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cwiegert

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Alright folks, I know this topic isn't so much about filmmaking, but hey, dvxuser has never let me down before. :) Anyways, I am constructing a homemade daft punk helmet for halloween and wondered if any of you do-it-yourselfers have any idea how I could get a nice chrome-looking finish on it. I'm currently sanding down the bondo to get a smooth final body before painting and adding the visor.


here are some photos


n1605240080_30036641_858.jpg


and another

n1605240080_30036642_1105.jpg



any ideas would be appreciated!!!!


P.S. for those of you who may not know what the actual helmet looks like, here it is (the one on the right)

BackupHelmets.png
 
spray paint really will not give you that kind of chrome spec, if you want it to shine, I'd either have it profeshianally painted, or look in to nickel,

if you try to paint it yourself, then primer it, chrome paint it, then coat after coat after coat of clear gloss.

good luck
 
yeah thanks guys, any of you know the ballpark price range I would be looking at for a body shop to chrome it, if you think they would even do it?
 
Yeah you will have to have it coated with a metallic spray first, then metal plated. Probably copper, then nickel then chrome.

Metal coting non metalic objects is abit of a dark art, since metal plating is an electonic process (electroplating or electrolisis) the object needs to conduct for the plating material to stick to it...
 
@ cledwards, does the person you heard about this from have any photos of the finished product? I'd love to see what it turns out like but I don't really trust their website for an honest opinion.
 
I've been in a similar situation before actually, wanting to get something "chromed". Here's the scoop: Don't do the "chrome bumper" spray paint, it sucks beyond your wildest dreams. Don't try to get it actually CHROMED, it'll weigh a ton and cost a fortune. Have you ever seen toys that have chrome looking parts? They're silver, reflective almost to a mirrory extent, like real chrome. Random examples:
15f8_1.JPG

a798_1.JPG


This is of course not actual chrome. Nor is it a paint. It's actually a baked on powdered coating. Sorry to say I don't know what it's called or how much it costs, but hopefully this will start you down the path to righteous-chrome-ness.
 
nice armisiano!!!!! I've actually come across this stuff on some recent google searches and you can pick some up on ebay for like $5. That might be my best option. Apparently my instinct to take any f*cking question ever to dvxuser was correct.
 
@ ryan, thanks I didn't see those videos before and it really does look good.

I think my best option here is to use the cheap bake on stuff temporarily to tide me over until after halloween. Then, once I have set aside $150 bucks (ouch) for a chroming kit I'll do that to make it shine fo real
 
cwiegert said:
nice armisiano!!!!! I've actually come across this stuff on some recent google searches and you can pick some up on ebay for like $5. That might be my best option. Apparently my instinct to take any f*cking question ever to dvxuser was correct.
Click to expand...


No problem. Info I just picked up somewhere when I looked into it myself a few years back.

I never had the chance to actually do it myself though and implement the whole thing. Let me know how it goes, please.

Thanks.
 
the helmet was made from a 3D model turned into a cut-out template on paper by a program called pepakura viewer. You then fold it up according to the programs instructions. Once I had the paper model completed. I resined the outside of the paper to build up some strength, then used bondo fiberglass sheets and resin on the inside. Once this was done it was really rigid and I was free to bondo the whole thing. Also, the ears are just the bottoms of beer cans. Right now I'm just applying more bondo to smooth it out and sanding.

The ebay item I referred to is this one
 
cwiegert said:
the helmet was made from a 3D model turned into a cut-out template on paper by a program called pepakura viewer. You then fold it up according to the programs instructions. Once I had the paper model completed. I resined the outside of the paper to build up some strength, then used bondo fiberglass sheets and resin on the inside. Once this was done it was really rigid and I was free to bondo the whole thing. Also, the ears are just the bottoms of beer cans. Right now I'm just applying more bondo to smooth it out and sanding.

The ebay item I referred to is this one
Click to expand...

Okay well you'll have a few problems with powdercoating the helmet. First the powder has to be baked to cure. That powder has a 12 minute bake time at 360 degrees, not sure how well the bondo, paper, and resin will deal with that heat. Powder is flowed to the part using a special powdercoating gun, you can't use a gun designed for liquid paint. Also the powder attaches to the part basically through static electricity. The helmet would have to be metallic to attract the powder to the surface. You could use lab metal (a sorta metallic bondo) or JB weld, but you'd have to cover the entire surface in them to get a good coat and I'm not sure how well it would work. Last do you have an oven large enough to bake the helmet in after coating? You can't use an oven you cook food in because curing powder gives off fumes.
 
For props or anything that uses bondo, Paint's the best bet in my opinion.

Chrome paint's never perfect but the Alsacorp stuff is widely reknown as the better chrome alternative out there.

House of Kolor's Kosmic Krome may be another alternative to look into - haven't seen it applied though so I can't say if it's any good personally (although HoK make awesome products)

You'd be best served by getting it whatever paint you want applied professionally though, as there are some pretty stringent requirements that you need if you want it to come out nice (as well as the initial cost of the paints themselves are steep - someone that will use them on more than one job won't charge you for the full container)
 
alright well i guess I'm gonna go with the paint then.

master p - where might I get it painted professionally?
 
Have a look around for auto spraypainters in your area - many of them do small jobs (I've used a couple for painting custom PC cases) and most of them are pretty cool with doing something a little out of the ordinary - breaks up the day a bit :)
 
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