G-Force/ Gatchaman Swan/Jun Helmet

Ozymandius

Ozymandius

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
With the surprising popularity of my Gatchaman Eagle helmet, I have bowed to pressure and am continuing on with the series. However this time I thought it would be fun to do a build thread, including the mold process, to illustrate some prop building techniques.

But first I guess I need to supply some background information for any of the new kids that might not be up on all this.

First, this is Gatchaman/ G-Force/ Battle of the Planets (the show had different names depending on where and when you saw it)

Cheesy 80's anime goodness in all its glory.

And this was the helmet set I made...


The goal was to add extra detail and dimensionality to the original design without altering it's rather iconic look. It's a subtle upgrade that would still be instantly recognizable as Gatchaman.



The trick for me this time is how to do the same thing with the swan helmet without losing the smooth feminine lines. So here goes....
 
The first task is to make sure that the wearer can get it on and off, so I'm starting with a fiberglass underskull.



Because the drawings show the helmet wrapping around the head, I want to make sure that I don't follow so closely that it locks onto the armature and can't be removed.


First layer of clay smeared on so that the thicker layers will have something to stick to.
 
I used to rush home from school to watch G-Force/Battle of the Planets back in the day. Beautiful job on Mark's helmet. Subscribed.
 
This is such a great project! Did you ever complete the Jason helmet you mentioned in you previous thread? A full set of these Ozy designs would be epic.
 
Glad to see you continuing with these! I think especially with Jun's helmet, the key to give it the illusion of conforming to the head but still be able to get it on is to really accent those rather bulbous cheeks/ears. Much easier than it was with Mark, because the design already suggests going pretty wide there. I was going to attempt a budget Jun for a friend myself and actually started with a youth batting helmet with the visor trimmed off because it has that same basic shape.

Thread just reminded me I have some packing and shipping to do, btw. :)
 
Valor said:
This is such a great project! Did you ever complete the Jason helmet you mentioned in you previous thread? A full set of these Ozy designs would be epic.
Click to expand...

I'm working on finishing up the Condor helmet at the same time and taking what I learned from the Eagle helmet to make it a more polished and easy to use kit.
 
I've got some mass on it now and have started "sketching".


At this stage I don't really have a specific look that I'm going for but rather experimenting with different shapes and volumes to see what works since there are so many variations in the drawings. I'm trying the cheeks high first to see how that flows and I'm not digging it.



Yeah... still looks like a chopper pilot, even with the visor. :unsure
 
That was yesterday, but today I had a flash of inspiration and completely redid everything and didn't think to take pics until after (Sorry, I was in the zone).




Once the design for the side stripe hit me, everything else just flew together. I shifted the cheek mass down low and curled it around to simulate the wrap-around look but the skull cap keeps me from going too far. I'm still playing with the shape of the visor but right now it's still too bulky.

I'm using the eyes and antennae off the Eagle helmet as a stand in, but I'll be fabricating all new parts to accommodate the Swan's more flowing and graceful lines.
 
Man. That work you did you Ken's Eagle helmet is freakin beautiful. And Jun's Swan helmet is coming out just as good. I would love to have a helmet from each member to display. These are amazing works of art. Truly amazing. Time to break out the Gatchaman box sets. HAHA

One question. What type of clay are you working with? Been getting different opinions on what clays people prefer as I'm about to start sculpting some helmets of my own and would love an opinion of someone as talented as you. So far I think I'm leaning toward Chavant.
 
One question. What type of clay are you working with? Been getting different opinions on what clays people prefer as I'm about to start sculpting some helmets of my own and would love an opinion of someone as talented as you. So far I think I'm leaning toward Chavant.
Click to expand...

I've had crates and crates of about every clay you can think of that I've given away because I have never found anything I like better than Chavant NSP for mid scale sculpting. NSP medium is my workhorse because I can use it for everything from figure sculpting to hard props and you can handle it without wrecking the details. That said, I've been building up my stocks of NSP hard to start using on helmets because of how crisp you can get the lines and it's sandable.
 
Since no one seems to be too interested in the tutorial stuff, I'll just jump ahead and skip the symmetry gibberish.


Did a little additional tweaking and now I'm happy with it enough to go to mold.






While the helmet is in silicone I can get started on the new eyes and antennae.
 
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