Helmet

Worked on helmet tonight for about 3 hours.  Started getting tired when doing details around eyes.  Still have another block of clay if needed.  Might make helmet neck base wider.  When done I will do a final finish with a wet flat trowel tool for smooth edges.

Helmet Model

  Portrait of Prowl head that I will be designing my helmet after.  The red forehead wing will be added later after cast is made with standard vinyl or acrylic plastic cut to fit.

This mannequin head I found in SD at an old downtown apartment rooftop.  This will be used to sculpt a helmet from layers of modeling clay.  

After that I will make a mold of the helmet and then create a cast helmet from the mold.  I had to construct a sturdy base that allowed the head to sit level from its original crooked position.


 

 The white helmet will be a guide for the curvature of final model helmet.  Found the white helmet on craigslist.

 

Fenders on Back Harness

  This past weekend allowed time to work on back section of harness.  The backpack harness came with aluminum convex strips sewn into material for support.  These strips are how I am attaching everything together with machine screws and other aluminum brackets.  
  Eventually the back section will enclose the battery bracket and have windshield/dash attach over battery.  So far overall weight is approximately 10 lbs.  Battery will probably add about 5 to 10 more.
  

One inch PVC pipe will be more than sturdy enough to support and hold back assembly together.  

My initial idea for doors to attach was using aluminum one inch strips and then bent to desired angle. With PVC couplings I can get any angle I want and have a design that's able to remove doors with ease for transport and/or storage. 
You can see in this photo how much the doors weight down the back assembly slightly, might have to adjust to compensate.
  

WEEK 4 Jan 25th - Feb 1st

   I did manage to piece together a rough idea of how the waist belt will roughly look like.  I will try to have the waist belt look similar to the original toy.

 Glued together a bracket that connects underneath the front grill.  Eventually I will fasten a foam pad where this bracket rests against the abdomen area.

WEEK 3 Jan 18th - 25th

This week was primarily spent constructing a torso mannequin for harness assembly and attaching front grill with hood in place and verifying actual fit.   
Also applied primer paint to some plastic parts to test the bond and verify if sanding is necessary.  
I will most likely do two coats of primer with sanding, and maybe just one final coat of black and white, then a final acrylic gloss clear coat.

Front end with hood temporary clamped 

D-rings for attaching front grill to harness

I started this project the first week of January of 2013, and I started this blog 3 weeks later.
My class schedule for February has allowed for more time to work on Prowl.   
It has been difficult  to locate a distributor of plastics locally here in Roanoke, so I am waiting for a catalog from a plastic company to maybe get some plastic sheet material.
This photo is of a more recent released Prowl figure that has more detail and articulation.   
The lower leg sections is the same design I will attempt to re-create.