Uncool Dad's and Shiny Helmets

May 10, 2016

Uncool Dad's and Shiny Helmets

Apparently.....it isn't "Cool" to say "Cool"

Did I miss something?
Apparently it is NOT cool to say "Cool" anymore. I was on the phone to the plumber recently and on being told that he could "come around this afternoon", I replied "That would be cool, thank you." I thought nothing of it. Just the way I speak.

WELL.
I was promptly reprimanded by my 11 year old daughter, Bethan.
"What was that all about? Nobody says Cool anymore. I can't believe you said that!"

UNCOOL.

I just count myself lucky I didn't slip a "Dude" in there as well.

Speaking of cool stuff though, I thought I'd share with you a few bits and bobs on a little "Hobby" of mine that I've been dabbling in over the last couple years. It's called Pepakura.
In a nutshell it's a method of model making that utilises a paper or card pattern that can be glue or folded to create all sorts of crazy stuff.
I've been using it to create some Sci-Fi helmets in both paper and foam.

I can't quite remember how it all started but basically I wanted to make an IronMan helmet and stumbled across Pepakura after a little journey around the GoogleWeb.
First I had to download a piece of software from Tamasoft called Pepakura Designer.

This then meant that I could trawl sites like:

http://www.405th.com/ - These guys primarily concentrate on HALO

http://therpf.com/ - Pretty much everything else!

There are other sites and fileshare sites available but these two are usually the most worthwhile. From here, you are looking for downloadable templates files with an extension of .pdo. These are compatible with the Pepakura Designer software to allow you to tweak the templates to your own size and also once you are a little more confident with the software, you can edit the templates to combine pieces and simplify the templates to your own preferences.

A typical screenshot (lifted straight from Google) of an Ironman template

This was one of the first designs that I made using thick card which I then coated with fibre glass resin, fibreglass matting and car body filler. It took AGES but was a fun learning process. The end result was O.K. Not the best but a decent first effort. I've lost the photo's I took of it but I installed some L.E.D lights in the eyes and gave it to a friend at work for one of her nephews to use as a nightlight.

I do remember at one point in the build process, for some reason I decided to fill the helmet with expanding foam to pad it out inside for some reason or other...

I used a bit too much and ended up flooding the car passenger side....not quite as much as in this image, but you get the idea.

I followed up with a Halo, Noble Six helmet. which again, I used a paper template. Despite a little bit of sagging when I applied the fibreglass resin coat, it turned out relatively well. I'm still not happy with the finish of it but the kids LOVED it. It came out a bit wonky and rough and the paint was a bit over the top with the weathering but if it was with a full armour set, I think it would be pretty good.

I bought a motorcycle visor from E-Bay to fit inside. Needed a bit of a trim but looked AWESOME!

Some slightly shoddy workmanship but INSPIRED use of sink strainers for "Earpieces".

By this point, I was a little fed up with ENDLESS hours of cutting up and folding TINY bits of paper. So I decided to try using foam to make a helmet.
I rushed out and bought a load of craft foam and set about building myself a Stormtrooper.

Which came out TERRIBLY. I've since learned that you need to use E.V.A foam which is thicker and stiffer. At the time.... I didn't know this.
Did I give up?
Did I throw the flopply mass of "roughly Stormtrooper shaped foam" in the bin?
Did I heck.

I set about stiffening the "mess" with fibre glass resin (which didn't work well) and plaster inpregnated bandage strips which helped quite a lot but still looked AWEFUL.
At this point, I should have given up.

But I didn't.

I got some car body filler and set about building up a decent layer to try to rescue a disasterous build.
I don't have any early photos, but it ended up looking "passable".

Just don't let anyone from the 405th see it as it is wrong in SO MANY places. Still looks like a Stormtrooper to me though so "Ya Boo. Sucks to you!".

By this point I was a bit peeved with the build so it sat on a shelf for several months before I finished it off recently.
Again, it is in NO WAY movie accurate and to be honest. I like to "tinker" a bit with all the builds to try out different materials or design "improvements" that suit my tastes or what I have lying around the garage at the time.
However, I'm pretty happy with it and had great fun attacking it with a blowtorch!

Not happy with the mouth or the ears but otherwise, It looks "Cool".

Amazing what a bit of natural light does to it.

It even fits my head!

Bethan, my usual model holding an invisible lightsabre.

Slightly more subtle weathering this time....

Currently I'm working on a Kylo Ren Helmet and also a foam Ironman helmet and chestpiece.
I've no photos of the Kylo Ren yet but the Ironman so far looks like this...