my RS helmet kit .. WIP

[762s]

wasnt expecting to get into building this helmet

but, i got bored and decide to give it a try.

 

had several small issues:

~ the visor blinder cut lines goes from 1/2" to 1/4" .. i dont like that .. its suppoed to be even all the way down not tapper to the bottom

~ not sure how to work this edge under the face mask -- its warped and all out of sorts

~ the right ear section was warped on the bottom and didnt sit right -- the left ear was an easy match

~ the bucket had a warp in it .. the 2 halves kept popping the glue

~ the cut lines on the upper visor where off .. i had to go further in past there cut line .. but, i like it and not really seeing a need to keep the visor locked up .. so, im not using there cut out method and will still need to even it out

 

those small issues where not that bad though

 

i added/still in the process of adding the 8th vent

 

i laid some epoxy across the seams and waiting for it to cure

 

been a fun first helmet build .. it went pretty quick too .... well, this part did.

still have to get to some trimming here and there cutting out the eyes/ears sand the seams ect.ect.

 

still abit of work left but, heres where am at with it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chopper]

Looks pretty solid so far!

[3DImpact]

Yes, looks like a good faceplate-to-helmet line along the sides for sure. Haven't gathered the courage to start mine yet - I'm still staring at it and strategizing...

 

Dan

[Strider]

Looking good! Trimming and cutting all pieces before assembly would have been easier though ;-)

[762s]

thanks all ..

 

update for the wip

 

BE CAREFUL with the ear cutouts!! its VERY brittle in this section!!

i had a small crack happen when trimming the ears .. some ca glue w/instant set and sanding fixed it though.

 

~ sanded the helmet

~ cut out eyes, ears

~ worked on and found the detail on the face plate return edge/tapered edge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

heres that small crack from cutting the ear section out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[762s]

went ahead and reworked the return edge on the face plate .. i like it abit more

 

put the first coat of fillable primer on the kit

 

had to rework a few spots the primer showed .. 1 spot on the visor and there was an uneven section on the back seam

 

got a few little things to work on ... then its getting painted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Strider]

Really good job!

[762s]

heres a few more pics .. 99.9% done .. only thing left is to find out about the headstrap or foam .. and the gaffers tape(or other) in the ears

 

been a pretty fun build!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by 762s

[3DImpact]

Looks great!

 

Tell us a bit more about your process for fixing up the return edge along the bottom and rear of the chin line. It looks like you might have done a bit of filling and sanding along the rear in addition to bending the ABS back into shape? I did a bit of heating/bending along the bottom edge but I'll need to do some filling and sanding as well I'm sure. Yours looks really clean there. I'm still very timidly working along on mine trimming just a little here and there as I gather up the courage...

 

Dan

[Eyeslave]

Very nice work

[762s]

thanks all!

 

 

 

 

Looks great!

 

Tell us a bit more about your process for fixing up the return edge along the bottom and rear of the chin line. It looks like you might have done a bit of filling and sanding along the rear in addition to bending the ABS back into shape? I did a bit of heating/bending along the bottom edge but I'll need to do some filling and sanding as well I'm sure. Yours looks really clean there. I'm still very timidly working along on mine trimming just a little here and there as I gather up the courage...

 

Dan

 

 

 

alright ...

 

well, first i found this little iron at a fabric shop .. cost was $13 .. since i couldnt find the $40 version i see alot people use i figured i would give this a try .. worse wouldve been to return it .. it heats up to 375 degree at 5 minutes and seems to be ok .. esp. for the first time working with bending abs .. might spring for the more expensive with a bit higher heat rating now i know what to expect and how to work the plastic.

 

so, if you see the 1st video strider posted here http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=18319 you will see he mentions how the profile does not line up on the sides and has a gap ...

i guess, this will be the case with these kits helmets too .. at least my kit was like he showed.

 

i took and mounted the visor to the helmet .. pushed it down so, the top visor sat correct ... ran a straight edge down the side of visor/faceplate to get a reference mark on the faceplate to where i needed to bend to. i heated/bent the faceplate edge to the reference line. slowly worked the edge to give it an angle, its not a 90 its more like a 20 degree angle. after i got the angle and the bend i liked i cut the excess off the back edge

 

the left and right "ear" on the faceplate where not the same (you can see it in the pics, post #5 of the visor and mask inside).. so, i did have to fill a bit here and there .. as well, the precuts on one of the faceplates sides didnt leave me enough material but, with the faceplate angle being off i was still able to work with it.

 

and after looking at many different helmets .. each have their own personalty so to say .. on some helmets the visors dont sit right where as on others the visors are tight .. some have glue showing on inside faceplate/visor(like mine) .. some dont .. i seen the pics you posted about the return edge .. but if you look at another screen used helmet(star wars helmets) the return edge is tappered on the faceplate where it hits the helmet. i think all those subtle differences are neat really .. each has been worked slightly different and no 2 helmets are the same.

 

its ok to take your time .. measure fit as much as possible and cut once. i think i cut my top visor something like 5 times before i got it to where i was happy with it.

 

hope the info above helps and good luck!

