Tauruscat: The Pattern

I have enough of an idea as to how the helmet should look to move forward on this, and so I have begun making the patterns. First I had to create a head form over which to shape the cased leather helmet. To do this I bought a used hardhat and filled it with a harder version of plaster, and stuck a pipe into it so I could mount it in a vise. Then, after popping it out of the hardhat, I shaped the head form with a Surform® (a hand tool which is a combination of rasp and plane) until it resembled my Bavarian helmet.

Next I had to enlarge it so that one size would fit all, which I accomplished by fiberglassing over the plaster with stockinette and polyester resin. The fiberglass was rough and uneven, and so I smeared Bondo™ all over it to fill in the gaps. After sanding it smooth the pink resin and whitish Bondo left a mottled look.

First with a pencil, and then with a Sharpie®, I drew out the patterns. Professor Tauruscat had a strong belief in numerology, with both seven and eleven having a strong significance to him, so I made the skull pattern with seven panels, which will be pierced by eleven holes for mounting the sensors.

Then I laid masking tape over the form, and traced my pattern lines onto the surface so that I could cut them off. The pattern piece on top will be covered with a resin central processing engine as described in the letter. After laying the individual pieces of tape down on cardstock, I will have my patterns, and can then transfer them to the leather.