With a new game, comes a new costume. The new game is New Super Mario Bros Wii, the new costume is the Propeller Helmet.
The propeller helmet allows Mario to fly up into the air and slowly decend.
Supplies:
Without a propeller this would be more of a fashion accessory than a power up, so the propeller is where we will start. It's possible to buy propellers for things from boat motors to model planes, however, I chose to build my own. It was cheaper, and I could build exactly what I wanted.
First, I sketched out a stencil for a blade on a piece of paper, I then used the stencil to layout the shape on the board.
I used a coping saw to cut out the propeller blades, then lightly sanded the edges to smooth the rough spots left behind.
Next, using a miter saw I cut 1/4" slots on a 15 degree angle into opposite sides of the dowel rod. After making a quick test fit I rounded the top of the dowel using a rasp and sand paper. To finish up the propeller post I used my miter saw to cut the dowel to about two inches.
Adhere the blades with a bit of wood glue and set it aside to dry.
Once the glue is dry add a couple coats of yellow paint and your propeller is finished!
The helmet came with the visor snapped to the top, however, the Mario helmet, has a visor mounted inside. To address this I drilled the out the snaps on the visor and the helmet and was able to wedge the visor inside between the shell and the foam padding.
With the visor in place I drilled a hole in top of the helmet where I wanted to mount the propeller. Next, I slid the bolt from the inside of the helmet and attached it with a nut and washer. Eventually, I drilled a hole into the bottom of the propeller and sat it on the bolt.
Next, I painted the helmet with red spray paint. Don't do this! Turns out the helmet has rubber trim, and spray paint eats rubber. So, I had to remove gummy paint with paint thinner and sand paper. Not sure why you would be making a Mario propeller helmet, but if you are you, I'm glad you can learn from my mistakes.
The correct approach is to paint the rubber with a latex based paint, once it dries tape it off before spraying the rest.
I'm kind of impatient, so my paint ended up running because I didn't wait long enough between coats. But, it's for a webcam show, I'm sure you wouldn't notice had I not mentioned it here.
I printed a mirrored image of the M decal from my computer, then glued the print out the back of a piece of contact paper. Using a razor knife I cut out the decal. Sticking the decals on each side was pretty straight forward.
And that's it, I'm now the proud owner of a Propeller Helmet!
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