Captain America Stealth Helmet

So I know it's a bit late to make a stealth helmet, And I've been too long gone from instructables. heehee Sorry guys. So here it is for all you fan girls, fan boys, fan people, dorks and geeksters, Captain America Stealth Helmet!

If you guys want to see more of me do visit my facebook page FB.COM/ZURCO.ARMORY

NOTE: Needed materials are distributed in the steps so you don't get confused which materials are used where. And do remember that I love you to bits! Let's all craft like hell's gonna break lose tomorrow!

Materials Needed:

Card Stock

Fibreglass Mat (Chopped or Woven)

Polyester Resin

Aluminum foil

Packaging tape/Duct tape (or any kind you have)

Body Filler

Protective Gloves

Scissors

Disposable cups

Mixing sticks

Cards or spreaders

Silicone Pastry Brush

PEPAKURA!!

So if you're not familiar with pepakura, here's an overview from my old instructable.

"Pepakura is a program that unfolds 3d models so you'll be able to make a real life papercraft model of it.So I downloaded a model from sketchup community component models and reduced the planes for papercrafting, after then I unfolded it in Pepakura and printed it out on a thick paper. If you've never done this before, every edge of the pieces are numbered, where there's another piece that has the same number on an edge, that means they go together. there's a positive piece and a negative piece, if you can see there are flaps to some edges and to some there isn't. when you find the same numbered ones, you'll have to stick the one with a flap to the back side of the one without a flap so their edges would meet. always keep it front side up, if you get me. if you keep on reversing sides you'll just mess the model up sooner or later."

Although this time I just downloaded the pepakura file here:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=152770

Credits to JFCustom

FIBREGLASSING!!!

So after you finish the papercraft model. Prepare your clear cast resin and fibreglass mat. WEAR YOUR PROTECTIVE GLOVES! (I like wearing 2 to 3 layers of gloves when working with resin, I'm just too paranoid. haha)

Also I used silicone pastry brush, since I found that it's easier to clean, or in terms of fibreglassing, it's possible to clean, not like normal nylon or fibre brush.

The resin has two parts, the ratio depends on the brand you're using, so make sure you read the instructions on the container first! Mix them in disposable plastic cups, or any plastic cup you won't use for consumption anymore ever. Don't use styro cups because the resin will dissolve it.

Now prepare a cup with acetone(CAREFUL!), to clean up your brush after using it with resin.

Mix a few ounces of resin on your plastic cup and brush a few layers on the exterior of your helmet. now wait for it to dry. make sure there's no part left without resin.

(NOTE: it's better to use Aluminum foil rather than paper to dry it on, because it doesn't stick permanently to resin)

Now when the whole thing is dry, turn the helmet upside down. Cut a few pieces of fibreglass mat, maybe 2x2inches. Brush some glue, or if you have spray glue, then spray it on the inside of the helmet then cover it with fibreglass mat. Again, make sure you don't leave any part without mat.

Now mix a few more ounces of resin on your plastic cup and brush it over the insides. Now while curing, it's gonna be hot, because of the reaction of resin and fibreglass. Do not touch it. leave it for a few hours before you go to the next step. :)

BODY FILLER!!!

So when you've waited for long enough and found your helmet all hard and dry you can proceed to the next step.

First, check if it's really cured. Although there's a chance that your resin is a bit sticky even when it's cured, if you put baby powder on your helmet, it will stop sticking on your precious fingers, if you've covered the thing with powder like a baby's butt and it still sticks,put it back and wait some more.

When you're very very sure that it's cured, you can grab your body filler and spreaders, of course go get your gloves too and wear it like the princess that you are.

Fill away, try to clean the seams and put layers and layers to make your sculpt a little smoother. Although you don't have to make it so perfect since we're gonna sculpt over it anyway. We're just using this as a base. So don't stress here yet :*

Yay we're done with the base!!! Now for the sculpt!

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Ceramic clay (Wet clay, hardening clay, mud clay, try which of these names your local merchant is familiar with)

Assorted Sculpting tools (or in my case, anything I can get my hands on, I even used pencil mind you.)

Spray bottle with water

Damp cloth

Large plastic

I don't really know how to get around to explaining this, so do excuse me if im not clear enough. I'll post a youtube video soon on this so do wait for it on my fb page FB.COM/ZURCO.ARMORY

Anyway, here goes.

When buying ceramic clay, do make sure that it's soft enough to sculpt with, some try to get away with selling you ultra hard clay that you can't really work with, although you can make it softer with water, it gives you more chance of cracks too. By soft enough I mean just a little softer or as soft as play doh or any oil based craft clay.

In my case, I started by layering the helmet with the clay and smoothing things and putting in the basic shapes, try to cover it with more than 1cm of clay or else it would be more likely to crack. As you are sculpting so spray a bit of water every now and then so it doesn't dry up yet.

