Dice Tower Top Hat

A Dungeon Master's hat should be stylish, thematic and functional. Take a top hat for style. Add a castle tower and a dragon's head for thematic. And finally a dice tower for functionality. Mix them all together and you have a mad hatter'a dragon's castle top hat with a built in dice tower.

This Mad Hatter Instructable will walk you thru designing and making a foam top hat with a built in dice tower.

Design software:

1. Autodesk Fusion or other solid modeling program for modeling the hat and dice tower.
2. Nomad Sculpt or other 3D sculpting program for more artistic/organic elements, like the dragon's head.

Materials

EVA foam sheet 4 mm (.17 inches) thick

Glue

1. Contact cement
2. Superglue (cyanoacrylate)
3. Hot glue

Paint

1. Spray paint
2. Acrylic paint

Tools

1. 3D printer
2. Printer - paper
3. X-acto knife or utility knife for cutting

The focus of this instructable is not going to be a step by step walk through of how I made this hat or an in depth discussion of all the techniques I used. I'm relatively new to making props with EVA foam and there are plenty of good instructables and YouTube videos that can teach how to build with it better than I can.

Rather I'm going to talk about how I designed the hat in CAD and other 3D software and then outputted the parts or patterns to make the hat. And finally the basic techniques and process I used to put it together.

Hopefully this will help you make an modifications (hat size) you need to or to create your own unique version.

I have attached all the files I used and if you just want to use them to copy my hat, feel free to.

The first step in designing the hat is to determine your hat size or more accurately the size of an oval that will fit on your head. Traditional hat sizes come from the measurement of the circumference of your head. This is good to know, but the basic shape of the hat is an oval that matches the length and width of you head.

An easy way to do this is to get a hat you currently own and measure it with a ruler. Measure the length (front to back) and width (side to side). These are the dimensions of the oval that will form the inside base/opening of the hat. Other options are placing a ruler on top of your head to measure length and width or if you have them, using a pair of calipers to measure your head. Make sure to get the widest parts of your head.

I recommend doing a test fit by drawing an oval on some cardboard and cutting it out and them making sure it fits over your head. You can make adjustments till you find the size that fits best.

Remember, that is the inside dimension. When you design the foam parts, make sure the thickness of the foam goes outwards not inwards. For example the inside width of my hat is 6.63" and then I add 2 times the thickness of the foam (0.16" or 4 mm), to get an outside width of 6.95" (6.63 + (2 x .16)).

In addition, make sure to figure out the depth of the hat. This is how much of the internal volume your head takes up or from the top of the hat, or your head, to the bottom of the hat's brim. If your measuring an existing hat, stick the ruler inside with the end at the top of the hat and measure where the ruler comes out at the bottom.

This is important because the top hat is taller then you need for your head, but you still need to know how much of the internal volume your head will take up. This hat has an internal lid or cap, inside that will rest on top of your head. The internal cap is also the floor the dice tower sits on.

I used Fusion, from Autodesk, for my CAD software.

I started with the basic oval that would be the base of the hat. I then offset that with the thickness of the foam. Remember offset to the outside. Then I drew a bigger oval (2" offset) around that, to create the brim of the hat. Then I used the "extrude" tool to thicken the brim and extend the hat body to the height I wanted for the hat. I started with an educated guess as to the final height and went back and edited it many times over the design process.

Using the hat depth dimension form the hat size step, create a plane at that height and draw an oval that matches the internal dimensions of the hat. This cap will where the top of your head fits in the hat and it will be the base the dice tower sits on.

Now to make it look more like a castle tower. I created a wall around the outside of the brim, to make a battlement around the base. Then I made a rampart for the top of the hat. To do this I create a plane at the top of the hat and drew and oval extend 1" out form that and extruded it. This is the floor of the rampart. Then, I drew and oval the thickness of the foam around the edge of the floor and extruded it both up and down to create the rampart wall. The wall should hang over the bottom edge of the rampart wall. Finally I sketched a buttress connecting the outside of the hat/tower and the bottom of the rampart floor. I copied the rampart and distributed them around the rampart.

This is where the CAD modeling really helps out. Designing and placing the dice tower and other hard parts. Use the "section" tool to create views of the inside and the "project geometry" tool in sketches to get outlines of existing parts to make sure the new parts fit snuggly. And you can use the model to 3D print any none foam parts.

One of the most important parts/dimensions at this point is the internal cap, created in the previous step. This is where the top of your head will be in the hat and the base of the dice tower. The dice tower will determine the ultimate height of the hat from this point. The dice enter the tower from the top of the hat, in the center. And then exit at the bottom of the dice tower point towards the front of the hat.

The other key element is the tube the dice come out of the tower and down onto the brim of the hat. Use the "sweep" tool for this. First draw the outer shape of the tube. You can use a simple circle for this. I made mine look a little like a castle door. Then draw the path the die will take from the exit of the dice tower to the brim of the hat. Then sweep the tube shape along that path.