[3DImpact]

Yes, this helps immensely - thanks a bunch for taking the time to share those details!

 

I'm doing just as you say - look at it a lot, measure a bunch of times, think about cutting, look at it some more... :-) It's my first time assembling an ABS kit like this so I'm just learning my way through it. If I screw this one up a little I'll buy another one, but I'd like to try to get something usable out of this one. If it's just so-so in the end I'll use it for my Saw Gerrera Partisan build project (https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=278922).

 

Thanks again!

 

Dan

[StoutScout]

What epoxy did you use to bind the seams?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

 

[762s]

What epoxy did you use to bind the seams?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

i used a medium ca glue with insta-set(hobby town) to join the halves together -- works very well with plastics

before gluing the halves a light sanding in the areas your joining together is good practice

 

once the halves where together, i used apoxie sculpt (grey material seen in pics)

again sanding where the apoxie sculpt is being laid ... and alot of water to soften the clay and work it out flat

takes about 3 hours for it to harden and you can shape/lightly sand at that point .. its pretty easy stuff to work with if you keep it wet and easy to sand too

 

after the apoxie sculpt hardened for a day(full cure) i sanded a wider area and laid some bondo on top of that

 

 

i have seen others use the abs plastic pieces and acetone mix

since, i have never messed with that combination of materials .. i used what i have worked with before

Edited September 8, 2017 by 762s

[762s]

been messing with the helmet abit ..since, it was my first helmet build decided to be rough with it abit.

besides, i have another kit to build and would like to work out the kinks with this one before building my 2nd.

 

 

so, opening the lid and trying to figure out why rs put the extra cuts in it .. seemed like something was off with the visor and the lid but, when i found these pics .... http://forum.bikersc...llery&image=742 .. it looks like there a pretty wide gap between the two.

 

well, upon working this visor and lifting and trimming to get it to lock .. i know i didnt want to. but, i couldnt leave it be .. haha

so, a crack appeared on the visor in the seam .. but, only on the helmet side of the visor // not forward of the facemask

 

i worked the visor till it would open and lock .. and yeah, theres a gap .. but, not a funky line like rs marked out, its more like the screen used.

 

also, i started noticing a loud pop when closing the lid .. found a couple things that needed changing.

the cut on the visor side edge was to wide(see pics below) and the helmet bolt holes where becoming bigger little by little.

 

 

so, on with the updated pics and additions

 

**in order with pics**

~ reinforced the inside seam on the visor with small abs pieces

~ widened gap on visor to helmet to get it to lock and not scrape the helmet(looks more like screen used) -- its not symetrical yet, dont mind that .. it will be when im done

~ added apoxie sculpt to visor bolt holes on helmet side (pics 3 & 4) - to stop the popping and widening of holes

~ trimmed back edge of the visor where lockin area is -- this edge is now roughly 1/4" wide - to stop the popping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hope this extra info helps those who are into their build with the rs kit

Edited September 12, 2017 by 762s

[Strider]

Love the dedication and work you've put into it! Just as little word to the wise:In the section where the bolts go in you would cut out a square in the size of the inner bolt square so that it's in a fixed position automatically.

[762s]

Love the dedication and work you've put into it! Just as little word to the wise:In the section where the bolts go in you would cut out a square in the size of the inner bolt square so that it's in a fixed position automatically.

 

hey, thanks! its fun to build/teardown things to see how they function/suppose to function.

 

and, are you saying that on the helmet side there is a square cut out too?

 

the square bolt coming through the visor is flush with the inside of the visor.

 

[Strider]

 

and, are you saying that on the helmet side there is a square cut out too?

 

 

Ah no, just on the visor side - wasn't sure if you cut out a square or just drilled a hole. Never mind

[3DImpact]

I was going to ask the same question about the square hole for the bolt. I've been working away slowly and quietly on mine as well and am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Getting to the point where I'm looking at those bolts and thinking that it made sense to cut out the square hole for the visor side (in order to 'lock it in', as you say). But then I'm thinking that I don't want that square on the bolt to extend too far through that hole because I'd like the flat face of the bolt recess on the inside of the visor to ride flush with the flat face of the bolt mount disk on the outside of the helmet. Does that sound right? If that's the case I'm going to have to epoxy the bolts in place in the visor so that they don't naturally want to extend too far through the hole. What's the standard setup with the bolts in other helmet builds? Some pics of that would be a huge help.

 

I was also fiddling with the helmet liner yesterday. I'm probably missing something because it doesn't look to fit inside at all. I took out the plastic bolts/screws that come attached to it thinking it might make sense to run the visor bolts through those areas on the liner in order to hold it in place inside the helmet. But when I do that there's just no circumferential room for the blue padded cloth band to fit inside. It'd sure help if RS would release the assembly video they promised.

 

Thanks, 762s, for posting all your progress pics - it's been a big help as I approach mine through this learning process. It started out rather intimidating but as things are progressing I'm gaining confidence and familiarity and the workflow is accelerating. I'm happier with it all now than I was a week ago. That said, I'm likely going to relegate this build to my Saw Gerrera Partisan costume build and purchase another kit from RS to build up as a proper TB...

