WTC's Customs & Mods: ESB - FETT HELMET

[The_Darkness_Predator]

awesome. I am really looking forward to seeing Zero.

speaking of learning … I’ve definitely learned that I cannot apply heat to 3-D printed items. I’ve also learned it would be much better if 3-D printed items were not so hollow or thin. For example, if I need to pin some thing, I drill it and it is not very thick. So I have to reinforce the walls with two-part Epoxy and/or hot glue.

good luck.

 

[TaliBane]

Yeah, I find 3D printed stuff to be almost like glass or ceramic at times. It is a very difficult material to work if you're trying to get things to fit or be smaller. I find the resin type 3D prints, which have the best detail vs filament, can literally shatter into shards if you aren't careful.

 

[Cagoda]

One thing I found that may or may not be helpful is an additive to the 3D printing resin to strengthen it and increase its flexibility. I hate the shattering effect some parts can do, so reinforcing it with the additive is super beneficial and behaves more like normal plastic. I use Siraya Tech’s additive.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

I use Siraya Tech’s additive.

I started adding that and the prints are much more resilient. I did a drop test for a 2.0 of the Fett I’m working on, and it just bounced. Not a single fracture anywhere.

 

[Cagoda]

Nice! Yeah that’s some good stuff, I have been adding it to a lot of my recent prints and they hold up to all kinds of stress, I wouldn’t print a production piece without it at this point. One thing I noticed is it reduces the detail a little bit but I’ll trade that for durability any day.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Yep, and a small amount makes a huge difference without much of a detail loss. You can still see a ton of little modeling detail all over the areas where the ear coverings go.

 

[agonistes86]

Great stuff, Kris!

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

^
that video shows a great demonstration.

So many of the 3-D printed items that I have purchased over the years break requiring more time to repair.

thanks for the tech tip.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Here’s a quick video I did to show how easy it is to drill through (hand drilling) I tried out drilling the top hole first, then recorded this clip for the second peg hole for the left ear cover. I ran out of phone storage a second befor the drill popped through, but you get the idea. It only took a few seconds of drilling to get through, since it’s thin, but definitely strong enough for hand drilling through. I will reenforce the walls later to add some redundant extra strength. I like overbuilding things if I can, so I never need to worry about being super careful.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

The layer lines are so subtle. I only really see anything on the very top of the dome, and they sanded right down in just a couple minutes with a 220 grit, fine finishing sponge. All that’s left is a tiny dimple, that’ll be a piece of cake to fill.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

Nice. I bet that would work great for Zero.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

It’s happening!!!

As some of you already know, I’m in the process of developing this beautiful and accurate Lineage, ESB, file into a grail 1/6 helmet for you guys.

I’m at the stage where some decisions need to be made before progressing, but first I’ll let you know what I’m trying to do to make this the best Fett helmet ever.

- Clear rangefinder.
- Metal rangefinder stalk.
- Metal pins/posts for attaching the ear coverings and range finder stalk articulation.
- Flexible 770580 dark smoky green welding face shield for the “T” visor.
- Custom cut 3M adhesive to attach the visor.
- Casio MQ-1 circuit board for the top 3 keyholes
- Accurate chin cup.
- And of course, the helmet itself, which is a cast of the original screen used helmet. Apparently there's a whole story behind it. You can read all about the "Lineage Fett Helmet" on the Dented Helmet site.

I have a 4K monochromatic printer. The resin I’m using is a combo of ABS like resin and a touch of rubbery resin, which makes for a strong impact resistant combo that can still produce the fine details for this project. This resin is easy to work with. It easily sands, you can drill into it easily, and it’ll take a drop from at least 4 feet without any damage. I have done the drop test seen in the video a few posts back, about 4-5 times now with the same helmet and it has survived every time without any fractures, or chips.

Now I need your input. Let me know your preferences regarding the questions below.

- Clean or “prop accurate” interior? There’s some nice little prop details under the dome, none of the electronics or anything like that, but just the physical details of the original mold. I could also add some styrene for extra strength, but I’m not sure that’s necessary, and if you get it prop accurate, you can decide later if you prefer to thicken it yourself. I’ve asked a few folks already what they prefer and everyone seems to prefer an untouched interior, but I don't have a consensus of everyone yet, so let me know your thoughts.

