Tips and Tricks for making the Helmets

[Rabid Irish]

Where did you find the material TB? Got a link?

[ThreeFN]

Where did you find the material TB? Got a link?

Yes please.

As for the rig, slowly. My sub visor went in the mail around Jan 18. I finally got it on Tuesday (Feb 8). Two bloody weeks in disappeared into the mail system. No tracking, nothing. Then it starts moving again last Friday. Luckily it wasn't damaged in the process.

Once I got the sub visor, put a solder fume extractor on order, two day shipping. I should have gotten it Thursday. I won't get it until Monday because of a storm system in OK Tuesday night. Not Friday, a one day delay from the storm that was 6 hours. No, Monday. Clearly the powers that be are conspiring to not have me built the darn thing.

The other major hurdle 3FF and I are struggling with is the side bars. We've gone through I can't remember how many iterations of these things in the last few weeks. It's probably no longer going to use shiftbrites, but octobrites instead. The light box design is killing us. Maybe an image will explain:



As you can see, the light box as we call it is interfering with the video goggle mount. Another problem is the video goggle mount is exactly where it needs to be, so there will be no changing it any time soon. So I have to find a solution that makes the light boxes smaller. Or at least get them out of the way of the goggle mount.

I've taken the opportunity to finally start a blog about all this. Setting the way back machine for the start of the project and rolling forward from there. I've added the link to my signature.

Which reminds me I forgot the put up the new post last night. Let me go fix that.

[Thomas Bangalter]

@Rabid and 3FN, I will try to find it online but if not I can buy more material and either send it to you guys or I can make the gloves for you, I have patterns and its not too difficult.
Wow,awesome you have made pretty good progress, question though, I cant remember. Are you using a custom Guy helmet you have crafted or one of Volpins? hmm I see your problem....I would try to help but I am sure you have already thought of it.

[ThreeFN]

@Rabid and 3FN, I will try to find it online but if not I can buy more material and either send it to you guys or I can make the gloves for you, I have patterns and its not too difficult.
Wow,awesome you have made pretty good progress, question though, I cant remember. Are you using a custom Guy helmet you have crafted or one of Volpins? hmm I see your problem....I would try to help but I am sure you have already thought of it.

All my own work mate, always has been. keep in mind, technically, I started before Volpin did, back in 2006. But my most recent model (the one everything is based on) is younger than when he started. I actually used his orthogonal views for comparison/reference.

In the current design I have tolerances that, at this point, can only be done with 3D printing. I think I've got parts with only 1.5mm of separation when they slot together. No offense to Volpin, or the process at large, but a slush cast wouldn't be accurate enough since the design has become this fiddly.

Hoping the blog will work out as a nice narrative that describes all this lunacy I've undertaken. And maybe, just maybe, so that I don't have to re-answer the questions I've answered 100 times before

[Dez79]

i just read your blog ..... and my only words are impressive.... the whole journey must be and have been mind blowing to say the least. Keep it going all the way .you got yourself a fan now!!

[ThreeFN]

i just read your blog ..... and my only words are impressive.... the whole journey must be and have been mind blowing to say the least. Keep it going all the way .you got yourself a fan now!!

Cheers mate.

I'm going to try and aim for a post a day. Some short, some long, some fun, some highly detailed, etc etc. Most of them will have a lot of cliff hangars and open ends referring to bits I haven't explained yet. I'm working up the backlog, so hopefully I will hit the one a day target. There's a lot of ground to cover. I'm trying to keep it logical, but you have to understand how tangential all of this stuff ends up becoming. 3FF is building his fair share of the project and even he can't follow me half the time

I have no idea how many posts this project is going to take to explain. You may not be able to follow it to the letter and recreate what I've done, but it should show my approach and associated decisions/decision making process.

Mind blowing? Not so much as blowing up my mind. I'm sure a psychologist somewhere would diagnose me with something if they knew about this project.

Gone on business all next week. So won't be soldering any time soon.

[DeadDuck]

Is anyone willing to make me a Guy Manuel helmet? I'd be willing to pay at least 100 dollars. Without LEDs of course.

[Thomas Bangalter]

I favorited your blog

[greygizmo]

Bookmarked as well. His is my favorite project currently.

[ThreeFN]

Bookmarked as well. His is my favorite project currently.

Glad everyone is enjoying the read

Guess this means I better get crunching on that backlog. Like I said, I will be away next week on business. If I don't pass out on the plane, guess that's something for me to do.

3FF and I are fielding the light bar fitment problem. May have found a potential solution, and of course it's 'suitably ludicrous,' otherwise known as 'par for the course.' If we pull the trigger will keep you guys updated.