Rebel Endor Helmet Build

[TheDragon]

Initial Model​

Earlier this year I spent about a day or two digitally reworking the game model from battlefront of the endor helmet they scanned, Using other source material such as the prop store auctions to fill in the gaps and rework in the details of the original prop that weren't present. The result was this V1 rendered helmet, showcased below.

Scanned Helmet seen in DICE presentation

V1 Helmet Renders​

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V2 Enhancements​

Ever since I made that model, i had the itch to make the full helmet, and after getting my hands on one of the USAAF flight caps I began making preparations for the donut. However since I made the model I found the "backup helmet buck" that was auctioned a few years back so I got to work fixing the mistakes of the first attempt into this new attempt seen below.

Note: when I took these screenshots I hadn't added the bill to the donut in the V2​

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Design Adjustments

The most notable changes I made were to the back of the helmet to fix up the indentation on the back to better match the cast rather than the production made donut sold a few years back pictured, as that donut is quite washed out compared to the helmets seen in the film.

Although not the best comparison, above has the production plaster cast matched against my V2 model.

Propstore "Production made" donut

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Next Steps​

With the revised V2 model now nearing what I believe to be as close to the original as I can achieve, the next stage involves producing molds in which I will start on in the coming days which will be done in the same fashion as the film; Having the donut split down the middle and formed with the bill.

I'd also like to thank SCREAMINYELLOW and his Endor Helmet Hero Research Thread as it has and will continue to guide the project as it continues.

EDIT: Updated some photos and links

 

[obiwan kowalski]

Nice work!

 

[SCREAMINYELLOW]

Absolutely KILLER!! Cannot wait to see your progress continue!

 

[3DImpact]

Nice work - watching for progress. Thanks for sharing that!

Dan

 

[Wigg77]

Can’t wait to see how those moulds turn out!!

 

[TheDragon]

Paint Matching​

Over the past several days, I’ve been meticulously analysing and messing around with images of the donut and comparing possible colours. Through this process, I have identified 8 paints that I believe could be the donut’s original colours — at least as accurately as possible without a production-made donut for direct comparison. Using these findings, I created the following diagram, which features a textured version of the V2 model (I'm mentioning this because a V3 model exists now).

The guide below includes not only the colour matches I determined but also loosely follows an order in which I believe the colours were applied. However, there are some inconsistencies between helmets i’ve found, which I can elaborate on in a future post if anyone is interested.

While some of the paints I selected may have been released after the film’s production, I chose those that were both accessible to me easily and matched the hex codes I derived as closely as possible. After all, it’s unclear whether the original paints were mixed together to achieve the exact shades on the donut, making a perfect one-to-one match unlikely.

EDIT 24/12/2024: This chart isn't 100% correct
- Replace RAL 6003 with RAL 7024
- Replace Tamiya XF-16 with Tamiya AS-12

I'm hoping to get a donut formed within the next fortnight to then test out painting techniques on, but we'll see were I get.

Once again these are not final and if you have any thoughts, feedback, or additional insights, feel free to share them as i’d love to hear what others think. Additionally, if anyone has access to production materials or further references, it would be great to see how close I got.

 

[SCREAMINYELLOW]

Fantastic!! Really digging where you’ve been able to take this and can’t wait to see more!

 

[Elevader]

Paint Matching​

Over the past several days, I’ve been meticulously analysing and messing around with images of the donut and comparing possible colours. Through this process, I have identified 8 paints that I believe could be the donut’s original colours — at least as accurately as possible without a production-made donut for direct comparison. Using these findings, I created the following diagram, which features a textured version of the V2 model (I'm mentioning this because a V3 model exists now).

The guide below includes not only the colour matches I determined but also loosely follows an order in which I believe the colours were applied. However, there are some inconsistencies between helmets i’ve found, which I can elaborate on in a future post if anyone is interested.

While some of the paints I selected may have been released after the film’s production, I chose those that were both accessible to me easily and matched the hex codes I derived as closely as possible. After all, it’s unclear whether the original paints were mixed together to achieve the exact shades on the donut, making a perfect one-to-one match unlikely.

View attachment 1883308

I'm hoping to get a donut formed within the next fortnight to then test out painting techniques on, but we'll see were I get.

Once again these are not final and if you have any thoughts, feedback, or additional insights, feel free to share them as i’d love to hear what others think. Additionally, if anyone has access to production materials or further references, it would be great to see how close I got.

This is all looking great. Are you planning to do a run of these or just a personal project?

 

[TheDragon]

This is all looking great. Are you planning to do a run of these or just a personal project?

If that was something people would be interested in I could look into it to see how it could be done with the flightcap being a found part and all.

If all goes to plan with my own I'm building here, then I don't see a problem in making a few more.

 

[Elevader]

If that was something people would be interested in I could look into it to see how it could be done with the flightcap being a found part and all.

If all goes to plan with my own I'm building here, then I don't see a problem in making a few more.

Sounds good! I was thinking of just the donut part you’re rendering, so you don’t have to go through the trouble of a full kit. For myself, I have the cap, but I haven’t been able to find a great replica of the donut section. So if you were offering a raw cast, I’d definitely be interested.

 

[TheDragon]

Sounds good! I was thinking of just the donut part you’re rendering, so you don’t have to go through the trouble of a full kit. For myself, I have the cap, but I haven’t been able to find a great replica of the donut section. So if you were offering a raw cast, I’d definitely be interested.

Yeah, that could definitely be arranged.