Make sure the insides of the dice tower and tube are big enough for the dice you will be using. Of the dice used in Dungeons and Dragons and other games the 20 side die is the biggest. It's widest point is just under 1" (25.5 mm) wide. I made the interior of my tube and dice tower a minimum of 1.0625" (27 mm) wide to allow the dice to roll freely.

Finally there is cross bracing frame to connect the dice tower top to the inside of the hat and a connector to connect the top funnel (next step) to the dice tower.

I made the dragon head in a different program and will talk about that in a later step.

The funnel at the top of the hat was a challenge to design. A traditional funnel is an circle, but because of the shape of the hat, the top is a oval and the base is a circle.

To make the funnel I took two cross sections of the top of the hat. One at the width and one at the length. I then drew a rectangle the thickness of the foam, that touched the rampart wall and the top of the hat, and then it when down to opening of the dice tower. Do this for both the length and width. Then create a plane where the top of rectangles touch the inside of the rampart. Create a sketch on this plane and use the project geometry tool or just draw an oval that matches the dimensions of the inside of the rampart. Finally use the "loft" tool to connect the two rectangles. Make sure to use the oval as the "rail" for the path. If you don't use a rail the loft will be more linear then oval. This will create 1/4 of the final funnel. Use the mirror tool to reflect copies of the first part until you have the whole funnel.

Solid modeling programs are great for designs where you need precise dimensions, like the hat. Sculpting programs are great for organic shapes like dragon heads. This project uses both types of programs and the trick is combining them to make the final product.

I created the dragon's head in Nomad Sculpt (similar to ZBrush) because it gave me the freedom to focus on the look of the dragon and not the measurements. However I still had to make sure it would fit on the hat and not interfere with the dice tower. To do this I made a rough mock up of the hat using primitive shapes, like ovals, and then sculpted the head from digital clay. I knew I wanted the head to sit about where the tube for the dice exited the dice tower and I would need to make sure it didn't interfere with the exit. While my hat mock up wasn't the exact size of the solid model it was close enough to allow me to sculpt the head so it would fit where I wanted it to.

Again this instructable is not a lesson in digital modeling, but rather an overview of how to use these programs to design and build this hat. There are several great videos on YouTube on how to use Nomad Sculpt and other digital sculpting programs.

To make sure the dragon's head would fit on the final product I needed to bring it from Nomad to Fusion. I exported an stl file from Nomad and imported it into Fusion. In Fusion I was able to scale and place it on the hat where I wanted it. Fortunately there was no interference with the dice tower or exit tube.

You can have both solid models and meshes in the same file but they don't interact with each other. I had made the head bigger than needed and want to trim it to match the hat. I duplicated the solid model of the hat body and converted it to a mesh. I then use the "combine" tool to trim the part of the head than was inside the hat off. To do that select the head as the "target" and the mesh outer wall of the hat as the "tool". Choose subtract (the default is combine) and make sure the front/outside part of the head is kept and the interior part is removed. This way there the head is trimmed to match the curve of the hat.

Export and stl of the head and 3D print it.

Now its time to convert the 3D foam parts to a flat pattern you can cut out of the foam. For round parts like the hat body and rampart wall there isn't a way to flatten them out (that I know, please let me know if you do). I was hoping to use the sheet metal tools which will generate a flat pattern from the folded model. Unfortunately, Fusion only does square sheet metal parts. But you can use the "measure" tool to get the dimensions of the parts and then draw a flat pattern for them. First measure the heights of the hat body, and walls. And then measure the circumferences of them. Use these dimensions to sketch rectangles that match these dimensions.

For flat parts, like the base, use the align tool to lay all of them out on one plane and then use the sketch tool to create a sketch of all the parts. Then right click on the sketch and select export dxf file. Us a drawing program like Adobe Illustrator to open the dxf file and print it.

I've attached an Illustrator file and a pdf version, of all the flat parts. I used my regular printer (paper not 3D) to print out paper templates that I traced onto the foam and then cut the foam out. The parts are bigger than a standard 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper so you will need to tile the prints and print them on multiple sheets. Then tape the tiled prints together to make full pattern.

I also recommend cutting out the hat brim, cap and top rampart support pieces first and the using a fabric tape measure to measure the circumference to the pieces before cutting out the walls and hat body. The CAD model measurements are pretty accurate but I had to adjust the length of the walls to match the actual measurements of the brim. The size change a bit (human error) as I was cutting parts out and it was good to check the measurements. Also I cut the walls and body a little long so I could trim them down as needed.

Time to start putting it all together. After cutting the foam pieces out, its time to glue them together. Contact cement is a great glue to use with EVA foam. When using contact cement be careful about the fumes. Use it in a well ventilated area. Start by adding glue to the edges of two parts where the parts will join together. Allow the glue to dry for about 15 to 20 minutes then press the glued parts together. The glue will stick together just about instantly. It can be repositioned but not easily, so think about where you will start joining the parts and then slowly press them together.

