Hjholter3
New Member
Hi! I'm a long time lurker, reader and admirer of this wonderful forum and I wanted to share part of my Halloween costume that I made this year.
To start, my great grandfather fought in the "Great War" and I wanted to make a costume so I might portray him for the holiday - however due in part to funds, work, and lack of time I ended up going for "Generic Allied Infantryman" as I don't have the skill to make a proper tunic or the money to purchase even a cheap replica. I'm not a reeanactor, and none of my costume was intended for reenacting, but of all the pieces I made, I feel like the helmet was the best part, and I wanted to share it, and the process I used to make ( more actually "Upgrade" ) it.
Finished Brodie helmet replica
This is the finished helmet. I don't have pictures of the original shell or liner as it arrived to me ( I was in a rush to complete it before Halloween ) but the original plastic color can be seen in the sales photo below. Despite the rushed construction, I am very pleased - A good reproduction helmet would have cost a hundred dollars, easy, while this with all the paint and material ended up costing me 25 dollars, with alot of the material ( such as the chin strap ) being made of parts left over from other parts of the project, helping to keep the final cost down
Headband installed into the shell
in this image you can clearly see the headband installed into the shell with Velcro - it;s not perfect but is far more realistic looking ( as well as far more comfortable ) than the the series of elastic straps that where there before.
The shell with texture paint
To achieve the look I wanted, I used rust-oleum texture paint - by some miraculous coincidence I found this at Walmart and it matched the "paint with sand mixed in" texture I wanted - I don't think it's perfect close up, but from ten feet many people thought it was the "real deal"!
I hope this is interesting to somebody! I just wanted to see what you guys and gals thought of my "on-the-cheap" replica, hopefully I'll be able to share the rest of the costume as I have time!
To start, my great grandfather fought in the "Great War" and I wanted to make a costume so I might portray him for the holiday - however due in part to funds, work, and lack of time I ended up going for "Generic Allied Infantryman" as I don't have the skill to make a proper tunic or the money to purchase even a cheap replica. I'm not a reeanactor, and none of my costume was intended for reenacting, but of all the pieces I made, I feel like the helmet was the best part, and I wanted to share it, and the process I used to make ( more actually "Upgrade" ) it.
Finished Brodie helmet replica
This is the finished helmet. I don't have pictures of the original shell or liner as it arrived to me ( I was in a rush to complete it before Halloween ) but the original plastic color can be seen in the sales photo below. Despite the rushed construction, I am very pleased - A good reproduction helmet would have cost a hundred dollars, easy, while this with all the paint and material ended up costing me 25 dollars, with alot of the material ( such as the chin strap ) being made of parts left over from other parts of the project, helping to keep the final cost down
| The original shell This is what I received from the National World War Museum and Memorial E shop - I don't have photos of the lining but the best description would be "none". The plastic shell has 4 rivets in the sides and from those rivets a thin elastic band was stretched - it did (barely) work to keep the helmet suspended, but was uncomfortable and I knew I would need a chinstrap arrangement, so I cut it out and built a liner, as you can see below. |
Headband installed into the shell
in this image you can clearly see the headband installed into the shell with Velcro - it;s not perfect but is far more realistic looking ( as well as far more comfortable ) than the the series of elastic straps that where there before.
The shell with texture paint
To achieve the look I wanted, I used rust-oleum texture paint - by some miraculous coincidence I found this at Walmart and it matched the "paint with sand mixed in" texture I wanted - I don't think it's perfect close up, but from ten feet many people thought it was the "real deal"!
| Foam lining The foam I have glued in acts to support the headband, which is held in with "industrial strength" velcro, while the chin strap is directly riveted to the shell. This is not how the original helmets where put together but it was a compromise, as few would see this part of the helmet. The crown is deerskin leather glued to foam, which is further glued into the crown of the plastic shell.
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I hope this is interesting to somebody! I just wanted to see what you guys and gals thought of my "on-the-cheap" replica, hopefully I'll be able to share the rest of the costume as I have time!
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