Ren's awesomeness had to be scaled down to enter our mundane universe...

[Kouri]

Prop builder chiming in.

You're not going to use Bondo or any other filler to actually adhere the components together. You need to use an actual adhesive for that first step. Epoxy, super glue, hot glue, contact cement, whatever. The filler is *just* for hiding the seams, and it only works if you've used a rigid adhesive like a hard-curing epoxy or super glue. Flexible adhesives would allow the parts to flex at the seams, cracking your filler.

On a side note, Ren's helmt actually had quite a few seams in the movie. Not sure how many you *need* to smooth out, whereas you might be able to accentuate them. This bit's up to your discretion, but if you fill the seams with a hot glue gun, spray paint the whole mask flat black, drybrush in charcoal grays and a bit of silver, the glued seams will look welded shut.

[Darth Justicar]

Thanks for the input!

A hot glue gun was on my to-buy list already to get the foam inserted on the inside (though if Superglue is serviceable for the type of plastic in this helmet, I may just go with that instead since I already have some of that on hand).  Would that be sufficient to get the two halves to stay together or do you figure I'm going to do better with Superglue/Gorilla glue, etc.?  I definitely want to get it to STAY shut because as mentioned before that is a seriously Ren-rage inducing thing when it comes apart and I have to spend so danged long putting it back together (though admittedly I am getting better at it).

Some of the seams don't need to show as I don't think they are in the same places as the movie prop.  To check for that, I will be using reference photos of the Anovos mask that I so cannot afford.

Light side point to you and thanks to all for tolerating my complete noobishness.

[Kouri]

Depends on the super glue. The liquid stuff is touch-and-set, while the gel stuff gives you a few seconds to line things up just how you like it. For the foam, you'd want the gel super-glue, since it'll soak up the liquid stuff. Hot glue gun's great on foam, too.

Didn't find a video for how the components fit together, but so long as the joining faces are smooth, super glue will work fine.

Also saw a couple reviews of the helm - I think I see the seams you want to fill. Plastic filler looks like it could work fine. Bondo would work great (it's not half as scary as you might think. Slap gray stuff on a board. Drip some red stuff on it. Mix until you get a dark pink. Slap the putty in the grooves.).

Also, there's a filler trick I've seen, but haven't yet tried. Fill the seam with super glue and then dust it with baking soda. The baking soda absorbs the super glue and basically makes a hardened white material that fills the seam. Keep doing that until the seam's filled, then paint over it.

Me personally~ Mmm, yeah, as long as it fit over my head in one piece, I'd probably just super-glue the pieces together and bondo the seams. Spray the whole thing matte black and repaint - even replacing the chrome with a weathered metal finish.

[Darth Justicar]

I'm actually tempted to try the baking soda trick, since I have a good supply of it already that I am using as grout cleaner.  I'll start with that in an unobtrusive area first just in case it backfires.

Sounds like gel superglue may be the best bet seeing as when it acts particularly cantankerous, it can take a while to get the mask components lined up.  But is that the same type of superglue used for the baking soda trick?

[Kouri]

Went online looking for tutorials since I've not tried it before. You'll need the liquid, water-thin super glue. Gel stuff won't work.

Process is

1) Fill seam with baking soda
2) Squirt liquid super-glue over bakind soda
3) Let rest - solution should become a hard, brittle plastic
4) Repeat 1-3 as needed.
5) Sand smooth.

[Darth Justicar]

Sweet, thanks.  I think I'll give that a shot once I have the initial gluing just to get the two pieces stuck together completed.

[Darth Knox]

Knox, the boots have a suede-like texture as opposed to being leather, which is where that look is coming from.  But since Kylo Ren has a lot of fabrics in his costume as opposed to hard armor, I think it's going to work.

Definitely need lots of different textures with all black layers to stop the costume looking black. Kylo has that down perfectly

[Darth Justicar]

Didn't accomplish AS much as I hoped to tonight, but I managed to at least get the foam installed that will make the helm a little bit more snug and comfortable.  What I'd hoped to use was something like a sheet of packing foam, but I didn't see anything like that being sold.  But while I was at Michaels. this happened to catch my eye:



I'm not 100% sure what artists use these for, but as soon as I saw them I realized I could disassemble a bunch of these and use the foam.

Just as a reference, below is a shot of what the Black Series mask looks like disassembled.  Note that I already removed the vast majority of the electronics.  Just one tip: Leave the circuit boards alone under the right and left control switches or there will be nothing to anchor the plastic making up the switches themselves into place.  Feel free to remove everything else except for those.  I found that out the hard way on one of them and it took me several minutes to get it anchored back in place.  Also, there is a plastic visor that came with the mask that you don't see right now.  More about that at the bottom.



Now, here's what it looks like with the foam installed (stuck with Loctite) and the helm mostly reassembled:



As you can see, there's currently nothing in the eye area.  My intention there is to use a pair of sheer pantyhose (nylons to those of you outside the US ) in lieu of the plastic piece that came with it which, while serving its purpose well enough to keep others from seeing in, unfortunately creates too much visual distortion, and seeing as I already have astigmatism, I would like to avoid adding more.

I attempted to mount the pantyhose fabric with the same Loctite gel I used for the foam, but that...did not work as planned.  It may be that Loctite doesn't like that material; IMO it is not a problem with the material the helm is made of given that the foam adhered just fine.  I'm going to have another go at it tomorrow with a hot glue gun instead, as I've heard of people using that method successfully.  Should that fail, I do still have the original visor and I can reinstall it, though again, I am really hoping to avoid that.

