Need Help: Sculpting a Full-face Helmet to Fit

Brian "Panda" Choi

So, I'm making a helmet of a comic book character for a client, and there's a specific situation where I'm not entirely familiar doing. He would like it completely wearable from the get go (after printing).

What do I need to do in ZBrush to make sure this helmet will fit his head straight from the print

My first instinct is to duplicate, scale the helmet down, and cut out the initial shape through a boolean operation, though I have a feeling that might not just be it.

I have recieved a dimension of 23 1/2 inches for his head size.

I believe he's planning to print this through Shapeways.

ZacD

I'd use existing masks and helmets as a reference. You have to make sure that it is thick enough to be sturdy, and will fit over an actual human head.

You probably need to get some measurements from his head, you don't want it to be too wide or narrow in places.

Printing something like this is going to be expensive, and typically involves some trial and error.

Brian "Panda" Choi

I now have orthos of his head. Hopefully this is enought?

Anyone else have any tips?

pior

I would suggest to maybe buy or borrow a motorcycle helmet to see how padding works in there. Prosthetic masks (flexible) sure need to be created on top of an accurate plaster cast of the person receiving the makeup, but hard surface helmets are a different deal altogether ...

Another good reference to look at would be Youtube channels of Ironman and Daft Punk helmets prop maker fans.

Xrobots.co.uk :

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLA5KKWO6Qw"]XRobots - Wireless Iron Man Suit Helmet Motorized Faceplate using PICAXE Microcontroller Electronics - YouTube[/ame]