Azeem2000 Clonetrooper Helmet Tutorial
This is a work in progress.
A lot of thanks has to go to Dean. His work on the Clonetrooper Commander is nothing short of beautiful. Give his page a look for even more ideas for converting your helmet.
I am using the Kellogg's Clonetrooper helmet as my base. The Rubies helmet is too small for me and is not as modifiable as this helmet. The Kellogg helmet is too shallow for my head (7 5/8), so it needs to be extended.
First, I removed all the velcro. I
pulled the helmet back about 1" so 7 slots are now visible. Using thin
plastic ( ~ .08 styrene) I glued strips in between the gaps (Image 2,3).
Helmet Lens
I do not like the original lens
and
I am going to replace it with a new plexiglas one. Remove the original
visor
from the face plate (Image 4). The plastic is very thin and will split
if not
done carefully. Cut the extra plastic with a dremel and then finish
with fine
sandpaper.
Ear Hole
This is part I hated the most. Cut
4 patterns out of thin steyrene. Cut an earhole in two of the pieces
where it
should be. Glue each piece to an uncut piect. Now the earpiece can be
glued on
the helmet.
Square Hole
I do not know why they put this in
the original helmet but it needs to be covered. I originally tried
Bondo
closing the hole but didn't like the result. I now just covere it with
a piece
of styrene. Create a pattern of the entire section on the back of the
helmet.
Cut two pieces of styrene to match. You may need to fine cut to fit it
over the
section, including the hole. Glue the new plastic down and bondo fill
the
edges.
Helmet Fin
The fin on the helmet is incorrect
and needs to be replaced. You have two methods to fix it. You can glue
a new
fin over the existing one (Dean's method) or remove and replace the fin
completely (Image 6). Use an exacto knife and cut the fin out where the
plastic
turns up from the helmet to the fin. You can make a pattern of the
helmet shape
by placing a piece of paper perpendicular to the helmet. Trace the
helmet shape
with a pencil.
Create the fin sides from this
template. Glue the fins to a base of the thin styrene wider than
the hole.
Glue another strip on the top of the fin. You can finish the fin by
gluing the
back as well. Don't glue the red lens on the back of the fin yet. This
will be
done at the end. You will need to glue a couple of strips of Sintra on
the
edges of the top to make the rails. Sand the rails to give a rounded
edge.
Helmet Filler
Use standard bondo filler for the outside dome. This part takes a long time so just do it right. I covered the gaps completely and spread the rest thin. I used a sander with 220 grit to get the large chunks off first. Then I hand sanded with 80 grit to get a decent shape. I then went to 220 and 400 to feather the edges and smooth the top. The front of the fin is the hardest part. You want the fin to appear to be molded out of the helmet. Build up the bondo a little then shape it to match the fin angle.
Images
