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  • 1 month later...
Posted

This is epic ??? looking forward to seeing how this develops ??

  • 1 month later...
  • 5 months later...
Posted (edited)

Hello again,

It's been a slow few months. The moths inhabit the empty wallet, and the paint is slow to dry in the cold of late winter / early spring.

 

I have since acquired the HPA engine (Scalar Seraph, though I've yet to acquire the tank and regulator. I've started working on the HPA adaptation of the M7 SMG, and will be looking to do do some preliminary thinking and design work for the MA5B (Assault Rifle).

 

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Cute lil thing.

 

 

I reprinted the entire helmet as the prior one was too small for me. I also printed it as one piece instead of 2, out of PLA-ST instead of ABS. I got a significantly cleaner and stronger print. 

While experimenting with the electronics, it turned out that DC fans usually don't like PWM unless they're designed for it. This means that unfortunately I had to ditch the controllable fan speed for a simple on / off switch.

 

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Preliminary sanding done using orbital sander, proxxon pen sander for details, and hand sanding. My fingers and tendons thanked me for buying the pen sander.

 

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Layer of Motip spray putty that needs to be sanded right back to the base material. Leaving too much on makes the paint easy to chip / flake off.

 

 

Unfortunately I spent a lot of time sanding the helmet smooth, painting it with a rather heavy top coat of Maston olive green, before figuring out an alternative finish that I'd rather use. It sealed the deal when I foolishly thought the paint was fully set and I turned it over to paint the bottom. Somehow I hadn't thought of making a helmet stand, and the paint on the top marked from the bubble wrap I'd set it on. I sanded it back a bit before applying the textured finish.

The technique I discovered was simply painting over a textured spray paint, which provides a nice textured finish that's extra matt and scratch resistant. Unfortunately this meant I wasted rather a lot of somewhat expensive paint.

 

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Comparison between the same paint, both smooth and textured.

 

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Rustoleum textured paint. Created a helmet stand for painting without the paint ever touching anything.

 

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Overcoated with Maston olive green.

 

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Unfortunately the black also didn't fully set, and the masking tape marked it lightly. The lacquer evened it out well enough thankfully. I've never had this many issues with paints not setting even after days, even in the cold months. I had the same paint mark from sitting on fabric weeks after painting. I ended up using a food dehydrator inside a large cardboard box, set to 50'C for 12 hours to "bake" the paint. It seems to work well.

 

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Voila. I think it came out rather well. The chin strap was a bit of an experiment, to see whether a fully elastic strap would work. It didn't, it's *too* elastic. You want a little bit of flex to allow your jaw to wag, but too much and it allows the helmet to shift and pull right off your head if you fall. So as you can see there are multiple layers of elastic with some inelastic strap to remove the elasticity rather than ripping all the stitches. I'll certainly change it at some point. I've used a magnetic buckle as I did with my previous helmet that makes it easy to secure with gloves on. Due to the buckle, you can't get a cheek weld on the side it's on. It can be reversed easily, but not something you'll be doing mid game. Getting a cheek weld in general is awkward, but it's the price you pay to use a "sci fi" helmet. It is possible, and better than my prior helmet in most ways.

 

I've also added TPU (rubber) pads to the inside and bottom of the mandibles to stop any scraping against guns to protect the finish of both and reduce noise.

 

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The padding is a rather crucial part of this helmet. Not only is it about comfort, but it's about safety too. I see a lot of dodgy custom helmets, and I wanted this one to not be a death trap while running around playing in the woods.

I've bought a set of quality D30 pads from a body armour shop, which are amazing at absorbing impacts. Some may know D30 from motorbike armour / padding. These form the primary padding around the skull, while my own DIY padding protects the neck from rotation of the helmet. It consists of 20-30mm of hard / dense EVA foam, with a soft open cell fronting and sewn mesh covering. The fan and battery is integrated in such a way that it doesn't protrude or create any pressure points.

The fan is a little louder than desired, but it does actually work to clear / prevent fog if you tilt your glasses slightly so there's a gap at the top for the air to pass into. I imagine it works well for goggles as the top vents would be closer to the duct outlet. The side panels can also be replaced with low profile ones that should allow wide goggles to fit. Key thing for me is it's low fuss, no tubes to mess with, and it's there when I need it. It's a little noisy for running all day, but there's enough capacity in the 18650 battery to do so.

 

Something I may look into eventually is fitting a full face shield, a little like the NMPD police helmets in ODST. The Bolle sphere would be the main candidate as it has a 16J impact rating.

 

One more project I'll be working on is a backpack for my kit and the HPA rig. I wanted to do the hardcase trooper backpack from Halo Reach. This'll be a tall print, using up 359mm of the XL's 360mm build height. I want to add some MOLLE modularity to it. I'll be sewing the straps and padding system, and likely padding out the inside so it's not a rattle can.

