Bucket modding nerdyness: Xtreme Galactic Edition.

[SofusSnake]

I have been thinking about this one fore some years now, and i was curious...

What are your opinions and thoughts on creating a "seamless" (for lack of a better word) costume/bucket,
a "real" helmet, as in, "not as in the films", but perhaps a more "real" and functional, sealed, actual space-ready look/feel.

That is, making a fully lined helmet for instance, with real air intakes/vents where appropriate instead of decals/paint, a breathing apparatus/air intake style frown, and a functional, sealed/hidden electronic setup inside to power fans and radio, etc.
(As opposed to just being a hollow-shell event costume or having the meticulously screen-accurate movie costume variations of the 501st getups.)

I was thinking something along the lines of the Visual Dictionary bucket mockup that's cross-sectioned to reveal the internal parts.
Recently i saw the Man-at-Arms youtube video where they recreated the phantom blade weapon from Assassin's creed to form an actual (as in "lethal!") working metal-and-leather replica.
and it kind of inspired me to think about taking a fake piece of plastic armor and creating something that could pass for proper, functioning (although probably not blaster proof  ) Imperial trooper's military equipment. 

Probably seems a tad ambitious, and I have no intention of diving headfirst into this any time soon or probably ever actually making it,

I was just curious about the thoughts and philosophies of you other tinkerers here on this topic.

Has anyone ever attempted this?
 

Edited April 16, 2015 by SofusSnake

[Tusken RTT]

I would love to see it!  Gaz has his traps cut out into vents I believe, it would be awesome to see someone go all the way with it! 

[SofusSnake]

I would love to see it!  Gaz has his traps cut out into vents I believe, it would be awesome to see someone go all the way with it! 

I agree!

 

By the way, I just found someone else discussing this, incidentally he was from Norway, like I am. Maybe this is a norwegian thing, hahaha.

 

I was thinking like a faux "sealed environment" neck piece that attaches to the helmet liner and air venting that's actually built into the lining of the side tubes,

from the hovi tips and frown, via the traps and ending in the back exhaust slots,

and maybe a proper mic/speaker setup in the front grill instead of the HOVI mics (since those are designated as "air vents" in the official descriptions.

 

Also maybe some sort of rubber foam i.e. to separate the breathing parts from the goggle parts, and that fits snugly over the nose and around the eyes, to prevent fogging,

or even ventilation grooves/tubing built directly into the eye section to keep the entire face section dry and circulated,

but also leading the exhaled air out the back, all the while keeping the "pipes and plumbing" contained inside the lining of the helmet.

 

 

Perhaps sound insulating it somewhat, could be possible so that the only clearly discernable sound is through the vocoder part (although i think this is a long shot.)

Would be fun to see if something like this is actually feasible.

 

Could be cool for a "prototype"/blueprint version.

Edited April 16, 2015 by SofusSnake

[Mcott65[TK]]

I think that is a fantastic idea and not unlike some of the thoughts I've been having since I started looking through all the reference material at hand .In fact before I started al this i would have said that the black in the traps and tube stripes were recessed areas

[usaeatt2]

Has anyone ever attempted this?

 

 

I'm in the process of making a kit to match the Visual Dictionary photographs right now...minus the eye inserts.

I bought molding and casting supplies to make vacuform bucks from my sculpts yesterday afternoon.

Problem is, I can't make them for all helmets since there are slight variations.

So, the kits will only be custom fit for AP and TM helmets.

[SofusSnake]

Wow, that's impressive! I was thinking about making a mold too, maybe even going so far as making 3D printed parts. I think shapeways sell and manufacture quite precise parts, both metal and plastic (Even silver, bronze, gold and ceramics!) so you can have master parts to create molds around, could be handy for mass production of fine, precise detailing.

 

If you can find someone to model them on a computer, that is.

[charlesnarles]

I plan to do that to a degree with either my eFX "stunt" which I modded to look like ROTJ with ANH hero mouth,

Or with the Anovos one coming this winter! depending on how authentic the strapping is on it (might troop in it, maybe with my ATA body armor). I definitely want one for display like you described, one for trooping that's as screen-accurate as possible, and one kinda in between.

 

Anyways, I saw a bunch of respirator masks on Amazon which you could probably partially disassemble and install parts in the vocoder cavity. They also have grab bags of electronic components to get tech greeblies.

I'm considering this if it'll fit in the cavity:------------

Take the pink filters off, seal one side of the respirator, then link the other side to a hose to the outside through a hovi, leaving the over hovi open to let the bucket breathe (with fans if it'll fit). Then you can seal the eye lenses and make them look like the encyclopedia without anything fogging up. Maybe.

Edited January 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[usaeatt2]

Interesting idea using respirator parts.  

My prototype bucks are almost done.  I'm driving to the Tech Shop today to pull some preliminary parts on a vacuform machine.

[Novak Dimon[TK]]

I like the idea! I want to make a helmet myself that is equipped with com-equipment and ventilation like a "real" one.

Actually I'm still researching how to do it the best way.

Will follow this thread!

Edited April 19, 2015 by Novak Dimon

[SofusSnake]

It's cool to see that several people have thought of the same thing here, and so many ways to achieve this. 

I agree that the most important part is probably to allow for the ventilation and breathing, and trying to avoid the old foggy goggles of death. (You would want to see the rebels when getting shot at.)
Could be an idea to repurpose the "ears" as well to allow for some hidden vents, since those are pretty good for concealing stuff like wires and such already.

Would be interesting to contact someone who works with these sort of things, like someone who dabbles in respiration/diving kits, to find out how they would rig these things,
like one of those underwater diver masks that allow for radio usage. It's a real similiar concept except for a different "wrapping." 

[charlesnarles]

I was able to fit my big head into an eFX lid with a moto helmet liner AND a size large respirator. I doubt it'll fit in my ATA only cause they're smaller. I bet a small head and a small respirator could fit. I'm gonna hook up the in-valves to the mic tips and let the out go into the helmet (if I can fit my echo fan bracket in too!)

The ear vent idea makes sense considering almost everyone has SOME gap. The vents could be like gills in the face/cap, hidden by the ears

Edited April 23, 2015 by charlesnarles