Project Zaku: Harry Potter

Wow.. I've been busy. I did get to finish off another Zaku for a friend. He wanted a themed one. It was a special request.. as I've known him for 30 years now... maybe more.

This one was fun!

Costume Zaku Helmet For Sale!!

I've been super busy lately. In full production mode. Even halted my daughter's Zaku build for this. But, it's for a good reason.

I'm building an army of Zaku helmets! And they're all for sale!!

My daughter's school is in need of funding. (Whose school isn't, AMIRITE?!?) Well, I don't have any money to give them. Don't have a lot of time to give them either. Seeing as I'm a bad baker. Can't really make scarves. All I'm good at is crafts. And I can do them pretty fast. Why not make something I like? And since I'm already in production of a Zaku helmet. The process is fresh in my head. I can replicate the entire process pretty quickly. Mass producing them wouldn't be that much more effort and time.

So, PLEASE buy one (or two) now! This will make any guy/girl super awesome. (IF they aren't already) Seriously. Like seriously awesome. It will make a perfect birthday gift. And of course, it's the perfect halloween costume.

Features:

- all foam construction

- super lightweight

- durable

- no sharp edges (for kids)*

- great vision out of helmet

- limited edition

- included pads for different head sizes. Velcro'd on/off!

- yes, it does fit adults (Unless you have a freakishly large head. Then some modding will need to be done)

- colour of your choice (Gloss or Matte finish. No metallics)

- doubles as a thought screen helmet! Scrambles telepathic communication between aliens and humans! (at no extra cost)

- OPTIONAL: free of charge. Black, see-through cloth screen to cover mask.

SO, who wants one? It's for a good cause! I don't want my daughter to be a dummy. It'll pain me to watch her sit in the sandpit ALL year round with nothing else to do.

I'll be selling this first batch at a discounted price of $100CAD (plus shipping).  And I'll even let you pick your colour!

All the proceeds will go to my daughter's school!

Email me for details or questions: gundamumpg [at] gmail [dot] com

I suggest buying at least 5. Who doesn't want a Zaku army?!?

* This Char's salmon colored Zaku is already sold!  (Zeon flag not for sale)

** There are 2 green ones already painted. Looks pretty sweet!! I'll post pics in next post.

Zaku: Monoeye lens

Time is running out. I needed to make a decision on the mono-eye fabrication. Many options had gone through but none would look good or had too many safety compromises.

This one is the least that looked the best. Still kind of dangerous though. O well, I'll have to keep an eye on her then. (uh.. sorry)

Lexan plastic. Heating it up in my toaster oven. When it starts to droop in the window, I pull it out right away.

The best form I had around the house was this paint can. Whatever works!

Perfect diameter

To shape it further, I just took it to my belt sander. 

For the tint, I used some leftover auto tint.

Made a small accent ring out of craft foam. Hotglued it on. And voila!

Now, all i have left to do is:
- screens in the side windows
- hot glue the lens in
- custom cut some foam to fit my daughter's head
- maybe another final coat of top coat to seal things off a bit more for durability

Horns

The paint is pretty brittle at this stage. I have a super sharp knife and I still can tell. I'll have to top coat it with a sealer very soon. 

Test fitted. Looking good. I like the placement and all. Time for primer and paint!

Just noticed from looking at this pic, I totally forgot to make the vents!

Zaku Paint!

Adding random details again.

Paint:

Pipes painted:

Random Details

Trimming up the snout shorter:

Hot glue gun burn. I really don't like working with hot glue guns. Gonna have an awkward week of typing now.

Not really caring what color craft foam I use to cover up the insides. It'll be painted another color later anyways.

How to make Sausage Links

Pipe Links:

Back with my trusty Dremel tool. Love my Dremel. It came with a mini-router attachment. How cool is that!?! What this allows me to do here is 'router' a channel at a perfect 90 degree. It would be impossible to do this by hand. I could, but it'll take forever and it won't be as accurate. Here I have a  rig with a board and a couple clamps.

The steps:

- I make one channel across.

- Stop. 

- Move the board ~3/8" up. 

- Make another channel. 

- Repeat.

Reason I'm making all these channels is so that one side of the foam has less material. This is so I can roll the foam into tubes. I could use the heat gun again. But, it won't be heated up evenly and it'll bend unevenly. It would just be a mess. I think this was the best approach.  Hot glue the ends together.

Made a bunch. Not really sure how many was needed.

Like the 'nostril canister', I beveled the ends on the belt sander.

The placement mockup. I think it'll work. Next, I have to figure out what to use for the inner pipe.