X-wing Pilot Helmet

Walter

Master Member
I know, this one has been done many times, but Droidboy and I put our heads together and decided to do something a little different. We have wanted to build a really good X-Wing helmet forever, but we wanted it to be durable. We went to work on a design that would give us the classic look, be 10x or more durable than vacuformed styrene. I will be posting Droidboy's build and some of my own (I am not as far along as I am working on templates for my own helmet decor).

First, some reference.

The first one is totally straight forward.

Luke pilot helmet.jpg

And then we get to Rogue One...

RO closeup.pngRO Reference 1.jpg

Ok, you can't see it in the first image and but the mohawk cap, the front is different. There are other variations as well (also well documented it, I am just laying this out from a project perspective), but this difference inspired us to create a helmet that would work for RO and OT. Seriously we just wanted a sturdy helmet that when we dropped it on the ground wouldn't destroy our hopes and dreams and we wanted it to look and feel just right.
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Luke pilot helmet.jpg


RO Reference 1.jpg


RO closeup.png
 
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We found this picture from Rogue One and it was very telling about the methodology in making their helmets.

RO Reference 2.JPG

We also determined the best route for the mohawk caps was to laser cut a master.

Laser cut RO OT toppers.jpg
 
Nice project Walter.

From the picture you posted, it seems like the helmets in R1 are also made of styrene.

What material do you have in mind to make your helmets ?
 
Hi Walter,
the OT and Rogue One helmets are very differend. The helmet halfs of this versions are made from ABS and the Rogue One helmet had an inner helmet shell and movable visor. The Visor of the OT helmet is in static position.
 
Thanks guys. I do see the differences... just taking you on our projects journey. You will see what I mean shortly.

Inner helmet met with movable visor or static, that is up to what the helmet will become and it's purpose; very valid and nuanced point though.

The problem we were really trying to solve for is durability and longevity. I know I am an old curmudgeon around here and have seen some solid helmets 20 years old and they are yellowing, getting brittle, and I have heard the horror stories for years about dropped helmets.
 
The other challenge we had with the styrene helmets was the assembly, it is not fun. So far, I have been talking about the challenges with the helmets because I want you to see where we were coming from when we started to pull this all together. We worked with our team of fiberglass experts to challenge them if they could make a decent fiberglass helmet, not too thick, but retain the resiliency of the material.

Helmet interrior 2.jpgHelmet interrior.jpg
 
Here is Droidboy's helmet, all primed and ready to go.

proto helmet.jpg

We also printed out the buck for the visor which you can see in the photo and a trimmed chin cup.
 
Is the mohawk cap a detail in the fibreglass shell and some laser-cut parts or is that a separate piece that goes over front end of the mohawk?
 
But the remainder of the mohawk cap is moulded in the fibreglass shell, right and not a separate piece like on the original helmet?

Correct.

On on the originals in the OT, the cap is a finishing detail but it hides the join of the two halves.

For ours we we didn't need to hide the join really (easily sanded) but wanted the front to be crisp (and have options), so that is how we landed on just having the front part cast. On the Wedge helmet Droidboy did use an extra master, but I will use one of the cast pieces.
 
Aaaaaannnnndddd... finished (mostly). A lot of people over the years have taken red fabric dye to tint the lens, we did something a little different. Droidboy applied Krylon stained glass spray paint that you can pick up at hobby lobby or online and sprayed the back of the lens. It looks splotchy at first but evens out as it dries and looks great.

greggs wedge progress 6.jpg
 
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