Space Marine Helmet

[Caralinus]

Saw people talking about these the other day, thought I'd make one. Main body of the helmet is roughly 1mm too wide. I'm about 85% happy with the way it turned out.

[Kresten]

Very nicely done, how'd you get that shape out of plasticard?

[Caralinus]

A lot of filing, nothing too complicated.

[Kresten]

So was it just a block of plasticard?

[Nevermore2010]

Make a cast of it and distribute to those of us who love converting SM's for a good trade or some money naturally.

[Caralinus]

It was several layers of 1.5mil plasticard glued together and then shaped, roughly cut with a razor and then lots of filing with a buff to give it some shine.

I have a pure Green Stuff version that I made but the production of it needs some work to get it crisp. Resin would be much easier of course but more naughty.

I was suprised really how easily it came together so I've been thinking of making a whole marine.

Thanks for the comments all.

[Acolyte Havlan Tome]

One of the best helmets i've seen.
If you do make a full  marine are you going to do one of the deathwatch or a chapter(and which chapter)?
P.S no real reason for the question, just wondering

[Caralinus]

Probably just something generic.

[precinctomega]

Casting something like that would get you into trouble.  But casting a "version" of a Space Marine helmet (look at Maxmini.eu and Chapterhouse Productions for examples) would be fine.

R.

[Gestalt]

Can you provide links to those companies PO?

AMAZING helmet Kallidor

[Vermis]

http://www.maxmini.eu/
http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/home

Sorry for the hijack PO.

Chapterhouse is an interesting case.  Some companies like maxmini are generally thought to get away with it because of Polish copyright laws (or level of enforcement) or making relatively generic products; but people on some forums - including one or two law graduates - thought GW was going to nail Chapterhouse to the wall.  Turns out they did their homework and what they do is above board.

Oh, and flippin' nice helmet Kallidor.  And if you enjoyed shaping the styrene into crisp shapes, I've three words for you: milliput superfine white.

Wink wink nudge.

[Caralinus]

But casting a "version" of a Space Marine helmet would be fine.

I certainly wouldn't make a strait cast of something that looks so similar to a GW product; I'm not sure about a pure Green Stuff version though, it isn't exactly a cast afterall. Hmm.

I've been working on another Truescale marine, with modifications to the design that fit my own tastes and I reckon that when I get around to making a 54mm marine it would be a 'version' on the the theme as you say PO.

AMAZING helmet Kallidor

Thank you 

And if you enjoyed shaping the styrene into crisp shapes, I've three words for you: milliput superfine white.

I have used it befroe, many many years ago, do you think it's as easy to use as Platicard?

The reason I ask is that I find plasticard really easy and nice to work with and it doesn't gum up my files like putty does.

[Vermis]

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's one of the first things I tried with milliput superfine white: click for image

That's from a flattened disc of milliput, cut out, filed and then sanded with fine grade sandpaper.  The engraving isn't much cop (that's my fault), but I was surprised how easily and smoothly the stuff carved and sanded - and that's after trying other easily-sanded putties, and seeing how others had carved and sanded it.  It also behaved a little like sanded styrene, only a little more stone- or clay-like.

It's not without it's problems, definitely.  I probably don't need to tell you how messy it can be during and just after mixing, and sanding it puts out an amount of dust that you don't want to inhale (like any sanded dust).  But it soon turns smooth and slightly plasticky (and pleasant to sculpt) as it firms, and in my own opinion the cured stuff's a little easier to sand than styrene.  (That's not to try to convert you, if you're happy with styrene, but I would suggest giving milliput at least one more try. )  I did have to clean the files, but IMO they weren't as gummed up as if I'd filed rubbery putty like GS.
A single block of milliput might also bypass any problem with visible seams between glued sheets of plasticard.  Although looking at the helmet again, I'm not sure if that's a huge problem.  It looks very sharp and smooth overall.  Again, excellent work on it.