1-up/super mushroom Bike Helmet

This a way to make an old bike helmet into a 1-up or any other kind of mushroom you like.

Step 1: Materials

Old bike helmet
Large and small paint brushes
White paint
Color choice paint(I'm making a super mushroom, so I'm using red)
Spray on gloss finish(optional)
Sandpaper
Plastic ring(I made mine out of a peanut butter jar, it was perfect size)
Paint can opener

Comments

[Robotrix]

most helmet manufacturers recommend against painting or sanding a helmet. How do you know this is still offering the same level of protection?

[ikoda]

How does adding paint lower helmet Protection?

[funglestrumpet]

When struck, most paints will crack. If the paint is properly adhering to the helment material, that crack will propogate through the helmet material and thus render it of no use as a protection device.

I understand that polyurethane paint does not crack and is thus safe, but I would not see myself as a materials expert. I do know that some cars manufactured with body coloured polyurethane 'bumpers' where the paint was not polyurethane had major problems with them. The slightest bump that one would normally expect a 'plastic' bumper to simply bend with and return to its original shape, actually split the bumper into two pieces.

Helmets are primarily protection devices. If you wish to jazz them up, by all means do so, but do at least realise the risk you are making. Manufacturers do not put warning notices on them simply to avoid some lawyer making yet another fat fee. If they make helmets, they have the safety of the wearer foremost in their thinking.

[Robotrix]

from what i understand, paint, sticker adhesive, or other damage can degrade or weaken the plastic shell on a bike helmet. I think the biggest element is probably liability - manufacturers can't predict how the product you use will react with their helmet so they make a blanket recommendation not to use anything. Still, if you don't know whether or not you're damaging the helmet, is it in your best interest to experiment?

[Jyssa]

what, no modelling shots? Show us what it looks like in action! :)

[luvit]

thank you, airsoftjim123, but our princess is in another castle

[GreenDay]

For a cleaner result you could probably use spray paint and masking tape by taking masking tape and sticking it to wax paper. Then cut circles out of the wax paper. Spray paint the heltmet white, wait for it to dry well, stick the masking tape circles to it in your pattern, then paint it red. Use gloss finish and there you go.

[Ward_Nox]

yea esp if you ue plastic bonding paint like Krylon fusion

...also thats a power up mushroom not a 1UP mushroom

1UP=green
Power UP=red
1DOWN Purple

[Duct Tape Dude]

Or White with red dots= Toad Hat!!!

[airsoftjim123]

i know but the instructable is for any mushroom type, i just had red paint

[Ward_Nox]

fair enough just making sure

[airsoftjim123]

That was my original plan but i didnt have any spray paint

[airsoftjim123]

how could adding more to the shell make it worse

[Robotrix]

were you asking me? I'll assume you were. Since you don't know the chemistry of your helmet's plastic shell, or the chemistry of the paint you're using, how can you predict how they'll react? Obviously if you're wearing a helmet in the first place you're looking to minimize risks. If you don't know whether using a paint on the helmet will weaken it or not, it's safer to stick by the manufacturer's recommendation and not paint it.

[Scotlandman27]

Wouldn't it have been simpler to tape over the circles that you wanted white or something, than just spray paint the red on and be done.

[airsoftjim123]

that's what i thought of first but i didn't have any spray paint and the paint i was using wasn't the plastic kind.

[Weissensteinburg]

That looks great! I may have to try it.