I got the BEST Xmas present EVER from the BEST partner EVER!!! I got the Female Ancient Nord Helmet raw cast from Volpin Props! I had been eyeing this ever since he made the first one and did that awesome photoshoot with it, but it was quite daunting, since I didn’t have the tools or know-how to do it. Since I’m doing the Ancient Nord Armor, aka Aela the Huntress, I thought it would be awesome to have this helmet, yet I’d given up on getting it.
On Xmas day, however, I was super surprised to open this up! I just stared at it in my lap while the rest of the presents were opened. 😛 And since we were in Virginia with my partner’s family this year, I got to use my FIL (Pete) and his tools to help me spruce it up!
Pete taught me how to use a dremel tool and we started by cutting out the eye holes and nose separation part. This gave the sides a bit of bendy-ness. We also over-trimmed the bottom lip quite a bit so I could slide it over my head. Okay, I am a petite person, and I always fancied that I have a small head as well. So I was pretty upset when the helmet didn’t fit! I could just barely squeeze it on, but my head was being painfully squished. 🙁 Volpin’s site did say it was made for a small head, but I (and my partner) didn’t realize that I apparently have a fat head. 😛 To make it even worse, my SIL jokingly tried it on, and it was too loose for her! Same for my MIL! Ugh.
Well there was no way I was going to give up on this preciously awesome helmet, and luckily Pete is super smart with this kind of thing. The issue was that the sides needed to move outward, so we cut a line at the corner of the eye and over the antler oval mounty thing. Pete made some strong shimmy things to pry it open, then epoxied it up. Then after it cured I smoothed it out with the dremel. After doing that its definitely modified from the original shape, but I think it still looks “right” as well as awesome, and more importantly, it fits! Its slightly snug on my cheekbones, but I can deal with that.
Here is a gallery of each step we took to modify and finish this helmet. I used the same paint techniques that I used for my Aela the Huntress armor. Pics below!!!
