Quite a few years ago, a friend of mine found the original screen worn Gort helmet from the 1951 science fiction classic; "The Day the Earth stood still".
He asked me to make a replacement visor for it, since the original was missing.
In trade for this, I asked if I could make a mold of the complete helmet.
Not 100% convinced he knew what he had, we went to see Bob Burns, who of all people, would know what helmet this was.
Bob took one look at it and knew this was the one and only costume helmet made for the film.
Bob explained, while there had been two suits made, one with the seam in the back for walking towards camera, the second had it's seam in front, for walking away from camera (you can see this seam in one shot when Gort turns), there was only one helmet made.
In addition to the wearable version of Gort, there was a fiberglass statue of the complete robot for scenes where Gort is static, then there was a 3/4 scale helmet made for the visor open / laser effects.
Inside of the costume helmet is a fiberglass cap, made to fit Lock Martin's head. This is held by two 1/8" x 1" steel strips, fiberglassed into the top of the robot head, and secured to the skull cap with screws and wingnuts. To adjust the angle of the massive robot head, a third bar, with a slot cut in it, is fiberglassed into the front of the helmet, and attaches to the front of the skull cap, allowing the cap to tilt fore and aft along the slot, it can then be locked into position by a third screw and wingnut on the front of the skullcap.
For many years, the helmet resided in my office, and had a couple of famous visitors. (You can see just how big it is!)
After a while, my friend was convinced to sell the helmet in a Profiles in History auction, which it sold for $150,000
A number of years ago the original plan was to make a display base and release these through another company in a much wider release, but too many other projects got in the way.
Now, however, I have decided to make a very limited number of these available. 51 pieces will be made (Obviously based on the release year 1951)
Here is the replica Gort Helmet:
Each helmet is from the mold taken directly off the original costume helmet, as is the skull cap inside. This replica has the complete Lock Martin skull cap, held in the same manner as the original, with the 3 metal straps and wingnuts. The skull cap is painted like the original, with the sewing holes. The visor on this replica does not open.
50% off sale Now $1495
Available on the Orbital Surplus eBay page
We have produced a few already, of which most have been spoken for, so we will take a 50% deposit, with the balance due before it ships. If we have it in stock, it will be shipped that week, if your helmet is in production, it will be sent the week it has been completed. (Unless demand is overwhelming, this should be within 1 -2 weeks)
He asked me to make a replacement visor for it, since the original was missing.
In trade for this, I asked if I could make a mold of the complete helmet.
Not 100% convinced he knew what he had, we went to see Bob Burns, who of all people, would know what helmet this was.
Bob took one look at it and knew this was the one and only costume helmet made for the film.
Bob explained, while there had been two suits made, one with the seam in the back for walking towards camera, the second had it's seam in front, for walking away from camera (you can see this seam in one shot when Gort turns), there was only one helmet made.
In addition to the wearable version of Gort, there was a fiberglass statue of the complete robot for scenes where Gort is static, then there was a 3/4 scale helmet made for the visor open / laser effects.
Inside of the costume helmet is a fiberglass cap, made to fit Lock Martin's head. This is held by two 1/8" x 1" steel strips, fiberglassed into the top of the robot head, and secured to the skull cap with screws and wingnuts. To adjust the angle of the massive robot head, a third bar, with a slot cut in it, is fiberglassed into the front of the helmet, and attaches to the front of the skull cap, allowing the cap to tilt fore and aft along the slot, it can then be locked into position by a third screw and wingnut on the front of the skullcap.
For many years, the helmet resided in my office, and had a couple of famous visitors. (You can see just how big it is!)
After a while, my friend was convinced to sell the helmet in a Profiles in History auction, which it sold for $150,000
A number of years ago the original plan was to make a display base and release these through another company in a much wider release, but too many other projects got in the way.
Now, however, I have decided to make a very limited number of these available. 51 pieces will be made (Obviously based on the release year 1951)
Here is the replica Gort Helmet:
Each helmet is from the mold taken directly off the original costume helmet, as is the skull cap inside. This replica has the complete Lock Martin skull cap, held in the same manner as the original, with the 3 metal straps and wingnuts. The skull cap is painted like the original, with the sewing holes. The visor on this replica does not open.
50% off sale Now $1495
Available on the Orbital Surplus eBay page
We have produced a few already, of which most have been spoken for, so we will take a 50% deposit, with the balance due before it ships. If we have it in stock, it will be shipped that week, if your helmet is in production, it will be sent the week it has been completed. (Unless demand is overwhelming, this should be within 1 -2 weeks)
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