HGU-20/P Flight Helmet

[Firefox3D]

Hi! I know this is an old thread, but I'm hoping y'all might be able to help. I managed to get one of these helmets without the visor or face shield assembly:

https://flic.kr/p/2pckPB7

https://flic.kr/p/2pckPBc

https://flic.kr/p/2pcgjP6

As you can see, it's got a few parts changed out and a few more missing. So I thought I'd ask- how has your project to build one of these gone? Were you able to print the face shield or visor? And...would you be willing to share the files, or could I possibly buy them off you?

So grateful to these old threads. This helmet is part of a space suit project I'm doing for a cyberpunk event, and I'm excited about doing a hard parts project in retrofitting this thing.

I think what you have there is Clint Eastwoods helmet from Firefox re-purposed.

Looks like it was originally black

and the dead give-away it has the temple sensors

Hard to prove it for sure, but someone who worked on Deal of the Century might know.

 

[sighless]

Well, I'll be damned.

Y'all wanna know where I found it? I was at Wasteland Weekend and I bartered some of my leather one off demo builds for it. It's cool that it's got some history behind it. Just goes to show that every costume house is just a better organized hoarders den. With barcodes.

I hope no one gets too afraid when I say I am going to wear and use it for costumes (I know there's a lot of collectors on here!), but let me also add that my plans are not to repaint it as I love it as is- weathering like that takes waaaaay too much time to recreate. I work in this industry (usually on the specialty soft goods side) and want to refurbish this without taking away from all of it's existing charm. Hell, I love the 'Ray' on the side. Gives the item some story and sense that it's been passed through a few hands.

If one of y'all or I can manage to get plans or a set of the visors, the plan is to add on the visor greeble I have with it that they added to the existing sun shade visor. I also want to at least add a faux seal around the edges- I don't like the naked stitching holes and my goal is to make this look like a space suit helmet.

I'm gonna need to replace the padding on the inside, obviously. Big thank you to Firefox3D for the pictures you linked earlier- It's great to see the insides of an intact one so I can recreate the padding! And...maybe in something a little more comfortable than styrofoam

For kicks, here's the space suit I'm building to match:

https://flic.kr/p/2pcyJdc

Once I figure out the inside and how to sew the soft parts, including a snoopy cap, I am happy to upload patterns to share. I don't have the 3D modeling/printing knowledge but I can draft patterns and sew with the best of them

 

[Collektor]

Went back and watched the film again. I noticed that during the final dogfight scene, the instrument panel in Ray's plane is identical to one in Firefox, which came out a few years earlier. There wasn't red star painted under that visor cover of that helmet was there?

 

[lmgill]

I have been working on replicas of the Firefox helmets for a while (too long really) and the Firefox helmets were not HGU-20 partial pressure helmets, but instead a refueling helmet. This is what sighless has.
The refueling helmet (which is very similar looking to the HGU-20) seems to have been modified to include a second visor (sun visor)
I suspect it is a refueling helmet modified, instead of an HGU-20, because of the shape of the face opening edge, is not the same shape as an HGU-20, and the HGU-20's seal is glued in place and it would be very tedious to remove it as it will break into chunks. The other details are the spring steel wire frames in the top of the helmet and the latches, neither of which are in the HGU-20 helmet. I'll dig out the pictures my friend sent me of the refueling helmet he has.

 

[Firefox3D]

Ok, this is interesting, Imgill I think you are right, but that means the Firefox helmets are the refuelling helmets also not HGU-20's

The side latches and parts for the oxygen feed do not match the HGU-20

Can't believe I didn't see this before, but everyone said it was a HGU-20, so made sense.

However I am sure the shell is the same, just re purposed so the double visor from the HGU helmet fits.

Jon

 

[RobWolf]

Went back and watched the film again. I noticed that during the final dogfight scene, the instrument panel in Ray's plane is identical to one in Firefox, which came out a few years earlier. There wasn't red star painted under that visor cover of that helmet was there?

No. It isn't the same instrument panel at all. The nose of the Firefox mockup was cut off just forward of the upper air intakes and they made a different nose/cockpit for Deal of the Century, amongst the other changes made to the mockup. The Firefox mockup instrument panel was then modified for the instructional sequences in Atari Laserdisc Game (one of which I'm proud to own), basically Atari bolted one of their arcade flight yokes onto the panel where one of the monitors would have been I did have some screenshot will try and find them. Incidentally, the Firefox instrument panels in the mockup and the process cockpit don't match exactly. These two photos here, the colour one on the left is the mockup instrument panel with Atari's yoke bolted on, the b/w photo on the right is the process cockpit - the Sanyo AM raido that served as the 'homing device' can be seen hanging from the panel on the right by the ribbon cable that ran its LED display.

 

[RobWolf]

Ok, this is interesting, Imgill I think you are right, but that means the Firefox helmets are the refuelling helmets also not HGU-20's

View attachment 1757735

The side latches and parts for the oxygen feed do not match the HGU-20

View attachment 1757736

Can't believe I didn't see this before, but everyone said it was a HGU-20, so made sense.

However I am sure the shell is the same, just re purposed so the double visor from the HGU helmet fits.

Jon

Which 'refuelling helmet' are you guys referring to?

Also, the Firefox helmets were not full production helmets but dummy helmets provided to WB directly by Gentex so it's entirely possible that they were early or alternative versions of the HGU-20/P.

 

[RobWolf]

I think what you have there is Clint Eastwoods helmet from Firefox re-purposed.
View attachment 1756244
Looks like it was originally black

View attachment 1756245
and the dead give-away it has the temple sensors
View attachment 1756251
Hard to prove it for sure, but someone who worked on Deal of the Century might know.

It's not Clint's; Clint's is (or was) on display in the WB VIP Museum Tour, in the Clint Eastwood section, with one of the Firefox filming models hanging over it. More likely this is the white helmet worn by Gant's 'opposite number', Major Voskov. Yes, it's white paint over black, but the helmets were dummy shells provided by Gentex.

Incidentally, in Deal of The Century, when the guy walks over to the F-19 and gets into it, he's holding a pretty bog-standard white pilot's helmet. It's only in the cockpit scenes when it suddenly changes to the fancy one!

 

[Collektor]

RobWolf Yep, you're dead on. I think what threw me was the MFD displays with the lit buttons on the edges of the displays.

Not to derail the thread, but I'm curious. I've seen screen caps and some videos of the gameplay from the arcade game. My question is what did the cabinet look like? I remember back then they used have standing and sit down cabinets for some games.

 

[Collektor]

As for the helmets, they likely were shells, but Gentex didn't manufacture them. It was a company called Robert Shaw Controls Co.

 

[RobWolf]

RobWolf Yep, you're dead on. I think what threw me was the MFD displays with the lit buttons on the edges of the displays.

Not to derail the thread, but I'm curious. I've seen screen caps and some videos of the gameplay from the arcade game. My question is what did the cabinet look like? I remember back then they used have standing and sit down cabinets for some games.

Here's me with mine I'd have preferred the cockpit but what are you gonna do? Anyway, mine is in great condition and the Laserdisc player still works.

 

[Jamesfett]

I think it's okay to post as it's buy now.

Holy crap!!!! Someone rich here please buy this, cast it, and make kits. 17 @ $500 a piece and you make your money back.

Robertshaw Helmet HGU-20 Flyers Flight HGU 20/P | eBay

Just paint it white and remove one microphone and you're done. If you would like to have a regular aviation HGU-20. but it will be a decoration and pride of every collector. the perfect number one for any collection.

www.ebay.com