With the coronavirus pandemic, my family has been ordering a lot of stuff online. That means that I get a LOT of cardboard. I've been playing around with some, and I came up with this design for a cardboard helmet. The top looks like a pangolin with the many layers. Ignore the tissue box in the pic, it's only there to hold it up so my arm isn't there. I'm going to add this to the cardboard contest, so please vote for me if you enjoyed the concept and design! This is also my very first instructable, so please like it!

Supplies

Cardboard

Hot Glue

Hot Glue Sticks

Paintbrush

Scissors

Ruler

Box Knife

Sharpie

Bronze Paint

Gold Paint

Black Spray Paint

Step 1: Making the Scaffolding

Start with a piece of cardboard roughly 2ft long and cut out 9 1-inch wide strips. This is the amount of strips it took for my helmet, so be prepared to adjust. Take a strip and wrap it around your head, just above your ears and on your forehead. Using your marker, mark where the strip would need to be cut to fit your head exactly. DO NOT cut off the overlap; now you will hot glue that strip into a circle. Place the circle on your head, and hold a strip going from your forehead to the back of your head. Cut any parts that go past the first strip. Use hot glue to glue the two pieces together and repeat again, except going from ear to ear. You should end up with something that looks like the 5th picture.

Step 2: Fill in the Back

Using the remaining strips, hot glue strips to the helmet where the ear strip and the original strip meet. Start from the lower strip and work your way up, not the other way around. As you add strips, change the angle slightly so that eventually the strips will fill in the back. Make sure that there are no holes between strips. You may have to cut out more strips. This step is complete once the strips fill in half of the helmet.

Step 3: Cut the Faceplate

Measure the distance from the original starting strip to a little lower than your chin. For me, this was around 7.5 inches. Next, measure the distance from where the points where the ear strips and the original strips meet and add around 2 inches. This was around 15 inches for me. Now, cut out a rectangle from another piece of cardboard with the dimensions that you just measured (15 x 7.5 for me). Draw a line that cuts the rectangle in half the short way. Now draw a line that looks somewhat like a logistic growth curve on one half (see image). Cut it out, and fold it in half to create the exact same pattern on the other side. Hold the plate out in front of you as if you were wearing it, and mark the height that your eyes are at. From the bottom, cut upwards .75 inches from the center on both sides, and cut that rectangle out. It should look like a spartan helmet at this point. Cut out 3.5 inches from the top of the rectangle to create triangles that will allow you too see. Wrap the plate around the front of the helmet like the last picture on this step and glue it down.

Step 4: Cutting the Spike Things on Top

This step will probably take the longest, but you have the most freedom with it. Start by cutting out a 17 x 7 inch rectangle. Like with the faceplate, fold it in half. Draw a design of your choice. I came up with this one that looks kind of like a maple leaf. Just make sure that towards the ends, it tapers down thinner so it can bend easily and be glued down. Copy the pattern onto the other half of the rectangle and cut it out. Trace the new spike thing 5 times onto cardboard, and cut those all out. Cut one short at the bottom like the last picture, so that it can be used on the front.

Step 5: Adding the Spike Things

Start with the first spike on the same plane as the faceplate, and glue it down. Slowly add successive plates behind it at an angle, the same as with the strips in the beginning. This step is difficult and you will have to wait for them to dry in between.

Step 6: Additional Decorations

I found that the front of my helmet looked kind of plain, so I decided to make a kite shape and glue it to the front like a gem. I spray painted mine black, but you can pick any color you want. I also added extra pieces to the faceplate by taking the original shape and bringing the edges in by .75 inches all the way around. Then glue it to the front.

Step 7: Filling in the Gaps

You'll find that underneath the spike things, there might be some space showing through. Just cut out two right triangles with a 3.5" and an 8" side. The hypotenuse will be curved. On the inside of the mask, press them firmly to make sure they bend well and glue them against the holes to cover them up.

Step 8: Painting!!!

This is the last step! I used shiny gold paint over the whole thing with a paintbrush and it turned out pretty well. To make it look worn and add some depth, I then went over it with a dry brush with bronze color to highlight it. Finally, I stepped 3 ft away from the mask and put splatter dots on the mask to make it look dirty with my black spray paint. PLEASE DO THIS STEP OUTSIDE! Congratulations! You have made an amazing cardboard helmet!