Missing 15th Killstripe on the ESB Helmet?

RafalFett

Well-Known Hunter
What are you talking about? There's no 15th killstripe on the ESB Hero helmet!!! Let's count them (again): 1, 2, 3, 4... 12, 13, 14! 14 killstripes and not 15! 15 killstripes are on the Pre-Pro #3 helmet which looks close to the ESB Hero paint scheme, but differs in most of the close-up details, especially the extra killstripe. So what are you talking about?

Missing ESB Killstripe 01.jpg

I noticed when I did my ESB Hero helmet stencils (and also the Pre-Pro #3 stencils) that there are some touched-up silver scratches between and under some of the killstripes, but the most intriguing thing was the 'extra' scratch next to... the invisible killstripe. It was always the belief that the ESB Hero was painted using the Pre-Pro #3 as a model, this is why the 2 helmets looks very similar. Most of the big scratches are in the same place, altough their form and pattern differs from minimum to major ones. My theory on this (and this is only my theory!) is that the person who painted the ESB Hero, masked the killstripe area with painter's tape (or whatever tape he used), then masked the parts he wanted to be unpainted and then started to paint with the airbrush. He started from the front to the back, but when he was at the last killstripes, he noticed (or someone else) that the pattern was off and the last killstripe wasn't in the same place as it was on the Pre-Pro #3 helmet. The final decision was to not add the 15th killstripe, and after finish they pulled off the masking tape, which peeled off the paint in some areas, and of course in the missing 15th killstripe area too. Some of these peeled off areas were partially corrected with a bit of paint, while other areas were left untouched.


Missing ESB Killstripe 02.jpg

So, to answer the question
where is the missing 15th killstripe on the ESB Helmet?
... is still in the airbrush waiting to evade!!!
 
Yep, happy with that theory Raf-ster. Unless there was something along the lines of the artist leaving the stripe off intentionally, due to the 14 stripes meaning something or working better for some reason. As we'll likely never know this, thats a really solid theory. Great detective work as always my good man, and wu-tang will be proud! ;-)
 
Very interesting.
I've never compared the stripe measurements between the 2 helmets. Is there a
proportional difference in the stripe size and spacing between the PP3 and ESB?

Even a difference of a millimeter or so between the stripes can add up to a significant
change in the stripes' positions as they make their way around the helmet.

Rafal, have you done a side by side comparison of your templates for these 2 helmets
to see if there is any kind of difference like this? I'd be curious to see. :)
 
Somehow my stencils are not showing these differences. Here are the original files compiled (from the All Boba Fett Helmet Decals thread):

PP3 & ESB Killstripe Comparison 01.jpg

And how it should look:

PP3 & ESB Killstripe Comparison 02.jpg

I have a comparison image and I will post it when I get home.

Update
--------------------
The first 4 killstripes are the same on both helmets, but as we go further through the big silver scratch and beyond, the difference became evident. The ESB 14th stripe is somewhere in the same area of the 15th killstripe on the Pre-Pro #3 helmet:

Missing ESB Killstripe 03a.jpg

Here is another standard comparison image with approximated values of both killstripes:

PP3 & ESB Killstripe Comparison 03.jpg

Altough these values vary slightly from killstripe to killstripe and from helmet to helmet, it shows clearly that:
Even a difference of a millimeter or so between the stripes can add up to a significant
change in the stripes' positions as they make their way around the helmet.

PP3 & ESB Killstripe Comparison 04.jpg
 
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Wow, excellent comparison! So it would seem that the ESB stripes are perhaps a tiny bit wider
than the PP3 killstripes. As they go around the helmet, the difference in width is multiplied,
ending up with being "one stripe short" while the overall span remains about the same.

Rafal, you are a template machine! (y)
 
Wow i know this thread is ancient but i just have to say that secret wu tang scratch is amazing! Hahaha i know its on the pp3 helmet but i just might have to stick it on the next esb bucket i do! Or do a pp3 for that reason alone :p
 
100% on the money man... I can say without a doubt that youre right. Ive seen some better pics then we have here, and these spots were exactly that. and spaced like you said for another stripe! maybe a bit too wide on the last ghost stripe
 
I'm far removed from all of the great research that RafalFett and others have done but ,like others, I certainly put it to good use on my ESB Boba.
From a purely artistic point of view I think the PP3 artist was going by the principal that when designing with multiple objects that are the same size,
i.e. the kill stripes , then it's good to use uneven numbers because they visually read better to the eye. So 15 makes artistic sense.
Along comes the ESB artist with orders to copy the stripes, he enlarges the stripe width too much, and when comparing after masking, finds he runs out of room by the time he hits the same length as 15 and has to stop at 14. The powers to be say no one will really notice and 14 stripes it is.
Didn't count on eagle eye Rafal.
 
I'm far removed from all of the great research that RafalFett and others have done but ,like others, I certainly put it to good use on my ESB Boba.
From a purely artistic point of view I think the PP3 artist was going by the principal that when designing with multiple objects that are the same size,
i.e. the kill stripes , then it's good to use uneven numbers because they visually read better to the eye. So 15 makes artistic sense.
Along comes the ESB artist with orders to copy the stripes, he enlarges the stripe width too much, and when comparing after masking, finds he runs out of room by the time he hits the same length as 15 and has to stop at 14. The powers to be say no one will really notice and 14 stripes it is.
Didn't count on eagle eye Rafal.

I'm pretty sure Joe Johnston painted both the PP3 and the ESB helmet. The paint style is identical and I'm pretty sure the base colors were the same, I think the slight variation in color was due to the weathering/dusting process of the paint job.
 
I'm pretty sure Joe Johnston painted both the PP3 and the ESB helmet. The paint style is identical and I'm pretty sure the base colors were the same, I think the slight variation in color was due to the weathering/dusting process of the paint job.
Precisely... The PP3 has a TON more weathering (wood/leather paint) all splattered everywhere. The visor even picked up that treatment.
 
If as you say the same artist painted both helmets ,and they sure look like it, then only he could answer the change in stripe
numbers. I was just commenting on why artists will use odd numbers for a more pleasing artist result in their work. Artistically he
didn't want to change the length of the set of stripes regardless of why their number changed to 14.
All of the detail research on TDH is wonderful help for whatever Boba you build. I guess it's my nature to want to think about the artistic reasons for those details in the first place. For instance, the reason we picked ESB Boba over ROTJ was the more pleasing and subtle balance between the primary colors red and green with accents of different yellows adding interest. But that's just me.
 
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