- Thin or thickened print? I had originally planned to make the helmet thicker, but the 1:1 prop is actually kind of thin. I’m making my own helmet a thin for accuracy. As demonstrated in my drop video, it will feel somewhat thin and slightly flexible, but don't let that fool you, it’s also surprisingly strong, just handle it with as much care as any Hot Toys helmet and you’ll never need to worry.

- Do it yourself kit, or assembled and hand painted by me? I'll be using the layering technique, Alcald metal base layer, stencils, and Archive-X acrylics. This is how I plan to paint mine. If you haven’t heard of Archive-X, they make screen accurate replicas of the paints originally used by ILM back in the day, and I believe they supply the paints for “The Mandalorian” for that reason. I'll be using the stencils from the Dented Helmet. Hand painting with stencils at 1/6 scale is laborious, detailed work, and I also work a full time job so it may take some time to complete, but if you are okay with that, then I want to do that for you.The end result should speak for itself.

let me know if there’s anything I have overlooked or not considered.

I’m working on sourcing some of the elements mentioned above, so I won’t have an accurate idea of what this will cost until I hear back from them, and get some feedback from you guys. Once everything is settled and determined I’ll post an interest thread.

I‘m making this something that will meet my own standards, and I’m crazy about details so ya'll get to benefit from my fevered brain.

 

[D.R.37]

Looking forward to this

 

[agonistes86]

Awesome! I can't wait for this, my most anticipated project/figure at the moment.
As for my choices:

• Clean interior: I will never display the interior anyway
• Thin print: I'll go with whatever you think is best here. My only possible concern would be warping if it's too thin (e.g. once the visor is cut out), but if you think the thin is durable enough, I trust your judgment
• Do it yourself kit: makes it easier for me to paint the separate pieces

I could honestly also do without the Casio MQ-1 circuit board, as I will never display him from the back, so it's a detail that will go 100% unnoticed, but I understand if you want to offer it as a whole with all the right parts.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Good News. I have RaflWorks helping me with designing some of the details on this. He's making some of the details that are missing from the legacy Fett file.

He's upgraded the Casio MQ-1 circuit board he originally made for me to a file that can take advantage of the 4k mono printer resolution. I haven't done a print yet to see if the detail holds up, but here's a pic showing the low detail version he made me a couple years ago, next to the upgraded one. He's also providing me with an accurate chin cup.

I've made some progress with getting a source for some laser cut, metal, rangefinder stalks for us. I had to take a photo of the stalk flat, then edit it so that it's a plain silhouette. That's apparently how the cutting software needs to see it. I removed the second pinhole from the base of the stalk so that it's stronger at the articulation point, and I don't think we will need that detail at 1/6 scale. They are further cleaning up and sharpening the file and doing some test cuts with steel to see if the stalk holds up. They will also do post processing to make them nice and clean (or I will if that makes it more affordable). Once I have something to show, I'll share it with you.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

I opened up the keyholes to make the circuit board visible, and to make the detail sharper on the lower keyholes. I need to clean them up a bit more but they are basically done. This always makes me so nervous. It’s such tiny detail work. I’m going to be blind at the end of this project.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Got the welding replacement shield yesterday so I spent the day cutting and shaping the visor. It’s still a little wide all the way around. I cut it out slightly large so there’s a little room for adjustments.

the shield isn’t as green looking as I expected, which is cool since the visor looks black almost all of the time. It is the correct number that the cosplayers use. It’s very flexible and only a couple millimeters thick. You can cut it with large scissors, so overall it’s been great to work with. I’m going to try to heat it up and bend it to the correct shape tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

I heated up the visor material to bend it into shape.

it needs a little more filing to get the shape dialed in better, but all in all I’d say it was a success!

A cool little unexpected bonus with the “T” visor material is that it’s incredibly strong and resistant to damage. Ironically this visor is going to make the weakest part of the helmet, the strongest part. It’s also weightless, so this helmet is going to be very light weight.

 

[Chakaman]

Crazy good!! Love it dude.

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Cleaned up the visor this morning filing it to a better fit.

fits like a glove now!