well i figured out what im going to do about making a new helmet....
im going to recycle the dried out clay by putting it into a 5 gallon bucket and putting water in it to sit overnight and become useable again.
i figure if i cant do the scuplt onto a baseball helmet, ill just make a solid mold of the helmet. no shrinking aver armatures, however i wont be able to fire the helmet when its done. ill just have to make it let it dry then seal it.
the solid idea seems to be coming back to me, hopefully it'll work.
Edit: UPDATE:
I recycled all my old clay only leaving the original hand armor in tact. the only thing i didnt like about recycling the old clay was the fact that it turned into like a slcuh almost. probably too much water in the bucket but it literally felt lke sticking my hand into a cold cow patty......yuck!
ive got a nice mound built up, however now im going to need to get more clay to get the right size needed for my cranium.
pics coming as i get more clay.