StarHawk Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 (edited) So it's been over a year since my first troop and I finally started to sit down to make some adjustments which will turn out to be hopeful improvements. I am currently waiting 24 hours for some ABS slurry made from the trimmings of my armor to come together to repair some cracks but was wondering how my helmet has stood up and what fixes/repairs I can make with the guidance of the Pathfinders. Please send me comments/tips/critiques so I can get this helmet back in action!! Photos to show current state of helmet below. Major Issues: Big crack in right ear Small crack left ear Visor does not sit open without being held Minor Issues: Cut outs are a little rough might need to sand again inner cushioning does not work well need ideas to replace Need to replace right ear inner webbing but I have plenty just need to repair cracks first Desired Improvements: Lancer requirements met Visor sits open without assistance Originally purchased as a SC untrimmed helmet. Edited February 25 by StarHawk Adjustments to the post and updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Okay, so the cracks seem to be happening at stress points in the plastic. Let me ask you this -- when you close the face plate, is it bending the jowl portions near the ears when it closes? Or does it close and fit naturally? I can give you some tips for that big crack, as it'll need to be braced before a repair, but if it's still a stress point, then it's just going to crack again. Also, I can't seem to see the small crack on the left? And I'll tell you that "Visor does not sit open without being held" isn't necessarily a design or build issue. It is a convenience issue, sure, but it's not necessarily a requirement. My own helmet started getting stress cracks around where the visor bolts are inserted, which are made worse when the helmet is fully raised and locked. It still opens fine, but I just don't raise it up all the way anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarHawk Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 25 minutes ago, Chopper said: Okay, so the cracks seem to be happening at stress points in the plastic. Let me ask you this -- when you close the face plate, is it bending the jowl portions near the ears when it closes? Or does it close and fit naturally? I can give you some tips for that big crack, as it'll need to be braced before a repair, but if it's still a stress point, then it's just going to crack again. Also, I can't seem to see the small crack on the left? And I'll tell you that "Visor does not sit open without being held" isn't necessarily a design or build issue. It is a convenience issue, sure, but it's not necessarily a requirement. My own helmet started getting stress cracks around where the visor bolts are inserted, which are made worse when the helmet is fully raised and locked. It still opens fine, but I just don't raise it up all the way anymore. The visor slides pretty nicely into place without bending or pushing much thankfully though that does not mean It could be improved. I will give credit to SC for a good product. I believe that I caused the cracks by the ear's on my initial cuts. Then today when replacing the webbing inside the ear's I fully cracked it by being a bit too heavy handed. I would very much appreciate any tips in regard to bracing for the upcoming repair as once I am done with the helmet I cracked a knee by being overzealous during BAT so that too will need a brace/ABS slurry. I took a bad angle shot but the left ear crack is very minor on the upper helmet side portion of the ear hole, again caused by my amateur hand which hopefully a small amount of slurry will fix. It would be nice if the visor could hold itself open and I do understand that it is not needed and while that is said would still look for any advice in regard to getting it to do so as it is a feature I really like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Okay, that's actually good news, since if the plastic isn't bending or stressing, then odds are that the repair is more likely to stay intact. To repair your helmet, you'll need to brace the crack from the inside. Get some scrap styrene or sheet styrene from the hobby store and cut some rectangles to glue inside the helmet. With that bend where the crack is, you may need to cut a few pieces. Lightly sand the surface of the styrene where you're going to glue it to the inside of the helmet. For gluing, I recommend Devcon plastic weld. Glue the brace plates and let it completely dry. Make sure the crack is fully braced on the inside. This should hopefully keep the crack from opening again. The cracks may be small enough that, once they're glued and braced from the inside, they're not very noticeable. It doesn't look like you painted you helmet, so you might want to leave it as is. If you want to try and make the cracks less noticeable, you can fill the gap with some putty, sand it, and then try to paint match the ABS color. This can be very challenging with off the shelf paint, so you may not want to immediately go down this road. I recommend you brace the cracks first, then see how noticeable the cracks are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 As for the helmet flip up, the helmets that flip up and lock actually have little bumps that lock and hold the face plate up. The SC doesn't have this, so all you can do is add more tension to the rotator bolt -- but this can also cause additional stress points and cracking over time, so be forewarned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarHawk Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Yeah the bolts don't seem to be able to hold without going nuts on a tightening and I'd rather avoid damage. I will get some styrene and see what I can do!