A good place to start is the brim and the rampart wall that goes around that.

I recommend doing a dry fit (no glue) of the pieces to make sure they fit first.

Again there a lot of great videos and instructable by people who are better at this than me. Many cosplayer use this technique to make foam armor and other props.

Moving on to the hat body and the internal structure of the dice tower. While it is possible to make the hat body out of 1 large piece of foam, I decided to split it into 2 pieces. The idea is that the 2 glued seams will add some stiffness to foam tube that makes up the body of the hat. The front seam will be hidden behind the dragon head and dice tower tube. The front seam also becomes a good reference point for locating the front center of the cap that dice tower sits on.

Start by gluing just one seam of the hat body together. Then draw a line on the inside of the hat body at the height the internal cap/headrest will sit. Also draw the outline of the base of the 3D printed dice tower on the top of the foam cap to help position the dice tower. Add glue to the edges of the cap and the line for the height of the cap on the body. Orient the front of the cap (where the dice tower sits) to the seam of the hat body and start slowly pressing the glued parts together. I only did half the cap edge to start with and then once it was in position I glued the rest.

Now you have the tube and internal cap that will make up the body of the hat. Next I glued the hat body to the brim, making sure the front seam and location of the dice tower, was facing the front of the brim.

Next I glued the 3D printed dice tower and frame together. The dice tower is printed with the walls separate to make removing any supports easier and so I could test it with the sides open. Glue the walls to the sides of the tower and then glue the frame to the top of the tower. I used superglue (cyanoacrylate) for this.

Now its time to add the dice tower to the hat. I choose contact cement for this part, but superglue would probably work too. Glue the base and front (where the dice exit) of the dice tower to the top of the cap and the inside front of the hat body. Wait to glue the frame to the inside of the hat so you can focus attaching the base and front of the tower. Then I used superglue to tack the frame to the inside of the hat.

You will need to cut an opening in the front of the hat for the dice to come out. You can feel the opening in the dice tower thru the foam by gently pressing on it. Then use an x-acto knife or other knife to cut the opening out. At this point do a test fitting of the 3D printed tube the dice exit the dice tower in. Don't glue it in place yet. Wait till after painting.

Top make to top rampart of the hat, start with rampart floor and glue it to the top edge of the hat body. Medieval castle ramparts walls usually extended below the floor of the rampart. Often there were opening to drop rocks on attacking forces there. Draw a line on the inside of the rampart wall at the point it will connect with the rampart floor. I choose 1/2" offset for mine. Glue along the edge of the floor and on the line, then attach the rampart wall. Below the rampart floor I added some small buttresses, partially for support but partially just because they look cool. Since this was not structurally important I used hot glue for this. I also glued 2 pieces of foam together to make the buttress thicker.

Designing the funnel was tricky but making it was another challenge. I could have 3D printed it but I wanted to make it out of foam. Since I couldn't get Fusion to make a flat pattern of the 3D part I had to make a good guess as to the foam pattern shape. I sliced one the 4 sections into subsections and measured the length of the edges. Then created a sketch and used the edge lengths to make a flat oval. I'm sure someone who is better at trigonometry or calculus could come up with a better plan but this worked well enough to cut out the initial shapes in foam. I extend the outside edges by 1/4" to give some wiggle room. The 3D printed funnel connector was designed to have an edge I could glue the foam piece to.

I started by gluing one of the quarter segments of foam to the funnel connector. Then I glued the next piece to the edge of the first one and the rim of the funnel connector. I worked my way round the hat. It wasn't perfect and required some trimming of the pieces as I went. I did end up with a small gap in two of the seams but I was able to fill them in with hot glue. In the CAD design the funnel was supposed hit the rampart wall a 1/2" below the turret openings to keep the dice inside the rampart but I ended up going right to the top of them, so the dice do bounce out if thrown in with to much force. Something to fix if I remake this.

Once the hat is all put together its time to paint it. I used spray paint to paint the foam hat.

For the dragon's head, I used a base of red spray paint and then used acrylic paints, to hand paint the details. One technique I used to make the scales pop, was take a very liquid black paint and add it to the cracks between the scales. Then I used a rag or paper towel to wipe as much of the paint off the tops of the scales so that only the black paint in the bottom of the cracks stays.

Again I'm not going to go into more detail on painting. If you need more advise there are plenty of instructables and YouTube videos on painting.

Take the dice tube and glue it to the exit of the dice tower and the brim of the hat. Superglue works great for this part.

For the dragon's head I choose contact cement because I know its a strong and flexible glue. Apply the glue to the back of the dragon's head and to the font of the hat. When the glue is ready, position the head so the horns stick out in front of the rampart and the bottom of the head is just about the dice tube.

Now start rolling some dice. You can roll dice while wearing the hat or with it sitting on a table.