Rocketeer helmet: "hood ornament 2.0"

dualedge

dualedge

Sr Member
Wanted to share my latest finished - or rather re-finished - "hood ornament." This Rocketeer helmet is actually an older D48thRonin helmet made of fiberglass that I finished for our own Lonnie (Rocketeer25) and was one of the first I ever worked on... It must have been at least 7+ years ago if memory serves. But when I finished this helmet the first time, I managed to screw up the eye lenses so I bugged Lonnie for a few years to send it back so I could make it right.

He finally gave me the chance and has been waiting patiently for a ridiculously long time but it's done (again) so this is my first time getting to show off a version 2.0 of the same helmet.

These photos also serve to demonstrate how vastly different the paint finish looks under different lighting which is true to how the original is.

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Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

omg!!!!!! that is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!

let me guess....it took you 4-5 years to complete it :angel

maybe i can talk you into doing mine.....you know....work on an exclusive "evilrocketeer helmet" ;)
 
Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

EvilRocketeer said:
omg!!!!!! that is absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!

let me guess....it took you 4-5 years to complete it :angel

maybe i can talk you into doing mine.....you know....work on an exclusive evilrocketeer helmet ;)
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:lol

Nah, I just spread it out over a year-and-a-half this time :$ I started it only a few months after my second child was born so she has dominated my time for the past year. I just worked on it as time allowed (which wasn't frakkin' much let me tell you.)
 
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Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

Rob has done a fantastic job with this helmet. I know that he has said that it took him a long time to complete, but I never had a doubt in my mind that he was working on it as time permitted, caring for it as if it were his own, and would turn it into a work of art.

Rob, I know I've shared this with you in PMs, but I'm going to state it here, too. I'm speechless at the quality of work shown in this helmet. The paint job, the detail in the area around the eyes (especially the lenses!), the shape of the fin, and the work around the air vents... everything screams perfection! I know you're always striving to do better on every helmet that you work on, but I don't know how you're going to top this!

As Rob stated, the only thing that needed attention from the original finish was the one lens, but he took it upon himself not only to correct that, but to refinish the whole helmet. Rob is not only an extremely talented guy, but he's an incredibly decent guy too! :thumbsup

Thanks again for the incredible work! I can't wait to get this baby back home and put her back in her place of honor above my desk!!

Lonnie
 
Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

Looks awesome! When I read the thread title I thought you had actually made a hood ornament of the Rocketeer, which would also be awesome.
 
Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

Wow. it's nothing short of amazing. Hard to believe it's painted fiberglass.
 
Re: Rocketeer: Hood Ornament 2.0

Tim, thanks! Compliments like that from you mean a lot to me!

Thanks for the kind words, everybody!

Jay, yeah, done properly it can look better than actual metal IMHO :angel

Lonnie, it all came down to the fin. Once I started sanding that down to get the profile more to my liking, I had to repaint it but I just couldn't resist. You can thank my obsessive compulsive nature. :p :lol
 
Amazing work! Thought about taking a shot at making my own helmet this summer. But after seeing these pics, I'll just look at this one and cry!
 
whoami11 said:
Amazing work! Thought about taking a shot at making my own helmet this summer. But after seeing these pics, I'll just look at this one and cry!
Click to expand...

Glad to see you didn't give up your project after all ;) ...and welcome to the forum!

Besides, it's a lot easier to finish a casting than to scratchbuild something.

Rocketeer helmets can really take on an entirely different personality by subtly changing a few lines... Not to mention, a fan-built helmet is more like a true homage to the original IMHO and that's something I really have a lot of appreciation for.
 
Dualedge, you have far more talent than I do. I haven't worked on any project for over 3 years or so. But getting on here got me motivated to get back to it. Hearing your perspective on the scratch build project keeps that motivation when things are going according to plan!

-Ryan
 
That is beautiful. Better than most ON SCREEN film props! Any chance of sharing your paint/surface secrets? How did you get the metallic look and finish? Is there a WIP thread somewhere that I'm missing?

I just bought a bucket off of Oz... hope to start it in the next few weeks. Now that I've seen this, I could use some pointers.
 
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