What if a TIE pilot defected to the Alliance along with his gear, and just kept using the same helmet, removing the face plate?
With that concept in mind I got some parts from Richie's Armor from both his X-Wing and TIE helmet kits. I don't remember why I did a combination.... it might be because at the time I wanted to retain all of the APH helmet, instead of it being trimmed as must be done to attach a stormtrooper face. I did want it in black styrene, so that factored in somehow.
Ultimately, though, I decided to trim it after all, but using the X-Wing shell halves meant I had to make a new, wider mowhawk. While I was at it, I altered part of the sides of the front edge of the helmet, widening the part where the font of the ram's horn transitions to the forehead edge. I felt the kit was too narrow in that area.
I was into costuming at the time, as both kinds of pilots, using a Don Post Classic Action TIE helmet. So I wanted to match that helmet, as if I were representing the same character at different stages. The CA helmet has weird inset rectangles on the front of the ram's horns, which I took at face value to be accurate to TIEs, so I cut them out in my kit. I later realized that was an inaccurate detail, so I filled them back in.
In widening the mohawk I had to do a lot of filling and sanding. A lot. Of filling and sanding. A lot.
I got to nearly the end of that process, and then just stopped, so I never did use it for costuming. With dried blobs of JB Weld slopped onto a few areas, it ended up in a semi-open box on my screened porch, accumulating dust and yellowing from sun exposure....FOR TWENTY YEARS.
A few weeks ago I decided to finish it. Pictured is how it looked after retrieving and cleaning it.
TO BE CONTINUED
With that concept in mind I got some parts from Richie's Armor from both his X-Wing and TIE helmet kits. I don't remember why I did a combination.... it might be because at the time I wanted to retain all of the APH helmet, instead of it being trimmed as must be done to attach a stormtrooper face. I did want it in black styrene, so that factored in somehow.
Ultimately, though, I decided to trim it after all, but using the X-Wing shell halves meant I had to make a new, wider mowhawk. While I was at it, I altered part of the sides of the front edge of the helmet, widening the part where the font of the ram's horn transitions to the forehead edge. I felt the kit was too narrow in that area.
I was into costuming at the time, as both kinds of pilots, using a Don Post Classic Action TIE helmet. So I wanted to match that helmet, as if I were representing the same character at different stages. The CA helmet has weird inset rectangles on the front of the ram's horns, which I took at face value to be accurate to TIEs, so I cut them out in my kit. I later realized that was an inaccurate detail, so I filled them back in.
In widening the mohawk I had to do a lot of filling and sanding. A lot. Of filling and sanding. A lot.
I got to nearly the end of that process, and then just stopped, so I never did use it for costuming. With dried blobs of JB Weld slopped onto a few areas, it ended up in a semi-open box on my screened porch, accumulating dust and yellowing from sun exposure....FOR TWENTY YEARS.
A few weeks ago I decided to finish it. Pictured is how it looked after retrieving and cleaning it.
TO BE CONTINUED