 

[SCREAMINYELLOW]

Definitely think the donut alone would catch some attention here. As Elevader mentioned, there are very few semi-accurate models readily available (at least from what I’ve seen) let alone an accurately replicated vacu-formed option

 

[TheDragon]

Definitely think the donut alone would catch some attention here. As Elevader mentioned, there are very few semi-accurate models readily available (at least from what I’ve seen) let alone an accurately replicated vacu-formed option

Yeah definitely, Once I do test the moulds I can have a look into it.

 

[Psab keel]

Almost every donut I see offered on the market is either grossly misshaped, and/ or over/ undersized. This would be a great offering if you did decide to sell any.

 

[TheDragon]

Moulds​

I had initially planned to wait until I had a complete formed set until sharing, but as I've encountered issues sourcing the plastic with the exact colour and finish I'm after, I'll need to check other suppliers during the week to find the right material.
In the meantime, I wanted to share progress. Below are the donut moulds — Huge thanks to Wigg77 for printing the shells. In between the time spent sanding, I've been working on paint stencils and cloth patterns of the bill. These are still a work in progress but I'm hoping preparing all of this now will allow the whole project to come together seamlessly once I am able to form the donut halves.

Thanks for all the interest in the thread, more to come in the next weeks, with the altering the flight cap especially — once it arrives.

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[TheDragon]

First Formed Donut

After trying to source 2mm white haircell (textured) ABS and finding none available anywhere near me I settled with gloss white to at least have the right colour on the inside of the helmet (even though it probably won't be visible either way). With that said, here are some photos of the donut after being assembled and roughly cut to the correct trim lines.

*Note: Further trimming needs to be done to the bill and underside of the donut.
(the trimline in general needs to be brought in more)

Here are some comparison pics where i attempted to match the PropStore auction photos:

I followed the assembly technique from what I saw within the production made part when constructing it, using ABS solvent to add panels behind the formed pieces to hold them together and the result seems to be a very solid part.

In Addition to all this the A-N-H 15 Flight Cap arrived so I bought a foam dummy head to stick it all on as I work on it but found without ears the donut sits weird and a bit too low so I'll have to make up a custom stand at some point so that it all sits correctly in place. (Though there will be foam added to the inside of the donut which may allow it to rise more)

With the mould I added trimlines in certain places only as I wanted to get a good fit over the flightcaps rubber ear pieces but that has proven trickier said than done.

Here are some photos of that below:

Next on the to do list is to clean up the trimlines and prep for paint (In which I'm still kind of clueless how I'll complete), As well as this I'm kind of dreading the cloth aspects of the helmet which I'll have to do at some point soon.

In addition to this I found (for lack of a better word) "lineage" to which helmet in the LFL archives the model is derived from which I'll make another post later in the week to showcase.

Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions, ideas or anything I'm all ears on where to go from here.


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[SCREAMINYELLOW]

This is easily one of the most exciting threads on the forum for me right now. Each update post is a major leap forward.

Although I’m sure it’s already apparent or obvious for you, easiest way to start tackling the paint job will be trying to determine the order of color layers, then mapping out distinct weathering patterns for progressive stenciling (made with a vinyl cutter like a Cricut machine).

As for the ribbed fabric portion (I am by no means knowledgeable on fabric work ) maybe some paper and tape/staples for some quick baseline shapes/sizing? Really hoping someone with more experience will interrupt me and tell us how it should really be done LOL.

 

[TheDragon]

This is easily one of the most exciting threads on the forum for me right now. Each update post is a major leap forward.

Although I’m sure it’s already apparent or obvious for you, easiest way to start tackling the paint job will be trying to determine the order of color layers, then mapping out distinct weathering patterns for progressive stenciling (made with a vinyl cutter like a Cricut machine).

As for the ribbed fabric portion (I am by no means knowledgeable on fabric work ) maybe some paper and tape/staples for some quick baseline shapes/sizing? Really hoping someone with more experience will interrupt me and tell us how it should really be done LOL.

With the paint job for this donut in particular, I wasn't going to follow any hero helmet weathering, only because right now I'm too afraid that I'll stuff up when adding the damaged portions. I have another vacuum formed set I can test that out on that has an imperfection on it.

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I was instead going to go for something like this, shown at the Magic of Myth exhibition (I only found out recently that one was displayed there).

Image taken from studiocreations.com
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What it looks like to me (without much painting experience), is that the same layered technique was applied as a lot do for boba fett with the addition of the final green layer having a darker green colour sprayed over top in areas to give it that splotched look. I have bought the paints for my airbrush that I believe are similar colours to what it was painted with to attempt to get this finish.

 

[3DImpact]

Yup, for something new to me I always practice on a test article first. Whether it’s painting, weathering, scribe lines, etc. You lose nothing and gain so much and don’t risk irreversibly damaging a valuable or unique piece.

Dan

 

[TheDragon]

As I said a few days ago, while working out the paint side of things, I was able to find the exact helmet from the Lucasfilm archives that was used by DICE to make the game model that I used as a base to construct my own model off.

Pictured below is some comparison photos I made up showcasing the Battlefront game model on the right and Magic of Myth exhibition display on the left (photos taken from studiocreations.com).

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Both the paint on the donut and warped bill lead me to believe that the in game file used this helmets' scan. The inconsistency with the colour on the flightcap being attributed to just in how the model was textured for the game with this photo below taken from a DICE presentation showing the correct colour present.

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Sharing this for anyone interested, but happy myself to see that it gives some heritage that can be traced back to this helmet in particular. On that note, I am currently working on a stencil set to paint my own helmet to closely resemble the "stunt" helmet that was seen at the exhibition.