For those who have studied this helmet...

I recently noticed something about the Vanity Fair Jango photo from shortly before the premiere of Episode II:



The upper earcap is actually seated in the lower, rather than spaced as I've seen everywhere else. Was this just for convenience? A mistake on the part of the folks setting up the photoshoot? Has anyone decided to try and make a motorized earcap that slides up that centimeter or so to the familiar "ready" position?

I am thinking of doing exactly that last, to add just that much more spice to my helmets. It might even make things less cluttered inside the helmet. If the motorized part is the earcap, and just to slide up and down through a centimeter of travel, and the front of the r/f stalk base is anchored in some way, when the earcap and stalk ride up, the anchor will pull the stalk down into the ready position... and then pull it back up to "stowed" when the earcap assembly drops back down.

If anyone took the time to parse though my late-night engineering babble, let me know what you think, and what suggestions you might have to go about this.

--Jonah

that earcap is correct, take a look through the jango galleries. they all have the "closed" ear cap, that's a detail they even got right on the rubies jango helmet. it's supposed to sit that low.

Yea, that's been established lol

Yeah, that's how it should be and that's how it is on all the Jango helmets. If anyone puts a Jango earcap in the "raised" position it'd be inaccurate.

Right. Not looking to do a Jango or a Boba. The closest I'm going to get is my Fenn Shysa project. So there's the whole "custom freedom" thing going on.

Although, did we see Jango with the rangefinder down any time in AOTC? Not counting the *** CG shot of the r/f going backwards.

I'm guessing the answer is, then, that no one's made a moving earcap and I'm on my own to figure it out.

--Jonah

During the fight on the landing pad on kamino, Jangos range finder moves forward to the down position just before he fires his grapling line at Obi Wan.

Originally Posted by Foxbatkllr

^ I think that was CG as well.

Based on our knowledge of the actual helmet, the RF was fixed and not functional.

You are correct sir, that scene was indeed another CGI one. The actual helmet prop had a fixed RF stalk ( check the thread from ASOK, as his helmet is from an actual ILM Jango helmet ), and there for was not capable of moving.

I was more or less using that scene as an example to illustrate that in spite of the earcap being in the down position, it was still supposed to be able to move... even though the real helmet was not constructed with a movable RF.

Yeah, its accurate to have a moveable RF.

So back to the original poster, I don't know what the point would be to having a moving earcap. Jango's didn't move, just the RF and stalk rotated like Boba's does. The earcap is just in a lower position the whole time than Boba's is.

Foxbatkllr -- The point is the same as almost everythign else in Star Wars: it looks cool. In seriousness, though, long prior to Episode II, the way the two pieces of Boba's right earcap fit together always made me think there just had to be some operating state in shich they did fit together... and finally registering what had been in front of my face with Jango's helmet for years just gave me this idea to have a "stowed" and "deployed" position for the upper piece, and then maybe to tie it in to the rangefinder itself.

I know it's not movie-accurate, but it sure seems like a good way to add one more little bit of dynamism and awesomeness to an already pretty darn nice design. I wouldn't do it if I were doing Boba (maybe his is broken or stuck from all the abuse that bucket's taken), but since I'm doing Fenn, the SuperTrooper, and a few customs, I feel a little more freedom to push the boundaries. And since I'm already doing steel helmets, and incorporating as many bells and whistles as I can manage, why not go all the way? *heh*

THanks for the insights and opinions, all. Now to tackle the engineering end and sort out this particular puzzle. Anyone who's interested, I will of course be showing my progress with this once I start an actual build thread (hopefully soon, but finances have prevented much progress).

--Jonah

You're free to do what you want with your custom. I mean, a custom is a custom. But you asked Jango experts their opinion on the Jango helmet. So we answered, that the earcap moving is not accurate. If you were doing Jango I wouldn't suggest it, but since it's a custom do whatever you want to your heart's content.

I was mainly double-checking what I saw, and its validity. And who better to ask than those who have spent so much time nailing down what constitutes an accurate Jango helmet. Y'all have scrutinized the set photos and relevent scenes of the film until your eyes cross.

I should have separated more clearly what I'd seen from what I am thinking of doing in my first post. F'r instance, I actually hadn't spotted that Jango's earcap is down through the entire movie. I've gone back and watched it again, and I'm amazed I missed it -- like the no-stripes Stormtroopers in Star Wars. *heh*

Thanks again, guys.

--Jonah