Recon Progress thread

[Aoiken]

So I got the file to a point where I was happy with it, tried my best at scaling, and then split the helmet into parts sized to my print bed. Ive printed out a little over half of the helmet, and I think I may have scaled it to big lol.

Does this look right to you guys? It looks kind of big on me when I look in the mirror, but It is a close fit getting it onto my head. Once its on Ive got a good amount of room, which I was expecting to an extent as I wanted to add padding and such.

Thanks!

 

[PaiganBoi]

Welcome to 405th.
The helmet looks great.
But, looking at the front and profile picks of you wearing it, the bucket looks huge. If you measure from one rebreather to the other it spans more than 2/3 of your shoulder width. From the profile there is quite a bit of space from your nose to the front of the helmet.
Don't fret though. There are plenty of people here (including myself) who have difficulties with scaling. You are not alone. It's all just a matter of taking your measurements again and then rechecking.

 

[Aoiken]

If you measure from one rebreather to the other it spans more than 2/3 of your shoulder width

Hey Thank you for the response!
Ill give re-scaling it a go, do you think it'd be best to scale it so from rebreather to rebreather was 2/3 of my shoulder width? or should I aim for less? A lot of the images i've been using for reference have it at some sorta weird angle, so its kinda hard to tell what ratio they have for it.

Thanks again!

 

[PaiganBoi]

You would definitely have to shrink it down a bit. Like I mentioned before, my scale skillz are lacking. If I had to guess shrink it maybe 10 to 15%.
This is from H4 but it's best reference I was able to find after doing a search. Hope it will help you with your scaling.

 

[Aoiken]

Hey guys
Back with an update, I re-designed the bottom so I could make the opening bigger and get a closer to scale fit. after i changed the model I used a method I found on youtube to make sure it would fit. Essentially what I did was I printed off the bottom 1/12 of the helmet just so I would have a profile of the helmet so that I could see the size.
Once I found the scale I re-printed the helm, and have taken onto covering seams with bondo, and just sanding in general for a smooth finish.

the problem Ive now run into is the back has some very detailed parts to it.... along with a poorly placed seam going down the middle. I dont know how I would clean up and sand the bondo in some of the small parts of it. Do you guys know of any other good fillers and such that I could try?

 

[macktruck]

So how long is it taking for you to print. I'm printing a masterchief helmet right now with 9 pieces. Some of the pieces I finish in 1 days, others in 3 days. Hopefully I scaled it correctly.
Ya, I specifically made a section for the back of the head to avoid getting the seam in the chip AI port, but you should be able to make it look good. It will just take more time and work. You could try using a 3d pen that melts filament to fill the gap. I never really like calculus, so thats definitely a good book to sacrifice for the costume.

 

[Aoiken]

It takes anywhere from 6-12 hours to print depending on the piece. The helmet was segmented into 12 pieces. I also made the helmet fairly thin to save plastic. It's only about 1-2mm thick. It also helped to have both printers running at once lol.

I'll give the 3d pen a ****! Thanks for the idea!
I wish that book was calculus ... It's for ee382, and the class is kicking my ass!

We recently got a vacuum former where I work. So I decided to give vacuum forming the visor a shot once they get it together. I printed off a buck to use for it, but in my haste I turned the speed up a bit to high for the rest of my settings and got a bunch of delaminating. I was planning on filling in some of it with bondo and sanding it.

Do you guys have any vacuum forming tips? I've never tried it.

 

[macktruck]

Ya, I switched my degree from electrical engineering to electronics and computer technology because of crazy math classes. Ugh.....

Honestly I don't want to use bondo on a helmet anymore. You might want to try wood filler. I feel like Bondo is very toxic for such a small confined area. It would be fine for places my face isn't an inch from, but that stuff stinks for weeks. It's like sniffing paint even weeks later.

My only tipe for vacuum forming is don't use a toaster oven to heat the plastic if you intend to use that toaster oven for food later. Remember to use materials specifically designed for vacuum forming. Plastics like PVC are actually toxic when heated.

Sometimes I feel like I need a dozen 3d printers, but I only have one. At ; least it keeps me from spending to much on filament. Of course I want to see if I can buy material from work. Possible a perk of working at an injection molding factory.

Ah nice, I see you;re a blender user. Wohoo. Open source, free software ftw.

 

[Aoiken]

Yea its some tough math for sure .
I took your advice on the wood filler and it worked pretty well. I also tried using Thin super glue on some of the smaller seams and got pretty good results.
Ill keep the advice about vacuum forming in mind thanks!
Honestly I feel like unless you are for sure gonna be running them constantly it isnt really worth having more than one. Most of the time I only ever have one running. If anything id like one with a bigger build space.
I just finished the first color coat after priming and sanding the helmet. Ill post pictures soon .

 

[Aoiken]

So I've gone and done most of the base colors on the helmet. Just waiting for some more paint to come in the mail so that I can touch it up in spots.

Next I'll be doing various stickers, adding some hardware, lighting it up with some EL wire, and dying/chroming the visor. The thing I'm most I'm unsure about is the visor. I've seen a lot on dying them but not chroming visors.

 

[Aoiken]

Another update, I ended up ordering a visor since I couldn't find a way to tint it the way I'd like. Once I get the visor installed the helmet will be done. So I'll be able to focus fully on modeling the armor.