Iron Man Helmet - Can it be rescued?

[LawLuD]

Hi!

First of all, my name is Thilo and i'm from Stuttgart, Germany.
I started working on this 3 years ago. The reason i started, was to understand how to work with fiberglas.
But then i did not know how to make progress and the Helmet landed in a Box. I'm not sure if that thing can be rescued to be honest

I just want to hear your opinion on what to do next and how i can get the best out of it.

Here are some pics, if you need some detail pictures, let me know!

 

[JayOneSeven]

Personally I'd lather it up with a layer of bondo, sand it down and try to get the finish you're looking for. I'm new though so don't hold me to this!

 

[Carpathia]

No, no, don't lather anything up in bondo, ever. That's a rookie mistake and you'll end up ruining any detail you wished to save (unless you're a heck of a sculptor).

Taking a look at your helmet, it's not beyond hope. The worst part I see is the top portion of the crown, in this picture...

There is a sizable crack that will have to be addressed. I recommend removing as much body filler from that section as you can (whatever will chip or pull away) and reapplying filler in that area.

Then, in this section...

...just keep applying and sanding filler in small sections until you reach the desired shape/smoothness.

On the jaw line, remove the carved in detail shown in this picture...

...by filling it with a little filler. Those carved in lines are doing nothing for you. The jaw part itself looks to be in good shape, as does the mask. However, you've got a lot of clean-up work to do.

Overall, I'd say that this helmet is not beyond fixing. However, now, having a little better knowledge in how Pepakura, resin, fiberglass and filler works, it might be less time-consuming to just start anew.