Should the hot glue gun attempt fail, are you guys aware of any other very inexpensive solutions other than reinstalling the original visor?

[Darth Knox]

Didn't accomplish AS much as I hoped to tonight, but I managed to at least get the foam installed that will make the helm a little bit more snug and comfortable.  What I'd hoped to use was something like a sheet of packing foam, but I didn't see anything like that being sold.  But while I was at Michaels. this happened to catch my eye:



I'm not 100% sure what artists use these for, but as soon as I saw them I realized I could disassemble a bunch of these and use the foam.

Just as a reference, below is a shot of what the Black Series mask looks like disassembled.  Note that I already removed the vast majority of the electronics.  Just one tip: Leave the circuit boards alone under the right and left control switches or there will be nothing to anchor the plastic making up the switches themselves into place.  Feel free to remove everything else except for those.  I found that out the hard way on one of them and it took me several minutes to get it anchored back in place.  Also, there is a plastic visor that came with the mask that you don't see right now.  More about that at the bottom.



Now, here's what it looks like with the foam installed (stuck with Loctite) and the helm mostly reassembled:



As you can see, there's currently nothing in the eye area.  My intention there is to use a pair of sheer pantyhose (nylons to those of you outside the US ) in lieu of the plastic piece that came with it which, while serving its purpose well enough to keep others from seeing in, unfortunately creates too much visual distortion, and seeing as I already have astigmatism, I would like to avoid adding more.

I attempted to mount the pantyhose fabric with the same Loctite gel I used for the foam, but that...did not work as planned.  It may be that Loctite doesn't like that material; IMO it is not a problem with the material the helm is made of given that the foam adhered just fine.  I'm going to have another go at it tomorrow with a hot glue gun instead, as I've heard of people using that method successfully.  Should that fail, I do still have the original visor and I can reinstall it, though again, I am really hoping to avoid that.

Should the hot glue gun attempt fail, are you guys aware of any other very inexpensive solutions other than reinstalling the original visor?

Nicely done! May I suggest using gaffer tape to secure the nylons to the mask? Just a thought.

[Darth Justicar]

In your experience does that hold things pretty tightly?  I ask because at least a little tension is put on the nylon material in order to ensure it's fairly see-through, so whatever is used to secure the material needs to be able to handle that.

[Darth Knox]

In your experience does that hold things pretty tightly?  I ask because at least a little tension is put on the nylon material in order to ensure it's fairly see-through, so whatever is used to secure the material needs to be able to handle that.

It should do. Gaffer tape has loads of uses and is very versatile. It is widely used in theatre, photography, film and television production, and industrial staging work with great results.

[Darth Justicar]

All right!  Here's tonight's progress update, with special thanks to Darth Knox for getting me out of a minor jam I encountered last night.

Tonight I successfully got the material installed in the front of the visor.  I wasn't able to find gaffer's tape, but I DID find some Gorilla brand mounting tape that advertised an ability to bear a 30-lb load, and knowing there was going to be some tension on the pantyhose material, that was a selling point.  To successfully get the tape to work, I had to press down very hard into every nook and cranny that the tape came into contact with.  Also, note that this was in fact double-sided tape I used, and the plastic material is still on the other side facing me!  Because I already knew, from where I had installed the foam padding, that there was no chance of my face ever coming into contact with the tape, I was okay with that.

Here's a look at the inside so you can see how exactly the tape went in there.  I added a bit more after this pic was taken, but this should give you the idea.  Note that I've already screwed the inner top piece of the helmet back in, so you can't see the big strip of tape running all the way across the length of the nylon piece I started with in the top area.  That's underneath the reinstalled piece:



After that, I used Loctite gel glue to superglue the two halves of the helmet together, putting that on the pieces that join up.  Now, before I show you the final result of tonight's work, I want to show you something to be cognizant of if you choose to mod one of these helmets and use superglue.  The superglue DOES react chemically with the plastic material of the helm, so if you get some superglue somewhere you don't intend, there is going to be a visible white mark.  In my case, I didn't care since I knew that even if that happened on the exterior, it is just going to get spray painted later so no one will see it.  But if you are NOT planning to do that, definitely do not put your gluey fingers anywhere near the outside of the mask.



So!  The result of tonight's work.  IF the selfie I took is any indication here, I can see out of the mask just fine with a little haze (enough that I was able to work my phone without any trouble), but seeing in is not as easy, though I can't say for sure no one would be able to see in a bit if the lighting were just right and they were standing right in front of me.  Overall, I am pleased with how the nylon installation came out.


(And no, you would NOT be seeing me if my mask weren't on! )

The next step is probably going to be the most challenging one of the entire project, and that is finding a way to seal the seams.  I'm going to try the baking soda + liquid superglue method first, and hope that works.  If that completely fails, I'm going to have to find some sort of putty, bite the Bondo bullet, or just do without that touch.

[Darth Justicar]

Just read that the superglue and baking soda method is exothermic and produces noxious fumes.  Going to have to wait until the weekend when I will have ample time and daylight to test it outside then since I don't know HOW noxious we're talking here.  Seeing as the chemical name for superglue begins with "cyano-" that to me screams "DO OUTDOORS."

[Darth Knox]

All right!  Here's tonight's progress update, with special thanks to Darth Knox for getting me out of a minor jam I encountered last night.

Did the gaffer tape work?

*Edit* -just read the whole post. Glad I could be of assistance.

[Kouri]

Super glue in general has some pretty nasty fumes. Should always be using it in a ventilated area. Allergic reactions take a while to develop, but when they hit, oy, can prove a one-way trip to the hospital.