KS helmet build

[lonewolf]

I made this a few years ago, they can look great finished.

 

Ear holes cut, being careful not to cut too much due to the lack of actual depth,

 

Back seam fillered and painted,

 

 

 

Visor shaped, try to remove up to the return edge and keep the inside corners slightly rounded, not squared,

 

3M Speedglas bolts fitted, square easily cut with a scalpel,

 

Face plate painted and eye area cut out, try to check with the original pics for accurate shape,

 

[shdwtrpr13]

This looks great lone. Its a greate reference for me to cut out the ears. Also you said you used a scalpe to cut the m3 bolt holes, not a razor knife?

[lonewolf]

Yes anything sharp will do, mark the square centrally, and parallel[super fussy!] to the visor "step" then just slowly cut out the square hole testing the 3M bolt as you do so. You can mark the square then drill a round hole close to the size first although that isn't really necessary. Myabe with a fibreglass helmet this would be a good idea.

 

Do the trimming slowly and carefully, cut away from yourself and/or use the knife from inside to avoid any slice marks on the front face of the visor. You can use a small file to tidy the edges but a sharp scalpel will do.

[shdwtrpr13]

Very nice. I have only 2 questions left. 1. What glue did you use to adhere the parts together? And 2. How did you do the ear holes? Same as the bolt holes or different tools? I was thinking of attacking those with a dremel.

[lonewolf]

I used ABS plastic weld glue, very cheap if you go to a plumbing suppliers, there are a few brands, but if you look out for ABS/PVC/UPVC stuff it should be fine. Clamps and tape to hold it all together. I was definately going to be painting mine[ filling the seam lines] when I started the build so was not worried if I got the glue onto a finish surface. I used a bit of super glue as well to keep things in place quickly. If you ever use superglue I suggest you buy Zip Kicker as well, it activates the superglue immediately but may be banned in some states!

 

For the ear openings a dremel is best, cut from the back once you get a small opening made in the front. A good idea is to draw an outline of the hole to cut to. My holes in the above pics are a bit too big at the top of them. Take a good look at the originals when you draw the shape. A wee sanding around the ear hole is all it needs to finish it.

With the KS try not to take too much away on the inner side of the ear opening, it shows too much from a side angle!

 

Regarding the mesh behind the ears, well the originals didn't have anything behind the opening, only a piece of black material stuck to the inner sides of the helmet.

 

I am happy to answer any questions, I don't have a three question rule

[shdwtrpr13]

Lol good because I have about a thousend questions. I'm going to asdume that you used bondo for the filler at the dome seal. So I'm going to ask now about how you applied the abs weld. Thin careful coating on one piece or both pieces?

[lonewolf]

The ABS glue I use has a handy wee brush on the lid, a fine coat on both surfaces, clamp the two parts together and give it 24 hours to fully work.

Yes bondo is fine, any car body repair stuff , easy sand stuff is good but the gap should be really tiny. Use plastic primer on the lid, finelt sand the whole lid, avoid coarse sandpapers, 240 wet and dry is as rough as you should go, take it back to 600 maybe to get a decent key for the paint.

 

Regarding the KS I added a piece of plastic down the inner sides ot the helmet part to strengthen it up.

[shdwtrpr13]

Ok wow that's a long hold time. I heard there's a 5 to 25 min glue that I could use too. Would you recommend using a heat gun to get the pieces to fit better before gluing? Also should I paint the face and visor? And if so before or after I glue them together? I'm actually making up a shopping list as we speak :-)

[lonewolf]

The glue is going "off" in 10 minutes but 24 hours is reasonable for a super strong hold, what is the rush?

Avoid heat guns if you can on this plastic, it is thin and will warp before you know it. I used the glue and clamps, a bit of time to get a nice fit using sandpaper is best.

 

If you paint the back you paint everything! This is the only way to get a perfect match.

[shdwtrpr13]

actually my helmet kit is a good 6mm thick but yeah I'll go with the clamp tap and glue I'v done alot of sanding alread. pre taped and sanded as of now in my progress report threat http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=11226