The Armour Archive

It's not getting the steel to move. It's visualizing adequately the shape it needs to move to...

I've been working, off and on, on one of Zweihammer's Valsgarde 6 kits.

The bowl went together very nicely and the pieces all formed to the shape they needed to be pretty easily. It's not very hard to see what they flat Y or X shape is going to look like as it conforms to its piece of a somewhat off kilter hemisphere (aside - what the heck is the proper name for the eccentric three dimensional shape of a helmet bowl ? )

Today I've been working on the face... again... some more. Those odd leggy shapes that form the goggles need to curve and twist in some really odd ways and I'm just not getting my mind around it.

I've tried getting a couple of points to where I can anchor them and then trying to move along getting the next piece and the next to come into alignment, but it's been a one step forward two steps back process that is not working. I've taken the second one and brought it around so I can anchor it at both ends and tried to see the rest of the shape from there.

Taking a break, going to work on something else, because right now I'm just not grokking this and it's only making me frustrated.

Hi, Yes take a break from it if your frusterated. Try getting pics of what your building from a few different angles and keep them basicly in front of you as you work on your helm. You can do it.

Take care

PB

back when I was first starting out I found it very useful to have a piece in front of me that was similar to what I was trying to make. I once won an award for the worst piece of armour I was willing to admit to making. It was made before I had a good example to go off of.

Kilkenny wrote:It's not getting the steel to move. It's visualizing adequately the shape it needs to move to...

I've been working, off and on, on one of Zweihammer's Valsgarde 6 kits.

The bowl went together very nicely and the pieces all formed to the shape they needed to be pretty easily. It's not very hard to see what they flat Y or X shape is going to look like as it conforms to its piece of a somewhat off kilter hemisphere (aside - what the heck is the proper name for the eccentric three dimensional shape of a helmet bowl ? )

Today I've been working on the face... again... some more. Those odd leggy shapes that form the goggles need to curve and twist in some really odd ways and I'm just not getting my mind around it.

I've tried getting a couple of points to where I can anchor them and then trying to move along getting the next piece and the next to come into alignment, but it's been a one step forward two steps back process that is not working. I've taken the second one and brought it around so I can anchor it at both ends and tried to see the rest of the shape from there.

Taking a break, going to work on something else, because right now I'm just not grokking this and it's only making me frustrated.

I believe that the 3 dimensional shape that closest approximates the upper half of a human head is an ellipsoid.

I understand your frustration. My issue is similar. I know what shape I want to achieve and can even usually get it to the shape I am imagining but it doesn't seem to be the shape that makes the kit go together. Consider yourself lucky that the V6 kit is more forgiving then the topfhelm kit.

We MIGHT be able to explain the shape better if we knew which piece you were working on and how it was looking. Care to post pics?

Sean

Use the steel as a template and make a leather one. You know how to make the leather move. do that and then do it again to the steel one.

I was going to say "demi-ellipsoid."

I found when pounding a helm face, to shape kitchen aluminum foil over my face and carefully remove it.

I would trim it with the scissors and use that as a model.
I could measure it, and see the 3D needed.

Knees, shoulders and elbows work the same.

Best of luck.

Hal

Halberds wrote:I found when pounding a helm face, to shape kitchen aluminum foil over my face and carefully remove it.

I would trim it with the scissors and use that as a model.
I could measure it, and see the 3D needed.

Knees, shoulders and elbows work the same.

Best of luck.

Hal

hmm.. Thanks for that tip Hal. We'll see if I have time and energy to give it a try tonight after work and the gym