Monday, July 27, 2015

Cheap Kids DIY Knight/Crusader Helmet



The other day I decided that my three year old son needed a knight helmet for our foam sword fights, so I sketched a pattern on some poster-board, cut it out, and taped it together to make this:


He was loving the new helmet, and played with it a ton, but I figured I could do better. The next day, I took apart the poster-board helmet and used it to make a pattern out of printer paper.


I traced the new template onto some sheets of craft foam (the thicker ones that you can pick up from Michaels - 5mm I think). I cut out two copies of each of the long pieces pictured above, and one circle. I used contact cement to glue the edges together on these pieces. This stuff is great for foam because it gives a great hold immediately upon pushing the two pieces together. You have to spread the cement on each of the surfaces that will touch one another, and then wait around five minutes before pressing the pieces together. The 5mm foam is thick enough that you can apply the cement directly to the edges and it provides a large enough surface to hold together with the glue (which is important on the curves).


Once I had the basic helmet constructed, I drilled some holes on the right side for ventilation and because it looked cool. Then I sealed it with Plastidip (may have been Flexidip this time, but they are pretty much the same thing). The Pastidip/Flexidip is in an aerosol can like spray paint, but it essentially provides a thing rubber coating over the foam. This is important because the foam is very porous, and does not take paint well otherwise (it soaks it up). I also inserted some brads in various places so that they would look like rivets in the helmet (you can get the brads at a craft store like Michaels).


Once the sealant coat dried, I hit with some black primer. You can skip this if you use black Plastidip, but I only had red lying around. Once that dried, I gave it a few coats of a hammered steel spray paint ( I think it was Rustoleum). The hammered metallic paints give the foam a cool weathered texture and look less fake (in my opinion) than the standard metallic paints. After that, I painted some weathering on the edges and crevices with black acrylic and silver Run'N'Buff, and painted an X emblem on the left cheek (my son's name is Xander, so it seemed appropriate.


Here is the foam helmet next to the paper one. Not too bad for a one day build right? Xander seems to like it anyway...


Now I just need to make him a proper knight's sword and shield. I made the shield tonight, hopefully I can get the paint done tomorrow. I am debating whether to keep the X emblem on the shield, or do draw a dragon on there. We will see.

If anyone wants the templates I made, just leave a comment and I will post the pdfs. Keep in mind that they are made for a three year old, so you will have to scale up for a bigger kid or adult. 







23 comments:

  1. Would love to have a copy of your templates!!!
    Very cool :)

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    1. At the top of the page, just above the first picture, there is a link called 'Edit: Link to PDF template.'. Clicking that should give you the PDF template. Please let me know if that doesn't work (sorry for the delayed response).

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  2. yea some template would be nice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At the top of the page, just above the first picture, there is a link called 'Edit: Link to PDF template.'. Clicking that should give you the PDF template. Please let me know if that doesn't work (sorry for the delayed response).

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  3. This is awesome! My son is thrilled. He wants a knight valentines box for school and then this can double as his dress up helmet because he always dresses up as a knight. He draws knights constantly. Thanks so much. We would love that template. He is hoping to get started today.

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  4. I would love a template of your awesome helmet please!! My son wants to be a crusader for a Renaissance fare and for Halloween. This helmet will go perfectly with the ideas I have. I'm also going to try and make some armor for the legs and arms as well. Thank you in advance!!

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  7. what are the measurements of the template? My son LOVES this helmet!

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    1. The template was made to be printed on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper as is.

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  8. This is awesome. My son has a renissance project and was trying to figure a easy helmet. Thanks fir this. Just have to figure measurments as my son is much older

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  9. the link does not work for me. Is still valid?

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    1. The link should work - I have noticed that some people try to access from k12 email addresses are having issues with sharing via Google drive. I will take a look tonight and see what I can do.

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  10. Link worked wonderfully for me. This is very nicely done. Our VBS is planning to create a Medieval Knight of Armor to create and teach the Whole Armor of God, and this looks pretty do-able for that project. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  11. I would love the pattern for my son’s b-day party. Thanks.

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  12. could i make it like swaggersouls helmet???

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  13. Omg this post is super old. Im hoping I can still get the template🙏

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  14. nice i'm going to try an make this

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  15. I would like your patterns of your knights helmet. I am starting to work with kids church here

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  16. Please I would love the templates

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  17. Hello, is it possible to have the templates please. It's a very nice helmet

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  18. Hello, it is a very nice, sturdy helmet, I want to make them for my two grandchildren. Can I please have the template. Thanks

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  19. Fantastic share and build. Important to show kids how things can be made from a template...not 3 year olds..12 and upwards..going back in time can rebuild the present...craft the future. Budding designer's in the making. Onya Mate! I'm from Australia.

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