Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 I am having trouble putting together my scout trooper helmet. I bought a helmet kit which had the helmet split into 5 pieces, with a large seam running up the middle of the helmet. I tried filling in the seam with spackel and bondo but whatever I do it keeps cracking and creating a seam. Can anyone give me advice? (Side not I tried uploading pictures but the file size is too big apparently) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 For posting images many folks host with imgur or dropbox. Give that a try and post up some images if you can. Bondo or other surfacing agents will smooth the exterior of the helmet, but they won't add any sort of structural strength to the dome. What make of helmet do you have? RS? Did you glue any sort of abs reinforcing plates into the interior of the helmet? That's what adds strength and keeps the seam area from flexing cracking. Here's some examples of the screen helmets with the reinforced plates along the interior seam. Let us know and we'll help you out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 I glued plastic strips onto the inside of the helmet to connect the 2 halves, and it worked for most of the helmet but on the flat part of the dome it kept flexing so I glued a piece of plexiglass into it to get it to be more stable but it still didn’t help. Also I’m not sure how to use imgur or Dropbox yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 https://www.etsy.com/listing/276805062/star-wars-biker-scout-trooper-helmet-kit?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=biker+scout+hekmet&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&organic_search_click=1&sca=1 this is the kit I got btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 The kriptontop/cucblack helmet is made of HIPS, which tends to be more brittle than abs. I would have thought that a piece of plexiglas would stabilize the top of the dome enough to keep it from bending and cracking. Def post some photos once you get a chance and we can offer more suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 I thought so too. Although the spackel I am using is getting a bit harder to work with so maybe it’s drying out? I’ll try buying a new can and try again. Also the very back bottom edge of the helmet is cracking but I can see why since it’s the bottom and the whole weight of the helmet is resting on it, but is there anything I can do it ensure that won’t crack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 https://www.dropbox.com/s/mz8rx6b7fny7eha/Photo Jul 29%2C 7 49 26 PM.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/f92478y0ag0h5mi/Photo Jul 29%2C 7 49 20 PM.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fgt783h2beunucm/Photo Jul 30%2C 10 47 41 AM.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfqa23fqt6r2c56/Photo Jul 30%2C 10 49 05 AM.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/pyxytmhxgwxukgl/Photo Jul 30%2C 10 51 38 AM.jpg?dl=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 You definitely need to reinforce the inside of the helmet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 I glued plastic along the inside of the helmet plus the plexiglass at the top as shown in the picture and it isn’t quite working what should I add in addition to the plastic strips to reinforce it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Did you use actual bondo to fill the seam? I know I ran into a trooper building a helmet that was trying to use spot filler and that dont work on anything that's more than a paint chip or hair line crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 I was using actual bondo for a few layers but it kept cracking so I tried using spackel and I ran into the same issue of it cracking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Regarding the crack at the back base of the helm, do you have a return edge on the bottom? That can affect strength and rigidity, but it's hard to see based on the second to last image link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 https://www.dropbox.com/s/g2t88rx9fng5dp4/Photo Jul 30%2C 6 13 13 PM.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/u5a8iby8l4jeede/Photo Jul 30%2C 6 13 21 PM.jpg?dl=0 there’s a little bit of a return edge should I get rid of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Oh no definitely keep it. It adds strength. Plus as in the photos I linked earlier, it was on the original helmets as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore212 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 Alright I accidentally trimmed it down a little too much since it was my first time building an armor kit so is there any way to fix it or reinforce that area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Based on the second photo, you still have some of a lip, though it's a bit uneven. You could glue a splint underneath, then make a paste from your scrap HIPS plastic to fill in the surface gap. Most folks will repair cracks, overtrimming, etc, by making ABS paste, but your helmet is made of HIPS plastic, so you'd need to use the leftover scrap from the helmet trimmings. Overall though, and I hate to say it, but I think that the fact you used spackle is working against you. Spackle is plaster based and, while it's fine for fixing cosmetic surface defects and drywall, is absolutely going to crack when it's flexed. The only other thing I can think of is that the thin HIPS plastic used in the helmet is flexing more than the typical ABS Chef/RS/WTF 5 piece helmet, which would also contribute to more cracking. Take a look at Sibbel's helmet build here, it has a lot of photos and should be a pretty good reference guide for best practices: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/18869-my-first-helmet-built-rs/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawless Scout Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I use plastic weld to join the 2 sides and add extra strips under the dome. Then I've used plastic weld on top for further reinforcement - sands fine but super strong. Then Bondo if needed and lots of paint. I am putting together a second Walt's Trooper Factory helmet right now which is the 5 piece style. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenyone Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 If you have a hobby store near you that deals a lot in modeling (cars, planes, railroad etc.) They usually sell small pieces of styrene (hips) and styrene solvent. Products from "Plastruct" come to mind. Many in the scale modeling circles make a slurry out of scrap pieces of the plastic to use in filling seams and such. It just involves cutting tiny little pieces of the plastic and putting them into a glass container (with an air tight lid) combined with the solvent. After a few hours the plastic and solvent become something like the consistency of yogurt. You can either carefully spread it or pour it into the helmet seams, wait for it to dry and then sand it smooth. It won't crack or flake out of there like putty because it is a fused plastic weld instead of a topical filler. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockworksoldier Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I am having trouble putting together my scout trooper helmet. I bought a helmet kit which had the helmet split into 5 pieces, with a large seam running up the middle of the helmet. I tried filling in the seam with spackel and bondo but whatever I do it keeps cracking and creating a seam. Can anyone give me advice? (Side not I tried uploading pictures but the file size is too big apparently)Plastic weld works very well. I have the same helmet and I used that in conjunction with strips of plastic (for sale sign) and then I ran a bead of the plastic bond on the top and in the middle of the strips on the inside. Then I sanded. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockworksoldier Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Plastic weld works very well. I have the same helmet and I used that in conjunction with strips of plastic (for sale sign) and then I ran a bead of the plastic bond on the top and in the middle of the strips on the inside. Then I sanded. Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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