Just bought a DP helmet, what do I do now? lol

[candychic125]

Hey guys.

I just bought a DP helmet. It's already been sanded, and it looks like its in a not so great condition. No visor was included, and it looks like there are remnants of plastic and glue in the corners of the visor area...

So, my questions for you:
1) What kind of paint do I use to refinish the helmet?
I don't mean what color, I mean actual substance. Brands and links would be helpful.

2) Where can I buy a new visor?
Or, how do I make a new visor?

3) Should I completely cut out that ledge of plastic where the visor was originally glued down?
Does that damage the helmet's collectible value? Should I leave a little shelf to glue a new visor on top? What should I use to cut it, if at all?

Thanks in advance!

[stripes]

Can you please post some pictures? This will help with making some suggestions to get the helmet looking good as new.

As for the paint, it all depends on what colour your outer cloak is as to what brand you'd be looking at. The best suggestion is to use all the same brand no matter what choice you go with as they will bind to each other properly at a chemical level.

[candychic125]

Sure, here ya go
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... CN1247.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... CN1248.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... CN1249.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... CN1250.jpg
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn20 ... CN1251.jpg

Can you please post some pictures? This will help with making some suggestions to get the helmet looking good as new.

As for the paint, it all depends on what colour your outer cloak is as to what brand you'd be looking at. The best suggestion is to use all the same brand no matter what choice you go with as they will bind to each other properly at a chemical level.

[stripes]

Thank you for posting the pics.

In short, you will want to remove the entire section where the old visor used to sit. I also have a Don Post (see picture below). As for how to do this, you can use either a file or a dremel to get rid of the excess plastic. Your new visor will be glued inside the helmet.

For a replacement visor, you can find them more often than not offered up on Ebay. You can also check the costume resource thread here on the boards for additional options.

[candychic125]

Thanks. Yeah I don't know what happened with the visors on ebay. It seemed like the day I bought the helmet, all of the listings closed
Thanks for the info on cutting out the visor, though.

Thank you for posting the pics.

In short, you will want to remove the entire section where the old visor used to sit. I also have a Don Post (see picture below). As for how to do this, you can use either a file or a dremel to get rid of the excess plastic. Your new visor will be glued inside the helmet.

For a replacement visor, you can find them more often than not offered up on Ebay. You can also check the costume resource thread here on the boards for additional options.

[stripes]

The visors come and go on Ebay so just keep checking there, and like I said, check the resources thread and see what other people have found/used for visor material.

[redpaint]

For the visor what a lot of us over here use is a replacement welders visor grade 3 and just cut the shape you want and then glue in place.
They're not red but have the advantage of no eyes even under flash photos.

You can get them from any saftey work wear type store.
They're usually only around $20 too, and you can easily get 2 or more visors out of them.

[JesterTDA]

I've been using a face shield from either a motorcycle (they come in smoke and I've added a red transparent piece of plastic under it to make it a dark red) or a face shield from a work mask used for people who use grinders or other heavy equipment. The motocycle shield cost me about $8 locally but it came in smoke, the equipment mask cost me just over $5 but was clear.

[candychic125]

Cool, tyvm for the info. Is it hard to cut?

For the visor what a lot of us over here use is a replacement welders visor grade 3 and just cut the shape you want and then glue in place.
They're not red but have the advantage of no eyes even under flash photos.

You can get them from any saftey work wear type store.
They're usually only around $20 too, and you can easily get 2 or more visors out of them.

[candychic125]

Did you end up tinting the clear mask? Were they hard to cut?

I've been using a face shield from either a motorcycle (they come in smoke and I've added a red transparent piece of plastic under it to make it a dark red) or a face shield from a work mask used for people who use grinders or other heavy equipment. The motocycle shield cost me about $8 locally but it came in smoke, the equipment mask cost me just over $5 but was clear.