How to Make a Halo Helmet Using Pepakura!

Intro: How to Make a Halo Helmet Using Pepakura!

I saw a bunch of tutorials but many were incomplete or low detailed. So, here I have my first, er second Halo helmet, Please criticize all you want, I don't care if this is my first instructable though constructive criticism will help. 



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STEP 1: Supplies

You will need multiple supplies and a BUNCH of time, A BUNCH!!!
This may cost around $20-$50 depending on how much you buy.
You will need
-Card stock
-Paper Craft glue. Elmer's  is the kind I use. Try not to use any other glue as this type will bond paper better.
-x-acto knife/paper craft scissors (DO NOT USE REGULAR/SAFETY SCISSORS)
-cutting board (if you don't want your find wood table to have cut marks)
-Fiberglass Resin
-Bondo Bondo
-dust masks 
-some useless paintbrushes
-useless credit card
-Printer
-Pep files(halo pep files)   
-pepakura viewer 3!


http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
 http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pepakura_File_Index

all the files you will need are up here. If you don't know what pepakura is, it is basically a program that converts a 3D object into 2D so you can cut and glue it after printing
This is the easiest way to make a halo helmet, I might add some more supplies later on
so read through carefully.

STEP 2: Cutting, Gluing, and Papercrafting

Now after you have gone and downloaded the files, open them up in pepakura
*they should be .pdo files


now print them out and cut and glue accordingly to the pictures, In pepakura if you click on a piece you can see where that piece connects.
-Or-
Turn on 
Show edge ID
then just connect to the according piece.
The dashed lines like this ------ mean to mountain fold
the dash dot lines like this  dash dot dash dot ( couldn't find a dot thing)
mean to valley fold.

now cut and glue.

STEP 3: Fiberglass Resin.

This part is pretty toxic so WEAR MASK AND GLOVES! I use latex gloves from walmart but any gloves will do as long as you can throw them out!
so
Mix the fiberglass resin in a container according to the instructions and mix evenly.
*FIBERGLASS RESIN WILL KILL ANYTHING IT TOUCHES SO MAKE SURE TO COVER YOUR WORK AREA WITH NEWSPAPER!!
So, after you have covered everything, make sure your in a well ventilated area... OBVIOUS

really.
or else it will harm your braincells.

Just apply and even coat to the outside and wait to dry.
then apply and even coat to the inside and wait to dry.

This should take a few hours to dry so don't rush it.
after it dries is should be pretty hard and smell funny thats okay because we're gonna
put something that smells even funnier onto it C:

DISPOSE OF YOUR PAINTBRUSH! 
Washing it with water will not get resin out.

STEP 4: Bondo

Sorry guys I didn't take any pics for this so i'm going to use my iron man pics. The only thing about the iron man pics is I put WAY too much bondo on it. Just apply a thin layer and make sure it is smooth.
You need
-bondo
-mask
-used credit card
-containers to hold it.

STEP 5: SANDING

Sanding. This is a pretty simple but it is really really useful
Probably don't have to explain this one.
SAND UNTIL SMOOTH!
-need-
-sandpaper.

STEP 6: Painting and Battle Weathering.

Spray paints are usually a good choice.
I used
-red
-black
-silver
-little bit of gold but thats because I ran out of silver.

Spray on a layer of flat black primer.
-dry-
next spray on a layer of silver
-dry-

now to do the battle marks and weathering.
Its hard to explain so..
watch these videos. It is not me but he does a FANTASTIC JOB. I commend him.
Watch his videos, they are all incredibly cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhBtYt3bi0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfDpu9lD1_Q&feature=related

after you put your weathering scratches on
spray a layer of red paint.
-dry-
now do what he does in the video and carefully scrape off the vaseline.
you will be able to see  the silver underneath.
to make more scratches take a piece of sandpaper and rub it against the helmet.
also spray some paint onto a paint brush and gently apply silver paint to edges.

next we begin the process of distressing
to distress, all you need is a
-useless towel rag
-black paint
spray your black paint and quickly wipe it away from the helmet.

in picture 1 you can tell where I distressed.

STEP 7: Finishing Up.

