MK V Dive Helmet – Cutting the viewport holes

It’s kind of scary to cut a big hole in the helmet, but it has to be done. I’ve looked over the engineering drawing for the MK V helmet, and tried to measure as accurately as possible where the viewport opening should go. And I’ve adjusted the location just a little, by eye. I’m using an inexpensive hole saw, from a kit purchased at Harbor Freight. The quality is not as good as something you’ll find at a tool store, but for limited use it should do the job just fine, and save a lot of money.

I’m drilling a pilot hole to get things started. Hole saws can be very “grabby”, so I’m moving slowly so that the saw doesn’t throw the helmet across the room.

Front Viewport

Top and Side Viewports

MK V Dive Helmet – basic shape

So this is the starting point for the helmet. A plastic inflatable ball with a cardboard base:

The starting point for my helmet. A little crude, but I think it will work

Now to coat it. I’m going to use plaster-coated cloth strips that I got from the hobby store.

I took the roll of plaster cloth and cut it into strips about 2-3 inches (50-75mm) wide. The gauze/cloth strips are just dipped into warm water. The excess water is squeegeed off with your fingers, and the strip is draped over the ball and cardboard

I made a real mistake by using a few cardboard strips for the “ribs.” This left a sunken area in between the ribs, and I stuck in a few cardboard strips to try and fill it in. I think it would be much better to use more ribs or, better yet, generate a conic section that fits the shape when rolled up, and cut it out of cardboard or similar material.