I followed Matt's fine example!



I actually found it easier to work with aluminium.

Andy


Oh, and Stefan, your helmet is absolutely brilliant!

Can't wait to see it finished, well done, amazing work.

_________________
A72/TQ6.6.95356E8





"I plan to live forever.........or die trying!"

Yep. Aluminum plates work really good, since you can keep it thin.

Makes a big difference if you have a big melon...like me.

You can see picts of mine raw on page 23.

Challenging to match the transition depth from helmet to plate.

Left side has a large portion that is flush to the helmet.


Stefan, after looking at page 23, it looks like some plastruct cylinder/caps are in there!
(under the round tomahawk + end of harley bit)

Harry,
there's no compilation of the kit parts that I know of, but it shoudn't be much of a hassle to get this done. Remind me in a week or so (e.g. when I'm back at home) and I'll give it a try.

Matt,
I have an even larger melon and thus I used an XL helmet. There are some things I needed to change because of the slightly differend shapes of the XL helmet. Might do another one in regular size to get it really accurate...
As for the parts - I think it's well possible that those are plastruct parts.

BTW.: Does anyone here has the Revell "Lights & Sound" Motorcycle kit or the instruction manual?

Cheers,
Stefan

Thanks Stefan, that would be great and would be a fantastic addition to the archive section too.

Andy what thickness of aluminium did you use there? Looking good!

Harry

_________________

http://www.facebook.com/TheHHACA - @TheHHACA

0.32" just under 1mm

.......... and Thank you!



I also tried 0.64" but decided against it, too thick and a pain to cut and file.

Those K&S 10" x 4" sheets seem readily available in most model shops and it's not too expensive.

I photocopied Matts template, then spray mounted it to the aluminium and cut the worst off with a hacksaw, then broke out the files.



Cheers,

Andy

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A72/TQ6.6.95356E8





"I plan to live forever.........or die trying!"

I just finished the mods to my helmet, should I post here, start another thread, or post in Stephen210's thread? Don't want to steal anyone's thunder.

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

Post it here.

Yep, I'd love to see the results of this thread here too!

Cheers,
Stefan

Post where ever. ....

LET'S SEE IT!!

Here is good, sooner rather than later is also good!

BRING ON THE PICS!

Andy

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A72/TQ6.6.95356E8





"I plan to live forever.........or die trying!"

Here it is.

I decided to keep it olive drab. I was able to do the Hama cable detail on the cheap using a shoe lace painted with silver acrylic paint, the metal cylinders they fit into are made from two precision screwdrivers cut down. I had already converted my helmet waaaaay back in 2001, so the holes on both sides didn't line up 100% with Noble's and Stephens210's guides. In the end I was able to make it look pretty good thanks to epoxy putty.

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

Damn that looks good!


Kevin

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

looks really great, good job

_________________
NO BRAIN NO PAIN

Great job DSB, looks fantastic.

I really like the black and white stripe on the visor cover, very striking.

The olive drab is cool as well, I went with Brown Bess myself, but the OD definitely suits the DS helmet, hmmmmmmmmmm!

Well done on adapting the already partially converted helmet.

It was hard enough to do when starting with a clean slate, it must have been a right pain to work around the conversion work already done.

Silver shoelace eh!

Wouldn't have known if you hadn't said.

Congrats on your build.

Cheers,

Andy

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A72/TQ6.6.95356E8





"I plan to live forever.........or die trying!"

EXCELLENT Bob!

I love the art. Very cool. And like Matt said ... laces.. wow.. very good idea. Never would have known.

Nice job brother.

Steve

You know, laces with the shrink tubing, no one would know

_________________
Rob Slater
A08/TQ2.0.42136E1

Thanks guys! The shoe laces were an idea I came up with when it was being awhile back, what could be used to replicate the Hama cables. I've been looking for clear shrink tubing but I've had no luck yet as I don't want to have to buy 5 feet of the stuff just so I can use 1 foot.

