First paint

Paint:

The paint scheme was something on my mind from the very beginning. I wanted to try something radical. Something cool. Something not done before. Then a friend said, "Go classic". I just sat there and agreed. It is the more recognizable scheme. No one would say, "Hey! look it's Optimus Prime!" 

Wish Tamiya/Mr Hobby/etc came in large spray cans. Wish hobby paints were cheap.  Then I thought, why would I need to?!? Classic Gundam is white, yellow, and red. That's it! Awesome. That only means a trip to Home Depot to pick up some cheap paints!! Starting out with (sandable) grey primer, flat black for all the insides, and flat white for the helmet. I only need a bit of red and yellow for the face and "horns"(aka V-fins). I may just use my hobby paints and airbrush with that.

Interior painted with flat black. (above pic is still wet) When it's dry, there is absolutely no shine. It gets REALLY dark in there now.

Face painted.

With the blade, I cut out the "nostrils" aka vent holes. I had purposely not reinforced the backside with fabric/resin, so I can cut into it easier.

Random Progress

Hotgluing in the "sideburns"

I accidentally cut too much of the head. It was meant to be an area where I can put Velcro tape. The plan was to hinge the entire "Mohawk" piece open. The intent is for easy access if I ever needed to. Gluing down the mohawk would limit the light into the helmet if I ever needed to fix anything or add anything. Thinking ahead! (Ironically.. I didn't)

So, I had to insert a piece of plastic to serve as a base.

 

The head brace is attached to the helmet by a combination of epoxy putty and hot glue. Strong bond. 4 anchor points.. for now. I'll add in 2 more later.

Now for the comfort part. I cut up small strips of anti-fatique matte (I had some leftover from another halloween costume)

Hot glued them in.

I'll save you the obligatory silly dance in the helmet. At least for now...

Lock that face

While I got the face to retract all good now. It doesn't have a stopper on either the down or up position. A lot of ideas were thrown around for this. I even wanted it to be motorized using servos and stuff. But, that may be too complicated. And more importantly, too heavy. That's a lot of weight.

So a simple magnet system was made. One to catch it when the face is down, and another to catch it when it's up.

I used rare earth magnet. 3 total. This one is on the face. No 2 magnets actually touch each other. Because they're just too strong! I had to separate them with a  piece of plastic. 

The second magnet is on the brow lip. This one would catch the face when it's in the down position.

 And the third magnet would be up on top. To catch the face when it's in the top position.

The magnet on top is held down by epoxy putty. Love this stuff. Dries hard. Like cement hard. 

(that's what she said)

Head rigging

Rigging:

Now on to some rigging. 

I needed to find a solution on how my noggin attaches to the helmet itself. It needs to be strong and lightweight. (that will be a reoccurring theme on this build) It's also very tricky because I can't simply anchor it any random spot. It needs to yield clearance of the retractable face! And of course, it needs to be comfortable.

Found some galvanized strapping. Comes all rolled up. So when I pull it out, it already has a curved shape! Perfect for my head. I initially was going to rivet all the joints so it'll be nice and clean. Unfortunately, my rivets were a tad small.. and fell through the holes. So, I simply used wires and twist tied the joints together. Works just as good. (and cheap)

This mannequin head is a bit smaller than my own. So I left some room. I also anticipate on using foam  padding for more comfort.

There were LOTS of trial and error in building this rig. I can't even count how many times I had to take it apart and fasten new joints. Patience is definitely an asset here!

Once I was happy with the head brace, I wrapped the entire thing with hockey tape. It was the only thing I can find around the house that was matte black and flexible. It works very well here. The tape does a good job in keeping all those wires from poking into my skull.

Devil's in the details

Satisfied with the retractable faceplate. I decided to get to work on some of the details.

Those tiny fins that jut upward on those "ears".. I might put lights on the tips of those. Just for fun.

There really is no reason why I can't simply paint this design onto the side there. It's not like it has a huge impact on the overall head. It'd be SO much easier if I did. BUT.... I'm not that kind of person. Especially for this project. I'm taking the hard way out on EVERY aspect of this build. I love to challenge myself. I have no one to prove but to myself.

Maybe I'm a closet sadist.

Retractable face

Now that the 2 major pieces are assembled. I can tackle one of the biggest features on my costume. The retractable face. It looks like there is clearance. It'll be close. So, it's a green light for now. 

Time to move forward!

Obstacle: Well... I had a feeling about this one when I hung it to dry. The face dried too wide. Meaning the pivot points that I had made in Pepakura stage are too far apart and will not line up with the pivot points inside the helmet. Since I had reinforced it already, this thing will NOT bend. If I force it too hard, it will break. 

Sooooo.. out comes the Dremel tool. Equiped with a mini cutting disc. The pivots gets chopped. 

Now, I have make something in its place. Starting out with a block of hardwood.

Using Chicago screws to bolt the hinge joint together. The bracket is simple "All Round galvanized bracing" The holes are perfect size for the Chicago screws.

The wood is screwed into the helmet from the bottom.

Done. Works like a charm.

Here's a video of the face retracting.

And a close up video of the mechanism. Simple.

Halfway there?

Got excited and duct taped all the pieces together to see what it would look like finished.

It looks like I'm almost done. But, I'm not even close to the finish line. There are a million things on my checklist to do still. So much more fabrication. A lot of obstacles to hurdle over.