 

Dan

[762s]

I was going to ask the same question about the square hole for the bolt. I've been working away slowly and quietly on mine as well and am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Getting to the point where I'm looking at those bolts and thinking that it made sense to cut out the square hole for the visor side (in order to 'lock it in', as you say). But then I'm thinking that I don't want that square on the bolt to extend too far through that hole because I'd like the flat face of the bolt recess on the inside of the visor to ride flush with the flat face of the bolt mount disk on the outside of the helmet. Does that sound right? If that's the case I'm going to have to epoxy the bolts in place in the visor so that they don't naturally want to extend too far through the hole. What's the standard setup with the bolts in other helmet builds? Some pics of that would be a huge help.

 

I was also fiddling with the helmet liner yesterday. I'm probably missing something because it doesn't look to fit inside at all. I took out the plastic bolts/screws that come attached to it thinking it might make sense to run the visor bolts through those areas on the liner in order to hold it in place inside the helmet. But when I do that there's just no circumferential room for the blue padded cloth band to fit inside. It'd sure help if RS would release the assembly video they promised.

 

Thanks, 762s, for posting all your progress pics - it's been a big help as I approach mine through this learning process. It started out rather intimidating but as things are progressing I'm gaining confidence and familiarity and the workflow is accelerating. I'm happier with it all now than I was a week ago. That said, I'm likely going to relegate this build to my Saw Gerrera Partisan costume build and purchase another kit from RS to build up as a proper TB...

 

Dan

 

hey dan,

im glad this info has helped!

 

and to answer some of your questions---

 

the bolt head will be flush with the visor on the outside if you cut the square hole in the visor. the square part of the bolt will be flush with the indside of the visor as well. this locks the bolt in place.

 

the actual visor lock im talking about above is on the helmet side. and you can see more about that in striders .. "rant about the rs helmet" post ... rs made a funky cut with the top of the visor wich strider points out and shows inthe video ... i also replied in his post with the actually lock mechanism and how rs shouldnt have made that cut and refrence line.

 

the filling i did to the bolt hole(last set of pics) was a reinforcement of the helmet side .. as i was opening and closing the visor many many times i noticed those holes where geting wider there.

 

and yes... the headband doesnt fit in the helmet correctly... i have tried many different ways and it just doesnt seem right in any position...thats where the pop rivets come into play, looks like rs wants us to secure the headband with pop rivets behind the visor area around the bolt section.. .. wich i am not going to do. i will more than likely order a correct headband or go with a foam insert.

 

 

ill add some helpful links below:

 

striders rant review thread

http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=18319

 

correct bolt instructions/build

http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=18306&hl=&fromsearch=1

[3DImpact]

Thanks - looking forward to getting this done!

 

Dan

[762s]

time for an update

 

 

okay .. so, i received the correct headband and gaffers tape.

 

installed the tape and worked the headband into place

 

 

so, a pic of the gaffers tape as it was the easiest to do!

 

thats all the tape that is needed to be screen accurate

 

 

 

Now, as for the headband .. since i cant find how it was installed i decided to glue it into place but, i had to rework the inside top part of the helmet first.

 

 

if you use the RS parts then you will need to create a riser out of the extra plastic they sent along with the kit.

 

i went ahead and cut a piece of abs plastic into an oval shape seen in the screen used helmet pics.

 

i then created a riser out of that that would fit over the RS parts.

 

glued the riser to the helmet .. then centered and glued the headband in place.

 

i then went ahead and added abit of a personal touch like the screen used helmets as well added the extra S/N sticker they shipped

 

 

so, on with the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and well, the only thing left to do with this helmet is a respray as, i didnt like the left cheek and there was a warp on the left bottom visor area ... did some bondo work to those areas, as well i reworked the top of the visor ... and thanks RS for sending 2 sets of decals with the kit .. i will be using them after all

 

 

respray this thing and then onto the 2nd helmet build ... oh yeah, and i have a donp helmet im close to posting up with a custom paint job

[Chopper]

Great work, man. Hopefully we can do some trooping in the area once you finish up your build.

[762s]

Great work, man. Hopefully we can do some trooping in the area once you finish up your build.

 

thanks!

 

that would be cool to troop and meet some of the forum members around here.

 

i look forward to the day when the build is all done and i can go out an troop

[762s]

alright,

 

on with helmet #2

 

trying some differnent things that i have read around here as well some different thoughts i had about the build

 

and well to add to this wip thread some extra pictures of how i did some things

 

 

so, on with the pics ...

 

1. faceplate in progress

2. helmet trimmed and glued -- top -- took the extra time to get the halves as close as i could

3. helmet trimmed and glued -- rear

4. inside helmet -- used the sa oval piece in the center/top of dome, used the heat bending method on the abs strips to form to the contour .. added thin layer of apoxie sculpt to the inside bolt area for strength and to stop the abs hole from getting larger

5. cut out rear missing vent

6. apoxie sculpted the 8th vent

7. rs snout good side

8. rs snout bad side .. this bad area was in the first snout i had too .. and i had to fix it then but, didnt mention it above

9. rs snout bad side fixed