Andy, that black/white stripe actually covers up spme previous artwork. I had a series of bombs painted there to show how many bombing missions I had "been" on. But that and the other art work made the helmet too busy, so I painted over the bombs. Plus it was mentioned in the tech manual that DS pilots keep their helmets free of any such graffiti in case they get shot down. They don't want to be lynched by a bunch of farmers for blowing them and their friends up! I thought this was a good idea, so changed the art to reflect this.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

**edit to add**

Just for comparison and contrast, the plates I used to back the parts were made from sheet styrene. I held them in place with a few shots from a hot glue gun, filled in any gaps with paper clay and then backed both sides with resin. The resin made sure to keep them in place since I didn't feel I could fully trust any sort of glue. This also gave me a solid foundation to anchor all the parts to.

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

DSB - hat's a very nice helmet! Love the artwork!

Cheers,
Stefan

Dropship Helmet Parts List:

- Gentex Corporation SPH-4 Flying Helmet with suspension liner (not the TPL liner!), no leather parts and M87 Mikrophone
- Polaroid 635 Supercolor (Closeup version will work, but has the wrong lens frame for the sight unit)
- Takara Transformers G1 Megatron Silencer Connector
- Imai 1/100 scale Destroid Tomahawk (Bandai Attack Tomahawk; Revell Robotech Factory)
- Imai 1/72 scale VF-1D Valkyrie Variable Type (Revell Robotech Orbot; Bandai VF-1D Variable Type) has parts for Smartgun Headset
- Arii 1/48 scale Drifand Dal (Revell Robotech Trigon)
- Arii 1/48 scale Orguss Variable Drifand (Revell Robotech Tabor) Caution! the Imai 1/40 scale Orguss / Revell Robotech Nebo kit looks very similar but is wrong!
- Plastruct M-5 Motor
- Plastruct LF-312 Mercury Vapor Relamp CP
- Plastruct LF-316 Mercury Vapor Relamp CP
- Plastruct TB-6 Butyrate Tube (Screw Posts)
- Hama Cable release with metal mesh (+transparent heat shrink tube for new versions)
- Airbrush/Ball pump hose (2x)


Sight Unit (Additional Parts):

- Ferranti Defense Systems: Sightunit (HPS) 1430-99-744-0005 DU6129 K0662
- Ferranti Defense Systems: Mount, Sightunit (HPS) 1430-99-744-0006 DU6130 K0662
- Imai 1/72 scale Tactical Pod Regult
- Imai 1/72 scale VF-1J Valkyrie Variable Type (Revell Robotech Axoid; Bandai VF-1J Variable Type)
- Revell 1/144 scale Space Shuttle
- Ferguson 37800C or 37801C 16" Portable Color TV (Base for Airlock Release; only tuning recess cover needed for helmet)
- Hama 5506 Camera grip with cable release 65cm (Grip is the base for the welder; watch for metal mesh cable!)
- Plastruct H-12 H-Column
- Plastruct VHH-36 Dome
- Plastruct TB-36 Butyrate Tube
- Plastruct VHE-32 Eliptical Dome
- Plastruct VHE-12 Eliptical Dome
- Plastruct M-3 Motor

I tried to catch everything, but there might be a part or two that I missed - please let me know if you find something.

Cheers,
Stefan

Hi Stefan

Fantastic list, lots of money involved there, but wasn't the Revell Shuttle in 1/72 scale, the one I have in 1/72 scale is perfect. No I am not nit picking.
Thanks for an awesome job.

Iain

Iain,
are you sure your kit is 1/72 scale? There is a 1/72 Shuttle kit from Revell, but in that scale the orbiter alone is about 52cm long! Way too big for the part used on the sight unit.
It's easy to confuse the scale of the shuttle as the 1/144 scale kit is about the same size as a 1/72 jet fighter aircraft - yes it's that huge!

Cheers,
Stefan

Hi Stefan
No you are right, I just checked my kit and it is 1/144 scale. I'm old and half blind LOL

Iain

Don't worry - those things happen!

Cheers,
Stefan

Hey, I just spent several hours going through every page of this thread and I couldn't find a copy of the template for cutting out the ear holes. Anyone have a copy of this? Apologies if I missed it.

Also, a question on the Hama cables. Are you guys just cutting the plunger end off of these? Just wondering as I just got one on ebay, but it's a 20 incher. I plan on getting a second from B&H, but I'll probably just get a 10 incher for that.

Thanks.

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A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Matt did those templates - just drop him a PM.

As for the Hama cables: yep those are just cut to length.
If you get one now, make sure to get one with the metal mesh. The newer versions seem to have a nylon lining instead.

Cheers,
Stefan