in through one hole until it reached the other:
You can see where the resin got into (yellow color), and there are a few visible bubbles beside that I have yet to do. Its interesting how this actually shows me where the pin holes are... resin would come out of the bubble halfway along it as I was pushing the resin through.
Note to self: Don't use fiberglass matting (chopped strand) ever again... It's stupid strong, but I'm sure the cloth weave would have been much more user friendly... and maybe less bubbles. Either way, I'll crack on getting these gaps filled, and hopefully move on to knocking down the edges, and lines for Bondoing.
Question: What are the different ways people finish off the insides of their helmets, aside from padding, visor mounts, and whatnot. Paint? Rondo? Leave it as it is? I'm curious!
Now onto the helmet...
I had a few bubbles form under the glass while laying it, despite my best efforts to avoid them. I want to have both the visor and helmet prepped for Bondo at the same time so I'm not going back and forth doing two different processes at the same time, just in case anyone is wondering why I've put the visor to the side. I had a difficult time deciding whether or not to repair the bubbles, but I figured if I'm this far, I might as well do it right, and not rush this process.
I wasn't sure how to fix them at first, or how to fill them, but I eventually decided to go with filling them with resin.
So I stared by outlining the bubbles:
Then after turning it into a lamp shade, I 'drilled' holes on either end of the bubbles with my favorite tool:
Then I used a super duper custom syringe (Drugs aren't cool, stay in school kids) to inject the resin in through one hole until it reached the other:
You can see where the resin got into (yellow color), and there are a few visible bubbles beside that I have yet to do. Its interesting how this actually shows me where the pin holes are... resin would come out of the bubble halfway along it as I was pushing the resin through.
Note to self: Don't use fiberglass matting (chopped strand) ever again... It's stupid strong, but I'm sure the cloth weave would have been much more user friendly... and maybe less bubbles. Either way, I'll crack on getting these gaps filled, and hopefully move on to knocking down the edges, and lines for Bondoing.
Question: What are the different ways people finish off the insides of their helmets, aside from padding, visor mounts, and whatnot. Paint? Rondo? Leave it as it is? I'm curious!
RomanW
Member
[UPDATE]
SO, I decided to postpone doing the bondo-ing on the top until I figured out what to I really wanted to do with the 'Top Nuts'. Originally I wanted to make them into vents, but I've always felt a bit bummed about the lack of lights this helmet had. So. I took some creative license, and am working on incorporating lighting into the nuts while still using the vent idea, but that will be revealed later!
In preparation for that, I needed to make some shell modifications to fit my idea. So I made some templates to mark holes and cuts I needed to make
I began to core out the holes with a hole saw, which was going well until this happened...
The other two fared better, but still took some damage...
This process revealed a serious flaw in the shell, and my workmanship... I didn't get ALL of the bubbles filled up. Use this as a lesson kids! FILL THOSE BUBBLES!!!
Oh well, nothing a little bondo can't fix!
Now to my lighting idea!
I have access to a CNC machine, and 3D printer if I need it, so I decided to design a 'Nut' using reference photos that would be made of acrylic.
My thought is to paint it with that 'Krylon Looking Glass' stuff, then cover that in black (Add some reflectivity, and light intensity), then sand off the top of the two rings to expose the acrylic underneath. I was going to use a fine grit to give it that frosted-but-not-gouged look, but since I'm going to cover the helmet with a matte clear coat, I'm not too worried about that. Then obviously stick an LED underneath. This isn't the only place I'll be using lights, but that's a story for another time
As for the vent, the little cutout in front of the circle will be the venting portion. I'm thinking of using some black fabric, or screen to allow air passage, but not allow sight into the helmet.
More to come!!
SO, I decided to postpone doing the bondo-ing on the top until I figured out what to I really wanted to do with the 'Top Nuts'. Originally I wanted to make them into vents, but I've always felt a bit bummed about the lack of lights this helmet had. So. I took some creative license, and am working on incorporating lighting into the nuts while still using the vent idea, but that will be revealed later!
In preparation for that, I needed to make some shell modifications to fit my idea. So I made some templates to mark holes and cuts I needed to make
I began to core out the holes with a hole saw, which was going well until this happened...
The other two fared better, but still took some damage...
This process revealed a serious flaw in the shell, and my workmanship... I didn't get ALL of the bubbles filled up. Use this as a lesson kids! FILL THOSE BUBBLES!!!
Oh well, nothing a little bondo can't fix!
Now to my lighting idea!
I have access to a CNC machine, and 3D printer if I need it, so I decided to design a 'Nut' using reference photos that would be made of acrylic.
My thought is to paint it with that 'Krylon Looking Glass' stuff, then cover that in black (Add some reflectivity, and light intensity), then sand off the top of the two rings to expose the acrylic underneath. I was going to use a fine grit to give it that frosted-but-not-gouged look, but since I'm going to cover the helmet with a matte clear coat, I'm not too worried about that. Then obviously stick an LED underneath. This isn't the only place I'll be using lights, but that's a story for another time
As for the vent, the little cutout in front of the circle will be the venting portion. I'm thinking of using some black fabric, or screen to allow air passage, but not allow sight into the helmet.
More to come!!
Dirtdives2424
Division Scheduler and Keeper of Con Lists
- Member DIN
- S2424
I agree w/ KRI667 a spade bit would not be my first choice either. A 'Hole" bit would be a good choice to use. Something like this would be better. It would keep its position due to the center bit and give a cleaner cut hole. It would prevent the bit from jumping around like a spade bit would. So far though, the build is looking Fantastic.