Now you will have a great looking helmet!
next you need to buy a cheap motorcycle visor
I purchased mine from eBay for approx. $25 shipping included.
just hot glue your visor in and WAH LA!

oops, forgot a step.
buy some cheap sponges and glue them into your helmet so your head doesn't wobble around.

STEP 8: Conclusion

This is a great project and looks great.
It is pretty time consuming so make sure you have a week of spare time
I did this over summer break.
Don't buy a too expensive visor.
I spent around $70 maybe
How much did you spend?
I want to see your pics!

So long and happy crafting!

Comments

[Chaos Theory Technologies]

Hey do you know how much fiberglass resin it takes to do one of these things? Preferably a CE helmet?

[Chaos Theory Technologies]

Hey do you think this would be possible with a thinner type of cardboard?

[naiomii]

What blueprint did you download to make the helmet shown? Im new to pepakura and I've already downloaded a helmet but it looks MUCH more complicated than what you have shown.

[Chaos Theory Technologies]

here: http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pep_Index

[leoishungry]

Hi Naiomii,

I made this tutorial a long time ago so I don't quite remember what blueprint I used to make it. I do remember it was from a website that contained a bunch of other Halo pepakuras. The process of cutting and gluing is definitely the most time consuming part of the build but also isn't too complicated. When you print, you can set the tabs to have tab numbers so you can easily piece them together. It might take you a week to put everything together. Hope this is helpful. Sorry I haven't been on Instructables for a LONG time. :-)

[mrsheapard034]

glad I know now might do an entire armor set not just the helmet how much would that cost though

[MuchPiggles]

This is probably way late but I have a question. Is plaster of paris or fiberglass resin better for pepakura. I saw a different instructable and he used plaster but you used the resin.

[MuchPiggles]

Also what kind of Bondo did you use?

[ammunitio]

Any thing new ur making

[TrucyW]

What's it like breathing in that?

[brandondime]

Im pretty new to this, im designing a Dark Knight mask and was kinda curious, do you use both bondo body filler and putty or just either one? i already have the fiberglass resin, just was kinda questioning this part

[CrystalB01]

Real cool ! For he record I will be making this soon !

[astyzthewise]

what color red exactly?

[KemikalzAreFun]

Very nice! A bit of constructive criticism. When you use your bondo make sure you take your time, sand inbetween layers (thin layers make your work go faster) and keep repeating this processes over and over until your helmet/mask is perfectly smooth, then sand with FINE sand paper.
Takes more time but the end result is VERY satisfying. Good job though!!

[leoishungry]

Thank you! I haven't done pepakura or bondo since this last project as I've fallen kind of out of it. This was sort of my first major pepakura and I was relatively inexperienced. I also feel kind of stupid going back and looking at how I wrote things haha. I was the child who wanted everything to be done as quickly as possible so I could admire my end result. Appreciate the criticism despite my late reply eek!

[4lifenerdfighter]

Any recommendation on what resin to use?

[leoishungry]

I think mine was elmers but i'm not sure. It's been a long time but I remember it was a blue square bottle-ish thing.

[Wolfbane221]

I like your pep instructable. I finished putting my first pep together today of a halo smg because I thought it would be easier... I might have been way wrong. All those tiny *#%*%+ folds took forever! are the helmets like that too? Anyway, I'm waiting for the resin to cure and it probably took me 6hrs to put together. I spent 90$ up front to have a good amount of resin/bondo/paint for multiple projects. Why don't you use fiberglass sheets as reinforcement with the resin? I also left that out of my resin curing but wondered if you had a specific reason for it. I am looking forward to painting and weathering mine.. it looks fun. Hopefully the smg turns out good and then I'll post pics!

[leoishungry]

So I totally forgot about my instructables but just came back to see how it was haha.

In hindsight, I probably should have used fiberglass mat or sheets. Afterwards my helmet started to get all bendy and that wasn't good. My reason was I didn't quite understand it yet and it was kind of expensive so I decided against it haha. Yeah the pepakura part was a pain. $90 worth of resin and bondo should last you quite a while and good for you that you've completed it. Painting is the funnest part! Definitely post some pics when you are done!

I haven't used instructables in forever so forgive some of my immature tendencies in the yellow box notes.

[budhaztm]

Water won't get the resin off but sometimes acetone will. Just be careful with that acetone, it's nasty