They were both cut out and then steam bent into shape. Again this was done on plain paper and glued onto show card. Once I had positioned the front plate to my satisfaction, I drew out the templates for the backplate and the neck guard. I made marks where it would finally go so that I could reposition it later. Once bent I temporarily fixed it in place with masking tape, and then made adjustments to get the fit I wanted. It wouldn't bend cleanly! I had to resort to steaming it over the kettle (a bit dangerous), and even then I got some ripples in the jowls of the faceplate - use cereal card in future. Now the second problem with the show card. I chose an angle using the 'by eye' method and made a small card fillet to strengthen the back. Once cut out I glued and taped the joint down the middle of the face. However it was difficult to cut requiring three passes with the scalpel. the show card is nearly 1/8" thick and very strong. These were then cut out and using some spray mount I glued them to a piece of scrap show card I had laying around. I drew up one side template on some scrap paper, then simply traced through onto another piece of scrap paper. In the end I went with a sort of hybrid design which is an amalgam of three or four images and templates. I decided that the ones with very flowing lines would be a pain to sand to shape.
I searched around the net looking at various helmet designs and templates. I did a test fit, then finally gave each and every joint line a fillet of glue using my finger. Once the glue had set I used little strips of masking tape to fully secure the bases and the crowns of each one.Īfter two days of work, including all the drying times, I had a dome that was already pretty smooth and the correct shape. Once they had all dried I started adding in the final sets of strips buy gluing them onto the back sides of the strips already in place. I then glued the top sections into the inside of the crown trying to bend them to follow the contours of the frame. Working on alternate sides of the circle I started adding in strips, only securing them with masking tape at the base. Again using the 'by eye' method I calculated the correct length to reach from the circle to the crown. I cut three sheets of card into 3/4" strips and offered one up to the frame of the dome I had made. I switched to a much thinner card, 160gsm printer card in fact. Holding them against the crown I marked them, and then cut them with a scalpel so that they were a good butting fit with the crown. Next I cut 4 more strips of cereal box, and using the 'by eye' method (that means an educated guess), I joined each strip to the base circle then bent them in to the correct general shape. Join the two support strips with masking tape, again butting the ends of the card. This forces the crest of the dome towards the rear of the helmet. I set my second supports off centre (towards the rear) by about 4mm. I wanted a softer curve at the front and a steeper one at the back. If however, like me, you want to alter the shape of your dome, then by moving them relative to the circle you can force the first support strip to change it's shape. If you measure and position the strips carefully, then you will get a concentric dome. These will form the first two side supports for the dome. It is important that these are exactly the same length. You should be able to get a finger between your head and the inside of the circle. Note: As each stage dries, keep test fitting to make sure that it is still the correct size AND SHAPE for your head.
This is fiddly to do but will pay dividends later. The ends of the strip actually rest on the top of the circle. This dome must be smooth, so I joined the first strip to the circle we made using masking tape. By varying the length of the first strip you can vary the shape of the dome. Once glued together, I cut some strips 3/4" wide to start to build the dome. The advantage of doing it this way is that the glue tabs will tend to create a slight oval rather than a circle which is exactly what we want for a helmet. This gave me a 3/4 inch overlap on each for gluing. I cut two strips 12 1/4" inches long and 3/4" wide. I measured my head from just above the eyebrow, over the tops of my ears to get the correct dimension for the base. I started with some old cut up cereal boxes for the basic card. In this case however, the dome needs to be a smooth shell. Same basic principles and using the same set of materials and tools.
It takes quite a bit of effort doing it this way, but it is cheap.įor tools and materials see my other 'ible on making an armour mask. This is reinforced with resin and then coated with car body filler and sanded smooth. The basis for all my helmets is a card dome made to fit the wearer.
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