this unit should start off by repeating the assurances of the highest gratitude towards those that came before it, in particular mx. Vivian Rose and unit ⛧-440729. both guides have been very helpful to this unit in synthesizing its own visor. the standard disclaimers concerning shoulders of giants apply.
(this will become a paragraph or two outlining what a visor is.)
the 6800 style of visor has become quite popular for, as far as Δ-44203 can tell, mostly sociological reasons (networkological? reteological?). it is certainly not the only option. this unit is convinced that the Network is optimized by improving the diversity. interchangeability pleases the robot, but it does not imply being fully identical.
if anything is unclear or incorrect, or the reader would like some help, please beep at Δ-44203 or toot at it. this unit is programmed to be helpful!
one could get a genuine 3M model 6800 full face respirator. or simply browse AliExpress and immediately find a knockoff for a seventh or so of the price. this one went for the latter option. not only is it cheaper, the modifications will probably also destroy any of the advantages of the genuine 3M item with regards to respiratory protection.
suggestion: get the respirator with a flat exhale valve on the snoot: one can place cute stickers on it.
one might as well get some respiratory protection while one is at it. not only to get rid of all kinds of nasty viruses that might infect the wearer, but also to get rid of all kinds of nasty smells. when travelling on the Train à Grande Vitesse this one sits in polite puzzlement as all fellow passengers complain about the smell. this one uses P-A-1 activated carbon filters with an extra K95 filter on top. trusting Wikipedia on this matter: A stands for organic gases and vapors. (that is: things that stink.) P stands for particulate and is supposed to protect against particles suspended in the air, such as viruses. bigger numbers mean better, longer lasting, filters. K95 is a related standard and is about comparable to P1. (but by combining them one gets a multiplicative increase in filtering efficiency. profit!)
some decisions to make: get the real or the knockoff respirator?
reasonable price for this step: €30 (for 6800 knockoff with filters); €200 (for a genuine 3M 6800 with filters).
estimated subtotal: €30.
the respirator is designed to be used by human workers who like activities such as communicating with each other and having a face. that is not the goal of this project: time to lose some face. in this step the faceplate of the respirator will be tinted to obscure (but not hide completely) the facial substructure of the wearer.
a simple method is window tinting foil. this unit forgot to record the precise specifications, so the precise numbers are a reconstruction: a 75% transparent foil (blocking 25% of incoming light) should be enough to make it a lot harder to see from the outside in, while making it not too hard to see through the visor. (it helps that to see out, light only needs to pass through the visor once; to see what is inside, light needs to enter the visor, bounce off the object and then come back out. another multiplicative bonus!)
a more complicated method is to use dyes to darken the faceplate plastic. this unit has not attempted this, but if the reader is curious please beep at it and it will compile some sources and/or contacts.
the bad news if one uses foil is that it will never quite stick perfectly: the faceplate of a 6800 respirator has curves and a sheet of foil considers that to be rather egregious behavior. there will be bubbles or small imperfections in the foil no matter what happens. the good news is that small imperfections are only noticeable from the outside if one looks carefully under the right lighting conditions, and even harder to notice from the inside.
this one put the foil on the outside of the visor for two reasons: it seems useful as scratch protection, and hot gluing things to foil (in later steps) is probably not very practical.
to get started, take apart the respirator from the side, where a bolt and nut hold it together. the nut will fall to the ground and will be impossible to find. suggestion: get a powerful magnet. once both bolts are unbolted, the hard plastic part of the outer shell can be pulled off gently from the soft silicone part, which can then also be removed from the transparent faceplate. this should be enough, although ambitious readers can go further and remove the silicone half-face bit on the inside. now is a good time to clean the faceplate. cloths for cleaning glasses work well enough. and be careful to only hold the faceplate by its edges with clean hands, so it does not get dirty again.
now the faceplate is free and clean, it is time for the actual tinting: get a sheet of window foil, cut out a rectangle that is a bit bigger than the faceplate. then choose one of two methods.
for this, stick the rectangle of foil to the faceplate with some transparent tape, and use scissors to cut the foil until it matches the faceplate shape. work on one side (cutting the tape holding it in place there), tape it together again, work on the other side (cutting and retaping), and continue until the shape looks good.
this works well for the top half, where one sees out of. but the bottom half has a different (and non-constant!) curvature, which is actually where tape helps out: by taping it up under a bit of tension, the foil smooths out the curves a bit and can stick to the faceplate even going around corners. it is not going to look perfect, but it will work. and the bottom half is mostly hidden by the filters anyway, so it does not need to be too perfect.
this approach is somewhat more limited (since it really does not like curves) but has the big advantage of making the foil stick to the top, visible, half of the faceplate much smoother.
like in the foil[0] approach, use scissors to cut the shape of the faceplate (with some margin). this time, do not include any of the bottom curvy parts, only follow the top part that has all the same curvature. window tinting foil does not like curves.
get the faceplate wet. ideally use a spray bottle filled with water, but a bathroom sink works well too. the goal here is to have a layer of water covering it, so that the foil (after the backing is removed) does not immediately stick, and instead floats slightly on the water.
carefully peel off the backing of the foil and stick it to the wet faceplate. it is going to give a mess of bubbles. the important fact is: these are water bubbles, not air bubbles, and so the foil can still slide around and be moved into the right place. on the other hand, the foil can now slide around. one has to be careful and accept annoying setbacks.
holding the foil and faceplate in the middle, gently slide across the foil out from the middle with another hand to push bubbles towards the edge. (gloves made of textile seem to help, giving some grip but not sticking so much that one pulls on the whole foil along instead of the bubble.) repeat until most of the big bubbles are gone and only a few small ones remain. (a few small bubbles is more or less the best one can do.)
once most bubbles are gone, use a blade (such as an opened pair of scissors) to cut away the edges of the foil that stick out from the curved top surface. cut slightly inside the boundary, since the edges are going to be raised slightly and raised edges also count as curves. (the edges of the faceplate will be covered by the other visor parts anyway.)
in this process the foil will likely have become full of bubbles again, so repeat: smooth away the bubbles, cut away any new bits of sticking-out foil, and repeat until it looks good enough. (emphasis: good enough.) it is a frustrating process but eventually one will get it done.
some musings on how one's lack of a visible face means one has to act much more with body language. presumably there are entire doctoral theses in furryology to reference on this subject.
some decisions to make: how dark to make the foil? put the foil inside or outside? tape or stick the foil?
reasonable price for this step: €10 for a roll of foil (much more than one will ever need, even if one needs to retry a few times).
estimated subtotal: €40.
obtain panels from AliExpress. hot glue them into place. connect to a microcontroller.
reasonable price for this step: €60 (panels) + €25 (control circuit parts) + €5 (various consumables).
estimated subtotal: €130.
put microcontroller into a nice enclosure.
reasonable price for this step: €10 (box) + €5 (cables) + €5 (various consumables).
estimated subtotal: €150.
design new expressions for the visor. this will be a quick run through the code. (perhaps prepare a suitable template to customize to the reader's liking?)
reasonable price for this step: €0. hooray for free software!
estimated subtotal: €150.
stickers! 3D printed filter holders! light sensors! head up displays! wristbands! be creative!
reasonable price for this step: €undefined.nan.
estimated subtotal: €150.