OT X-Wing Pilot helmet details

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I love the Red Leader helmet the most. To the point I'm doing a Rarefied Air Cavalry Z-95 and a Solo suede pilot jacket with the back painted in the unit's iconography.

 

[Rawktrooper]

I love the Red Leader helmet the most. To the point I'm doing a Rarefied Air Cavalry Z-95 and a Solo suede pilot jacket with the back painted in the unit's iconography.

nice! love to see it

 

[fraaank]

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

View attachment 1625178View attachment 1625179

If this is an image of the helmet from the LFL archives and on exhibit like Magic of the Myth, it is not a screen used helmet. It was and another x-wing helmet was created as part of a publicity campaign to promote a LFL Star Wars video game in 90s. No screen used OT X-Wing helmets exist in the LFL archives.

 

[fraaank]

i make that pics on the Star Wars Identities in germany....perhaps you are right, i dont know:

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

i make that pics on the Star Wars Identities in germany....perhaps you are right, i dont know:

This was what I was told in 2002 by one of the guys that was on the Icons team and went to the LFL archives in the mid-late 90s. No one said what happened to the actual screen used helmets but they were not part of the LFL archives. If you go back and look at images from the MoM Exhibit, the Red 5 helmet looks funky.

I can’t speak for the Identities exhibit as that was over 10 years later. So I don’t know what developed after. Maybe they were from the private collections of LFL members. I just know a small part of the story so to speak.

 

[fraaank]

some of the helmets look real old and used..if they make all helmets later new, they dont take good care of them..but not an helmet expert, so perhaps some other guys know something about.

 

[Davy Jones]

There absolutely are screen used X-wing helmets in the Archives. The Identities helmets are all real with the exception of the replica Luke version which is as
Mara Jade's Father says.

 

[Davy Jones]

some of the helmets look real old and used..if they make all helmets later new, they dont take good care of them..but not an helmet expert, so perhaps some other guys know something about.

Thanks for sharing.
Do you have more photos of the helmets?
Did you take photos of other props there?

 

[fraaank]

i have some other prop pics but not the right place here.

 

[Vaderman]

I have always felt that Luke was wearing a helmet with someone else’s achievements decorating it. But seeimg this gave me some other ideas.
1. Maybe they are purely decorative and the symbols represent things like favorite ship tuner, musical group, sports franchise, etc.
2. They represent a historical hero, so the markings replicate the markings on the helmet of some historical figure or battle group, or ship…
in these cases, it would explain why the helmets were painted and left alone.
Otherwise, Luke not having a medal of Yavin symbol or a Vader head with a red circle/slash over it just seems insulting. Of course Luke might be humble enough that he doesn’t want any specific embellishment.
we also have to account for the pilots who fought over Scarif and then again at Yavin without additional markings or notation.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

I have always felt that Luke was wearing a helmet with someone else’s achievements decorating it. But seeimg this gave me some other ideas.
1. Maybe they are purely decorative and the symbols represent things like favorite ship tuner, musical group, sports franchise, etc.
2. They represent a historical hero, so the markings replicate the markings on the helmet of some historical figure or battle group, or ship…
in these cases, it would explain why the helmets were painted and left alone.
Otherwise, Luke not having a medal of Yavin symbol or a Vader head with a red circle/slash over it just seems insulting. Of course Luke might be humble enough that he doesn’t want any specific embellishment.
we also have to account for the pilots who fought over Scarif and then again at Yavin without additional markings or notation.

There's arguably only three or four days between Scariff and Yavin, so it's possible there just wasn't time. And of course it's also possible that Luke just didn't care enough about the helmet to repaint it to match his own achievements, though I admit that doesn't really mesh with his glory-dreaming teenager character, something that's still a big part of him at the start of ESB.

The real problem, imo, is Wedge, who surely would have had time to update his helmet between Yavin and Endor.

Still, my take on it is that the symbols represent pre-Rebellion achievements, so maybe Wedge just didn't want to update it any longer after he joined the Rebellion? And yes, I know that theory isn't consistent with Star Wars : Rebels which claims Wedge had no military experience before he joined the Rebellion, having gone straight from the Imperial Academy to a Rebel cell. But that wouldn't be the first example of SWR ignoring the backstory the ANH art department was implying, so I'm comfortable assuming the SWR episode is inaccurate. (I treat TCW and SWR as "in-character" TV shows, meaning the events they depict happened in broad strokes but the details are largely fictionalised. Kind of like "Tour of Duty" or even "Band of Brothers" compared to the actual real-world history.)

 

[Rawktrooper]

heres my repainted Galaxys Edge Luke to Red Leader helmet for your enjoyment

Rebel X-Wing Pilot helmet Paint Projects - OT, Rogue One, Mandalorian

I did a disassemble and repaint of the Black Series Luke helmet and I'll show some photos here. Any questions please ask. I'll do my best to explain how it works. you will have to forgive the mess this was. and I didn't take photos in the first part of disassembly of the interior of the shell...

www.therpf.com

 

[Rawktrooper]

heres a short photographic list of elements on some OT helmets..
courtesy of the Rebel Legion

 

[Rawktrooper]

i guess i didnt post my finished Red Leader helmet... i think i might have in another thread.

I have started a new helmet.. my wife wanted a Jaina Solo black helmet, so i am currently in the process
of painting one of those for her.
I will post some stuff for that when i get it to a photo-able stage.
Meanwhile here is my finished Red Leader.
Enjoy!

OOPS I guess i did post this.. i was on the wrong page... sorry for the extra post.

 

[Vaderman]

That’s ok, it drew me back to the thread - I had missed the post.
nice work on that!
Did you do much to the interior? Also, how difficult was it to take apart? Since I missed the Luke helmet, I got the Wedge helmet to repaint but it is down the list of projects a bit…

 

[Treadwell]

The Black Series are much harder to take apart than the Galaxy's Edge ones. But both involve breaking tabs in addition to the removal of screws. It isn't really worth it unless you don't intend to have a liner at all. It's more work than masking.

 

[Rawktrooper]

Did you do much to the interior? Also, how difficult was it to take apart? Since I missed the Luke helmet, I got the Wedge helmet to repaint but it is down the list of projects a bit…

Yeah i didnt do anything in the interior with this one. I left it all together when i sanded all the old stuff off and primed and went for it.
I took apart an old one the first time and they are really a nightmare to take all apart and put all back together. I have some photos of the process, but its a lot to account for when it comes to putting it all back together.
There are probably 20 to 25 screws and all kinds of tabs that line up and come apart.. i was lucky to not break any. But then there are all the wires, speakers, connectors, etc that need to be protected for paint.
So i would recommend just leaving it all together and masking well for paint.
I did take out the screws near the edges so i could slightly pull apart the edge and put tape along the edge inside the helmet so it doesnt bleed over to the interior.

My post, a few above here, has the link to the other thread with all the explanations and photos with disassembly and reassembly of the original black series bucket. If you need more feel free to post and ill respond more.
I just started the Jaina Solo and am doing that the same way as this Red Leader. No disassembly, just good masking and sanding and paint etc.

 

[Vaderman]

That’s what I was wondering - what a pain it might be to disassemble and reassemble. They certainly don’t make these with “ease of deconstruction” in mind, I’m sure. sanding and masking I can do. I’ll check out the other thread as well when I am ready to get started. Thanks for posting your experience with these!