Now if the helmet is all smooth and clean, you can grab all your reference photos and carve details as you see on the photos, while detailing one side, you can cover the other side with damp cloth, make sure that the cloth you're using is fine, cotton would work well, so it doesn't mess up your sculpt.

If you decide that you're tired and want to continue it tomorrow or some time soon, cover the whole sculpture with damp cloth and then cover fully with plastic. Make sure no air is coming in, if possible you can tape the ends of the plastic to prevent air from coming in.

When you're all done, you can either dry the sculpture up, or like me, just go to the next step...

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Paint thinner

Petroleum Jelly

Liquid Latex

Bandage gauze

Silicone pastry brush

aluminum foil

index cards

aluminum tape

Gloves

Spray Bottle

hot glue

NOTE: YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS FOR MOLD MAKING, YOU CAN EITHER DO THIS STEP OR DO THE NEXT STEP. NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME OKAY?

PREPARE THE SURFACE

To prepare your surface, you need a release agent. And knowing how much of a cheapskate I am, of course I make my own. To make your own release agent you'd need petroleum jelly, microwave and paint thinner.

Put a little of your petroleum jelly on your microwave oven and heat for 30 seconds or until it's liquidy. then get your spray bottle and pour your vaseline on it then get your paint thinner and pour a little, the ratio I use is 2(vaseline):1(paint thinner). Then shake vigorously and wait to cool down. When it cools down, spray your sculpture with this mixture until everything is covered. Then wait until it dries, for me I waited for 30 minutes.

LATEX LAYERING

When you've prepared the surface properly, you can finally make a latex mold without too much worry. Layer the whole thing with Liquid Latex until you can't see the color of your clay anymore. To do this you have to get your silicone brush and brush on layers and layers of latex on your sculpture. Make sure before you brush on the next layer the first one is already dry, or not sticking to your hands, and it would be better to clean your brush every layer so it doesn't stick.

Cleaning your brush is easy with latex, you just have to let the latex dry and peel it off. voila!

When you've layered enough it would be almost all yellowish white. Then when you get that color. Wipe a few more layers. It will probably take you a lot of layering before you get that. I think it took me 30-40 layers. then when you're happy, get your bandage gauze and layer it on the mold and brush on latex over it. do this 3-4 times so the latex mold wont rip.

When you're done, don't peel it off just yet, you have to set it aside for a few days, this process is called vulcanisation. We have to do this so the resin wont ruin the mold and so it could take a few castings before it breaks. you know it's ready when your mold is a sort of very light yellowish brown and it's not too soft like there's bread in it when you press on. (damn me and my comparisons)

MOTHER MOLD

When your latex mold is vulcanised properly you can make a mother mold, dont peel it off yet okay?

First you have to decide how many pieces you need, I divided mine into a 3 piece mold so I can take it off properly. Make your divisions from index cards and hot glue, when you're done you can take your aluminum tape and tape around the divisions. Also make sure your base is covered in foil so you don't make too much of a mess.

When you're done with the divisions, spray your release agent again on the whole thing and go back to the fibreglassing step and cover each section with fibreglass.

When you're sure that everything is cured you can finally try to break it open, do be careful not to break it tho. then when you've taken it apart, put it back in place and drill holes for your nuts and bolts to secure the mother mold in place.

After this you can now peel the mold off.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Paint thinner

Petroleum Jelly

Silicone(RTV)

Bandage gauze

Silicone pastry brush

Aluminum foil

Index cards

Aluminum tape

Gloves

Spray Bottle

hot glue

NOTE: YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS FOR MOLD MAKING, YOU CAN EITHER DO THIS STEP OR DO THE PREVIOUS STEP. NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME OKAY?

PREPARE THE SURFACE

To prepare your surface, you need a release agent. And knowing how much of a cheapskate I am, of course I make my own. To make your own release agent you'd need petroleum jelly, microwave and paint thinner. Put a little of your petroleum jelly on your microwave oven and heat for 30 seconds or until it's liquidy. then get your spray bottle and pour your vaseline on it then get your paint thinner and pour a little, the ratio I use is 2(vaseline):1(paint thinner). Then shake vigorously and wait to cool down. When it cools down, spray your sculpture with this mixture until everything is covered. Then wait until it dries, for me I waited for 30 minutes.

SILICONE LAYERING

When you've prepared the surface properly, you can finally make a silicone mold.

Unlike liquid latex, silicone needs a catalyst to cure, but also this makes for an easier and faster molding.

The mix depends on the silicone you bought so do read up on the instructions well.

Make a first mix for your silicone mold and layer it around your helmet, it would help if you try to cover it in one pour or batch on the first layer to prevent seams. Then when it dries, you can layer silicone some more until you can't see through to your clay or approximately 1cm thick all over.

