Chin light assembly with battery loom

Today I cut out the lens and mounted it in the Chin light Body.

Then I added the led collars and leds to the Chin light Core insert.

I inserted the core in the body. seemed to be a very nice fit, though it's not gripping which I most prefer. I may adjust the measures of the parts for that.

Then I tested the leds with a 9v battery.

Note the blue light?

This is also seen in screenshots from the series, as shown in several images I've posted earlier, thoguh these LEDs are brighter and I might need to use a weaker battery for them to get the exact same results. This is 9v leds powered with a proper 9v, I can power them with a pair of 1,5v instead to make them less bright. 

Note that the blue light from these lenses are only visibly blue in photos, it looks white to the naked eye. But when my helmet's done people taking photos of it at Cons will get the same blue as seen in the series which is cool. :)

I won't repost photos of the chin light on the helmets in the show, it's been done. Just check on earlier posts if you want to compare.

I could just wire this up in the helmet at this point, but I wanted the chin light to be replaceable and easy to install on the helmet so I took the extra time to make a cable and male/ female two part connector and battery loom for it.

For that professional look ;)  and also this makes for a better interchangeable assembly where i could even make spare parts of the chin light unit or battery pack to swap at Cons if needed.

Did I forget something part 2

So the air coupling was moved from the original position by the propmakers at BBC.

Let's have another look at that.

This is the coupling in its' original place.

The helmet mating surface for the coupling looks like this.

It's actually a flat surface, but with tracks for the locking mechanism. 

The yellow arm thing is the lock, it needs to function with the new placement or the hose may disconnect or tear loose unexpectedly.

I modeled it on the photos above and some measures of the physical parts.
The adapter should look something like this:

This is close enough to do a test print on at least.

New versions of lantern and chin light

I've put a lot of work into getting the ear pieces perfect but the parts I started with like the lantern housing have stayed largely the same thoughout the process.

As I discovered screenshots showing new angles I haven't kept up to date with some parts, namely the chin light and lantern. Some of this wasn't even apparent until I had the lantern housing printed in my hands.
So I decided to put some more work into them.


These are the new versions.

The plug at the back is visibly far larger than I had made it previously. 
The top transparent part was also far wider, with a large radius ridge and a wider angle on the sides, it's also supported by mesh like the front lens.

The peak and top of the housing are also not as high and the front is slightly angled (15 degrees to be exact).

Ep. "Kill the Moon"

Perhaps the lantern needs to be a little wider still, the peak block corners should also have less of a chamfer and the back block has a different angle to the top edge chamfers.
Still work to do apparently, but clearly improved.

Photo from the "Doctor Who Experience" in Cardiff. Note the mesh structure inside the top lens. To the right a "white" mesh material with a clear or possibly no lens mounted is visible.

Chin Light

The chin light was also not perfect so I changed it, although only minimally.

3D CAD model cut to show the layers of parts

Rough scraped and sanded parts just after printing, this photo also shows the insert holder for the LEDs. LED collars and 5 mm white LEDs will be fitted later. 

3D print sanded. 
The setting I used didn't create a perfect solid so fill texture is visible even after sanding.
I'll have to use filler and paint this housing before final assembly. Maybe for the best though becasue it has some scuff marks showing a glint of metal in some scenes in the show. That's best to add to a paint surface, not plain plastic which won't fool the eye and just look tacky.

Quick mockup showing what it'll look like. The curve of the base plate turned out to be a perfect fit on the helmet.

The chin light now uses the same lens cut from the weld visor lens material and a securing block behind it. I added LED collars because it's the easiest way to fasten them safely and they can be replaced later if needed.

 Photo above is from the episode "Impossible Planet" (All rights BBC, with David Tennant as the 10th Doctor) showing 3 distinct white LEDs behind a frosted (or say a protective covered) lens giving it a blueish tint.

Adding lens and mesh to the lantern housing

The lantern housing has now been sanded enough so that minor remainig scrathes will be filled in by painting.

So I was eager to try mounting the white lens and mesh backing.
I made a cardboard template, tried that in the window and then cut the welder lens I got in the box with the Pro-Cap helmet, leaving the protective white film on.
I strongly suspect this weld lens is what BBC used to make the lamp lens from. It comes with the helmets and is left over if you don't use the outer welding visor.

I cut the aluminium mesh the same size, trimmed off just a little on the sides and bent it slightly along its' length to fit it more easily.

Then I slid it into the slot behind the lens, had to work it in a bit and at the end I flattened the top by pressing it to the lens. Then I worked it home into the top slot.

Just a perfect fit!

Then, the light test, would it look as it does in the Show?

Comparing to a screencap from "Kill the Moon"

 I'd say yes! The seemingly white film even gives the same light blue tint to the light. And the lens also looks to be the right dimensions. :)

Wait... did I forget something?

Yes, I forgot the adapter block to attach the moved hose connector from the filter fan unit.

Upper right corner, the hose on the Procap helmet has the coupling for the hose at the base, but they moved it to make space for the bellows and change the look of it some. To do that they used an adapter block.

I just made a basic adapter block for the piece to go on, I'll need to adjust it because I have the part at home and I'm not home until the weekend.
I'll also have to model the coupling or this thilng'll never fit as it's supposed to. Note that my helmet mockup also doesn't have the ridge at the back as the real one has.
I'll have to figure this out.

Lantern housing being printed

Here's the Lantern housing being printed

The filament used is ABS+ silver with metal powder in it.

It's gray with a somewhat metallic look to it and is one of the more form-stable materials during printing, making it pretty smooth and exact.

This is before sanding

3D-printing has begun

The first parts printed are the side knobs.

3d print after sanding

Photo showing before and after sanding and assembly

The parts can be further smoothed with acetone.

Normally the minor remaining print lines is absorbed by painting, but the knobs are black plastic and I want to retain the natural look it has. So I'm thinking about it for this part.

In the meantime this is how it fits on the Pro-Cap helmet.