February/March Update

 

First off, like many other bloggers out there, I am going to now try to stick to a regular update schedule.  Once a month, usually around the first week of each month, I will add an update of some sort.  Also, like many other bloggers, don’t hold me to that.  That’s the plan.  We’ll see how well it works. Now on to the costuming updates.

At this point, I’ve got the drill construction 95% complete and several layers of Mache on the Delta helmet.  I’m really waiting for some warm weather to start working with the nasty chemical part.  I decided it was time to start cutting and poking holes in the helmet though.  It was hard to do because I never knew if what I was about to do would end up destroying everything or not, but I had to.

To do this properly, I couldn’t use the back of my old office chair for a stand anymore.  So, a more proper one was built.

It’s a stand! I swear!

 See!

I needed to construct a backpack and frame into the helmet to:
help hold the helmet in place
provide a surface for attaching the tanks
help carry the weight of the tanks from the helmet to my shoulders and hips
I had an older backpack that I thought about using the frame from it. I did use the straps and waist belt, but the Boy Scout in me would not allow me to destroy a perfectly good backpack and frame.  More PVC then.
I built the frame into the helmet and even used some more expanding foam to help secure it to the helmet.
  
     

Yeah, I know, all the pictures are of the helmet on my old office chair.  It just worked better for getting the foam on the inside.  The build was actually done on the stand.

With all that done and dried, it was time for another test fitting.  This did not go well at all.

 

      

Adding the frame had also caused some warping in the back.  Nothing could be done about that though.  But I had to do something about the horrid shoulder mismatching.

After looking at the pictures, I decided the best thing to do would be to just slice the shoulder off and rebuild them.  This would also give me a chance to add in the ventilation system I’m after.  I mean, I’m going to be walking around Atlanta in September wearing insulation on my head.  I need to get air in and out somehow!

 

Once the shoulder were cut off, before I rebuilt them, I added an 80mm computer fan to each shoulder blowing air in onto my neck.

     

  Exhaust Fan

I’ll power all three fans from the same source as the LEDs I’m adding.  What LEDs you ask?  Must have forgotten about those.  See, Subject Delta’s helmet lights up in the face mask area.  Yellow if he is calm and red during combat.  He also has two lights on his chest that come on in the dark.  I’ve ordered all the LEDs and resistors and am building out that part slowly.  The power will be from a 6 volt camping lantern battery.  Heavy, but long lasting and steady power, and it fits in the 4 inch tank on my back.

This is one of the two chest lights.  They each hold 5 10mm white LEDs.  I cannot express to you how bright these are when they are lit.

Sorry, I digress, back to the shoulder repair.

With the new intake fans in place, I had to make sure that I did not seal them in, but left some sort of opening for them to draw in fresh air.  This would mean the shoulders would be some sort of vent hood.  I went back to my roots and broke out the card stock, scissors and tape.  This just needed to hold on long enough to get a layer of Mache over it anyway.

     

The two blue dots on either side are the lights in place.

Now for another test fit.  This one went much better.  Not perfect, but without scrapping the whole thing and starting over, it’s as good as it is going to get.

 

 

In the last picture, you can see how the frame got a little warped when I added the foam and it set up.  That bothers me some, but once the tanks are on, I don’t think you’ll notice.

Now one final coat of Mache, and this one was a special coating with some wood glue added to it.  This gives you a chance to be able to sand the surface smooth if you want.

Peek-a-boo. I see you!

 

Now, just need some good weather to apply a layer of fiber glass resin and a primer coat of paint and see what it looks like all one color.  It is easier to see any major screw ups once you are looking at an even colored surface.

I know the helmet isn’t perfect, but I didn’t set out to make a perfect replica either.  Plus it is supposed to be worn and beaten looking.  That was one of the reasons I chose this method.

Also you might have noticed I started referring to this as the Delta helmet.  When I first started this, I was going to do Subject Sigma from the Minerva's Den DLC for Bioshock 2.  Well, Subject Sigma was never paired with a little sister, and the little sister is another piece to this costume.  In order to be more accurate, or anal your choice, I’ve switched to Subject Delta from the main Bioshock 2 game.  Fortunately, the two characters look exactly alike.