Then make registration keys, in my case i poured silicone in a 1 inch pipe and pulled it out to cut it to pieces, I stuck it to the mold also using silicone since silicone only sticks to more silicone.

MOTHER MOLD

When your silicone is dried and not sticky anymore, you can make a mother mold, dont peel it off yet okay? First you have to decide how many pieces you need, I divided mine into a 3 piece mold so I can take it off properly. Make your divisions from index cards and hot glue, when you're done you can take your aluminum tape and tape around the divisions. Also make sure your base is covered in foil so you don't make too much of a mess. When you're done with the divisions, spray your release agent again on the whole thing and go back to the fibreglassing step and cover each section with fibreglass. When you're sure that everything is cured you can finally try to break it open, do be careful not to break it tho. then when you've taken it apart, put it back in place and drill holes for your nuts and bolts to secure the mother mold in place. After this you can now peel the mold off.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Polyester body filler

Polyester Resin

Fibreglass mat (Woven or Chopped Strands)

Release agent

PREPARE THE MOLD:

Get your mother mold and assemble it and secure it using your nuts and bolts. Get your silicone or latex mold and secure it inside the mother mold, use the registration keys to shoot the mold in place.

Get your release agent and spray some on the mold

SLUSH CASTING:

I am using rondo for this, rondo is a mixture of polyester body filler and polyester resin. you can use the cream hardener or the resin hardener, in my case i use both. The ration I'm using is 1:1. I use rondo since it cures faster and it registers details well.

Make your mixture of rondo and when you're sure you've mixed the proper amount of hardener (more cream hardener= faster curing), you can pour it inside your mold, when you've poured everything in your mold, move it around so the mixture covers the whole mold. I use a small plastic cup for every layer and it never seems to be too much or too little. When your rondo gels enough that it doesn't move anymore, you can layer another rondo over the first one.

I always make sure to put 3 layers of rondo before I put on fibreglass, when your 3rd layer of rondo gels up, you can use that to stick your fibreglass mat all around your slush cast. then when it's all done, pour 3 more layers of rondo.

NOTE: There are lots of videos on this on youtube. just search "slush casting"

Now set it aside until everything is cured. When you're sure that everything is cured you can now take the mother mold off and peel the silicone or latex mold and see your masterpiece!

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Spray Paint

- Grey Primer

- Black

- Navy Blue

- Metallic Silver

- Clear

Acrylic Paints

Sanding Paper

Dremel (Rotary Tool)

Now this one is easy, first you have to trim off all unnecessary parts until it looks like an actual helmet. Then prepare your surface, look for imperfections and get your sanding paper or dremel and clean it up. After sanding, wash your cast to clean it up, then dry it up completely. When you think you've done enough you can go and start painting.

First you have to make sure your helmet is really clean. Then you can spray on grey primer all over the helmet, wait 30 minutes to make sure it's really dry. Then spray on black, regarding how I got the color, it's a repetitive process of spraying black and blue until I got to where I want to be. Then let it dry completely. When it's all dry mask all the parts that shouldn't be silver, then spray on silver. Wait for the paint to completely dry again and take your helmet for finishing paints.

Now get your acrylic paint and try to correct the colors with a few washes of watered down acrylic. To get the damage effects you can get a very rough sanding paper and sand up where you want the damage to be. when you've sanded it down you can put on some silver paint on the sanded parts to make it look like you've scratched through to the steel layer. When you're all done with the paint job, spray on clear spray paint to seal all the colors in.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Leather

Foam

Tape

Velcro

Straps

Sewing machine

2 part epoxy

PATTERN:

To get the pattern of the helmet interior, cover the inside of the helmet with lots and lots of tape and swhen it's thick enough, strategically cut it into patterns. make sure to put cuts so that when you lay it out on a paper, it lays out flat. Then you can transfer the patterns into paper and cut it out to transfer it into leather.

INTERIOR LINING

Now make two reversed copies of each part of the patterns, one is for the top layer and one is for the bottom. Then sew the first layer together and try to sew foam with it, then sew the second layer and cover the first layer and the foam. then sew the seams close.

When you're done with both, you can sew in on side of the velcro in the edges and on the middle. And the other side of the velcro, you can stick to the inside of the helmet with epoxy. Just make sure it's in the proper place so it would stick to the one in the leather.

STRAPS

You can either get existing straps from your existing helmets, or like me, sew your own. You just have to buy straps and sew it into the interior lining and try to imitate the one in the helmet. (Damn, im so bad at explaining this, really sorry)

NOW YOU'RE DONE!!! YAY!!! Go find your friends and let them envy your awesomeness.

Sorry if I'm so bad at explaining things. I really wish I helped you guys out. Do wait for my next instructable on Captain America Shield and Holder and Hit Girl's Double sword.

For now, Please follow me on facebook FACEBOOK.COM/ZURCO.ARMORY

LOVE YOU GUYS TO BITSSSSS!!!!!