On another post I'll detail the DIY chestrig I made once I have the chestplate and pouldrons finished up.

 

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Thank you for reading, more updates to follow :)

 

Edited by SkywardSoul117
  • Supporters
Posted

Damn, you're taking this seriously.  Good call on the D30, and the 5150 fan.  Mine's round the back, and I'm forever trying to find a ducting solution that works reliably.  Having it on the front and blowing straight down is a great idea.

  • 3 months later...
Posted (edited)

Hello again, 

I've made a fair bit of progress, so I felt I should drop an update on what I've been up to. 

 

The biggest project has been the SMG. To be seen completed (to be painted still) below, complete with functional suppressor and fairly game accurate red dot sight. 

The red dot is a Vector optics 1x22 V3. A very good value optic. It has an auto-off, which is great as I have a habit of killing batteries by leaving optics on... 

 

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It's seen some improvements to the selector switch (new higher quality toggle switch), stock detent system, grip battery panel, and now includes a threaded barrel. The magazine was also improved (now a few mm wider to allow for  extra M2 bolts which ensure no flexing apart of the two halves when using strong springs). These improvements will translate to the AEP version if I ever make another. It's also printed in a new ASA (123-3Ds brand), that I've found to be exceptionally printable in a mildly warm chamber. It's a little bit more flexible than the PLA-ST I used previously, but it's more temp resistant (fine to be left in a summer car in direct sun) and long term environmental stability (10y+). 

 

I've since acquired an Airtac tank, reg and line, along with a filter and pump. It's gruelling work (doubly so when I found the reg outlet had a leak, and I didn't turn the reg off, letting out most of the air), but tolerable. 

Parts were acquired for the M7, such as an FPS airsoft 185mm barrel, Lonex AUG hop chamber, XT barrel extensions, and an alu toob. Various little bits and pieces.

 

First testing of the engine went well, though when I got it into the actual gun, ran into some consistency issues. As it turns out, stock tappet springs aren't nearly strong enough, and a stronger one had to be stolen from another replica. Unfortunately the extra strength tappet springs are ludicrously expensive for what they are. 

 

(sound warning)

 

See the basic working setup of the gun. The Seraph is a particularly unusual engine in that it requires a carriage with a tappet plate to be made. Thankfully I nailed the dimensions on the first go. 

 

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See, comically large "ultra super sneaky suppressor". 

 

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And torch mount with completed suppressor. The suppressor has a series of plastic rings holding some rods that keep the foam out of the path of the BB, while allowing the air to expand into the foam. I lined the inside wall of the suppressor with TPU rubber, and included some TPU cones. I'd do some testing to find what's most effective, but I'm plenty happy with it as is. 

 

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I believe the extra moving parts (tappet plate) adds some unsuppressable noise. The loud crack is successfully deadened however. 

 

 

Another improvement over the original is metal detent sockets for the foregrip. I went to the effort to add a metal plate in the stock, so I figured, why don't I have metal inserts for the foregrip also? I didn't like having metal on plastic, when I value longevity. 

 

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I've also successfully managed to print polycarbonate (eSun) for the first time, so any clear parts you see are now in polycarb. This includes any high wear pieces or pieces that benefit from being stiffer, such as the feed nozzle, magazine release and hook etc, and the magazine base (which is very thin at the base, so benefits from the far better impact resistance over PETG). It's clear to allow you to see how many rounds are in the magazine (though unfortunately not while it's in the gun).

 

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The backpack is near completion, though due to life, it has sat with only spray putty, ready for more work for a time now. Padding, lid and straps are done. Hopefully soon to be completed, so I can use it to carry the HPA tank for the SMG. 

 

Buckles are 3D printed and magnetic. 

It's also a rather unintended design point that alice pack straps can be used if wished. 

 

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I've also finished sewing the chest rig, completed some more BR-55 pouches (unfortunately run out of ranger green cordura, and now don't have enough for SMG pouches), and completed the arm panels for the pouldrons. 

Unfortunately ranger green cordura is shocking scarce, and the one place I can buy it, it's £30 per meter, 3 or more times the going rate for similar material. 

 

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(don't know why this one is flipped, can't fix it). 

 

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One small last thing, I added a USB charging board for the 3.7V battery on the helmet. Fancy! 

 

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Thank you for reading. I plan to get some decent pics of me in gear soon.

o/

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Edited by SkywardSoul117
Posted

Thank you lads. The helmet's a bit front heavy with the armour panel, but I've designed and printed one that's about half the weight that I need to paint up. 

Bit of a shameful self plug, but I do sell the helmet on Etsy under Thunderhead Armoury. 

 

SOEIV coming up. Parachute, a big metal bucket, and a cliff. 

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