Ultimate Captain America WW2 Helmet (pic intensive)

[CSMacLaren]

I'm a big fan of "Ultimates 1 and 2" by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch. The writing and the movie-like treatment to the layouts are just astounding. The realism treatment gave me a profound appreciation for Captain America.

Reference:
http://www.bacakomik.com/ultimates1.jpg

There is a scene at the end of Book 1 after fighting the Hulk when Tony Stark has Thor and Cap over at his pad. Tony presents Cap with a gift: Cap's original WW2 helmet that had all the scuffs and dirt on it from back in WW2. It was a moment of great sentiment. So I sought to capture that old look.

This wasn't going to be easy for me. One of my challenges was to create something not too cartoony. I'm new at painting, and chose some non-permanent (well, I think they're non-permanent) water-based acrylics.

Let me know what you think. Anything is subject to change.

 

[CSMacLaren]

.

 

[CSMacLaren]

Some of the paint drips are part of the original green paint of the pot. The pot, by the way, was purchased at an army navy surplus store. I think it's a Vietnam era pot (though I'm not sure) and I'm uncertain if it ever saw action. It has a very grainy kind of texture to its surface.

 

[CSMacLaren]

I was told by a friend that the Vietnam era helmets are similar to the WW2 ones, and that most don't know the differences. I'm not studied on militaria, so I wouldn't know, but I'm recreating the comic book look.

 

[CSMacLaren]

Unfortunately the helmet doesn't look great if you don't light it directly from above.

I wondered if the baby blue was too bright and if I should go darker. However, that's more or less the blue they used in the comic. Somehow it occurred to me that because Cap is a symbol, that he'd be more visible on the battlefield. And, given his training, he could dodge bullets, so the scuffing on the helmet I painted was basically debris. I chose a helmet without dings because I believe Cap wouldn't ever have gotten clocked on the helmet.

Here is an old-style photo treatment.

Looking forward to your feedback and advice.

 

[FETTCLONE]

Looks great! thumbsup:thumbsup

The blue colour looks nice to me, but if you really want to change it you could mist on a darker shade of blue in a few areas. I think you've got a pretty good thing going on as is.

Any special plans for a display stand?

I've been thinking of making one of these up as well. Might as well be sooner than later! :lol

 

[Lord Abaddon]

That looks amazing!

 

[Ronz]

Love it!

 

[CSMacLaren]

Thanks for the kind words so far! I was sure I wasn't the only fan of The Ultimates on RPF!

Looks great! thumbsup:thumbsup

The blue colour looks nice to me, but if you really want to change it you could mist on a darker shade of blue in a few areas. I think you've got a pretty good thing going on as is.

Any special plans for a display stand?

I've been thinking of making one of these up as well. Might as well be sooner than later! :lol

I'd probably have something old looking but haven't figured out what yet. Something with Army green since Cap is an Army captain. I was hoping (time permitting) to work on the leather goggles. I'll try to get the straps that go across the rim of the helmet (right under the "A"). I might use a simple piece of white elastic and then paint it tan until I get the real thing going.

I have some dark blue I could try but would it make sense for their to be two shades of blue? I'd like to know your thoughts on that.

Thanks!

 

[gjustis]

LOVE IT.

thumbsup​

 

[Capt MarVell]

Looks great. Has a certain "field expedient" look to the paint, like it's something Cap's had to re-do at times.

FYI, one of the main differences of the helmet is that the WWII shell has the edge seam in the front, later versions moved it to the rear. The bales are fixed in early-war helmets, and swivel in late-war. WWII liners and suspension are different as well.

Some reference links I've collected while searching out M1 helmets:
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_gear_m1_helmet.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Helmet

One thing though, I've never seen a helmet with the strap across the front the way Hitch drew it. The chinstrap was often used around the back of the helmet in Vietnam, but there isn't really another strap to go across the front. I think he took a few liberties with it.

Jim

 

[Stinky Dragon]

Looks awesome! If you're looking for a stand to put it on, I've heard that a simple paper towel holder does the job fairly well (and it's inexpensive to boot!). Keep up the good work!

 

[blufive]

I dig it! I love Captain America. I've never read any of the Ultimates books, though.

 

[Mr. Nagata]

I'm not totally sure what you're referring to since I don't know much about Captain America. But I do know about WWII helmets. WWII helmet liners had a thin leather chin strap that was very often pulled over the front of the steel helmet. The web strap that was attached to the bails was either buckled over the back of the helmet or buckled under the chin, of course. I've also seen the web straps tucked into the helmet net. Vietnam-era M1 helmet liners didn't have the leather chinstrap in the liner.

This photo shows what I'm talking about:
http://www.atthefront.com/normandy_cafe1.jpg

One thing though, I've never seen a helmet with the strap across the front the way Hitch drew it. The chinstrap was often used around the back of the helmet in Vietnam, but there isn't really another strap to go across the front. I think he took a few liberties with it.

Jim

 

[Bigturc]

I've never read Captain America and I'm not at all into comics ..
But I can tell I really dig that cap! Very fine job on it! I think it may look a little clean though (scratch on the A etc ...) .. but again, I really don't know what I'm talking about and still love it!

 

[Capt MarVell]

I'm not totally sure what you're referring to since I don't know much about Captain America. But I do know about WWII helmets. WWII helmet liners had a thin leather chin strap that was very often pulled over the front of the steel helmet. The web strap that was attached to the bails was either buckled over the back of the helmet or buckled under the chin, of course. I've also seen the web straps tucked into the helmet net. Vietnam-era M1 helmet liners didn't have the leather chinstrap in the liner.

This photo shows what I'm talking about:
http://www.atthefront.com/normandy_cafe1.jpg

Thanks for the reference. I suppose I could have overlooked them before, but that is as far as I can recall the first photo I've ever seen with the strap in the front that way. And I went looking for that way back when because I wanted to do a Cap helmet too. No site I've been to had referred to the strap being used that way, just the helmet strap around the back. In fact, one reference I can recall said that the leather strap on the liner was often removed (may be apocryphal, of course). My efforts have focused more on Vietnam-era helmets anyway, but I picked up a lot of WWII reference along the way. Just not that bit. Thanks again.

Jim

 

[Mr. Nagata]

Yeah, it was pretty common to pull the leather strap over the front like that. I'd say it was just as common, if not more common to see it done like that than having the strap removed. Just do a google image search for "WWII Helmet" and you'll see a bunch of helmets in that same configuration. In Saving Private Ryan, ALL the helmets were like that.

 

[Capt MarVell]

Guess I better crack open my copy of SPR and watch it, I've never seen it yet.

Jim

 

[CSMacLaren]

Thanks guys! I'm glad the thread turned out to be an informative one as well.

So were these chins traps? If so, why do you see the chin straps across not only the front rim but the rear as well?

Are they two separate straps or is it a two-in-one kind of system?

 

[Capt MarVell]

Yeah, they were separate chin straps attached to different parts of the helmet system. I've done some follow-up now that playskool pointed out my error and have now seen several like that. The one that goes around the back is the web strap attached to the bales on the helmet shell. I believe the early WWII chinstraps were khaki, later ones were OD. The one over the front is the leather chinstrap attached to the inside of the liner. The liner chinstrap was apparently used for times that the heavy helmet shell wasn't used, like in training exercises, and when the full helmet was in use, it was run up over the front like that.

Jim