How can I make a stencil for a rounded object?

Question

I'm trying to make a stencil for my new snowboarding helmet, but I'm running into some issues with the whole geometry issue. Turns out that in 8th grade, they forgot to mention that you cannot form a helmet-shaped object out of a flat piece of paper. Thus, I'm having a lot of trouble getting a stencil that will conform to the shape of the helmet.

Do you have any ideas?
I live in a crappy little boarding school town that doesn't even have a traffic light, much less a Wal-Mart, or anything of the sort. It would be preferable if I could use supplies that I could find around here.

Also, I'm looking for ideas as to what the stencil should be. It will be under another question (another chance for you to earn points as top answer!) that you can access through my profile. Please check that out too!

Answer 1

You will need to make several stencils, have a look,

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_(differential_geometry)

Answer 2

The answer is MASKING FLUID!



Frisket makes a fantastic latex masking fluid. Paint it on, paint over it, and peel off the mask. It's really easy to use, and you can get great detail out of it. You can get a smallish bottle at Michael's for like ten bucks - I'd imagine it's pretty inexpensive online. If you can order it from where you are, do it! Frisket products are pretty high quality.



As for the design, totally up to you! Check out art blog/sites for inspiration. Good luck!