I decided to break out a box of Ogre Kingdoms Bulls that have been packed away for over a year. After a few hours, I got bored and decided to do something different....turn one into a big fat savage Samurai.

*NOTE: If you plan to vulcanize a mold for a model using sheet metal understuctures, there are steps that need to be taken so the gs doesn't delaminate during the heating process. Since this is not going to be molded, I won't be adding those steps.

Using sheet metal understructures can be a problem if you don't take measures to make sure the putty won't delaminate from the metal during the heating process of vulcanizing.

Make sure you heavily scuff the metal to give a good surface to stick to. I also perforate the metal with a pinvise so that the gs can form through the holes and make a tight bond. The more holes the better.

The problem with using metal lies in air being trapped between the metal and the putty. Once the heating process begins, the air expands and finds a way out. You must be very methodical in applying the putty to make sure you don't trap any air.

I have seen some models come out completely destroyed but with a good mold. Others, with not such a happy ending. 

I decided to make the kabuto (helmet) out of copper because some of the pieces would be very weak if sculpted. The maedate (crest) and fukigaeshi (wings) in particular needed to be strong and I didn't want them to be thick and bulky.

These are the basics and will get you going.

Here are the tools I will be using.

A regular claw hammer, a metal smithing hammer, a dapping stake, vise, wood block and a jewelers saw.

The first step is to anneal the piece of metal you are working with. Annealing is a process of heating the metal to rearrange the molecules making it softer and easier to work with.

I use an industrial heat gun for small pieces and a torch for larger pieces.

Heat it to a dull cherry red and let it cool down slowly in the air. Quenching doesn't really do anything for copper but with other metals, it can harden it again.

This picture shows two pieces of copper from the same sheet. The one on the left has been annealed, hence the darker color. That is firescale and can be removed later. I use a Scotch pad (green dish scrubber thing) to remove fire scale from copper.

I am using a dapping stake as a form so I have cranked it down in a vise.

First stage of forming: Lightly tap the metal around the form while rotating the piece. Try to use a hammer with a smooth face. Any flaws in the face of the hammer will get pounded into the metal. I am using a metal smithing hammer with a polished face.

Now, anneal the metal again. Forming compresses the molecules and makes it hard again.

Here, I am using a block of wood and a regular claw hammer to push the stake into the metal. This process is called chasing.

After the dome is formed, I carefully cut the part from the sheet using a jewelers saw. The edge of the pieces can be filed smooth.

If you have any questions, please post, and be careful.

Here are some other tools I use for working with copper.

The set of tools with the round ends are dapping tools and the smaller group is a set of chasing tools.

I am fortunate to have a lot of specialized tools. Most of the tools I use can be found at any good jewelers supply company.

After getting the dome shape, I cut it out with a jewelers saw. I also cut out the maedate and a piece to shape the back of the helmet and the wings.

Sorry this one is a little blurry. The parts are small.

Once the parts were cut and shaped, I fired up my soldering iron and cleaned the parts so they would take the solder.

I attached the dome first because it was bigger and would hold up to reheating to attach the crest.

When you solder small parts, start with the biggest piece first and work to the smallest. When you heat the piece, the smallest parts will heat up first and desolder. If I had attached the crest first, it would have certainly fallen off by the time I got the dome hot enough to solder.

The finished piece:

Now I have a good foundation to sculpt the details of the helmet.