Help assembling a cylon helmet

[peepachu]

Hi all, I have recently purchased a Cylon helmet kit from Kropserkel on eBay. It came fully chromed and needing to be joined together. When I bought it I figured that since it was already chromed that I would need only to join the two pieces and the mouth/grill together.

It turns out that the two helmet halves still need to be cut and trimmed in order to align properly and I am afraid that that is currently beyond my meager skills. The eye slit also needs to be cut. Please bear in mind that the two helmet halves are already chromed.

See for example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cylon-Helmet-Ki ... 2332267905

I believe I can handle the painting of the sail panels on the side of the helmet and should be able to paint the mouth/grill and eye slot with no problem but will need help with the alignment/joining/actual assembly of the helmet.

Is there any experienced builder that would be interested in doing this for a fee?

Please let me know.

[rustycylon]

I think there is a cut line marked out down the two halves on the krop helmets.

[RedaV]

Once it has been joined use a chrome tape to hide the join!

[peepachu]

Hi, yes you're right there is a cut line but I am not too steady with a knife and am concerned I may not do it very well. The helmet is made of 0.90 styrene and is very rigid.
In addition there are areas around forks framing the mouth/grill section that need to be trimmed down and the eye slot.

Should I use an exacto knifeor something else?

Maybe I am making too much out of it all but I just want this to look as good as possible when it is all done.

By the way, does anyone display their helmet in a clear glass or plastic case at all?
If so, could you point me to the manufacturer?

[Luke1978]

Not sure where your based peepachu but as for displaying helmets ive used a couple of these for my star wars helmets and masks - bit expensive considering its just Perspex but they do look good in them.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/261108064199?ss ... 1423.l2649

[Cylon-Knight]

Hi peepachu, an exacto knife is the way to go. You mark the helmet with tape or a marker or something. Then lightly score to plastic. Light score and repeat again and again. After you are about 1/2 way through the plastic it will easily snap very cleanly. Then chrome tape the halves together. The plastic edges don't have to be perfect. The tape will allow for some cover up of any edge goofs.

Hope this helps, and remember... PHOTOS please!

[GoldCylon]

To a degree Cylon-Kight is correct about the scoring except you need to only one firm pass and it will snap. Working from the inside might be the best approach because might be able to separate the plastic from the chrome and fold it the new cut.

[peepachu]

Thanks for the feedback! You all have me thinking that I can actually do this after all. I will be ordering an exacto knife tomorrow.
Thanks for the link to the display case too!

I do have one other question though, the buld tutorials that I have seen deal mainly with the mouth/grill piece and eyeslot being in multiple sections. Mine has come in one sollid, heavy polyurethane section which is supposed to aid in structural rigidity but looks really hard to mount and keep on.

What would you suggest to keep the eyeslot/mouth grill piece on the helmet?...superglue?
See this link and click on the pictures:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cylon-Helmet-B- ... true&rt=nc

[groupleaderzeta]

Trim one side to the cut lines. Trim out this first side for the visor/grill. Next use tape to temporary mount the visor/grill to this side. Do a rough cut on the other side, staying around 3mm (1/8") outside the cutting line around the helm, do the same with the visor area but use 6mm (1/4") outside the cutting line. Place the second side over the visor and will probably overlap the first side. Use tap to hold the helm together.

Use a sharp pencil to mark a line on the inside of the helm, using the first side edge as a guide. Take the tape off and split the helm apart, use the pencil lines to cut the helm half.

Do not cut any off the visor area yet!

Tape the helm back together, use the pencil to mark the visor opening is. Take apart and trim the visor opening leaving 1-2mm (1/16") outside the pencil line. Final trim will be after the visor/grill is attached. I would use double sided auto trim tape to attach the visor/grill.

Hope this helps
GZ

[peepachu]

Thank you for all the great advice. I have ordered my exacto knife today along with double sided tape and am looking forward to building my centurion.

Wish me luck!

One more question though. Has anyone used an mp3 player for sound effects built into the helmet and is there anyway of setting one up with a motion detector so that it goes off when someone walks by?
If the eye scanner would start up at the same time that would be awesome!
...am I getting a little too ambitious there? LOL!

[GoldCylon]

Hyperdyne used to make them. I think they are on the links page on the homepage here. If it says out of stock just email the guy and he will make one up for you.

[Red Eye]

Here are the links again, just in case:

http://www.hyperdynelabs.com/products_e ... ardian.php

http://www.hyperdynelabs.com/products_e ... oLight.php

[GoldCylon]

Thanks RedEye

[Red Eye]