Death of the Foam...

Hey everyone.
Just an update on the construction of the foam based Daft Punk helmet. As the title suggests, the foam construction idea was an idealistic design that failed. (as many of you predicted it would...)

Here's a brief summery of why. First off, the sanding of the foam was more of a hassle than a time saver. I originally thought that it would be easy to construct the helmet this way because I could just use the sander to cut out the exact shape I wanted. Doing it however proved to be a very frustrating and time consuming process. I would spend a few hours sanding the foam to the correct shape, only to realize that it was still too large, then the whole scaling process would start over again.

Eventually, the foam got so thin that it would either start to crack or punch through. (not good) So I think that the idea of making a Daft Punk helmet out of foam was never meant to happen. (Except for the Daft Punk costume girls... no comment)

THIS DOES NOT MEAN I AM GIVING UP!
I have started making a helmet in a new way, building it up from a baseball helmet base. I am about 79% done with the construction of that and I hope to have it done soon. IF it is a success I will make another one and do a full step by step tutorial on how to make your own. So far I am finding the new process a lot easier. You also get a lot more out of the time you put into it. I hope to have the helmet done within a few weeks and I'll report how the final product turned out. Just so you know, the current helmet that I am making will be fitted with glowing el wire to replicate Daft Punk's encore outfits of their ALIVE 2007 world tour. The next one that I make will be a normal performance version with the silver finish. (I may or may not put it up for sale when I complete the tutorials)

Check back for more updates that are to be coming soon!

PEACE & Beats
-mnellykid

Time Out, So Log On

Hey there, as you may be able to tell, I haven't been able to do to much noticable work on the Thomas helmet over the last few days. I have been very busy with school and my various sports teams. I'mm try to get some more pics and maybe another video up showing my progress.

In case you haven't seen it, I have posted a video on YouTube showing fast motion clips of me sanging the helmet during one of my past work sessions.




I also found a very cool web site called The Daft Club. On the site there is a forum thread all about how to get started making your very own Daft Punk helmet! The starter of the thread is the user wolf_boy2027, and he is very knowlegable about how to get started with making helmets.

Here is a link to the thread:

http://www.thedaftclub.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?26602

I'm also going to try to make a helmet using the baseball helmet based method, but I still am going to try to finish the foam bodied one for the people reading this blog and the people of The Daft Club.

So until next time, you stay classy Daft Nation!

and don't forget to Practise & N Joy! (Just for you Johnathan! :P)

It's all Hand Sanding Now

This was the fifth day of working on  construction.  I was very close to being able to f*** the whole project with one slip of the rotary sander so it was all sanding by hand from then on out.  Every rub of the sandpaper was carefully thought out because I didn't want to do irreversible damage to the design.  Basically what I'm trying to say is that now everything is happening very slowly.

If you compare the sides of the face surfaces 

to the pictures in the last post, 

you can see the extra shaving 

that took place to resize the "face".

I also spend a good deal of time smoothing out 

the transition from the visor incline to the main dome shape 

of the main part of the helmet.

Day's Total Work Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

Taking Shape on Day Four

On the fourth day I started to really shape the helmet.  I thinned out the sides and begun carving the front "face."

The start of what will be the lower visor ridge 

and the mouth and cheek surfaces. 

Me trying it on to check the size and balance.

I was actually just goofing around...

Here you can see the raised back edge of the helmet, 

the vaguely defined face surfaces 

and the yet-to-be-trimmed visor area.

Day's Total Work Time: 1 Hour

Day Three

Ok, on day three I broke out the rotary sander and went to work.  I started to smooth the edges and start to shape it.

I smoothed out the edges on the back side.

Also, I flattened all the sides of the block, 

just so that it would be friendly to work with.

I then rounded the back sides of the helmet 

and started making the vague shape of the front visor.

I rounded and smoothed all the surfaces

 to get a bulky outline of the final product.

After much sanding and smoothing, 

this is what the block of foam turned into 

during the work on day three.

Day's Total Work Time: 1 Hour and 10 Minutes

Le Deuxième Jour

On the second day of construction I worked mainly on finishing the hole for my head.  When I finished that, I started to trim away large pieces of foam that wouldn't be wanted when I started sanding.

The hole in the foam when I started working.

It got to a point where I didn't use the drill anymore 

because I didn't want to dig too deep.

I used a cheese grater like carving tool to slowly 

shave away and smooth the foam on the inside of the hole.  

When I finished with the hole, I used a saw 

to cut away the extra foam on the side 

that will be the back of the helmet.

The pointed side will be sanded down 

to be rounded and smooth, but I decided 

to save the sanding for the next day.

Day's Total Work Time: 30 Minutes

Let the Games Begin...

Here are some pics from the first day of construction of the helmet...

I took a plank of hard insulation foam, 

cut it every 15 inches lengthwise, 

and used "Liquid Nails" join them all together.

I let the block of foam set for 24 hours with weight on it 

so that it would get a nice, solid adhesion.

I began to bore a hole at about the center of the foam block.

After about a half hour I had made a hole wide enough 

to fit both of my fists in. All the drilling to this point 

took about 30 minutes, and I called it a day.

Day's Total Work Time: 30 Minutes

Here We Go

Ok, so one day I had an idea...    "Let's be Daft Punk for Halloween next year!"   Sounded like a good idea at the time.  So I Googled "Daft Punk costume" and the search turned up nothing.  I realized that all I really needed were the helmets and the rest of the costume could be put together separately.  I then searched for "Daft Punk helmet" and found, to my amazement, that you could by one and have it custom made!  Then I saw the $65,000 price tag, not to mention getting permission from Daft Punk themselves to have a replica helmet produced.  

I then started brainstorming ways to make my own helmet.  I know it sounds crazy, and it is, but I am attempting to make my very own custom Daft Punk helmet!  

This Blog is for my friends and others who want to track the progress of the build. I try to take pictures at regular intervals or when I finish my work sessions.  Here, on this very blog, all the pictures will be shown, and maybe they'll help you on your way to making your own helmet!