Introduction: Star Wars Helmets As Holiday Gifts! (Custom Mandolorian Helmets)

About: Guy with a mind Set to a life, In which a reel Of Film, and an Aperture of realms Will set me Free. -Carlos Va

Christmas was right around the corner for me, and I was delayed on gifts!
I realize that having the "christmas spirit" is not about spending money on gifts, so I decided - "Well I am missing three gifts for my 3 amigos! And they all like star wars... Perhaps.. Yes.. YES..! YESSS! I will make them custom mandolorian helmets as their christmas gifts!"

And so I began planning out my budget and made the helmets come true!

Step 1: Materials

Once my budged was efficiently planned, I began making the helmets.

If you have seen my previous instructable on how to make a Daft Punk Guy Manuel Helmet, then this process might be familiar to you.

Here's a list of the materials you will need:
Cardstock
Fiberglass Resin
Bondo Body filler
Bondo Spot putty
Bondo fiberglass cloth
Variety of Sandpapers (40-320 grit)
Sandpaper (400 grit, 1000 grit, 2000 grit)
Smooth-on Rebound 25 Urethane Silicone
Smooth-on Smooth-cast 300 or Smooth-cast 65D 
PETG Clear sheet (0.030" thickness)
Spray Paints (Desired colors)
Painters tape
VHT Niteshades
Dishwashing sponge (rough surface)

Tools required:
Scissors 
Dremel (Cutting bit, Sanding bits)
Gloves (Vinyl)
Disposable brushes
Mixing bowls
Plastic Spreader

Misc things required:
Candy canes "Tis' the season!"

Step 2: Cardstock Base and Reinforcement

I'll start off by apologizing for the lack of documentation.
The time crunch which I was facing affected my ability to take step by step pictures of the process.

However, this build is similar to how I made my Daft Punk helmet and that instructable is available in my instructables page, so check it out if you get lost.
You may also ask me any questions during the process and I will gladly answer them! ")

I looked up how other people had made the mandolorian helmets, and the most popular is the boba fett one.
I then began making the structure of the helmet with some blueprints.

These blueprints were printed on card stock paper, cut out and glued together in order to form the basic shape.

Once I had the cardstock model it was time to strengthen it in order to apply the bondo body filler.

Fiberglass resin was applied to the outside and inside of the helmet.
The inside of the helmet was also coated with Fiberglass cloth for more strengthening.

Step 3: Bondo-ing!

This step is very important as it defines the shape of the item.
Mix small batches of bondo filler and spread the mix over the helmet helmet with a small plastic such as a plastic spreader, plastic spatula or a plastic card you dont use.

Smooth and even swipes make a huge impact on the sanding stage!

Make to spread the filler as smooth as you can, that way, when the filler dries up, sanding won't be as much of a bore.

The last picture is my friend trying on the helmet (I kind of ruined the surprise.. Oh well!) and it fits well to scale.

Step 4: Smoothing, Filling and Detailing

Now that the bondo filler is cured, let;s start sanding!
You want to begin with a very low grit sandpaper to scrape of excess filler and get rid of those big rough spots.

Gradually work your way to the 320 grit sandpaper until you reach a smooth surface.

If you have dents in your helmet (cause by lack of proper filling) don't worry! Bondo Spot putty will fill them.
Take a smal dab of spot putty and spread it over the dent to fill it, just like you did in the bondo filler stage.

Allow the putty to cure and sand it with grit 200-320 sandpaper.

Continue sanding and filling and more sanding!
Voila! Perfect smooth surface!

I tried out a little bit of the paint on the helmet, It look NICE!!

I forgot to mention! I cut out the visor area with my dremel and then put a cut sheet of PETG plastic to act as a visor and hold the font part of the helmet together.

In this step you want to do all your details so cut out or add any details you want before you mold this piece.
I cut out the rear vent of all Mandolorian helmets and fixed to match up perfect (the picture of the rear vents cut out was only the first step, they were fixed)
And I also defined the side ear pieces.

Step 5: Molding!

Molding takes some practice, so just try to do your best job when molding your piece.

Mix a batch of Rebound 25 silicone into a mixing bowl.

WEAR VINYL GLOVES! Latex gloves contain chemicals which alters the composition of the rebound 25 silicone!

Once your batch is done, take a disposable brush and "paint" your helmet
I say "paint" because you want to take the brush and spread the silicone as if it was actual coloring paint.

I did 2 more layers of this silicone mold and these two layers were thickened with THI-VEX II 
They were both spread with a plastic spreader.

Step 6: Mother Molding

The Mother mold is a very important part of the molding process.
I made my mother mold in two pieces and this was made out fiberglass cloth and fiberglas resin.

The mother mold is required in order to avoid warping while casting the helmet.

What I did was cut out credit card sized pieces of fiberglass cloth and put them aside.
Once I was ready, I mixed a batch of fiberglass resin and began creating an outer shell by placing the cloth directly on top of the silicone layer and then dabbing on the fiberglass resin.

Repeat this over and over until you have a complete outer shell covering the silicone helmet.

Once the outer shell is cured, remove the shell and slowly peel the silicone layer off the master piece.
When the silicone is removed from the master place it back into the hard shell and yay! You now have a Mandolorian mold!

Step 7: Casting

Now that you have your Mandolorian mold, it is time to make a resin cast.
Take you Smooth-on 300 or Smooth-on 65D, mix a small batch equally into a cup and pour it into the silicone mold.

Once the liquid is inside, you will have to "Slush-cast" the piece, this means, rotate the liquid evenly throughout the inside of the mold so you can have a cast.

Repeat this step about 4 times, and be patient while doing this, allow the resin to cure between layers.

When your four layers are cured, remove the outer shell, remove the silicone jacket and you now have a Mandolorian helmet!

Cut out the visor area and the rear vents as well as sand the excess plastic of the bottom lip of the helmet (Clean up the cast)

I sign my helmets so I can keep count of how many casts I have made and to verify my authenticity.

Step 8: Painting and Weathering

Now that you have your clean up casts, go outside and paint them!
Basic Spray painting skills are required in this step.

I painted one with the original boba fett colors for my best friend who loves Boba Fett (Green, Red, Black) so he got a boba fett helmet ^-^

My other amigo likes Blue and red so I painted his helmet Metallic blue, with red accents. I added a stripe down the middle because I though it would look cool, and I also painted some parts black. (Appears to represent the British flag)

The last one was for my dear sister in law and man does she love pink! So I decided "Why not! I'll give her a pink helmet!" This one was painted flat pink along with white/black accents. The whole piece was later sprayed with clear gloss paint to give it a shine.

Now that they were painted, they looked way too new, so I took my dishwashing sponge and sprayed a metalic silver paint onto the tip of the rough sponge.

I dashed the helmets with the sponge and it created a metallic scratch to helmets, making them appear as if they have been in battle.

I was ultimately pleased with the results.

Step 9: Visor and Delivery!

I cut out pieces of the PETG 0.030" sheet and sprayed them with VHT niteshades.
The visors were then placed inside of the helmet and now it was time to give them their gifts!

My sister in law and her husband were extremely happy with their helmets!
My best friend told me"Dude.. You are amazing! This Rocks!"

I was glad that they enjoyed and appreciated their gifts, as they gave me great gifts as well.

I'd say this has been one the best holiday gifts I have ever given to loved people.


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