Can I Build Thread My Mando?

Also, I hope to not have to hand cut sintra again for a while. My hand is cramping just thinking about it.

Earcaps for the helmet are being printed on my friend's 3d printer, which is fascinating to watch.

When do we get to see the 3D printed bits!?

You get to see them now!!! I'm so ridiculously happy with how they turned out!

Clearly my friends don't have a Star Wars problem at all, they built the R2 and "Roger Roger" in the background. The R2 is fully operational.

You can see the venting a bit better here (pardon the Instagram filter). The vents were essential for me as I'm a wimp in the heat and get a little jumpy when I can't hear.

I'm getting to a point where her (her=the Mandalorian I'm creating) temperament and her 'story' are really coming together in my mind, which is really helping to direct the rest of the build. I truly didn't expect to get this into the build that I would be really delving into the character development, but I love it all!

Running total $48.09, including the lovely earcaps

(sits down with popcorn)

This is seriously cool

Curious, any idea how much the 3D printed stuff would have cost if you didn't have a hook up?

In reply to SnowMongoose:

I paid for print time (8 hours) and material only. From talking to my friend, design time is usually charged between $20 and $40 per hour and at the higher end for a one-off project like this. These took about 2 hours of design time, maybe a bit more, but I lost track.

Morbid wrote: And now I am getting a sense of how those of you who build challenge cars feel with that whole budget thing

Explain?

In reply to SVreX:

I have set a $150 budget for the entire project which has me scouring thrift stores, clearance racks, my basement and my dad's workshop for everything before I purchase. Most people who build these spend $200 on just their helmet.

I would think that building a competitive challenge car would lead to similar behaviors; digging through one's 'spare parts hoard', scouring junkyards and friends' parts hoards, anything and everything to avoid spending a dime more than you absolutely have to on something.

The helmet is rough-cut and hanging out in the 'armor bin' waiting for me to go over it a little tighter with the dremel and sand it so I can attach it to the dome. The down side is I'm going to have to cut more sintra, 5 more pieces, to get the face and 'hat band' of the helmet done. Stupid sintra.

Still a lot more to do on it, but it was very exciting to get it this far yesterday.

Morbid wrote: In reply to SVreX: I have set a $150 budget for the entire project which has me scouring thrift stores, clearance racks, my basement and my dad's workshop for everything before I purchase. Most people who build these spend $200 on just their helmet. I would think that building a competitive challenge car would lead to similar behaviors; digging through one's 'spare parts hoard', scouring junkyards and friends' parts hoards, anything and everything to avoid spending a dime more than you absolutely have to on something.

Gotcha.

You're right.

Wasn't sure if you were saying the budget was bad or good.

I kind of like the limitations of the budget. It makes creativity count. Besides, I'd be lost trying to compete in the "real world" of racing.

In reply to SVreX:

Yep, I only meant that the budget added a layer. Not sure yet if it's a layer of fun, stress or what, but it's definitely adding something to the mix. Especially when I looked back at the plans for the helmet and realized the top layer (the t-visor) was cut completely incorrect because I didn't take 5 minutes and double check. I'm out of free buckets, so I had to buy one. Happy Mother's Day, I got a bucket, LOL

Also in the Mother's Day loot, a cordless Dremel that is FAR superior to the $10 Harbor Freight knock-off I had been trying to make work. That particular POS will be meeting it's maker at the business end of a sledge hammer very very soon.

The new, actual, Dremel made quick work of cutting the new outer portion of the helmet and is now on the charger to hopefully make sanding go just as quickly. After everything for the helmet is cut and glued in place, I'm going to take a break from the armor pieces and focus on the soft parts of the kit (I need to go back and see how many times I've said that now, stupid project add). It's not the most fun, but I really need to focus this time.

Properly cut outer-layer is mostly done. Now it needs a bit of sanding before I cut the inner layer and the sintra bits and start gluing it all together. I keep thinking to myself 'never again, scratch-built helmet, never again' then I remember that there are at least two more sets of armor to go (kids) and possibly one for the husband, then there are the other kits I already have in mind for myself and, well, I'm going to get really good at this.

On to the pictures...

Next the cheeks have to be cut away from the inner helmet to make room for the shaping pieces that go there, then I'll need to remove some material from the back portion to make it all fit my roller derby bucket. Once everything is mounted to the derby bucket, I'll make the cuts in the sides where the earcaps will mount to allow airflow as well as do some shaping on the earcaps so they sit well on the helmet. Finishing will involve a lot of fiberglass tape/resin and bondo...

Lookin good!

I need one more bucket for my bucket. The white bucket is too heavy to flex the way I need it to to put the cheeks in. I tried to get it to work last night and ended up junking 2 sets of cheeks, which is a lot of sintra cutting, before I figured out the problem (I never said I was quick). I went to get a bucket tonight and they were sold out so I'll have to check again in a couple days.

I am taking advantage of winter and fitness-resolutionary clearance sales, though. I got two scarves that will become my hooded cape and three other scarves that will become my girth belt/sash for $8 total and fingerless gloves for $3.

Total spent $59.09

Re-worked the design a bit to better match the cape and sash materials I got yesterday. I didn't change anything in the rangefinder as I'm not going to have one.

Waiting for a bucket. Wallyworld has been out of them for over a week, but the department manager claims they'll be getting 20 on Wednesday.

I was slightly disappointed that the thread isn't about building a mandolin but I got over it quick because this is pretty cool.

In reply to BlueInGreen44:

I'm not cool enough for mandolin building

PROGRESS!!!

The local armor club had a build party today where I got some much needed help getting my bucket bucket closer to being together.

Everything is roughed in, but I'm going to have to cut into the dome a bit as it covers the important part of the t-visor, therefore making me blind. Seeing is important, right?

In this one you can kind of see where the vertical portion of the t-visor is drawn on the other side of the bucket. The horizontal portion is completely blocked.

After trying on a Fett helmet (same visor shape) as well as a custom mando helmet today, I think I'm going to open up the horizontal portion of the t-visor a bit for better visibility.

Traded the derby helmet for a bump cap and I like the look a lot better. I need to smooth out the surface with bondo then start putting everything together.

HUGE update (doesn't seem that huge, but with how much I've come to loathe this bucket, it's huge to me) I SHOULD be painting, or almost done painting by the weekend!

Here's the work I got done today:

Both surfaces glued together, cheeks final-formed and taped (and yes, I have been doing all of this work in my living room, yay mess)

Cheeks are glued in!

As soon as I get the visor material I can get everything reattached to the dome and start painting. To kind of 'prep' for that I picked up my paint today and started practicing on a scrap piece of bucket, a material someone else in the club said I would NEVER get paint to stick to. Funny what a little autobody experience can lend to a project like this, little bit of an acetone wipe-down and the paint is sticking just fine

Sweet! Have you tried it on? Good visibility?