RomanW
Member
I actually worked great. It was only when it hit the air cavities that it messed everything up. What I found helped was to 'rock' it a bit, and not go all the way through, but only leave half a mill at the end. Then I just cleaned up with a file, or my pencil grinder. Hole saws are great, but I find they make a bigger hole than you really want. I'm a full time mechanic and have used them many times. IMO the spades make a cleaner hole.
Thanks for the comments!
Thanks for the comments!
RomanW
Member
[SMALL UPDATE]
Well, after much of this:
I think I have the forehead sections to where I want them. May do some dent fixes later on.. no point in making them perfect right now! Cereal Kill3r said so!
Now for the cheeks/jaws...
Not sure what this (below) is all about... and not sure how to remove them!
Well, after much of this:
I think I have the forehead sections to where I want them. May do some dent fixes later on.. no point in making them perfect right now! Cereal Kill3r said so!
Now for the cheeks/jaws...
Not sure what this (below) is all about... and not sure how to remove them!
RomanW
Member
[BIG UPDATE]
Lots has been accomplished. (Note: For those who pay attention to details, some pictures may seem out of sync, don't worry about it. Just enjoy)
Cheeks, and Crown finished!
Decided to take a break from shaping and work on the ‘re-breathers’. I had some scrap acrylic tubing kicking around that just happened to be the right sizes for accomplishing what I planned to do with the breathers.
Sticking them together with a stiff silicone (The Right Stuff… best gasket maker ever.)
I used scrap upholstery shampooer hose for the ribbing. I cut out the inner valleys to allow for the lights to show through. It was cut a bit shorter to leave room for the tie strap accent on the end of the breather bodies.
Started to shape for fitment with bench grinder.
I sprayed the ribbing and end pieces with flat black paint to prep it for the top coat (Niteshades), and then glued them to the assemblies using Crazy Glue after testing my 'frosting' job with an LED. I also found a tie strap around the shop that looked similar to the game model, and attached it to the appropriate end.
Then I coated it with the Niteshades tail light paint! After that was dry, I sprayed the ends with gloss black to smooth out the surfaces, and make sure no light made it through the end pieces.
Then lit it up!! (There will be more lights behind it, but this just shows what I’m trying to accomplish, like the top nuts, I wanted to have the breathers light up just to add some uniqueness to this build.)
I then designed and started to build the attachment mounts on the sides of the helmet
Now onto the jaw portions!
More to come!!
[END UPDATE]
Lots has been accomplished. (Note: For those who pay attention to details, some pictures may seem out of sync, don't worry about it. Just enjoy
)Cheeks, and Crown finished!
Decided to take a break from shaping and work on the ‘re-breathers’. I had some scrap acrylic tubing kicking around that just happened to be the right sizes for accomplishing what I planned to do with the breathers.
Sticking them together with a stiff silicone (The Right Stuff… best gasket maker ever.)
I used scrap upholstery shampooer hose for the ribbing. I cut out the inner valleys to allow for the lights to show through. It was cut a bit shorter to leave room for the tie strap accent on the end of the breather bodies.
Started to shape for fitment with bench grinder.
I sprayed the ribbing and end pieces with flat black paint to prep it for the top coat (Niteshades), and then glued them to the assemblies using Crazy Glue after testing my 'frosting' job with an LED
. I also found a tie strap around the shop that looked similar to the game model, and attached it to the appropriate end. Then I coated it with the Niteshades tail light paint! After that was dry, I sprayed the ends with gloss black to smooth out the surfaces, and make sure no light made it through the end pieces.
Then lit it up!! (There will be more lights behind it, but this just shows what I’m trying to accomplish, like the top nuts, I wanted to have the breathers light up just to add some uniqueness to this build.)
I then designed and started to build the attachment mounts on the sides of the helmet
Now onto the jaw portions!
More to come!!
[END UPDATE]
StayFrosty
Jr Member
Your helmet is absolutely beautiful! CQB is definitely on my list for pep projects in the future, but seeing as I'm pretty bad at pep, I'll need to hone my skills before I do it. Hopefully I can work on some when I have time off for Christmas (If I'm not building a gun :lol) Keep up the good work man, I can't wait to see this thing all finished up!
RomanW
Member
[small update]
Got a few more sections started and finished up.
Experimented with helmet details....
not too happy with how this one turned out.. maybe I'll fill it and try again.. maybe I won't. Perfect is boring anyways . Maybe it will look more realistic and slightly battle damaged once the paint is applied. Who knows.. I'll be sitting on this one for a while.
Started shaping the neck, and lower jaws...
Completed shaping, and finishing of the visor buck. Just need to support the underside and build some reliefs for the edges of the visor.
Roman
[end small update]
Got a few more sections started and finished up.
Experimented with helmet details....
not too happy with how this one turned out.. maybe I'll fill it and try again.. maybe I won't. Perfect is boring anyways . Maybe it will look more realistic and slightly battle damaged once the paint is applied. Who knows.. I'll be sitting on this one for a while.Started shaping the neck, and lower jaws...
Completed shaping, and finishing of the visor buck. Just need to support the underside and build some reliefs for the edges of the visor.
Roman
[end small update]
MikyVengeance
Well-Known Member
Wow, amazing attention to detail. Looks great, obviously. Keep it up
StayFrosty
Jr Member
What I've done to avoid stuff like what happened on the back from happening is to sort of "score" a line with a needle file and then keep filing away at it slowly. I've never done that on a helmet or armor, though, so it might not work as well. At any rate, the helmet is looking awesome, so as the say, don't worry about it
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