Hey everyone! As some of you may have seen a few months ago , I posted a advice thread called "How to get the most out of your build" and I got mostly positive feedback . I figured I should revamp and revise it to make it a even better source of information and help so here we go!
A United Methodist Pastor by the name of Tom Anderson was recently talking about the local United Methodist church's mission trip and how they built a ramp for those who are dissabled. He said that the ramp was built not once, but twice . Built once in the mind and built for the second time in the physical world.
The moral was , if you dont have a good base plan, you wont be able to build it into somthing that you can be proud of. You can build it without putting any thought into it and rush into everything . But that will produce poor results and work that you wont be happy with. However, if you take your time and make a good plan in your mind, you will have a fantastic project that you will be proud of and will be satisfied with .
When you first get a idea for a project you need to
-Establish what I wish to accomplish
-Create a plan of operations (how you will pull it off)
-Gather supplies and resources I will need
-Begin to execute the plan you set up for yourself
For example -
I want to build a MK. VI helmet
I wish to accomplish - A finished helmet that is as accurate as I can possibly make it
My plan- Gather referance, Get supplies and finally build the project.
Supplies I need - Paper for pepakura , Glue to assemble the pepakura, Resin & fiberglass, Bondo and paint
I will build it in the order of - Pepakura, Resin & fiberglass , Detail and a great paintjob!
Remember to TAKE YOUR TIME! I know when I first started out proping , I wanted to rush rush rush into it and not take my time. My first build was TERRIBLE because of that. I slowly learned to take my time and create a "order of operations" for myself . I now do all of these and I produce props that I am satisfied with. Another thing you must remember is that you are making props and armor to satisfy YOURSELF. NOT others. As long as you are satisfied with your work, you are doing good!
Another example is the 2011 405th Unity Project .
When we started , we all had a plan to execute the project . The project had a order too it . The plan was-
Pepakura work
re-enforcing
Bondo work
Paint
final LED and fan installation
Visor
Each step we took had a importance of its own , and the project wouldn't have turned out as good as it did . Each 'step' also had its own 'steps' that were required before that main step was finished . Example -
Pepakura - scaling , printing , cutting ,and gluing
Re-enforcing - Outer coat of resin, Blocking any holes with painters tape, slush casting the hardening material (we used smooth-cast 300) into the helmet , and sealing any holes that are remaining
Bondo Work - application of first (rough) layer , rough sanding , fine sanding , spot putty to fill in gaps in bondo work , more sanding , final fine grit sand
Paint - Primer , base color layer , secondary color layer , details , decal application , weathering , final sealing
LED and Fan installation - placement of battery pack , wiring , gluing , testing , and final installation
Visor - Sketched out plan for etching , tape off lines to be etched , etching , test mounting, attaching anchor bolts , final installation
We could even go as far as breaking down the sub steps . As you see , each of these things require completion before you can move on to the next . The point here is to TAKE YOUR TIME !
I recommend that you take a look at some tutorial videos on youtube . Nine times out of ten there will be a video that can give you some pointers/ideas . Sometimes you may watch a video or see something online that inspires you to make something that no one has done before or improve on a idea . These are the times that you have to make your own way since there is no one to follow . This brings me to creating original works/ideas . It's time like these that you can really take advantage of the fact that there are so many methods out there which you can use to create a base plan . This is the case with a lot of scratch builds . A good reference for this is Volpin Props . Take a look at his blog (you'll be inspired at the level of scratch build awesomeness lol )
http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/
I believe that one of the reasons his builds are so great is that he has such a awesome plan at the beginning . That is the major point of this thread - If you have a good plan , you will be successful in your builds .
Thanks for reading! I will add things as I go along and any bits of info for help are welcome! Hope this helped!
-Jacob
PS.
If you have a piece of advice that you think should be added , please PM it too me!
A United Methodist Pastor by the name of Tom Anderson was recently talking about the local United Methodist church's mission trip and how they built a ramp for those who are dissabled. He said that the ramp was built not once, but twice . Built once in the mind and built for the second time in the physical world.
The moral was , if you dont have a good base plan, you wont be able to build it into somthing that you can be proud of. You can build it without putting any thought into it and rush into everything . But that will produce poor results and work that you wont be happy with. However, if you take your time and make a good plan in your mind, you will have a fantastic project that you will be proud of and will be satisfied with .
When you first get a idea for a project you need to
-Establish what I wish to accomplish
-Create a plan of operations (how you will pull it off)
-Gather supplies and resources I will need
-Begin to execute the plan you set up for yourself
For example -
I want to build a MK. VI helmet
I wish to accomplish - A finished helmet that is as accurate as I can possibly make it
My plan- Gather referance, Get supplies and finally build the project.
Supplies I need - Paper for pepakura , Glue to assemble the pepakura, Resin & fiberglass, Bondo and paint
I will build it in the order of - Pepakura, Resin & fiberglass , Detail and a great paintjob!
Remember to TAKE YOUR TIME! I know when I first started out proping , I wanted to rush rush rush into it and not take my time. My first build was TERRIBLE because of that. I slowly learned to take my time and create a "order of operations" for myself . I now do all of these and I produce props that I am satisfied with. Another thing you must remember is that you are making props and armor to satisfy YOURSELF. NOT others. As long as you are satisfied with your work, you are doing good!
Another example is the 2011 405th Unity Project .
When we started , we all had a plan to execute the project . The project had a order too it . The plan was-
Pepakura work
re-enforcing
Bondo work
Paint
final LED and fan installation
Visor
Each step we took had a importance of its own , and the project wouldn't have turned out as good as it did . Each 'step' also had its own 'steps' that were required before that main step was finished . Example -
Pepakura - scaling , printing , cutting ,and gluing
Re-enforcing - Outer coat of resin, Blocking any holes with painters tape, slush casting the hardening material (we used smooth-cast 300) into the helmet , and sealing any holes that are remaining
Bondo Work - application of first (rough) layer , rough sanding , fine sanding , spot putty to fill in gaps in bondo work , more sanding , final fine grit sand
Paint - Primer , base color layer , secondary color layer , details , decal application , weathering , final sealing
LED and Fan installation - placement of battery pack , wiring , gluing , testing , and final installation
Visor - Sketched out plan for etching , tape off lines to be etched , etching , test mounting, attaching anchor bolts , final installation
We could even go as far as breaking down the sub steps . As you see , each of these things require completion before you can move on to the next . The point here is to TAKE YOUR TIME !
I recommend that you take a look at some tutorial videos on youtube . Nine times out of ten there will be a video that can give you some pointers/ideas . Sometimes you may watch a video or see something online that inspires you to make something that no one has done before or improve on a idea . These are the times that you have to make your own way since there is no one to follow . This brings me to creating original works/ideas . It's time like these that you can really take advantage of the fact that there are so many methods out there which you can use to create a base plan . This is the case with a lot of scratch builds . A good reference for this is Volpin Props . Take a look at his blog (you'll be inspired at the level of scratch build awesomeness lol )
http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/
I believe that one of the reasons his builds are so great is that he has such a awesome plan at the beginning . That is the major point of this thread - If you have a good plan , you will be successful in your builds .
Thanks for reading! I will add things as I go along and any bits of info for help are welcome! Hope this helped!
-Jacob
PS.
If you have a piece of advice that you think should be added , please PM it too me!
I think it will help a lot of people. (myself included lol)
