Star Wars Helmets
Sr Member
My Cyberman Helmet from Millenium FX arrived today, I've been waiting for it for some time and wanted it to be one of the first "attractions" of my new site "MovieHelmets.com" (dont try that btw asI've not set the link up, at the moment its at... http://www.aqpa87.dsl.pipex.com/scifihelmets/index.htm which doesnt exactly roll off the tongue. In essence Movie Helmets is the "sister" site to www.StarWarsHelmets.com dealing with non-SW stuff.
Anyway I digress, onto the Cyberman Helmet..
What can I say but WOW. Made from "cold cast aluminium resin", the front and back of the head are reinforced with fibreglass. However its the introduction of metal power into the resin that gives the helmet its solid steel like appearance, that goes right through the material, rather than just a spray or paint coating on the top
This really is a well crafted collectible, although initially I was expecting a greater metallic sheen on the surface of the helmet. However, to be fair having not seen one of the originals up close its hard to tell (I should be doing this fairly soon so will report back then). Having now taken these many photographs, the real metallic finish of the helmet does indeed seem to come to the fore. It could well be that the sheen is indeed more subtle than I had expected, since the arc lights used during filming accentuate the finish of the on-screen costumes significantly.
I've taken these photos of the helmet against a dark black cloth (Darth Vader's cape actually) with a couple of spots and quite a long exposure. I've altered the colour balance of the shots to bring out the silver hue of the helmet, and also toned the black levels down to bring the shadows and contours out more.
For the TV Production, they used a black wipe on grate polish called Zeebo to provide additional texture and weathering, giving a deeper coloured Steel like finish. However the downside of this was that it never dries and came off and went everywhere and by the end of filming it had almost completely rubbed off. For the replicas they've not added this although its up to the collector if they want to. Cleaning-wise they suggest a chrome polish or Brasso, which clearly shows that the finish is totally unlike a vacuum metalised C-3PO chrome which would be destroyed by something as harsh as that. This guy's a real beast. Hard as nails.
If like me you've been a Dr Who fan since being a kid then IMO this is a "must have" item. Its the sort of thing you stick in your Dining Room in a Detolf Ikea glass cabinet (along with your wife's favourite Lladro or whatever) and I guarantee any Blokes that see it will go all misty eyed when the see it. It IS very cool. Great design, great collectible. I'm going to start saving for the full costume in the hope they decide to replicate that too.
Cheers
Jez
Anyway I digress, onto the Cyberman Helmet..
What can I say but WOW. Made from "cold cast aluminium resin", the front and back of the head are reinforced with fibreglass. However its the introduction of metal power into the resin that gives the helmet its solid steel like appearance, that goes right through the material, rather than just a spray or paint coating on the top
This really is a well crafted collectible, although initially I was expecting a greater metallic sheen on the surface of the helmet. However, to be fair having not seen one of the originals up close its hard to tell (I should be doing this fairly soon so will report back then). Having now taken these many photographs, the real metallic finish of the helmet does indeed seem to come to the fore. It could well be that the sheen is indeed more subtle than I had expected, since the arc lights used during filming accentuate the finish of the on-screen costumes significantly.
I've taken these photos of the helmet against a dark black cloth (Darth Vader's cape actually) with a couple of spots and quite a long exposure. I've altered the colour balance of the shots to bring out the silver hue of the helmet, and also toned the black levels down to bring the shadows and contours out more.
For the TV Production, they used a black wipe on grate polish called Zeebo to provide additional texture and weathering, giving a deeper coloured Steel like finish. However the downside of this was that it never dries and came off and went everywhere and by the end of filming it had almost completely rubbed off. For the replicas they've not added this although its up to the collector if they want to. Cleaning-wise they suggest a chrome polish or Brasso, which clearly shows that the finish is totally unlike a vacuum metalised C-3PO chrome which would be destroyed by something as harsh as that. This guy's a real beast. Hard as nails.
If like me you've been a Dr Who fan since being a kid then IMO this is a "must have" item. Its the sort of thing you stick in your Dining Room in a Detolf Ikea glass cabinet (along with your wife's favourite Lladro or whatever) and I guarantee any Blokes that see it will go all misty eyed when the see it. It IS very cool. Great design, great collectible. I'm going to start saving for the full costume in the hope they decide to replicate that too.
Cheers
Jez
