ZippingMeteor
New Member
Before I get into this post I just wanted to give a little backstory. Originally this project started off as a personal test, a mission if you will to figure out how to make something that in my research hadn't been done. I wanted to make a functional version of the helmet worn in Batman: The Killing Joke by the guy who becomes The Joker.
As I learned more and did a bunch of small scale tests, I decided that this wouldn't just be a functional prop to act as a trophy to myself. This was going to be my first ever cosplay that I would wear at my first ever comic convention, Planet Comicon. If I was to go, I needed to hide my face as I tend to get anxiety around crowds. I had to figure out how to make the helmet if I wanted to go. Eventually I did.
The first picture is of me, the second one is of me and Arkham Knight/Red Hood from RuthlessFX I ran into at the convention.
My intention with making this helmet was to figure out how to actually wear in on the floor at a convention while also being as accurate as possible to what's seen in TKJ. I didn't want to have to carry it and only put it on for photos. So paint was out of the question.
First I needed a tube. I found that I could buy cast acrylic tubing from most plastic supply stores online by the foot, more than enough for my needs.
Next I needed the dome. This was an acrylic domed window you'd install in a fence for your pets. This may not work for all sized tubes but for my 9.5" outer diameter tube, the product called Pet Peek worked well after being cut to size, sanded, and planed.
Getting the red color was easy but also caused some problems. I boiled both pieces in red iDye Poly. The tube came out great, the dome suffered tons of microcracks. If I was to do this again, I would either use red model paint or be more careful dying the dome.
Next I needed to get both pieces to act as a mirror. Because I didn't need to see out of the dome, I used mirror spray paint on the inside of it. The tube was more difficult. I knew I needed to use two way mirror film but that product is meant for glass, not acrylic. I tried all sorts of adhesives but they all either effected the dye, the acrylic, my vision, or simply didn't prevent the film from bubbling up when spread as thin as I needed. I ultimately had to scrap the first tube as it had suffered too much from all the adhesive tests. Then I had an idea, why use glue on the film at all?
I found that a 1mm thick sheet of plexiglass was flexible enough to bend into a cylinder the same size as the tube. Instead of glue, I cut a sheet of plexiglass just a little longer than the inner circumference of the tube and sandwiched the mirror film between it and the acrylic tube. Once it was as tight as possible, I glued the plexiglass to itself. This created a very effective friction fit that held the film in place perfectly.
After that was all figured out, I glued the dome to the tube with a UV resin called FiberFix , used some transparent red model paint on the seam and to help hide the microcracks in the dome, intentionally scratched the surface to make it look like the wearer has been hit by a guy dressed as a bat, and used some black shoe polish to make it look grimy. A little upholstery foam for comfort and it was done.
There are some things I'd do differently in the future but for a first attempt, it did it's job very well. I could see perfectly without any eye holes, everything was just red. I had countless people say as I walked past "how can he see" or "there's no way he can see where he's going" only for me to prove them wrong. I even had a professional Harley Quinn cosplayer acknowledge me which for me was a sign that I did something right.
I'm sure most of you are more experienced in props and cosplay than I am, I've never attempted something like this before in my life. Is there anything you all would have done differently? What do you think of this classic Red Hood? Should I modify the costume to be more like the version seen in Arkham Origins or Injustice: Gods Among Us for a future convention?
As I learned more and did a bunch of small scale tests, I decided that this wouldn't just be a functional prop to act as a trophy to myself. This was going to be my first ever cosplay that I would wear at my first ever comic convention, Planet Comicon. If I was to go, I needed to hide my face as I tend to get anxiety around crowds. I had to figure out how to make the helmet if I wanted to go. Eventually I did.
The first picture is of me, the second one is of me and Arkham Knight/Red Hood from RuthlessFX I ran into at the convention.
My intention with making this helmet was to figure out how to actually wear in on the floor at a convention while also being as accurate as possible to what's seen in TKJ. I didn't want to have to carry it and only put it on for photos. So paint was out of the question.
First I needed a tube. I found that I could buy cast acrylic tubing from most plastic supply stores online by the foot, more than enough for my needs.
Next I needed the dome. This was an acrylic domed window you'd install in a fence for your pets. This may not work for all sized tubes but for my 9.5" outer diameter tube, the product called Pet Peek worked well after being cut to size, sanded, and planed.
Getting the red color was easy but also caused some problems. I boiled both pieces in red iDye Poly. The tube came out great, the dome suffered tons of microcracks. If I was to do this again, I would either use red model paint or be more careful dying the dome.
Next I needed to get both pieces to act as a mirror. Because I didn't need to see out of the dome, I used mirror spray paint on the inside of it. The tube was more difficult. I knew I needed to use two way mirror film but that product is meant for glass, not acrylic. I tried all sorts of adhesives but they all either effected the dye, the acrylic, my vision, or simply didn't prevent the film from bubbling up when spread as thin as I needed. I ultimately had to scrap the first tube as it had suffered too much from all the adhesive tests. Then I had an idea, why use glue on the film at all?
I found that a 1mm thick sheet of plexiglass was flexible enough to bend into a cylinder the same size as the tube. Instead of glue, I cut a sheet of plexiglass just a little longer than the inner circumference of the tube and sandwiched the mirror film between it and the acrylic tube. Once it was as tight as possible, I glued the plexiglass to itself. This created a very effective friction fit that held the film in place perfectly.
After that was all figured out, I glued the dome to the tube with a UV resin called FiberFix , used some transparent red model paint on the seam and to help hide the microcracks in the dome, intentionally scratched the surface to make it look like the wearer has been hit by a guy dressed as a bat, and used some black shoe polish to make it look grimy. A little upholstery foam for comfort and it was done.
There are some things I'd do differently in the future but for a first attempt, it did it's job very well. I could see perfectly without any eye holes, everything was just red. I had countless people say as I walked past "how can he see" or "there's no way he can see where he's going" only for me to prove them wrong. I even had a professional Harley Quinn cosplayer acknowledge me which for me was a sign that I did something right.
I'm sure most of you are more experienced in props and cosplay than I am, I've never attempted something like this before in my life. Is there anything you all would have done differently? What do you think of this classic Red Hood? Should I modify the costume to be more like the version seen in Arkham Origins or Injustice: Gods Among Us for a future convention?
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