Start of Practice Runs

This week the Kickstarter campaign for this project exceeded the goal for funding the project! In light of this I began to work with a few of the 5 gallon buckets in order to get a better idea of how I wanted/needed the structure to work out. Currently I am building two different versions changing around the Alan Sinclair patterns listed in the first blog post.

Typically I had always put the patterns together in the opposite way than what you can see in this picture. The main issue I had found with that way of using the patterns with 5 gallon buckets is that both joining the seam int he back of the helmet and adding in the vent detail proved difficult to get a smooth flush finish. I was hoping to eliminate visible seams by using the pattern in this way. The reasoning would be that the middle seam down the front of the helmet would be mostly eliminated by the cut out of the T-visor.

 These are the other pattern variations taped to the buckets for outlining. After making the cutouts I think that I want to both combine the new pattern cuts that I was looking at with the ones that I was using in my making of past helmets.

The inner surface patter I think will work better with the seam in the front of the pattern. This will eliminate the basic seam in the middle of the vent and allow the small seam in the front can be covered up the outer pattern.

The other consideration is that, unlike the practice builds, the final build will be double layered with sheet metal over top of the plastic of the buckets. The combination of this could provide another opportunity to avoid seams in the

plastic by covering them with the metal.

The next thing to consider before gluing the two patterns together is to figure out if I want to make the cuts for the "ears" of the helmet. I want to be able to make as few cuts as possible to keep the pattern structure strong, but enough cuts that I can secure the ears, that are gutted from the Fett helmet prop, while using as little glue on the outside of the helmet.




The tools I was using for this part were just a basic construction box cutter and an attempt at a heat knife. In the past I have also used a Dremel tool. I think that the most effective way is to use the box cutter. It requires a slightly time consuming process of scoring multiple times before making the final cut, but it is the most effective way to get a clean, straight cut. Below you can see the problems with the speed of the heat knife.













That's all the details that I have for now. The next entry will likely be about the dissassembly of the walkie-talkie in prep for the helmet.