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aradun Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Chopper has you squared away with the repairs. You noted that one of your desired improvements is Lancer status. If that is your goal, you’ll need to remove the mesh from the ears anyway. Per the CRL for basic approval:“Earholes are cut out -- mesh or paint is not acceptable:Area behind earholes inside the helmet is blacked out, either with paint or tape. No interior white should show from the outside of the helmet when worn”So, if you plan to take the mesh out for your crack repairs, don’t bother replacing it, and then add some black gaffers tape inside the helmet to cover any white that may show when looking through the ear holes. The visor bolts need to be concave. Per the CRL for Lancer:“Helmet bolts are Gray 3M bolts or other replicas with concave centers. (Visible bolt head diameter of 22mm).”Again, if you’re making upgrades for a possible Lancer submission then pick up a set of bolts like these:http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/10270-fs-accurate-tb-helmet-hardware-kit-headband-kit/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarHawk Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 I do luckily have those bolts! I will replace the current bolts with them. Just to clarify the mesh on the inside is not for Lancer even though I have the ears cut? The 4th picture best shows this. I currently have black pads covering the holes to not allow the inner white to show from the outside but the black gaffers tape sounds like a better idea. Thanks for any input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Mesh or black pads over the ear holes is a no go for L2. Aside from that, the inside just needs to be black. Black gaffers tape, paint, either works as long as the visible inside of the ear holes is black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZMandoPaz Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 1 hour ago, StarHawk said: I do luckily have those bolts! I will replace the current bolts with them. Just to clarify the mesh on the inside is not for Lancer even though I have the ears cut? The 4th picture best shows this. I currently have black pads covering the holes to not allow the inner white to show from the outside but the black gaffers tape sounds like a better idea. Thanks for any input! 1 hour ago, Aradun said: Chopper has you squared away with the repairs. You noted that one of your desired improvements is Lancer status. If that is your goal, you’ll need to remove the mesh from the ears anyway. Per the CRL for basic approval: “Earholes are cut out -- mesh or paint is not acceptable: Area behind earholes inside the helmet is blacked out, either with paint or tape. No interior white should show from the outside of the helmet when worn” So, if you plan to take the mesh out for your crack repairs, don’t bother replacing it, and then add some black gaffers tape inside the helmet to cover any white that may show when looking through the ear holes. The visor bolts need to be concave. Per the CRL for Lancer: “Helmet bolts are Gray 3M bolts or other replicas with concave centers. (Visible bolt head diameter of 22mm).” Again, if you’re making upgrades for a possible Lancer submission then pick up a set of bolts like these: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/10270-fs-accurate-tb-helmet-hardware-kit-headband-kit/ Is there a link in this forum that walks through the installation of the 3m bolts. I purchased them, but not getting how they install and keep the front of the helmet up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aradun Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 [mention=89519]AZMandoPaz[/mention] Not that I’m aware of, but part 3 of RS Props helmet build on YouTube may be helpful as you watch them install the bolts:Also, keep in mind that not all helmets are designed for the visor to remain up when lifted. As noted by Chopper above, the SC helmet is not designed to remain open when lifted, whereas, the RS is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 There's nothing about the 3M bolts that keeps the helmet faceplate up. They only keep the face plate on and are more accurate. Some helmets, like the RS, Strider, Line Wolf, have a small bump on the sides of the helmet the locks the helmet in the up position. Some helmets, like Studio Creations, don't have this feature. In those instances, the only option is to use more tension, but that can cause plastic stress and eventual cracking. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarHawk Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 Update on Helmet...Managed to black out the inner helmet with electrical tape and left the earhole open. Inner ear along the crack line did 3 days worth of ABS slurry on top of small brace. Outside of helmet 2 thin layers of slurry but it looks a little well...."rugged" upon close inspection as seen in the photo below. Anything I can do to smooth that out? Tried some light sandpaper but was very tentative thus far. The inner brace and slurry coat seem to be holding really well in terms of strengthening this point. Also did a layer on my cracked kneepad which went better than the helmet since i didn't add any to the outside as seen in second/third photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Hi Nick. Using abs paste on the visible side does limit your options a bit. With the abs paste on the surface of the helmet, you'll need to sand it down to a smooth and shiny finish. This is possible, but it will take some work. Start with 400 grit sandpaper and wet sand it down until you get to about 1000 grit. Once you get above 1000, you're basically wet buffing the area with increasingly higher grits to get it back to a polish. You'd need to invest in getting the sanding kits below and it'll involve a lot of wet sanding. https://www.amazon.com/Sandpaper-Assortment-9x3-6-Automotive-Sanding/dp/B074VYL3M6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1EEKPT76OHEXQ&keywords=high+grit+sandpaper&qid=1707574368&sprefix=high+grit+sandpaper%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/AUSTOR-Sandpaper-Assortment-Automotive-Furniture/dp/B08JJ35RYH/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1EEKPT76OHEXQ&keywords=high%2Bgrit%2Bsandpaper&qid=1707574368&sprefix=high%2Bgrit%2Bsandpaper%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-7&th=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.