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MLCV3 Helmet built


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Hello from Germany.

 

Some months ago during some kind of midlife-crisis-thing I started the "Biker scout"-project!

Limitations: skills with plastic parts and their trimming ^_^

 

I decided to try my luck with a MLCV3 helmet, because I thought, it's the only helmet that does not need THAT much trimming, glueing etc. and still needs some work that I might handle.

 

Although I do not want to join 501st in the first line I wanted to make it as nice as possible. I' d like to tell you the story of this helmet

 

First part: The order of the helmet!

No problem so far! MLC said it will take a month to make it and after exactly one month and one day they told that the stuff was about to ship.

They also told me, that it might take two weeks to Germany. .... it took 13 days :lol:

The problem in Germany: german bureaucracy. Customs, discussions about licencing with the guys at customs, additional fees blahblah.

 

But after 2 months I got it. My first helmet. Totally proud and amazed ...

 

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Now the work begins ..

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After the first amazement I started to realise ... more work to do than I thought.

 

First problems:

The "riser plate" and the snout.

 

The riser plate that came along with the helmet is nicely painted. And that's about it :wacko:

It is not wide enough to cover the whole snout. The snout itself looks messy. Th3 little fins are not clean and it look like some resin or whatsoever dripped in the spaces between them...

 

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Solution:

A new snout from a dealer UK has to be order (MLC said that ALL of his snouts look like that!) and I made my own riser plate out of a 3 mm thick 32 mm wide piece of acrylic glass.

 

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Left: my plate / Right: MLC plate

 

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New snout and plate (still unpainted)

 

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After priming

 

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Painted

 

I used Citadel acrylic colors for the paintjob of the black part and a spraycan of acrylic grey for the plate and the snout.

 

Snout problem: solved!

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This is great! Keep the progress pics coming!

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Next problem: Visor glass.

 

What material to use? Bend it with a heat gun or not? Decision, decisions!

 

I went to a motocycle dealer here in Germany (named "Polo") and bought a replacement part for motocross-goggles.

 

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This thing is made out of a flexible material so it always tends to go back in a flat position.

I cut it with normal scissors to fit into the hole of the visor of the helmet. In order make it a little curvy I tortured it with my heat-gun.... bad idea, because I did this exactly 1 second too long: it melted and looked awfully.

 

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Melted visor, see strange reflections of my hand.

 

Solution: a new motocross-goggles and NO heating, just glueing.

 

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I used 2k epoxy-clay for this. It is called Apoxie clay and after 24h it is pure plastic. Advantage: no stains, no glue where you don't want any. Just perfect. It is so strong it holds the flexible acrylic glass into perfect position without any movement.

 

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Problem visor: Solved!

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And the next step.

 

What about the black part around the snout plate?

Use a sticker, tape or just tape it and use a spray-can?

 

I tried to tape it in order to use the spraycan but after half an hour I gave up frustrated because I didn't manage to place the tape on the round part on the upper snout properly. So I decided to use a precision-paintjob with a very tiny brush. After realising that I seem to have the sensitiveness of the Hulk in my right hand I convinced my wife to do this for me. ;) .... she spend one hour to draw the outlines of the snout and it looks very nice. Again Citadel colors were used. The finish was done with "Citadel 'ardcoat" clear acrylic paint.

 

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Problem snout frame painting: solved!

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Yeah, doing the snout on the MLC's is tough because it's very pointy. The screen used buckets had a much flatter and wider ridge around the snout. Your wife did a great job!

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The first snout I painted was on a MLCv3 and I was a nervous wreck. It took me a good hour to mask it all off. Three light sprays and 24 hours later it was a success. Looks good! Can't even tell its brushed on.

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Next step: chin cup and it straps.

 

Luckily the holes for the straps were already cut into the helmet and the painted chin cup that came along with it.

 

I bought 2,5 cm wide flat-nylon-chord (whatever you call it in english... you know what I mean) and a matching buckle.

I read a lot of the advice of glueing the straps in the helmet. I don't like these "permanent" solutions. I favor the possibility to undo stuff in order to find a better solution for something. So glue for the straps was no option.

 

I decided to use some more buckles at the bottom of the helmet to fix the straps. I can easily untie the straps there and change them. The lower buckles and the buckle to connect the chin straps are not visible when the helmet is worn.

 

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Another problem solved :D

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When I unboxed the helmet and took a look at the bolts and its cover I thought: "You got to be kidding me, right?"

The covers didn't even FIT on the screws and the hole for the heads of the screws are only 13 mm wide. So the included covers were no option.

 

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NO GO!!!

 

Nearly EVERY picture shows, that the 3M Bolts are sunk into the helmet wall. No chance getting this done without drilling into the helmet and widen the preformed holes since the 3M bolts have 23 mm diameter. I ordered a 3M Speedglas liner and when I unboxed it I nearly got a heartattack. They seem to have a NEW model which looks completely different than the old model.

 

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Luckily this one is very comfortable to wear so I decided to keep it and tried to use it in my helmet (next step). With the liner came the original 23 mm wide bolts.

Now a couple of problems occured:

1. The bolts have some kind of square right below the head. The helmet has just a round hole in it, which makes the bolt to short to reach the inner part of the helmet.

2. The included screws of the helmet kit are a little to long. The pierced my head when I used them to fix the 2 parts of the helmet.

3. "Elevator bolts" with a 23mm head seem to be nearly impossible to obtain in Germany. I found a store that sells them in a 200 piece box only.

 

Long story, short message. I built my own elevator bolts by using a different screw and glued the head of the 3M bolt on top by using fasthardening 2k epoxy glue.

 

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Afterwards I shortened the screw to the desired lenght, primed and painted my bolts

 

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The finished bolt fits pefectly. Hopefully it does not matter that my bolt isn't sunk into the helmet wall :wacko:

 

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The result!!

 

 

 

 

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