Hi everyone,
Before I get going, if you haven’t read the two articles which I have linked to below, you aren’t going to understand a lot of what I am talking about, so go and read them first, and then come back and read the rest of this post.
Boba Fett Costume Resource - First Sons – Boba Fett Preproduction #2 Helmet Progeny
Boba Fett Costume Resource - The Grant McCune Boba Fett Helmet
Alright, you have read the articles, so you know this post is about the restoration of the Grant McCune Boba Fett helmet.
As most of you have noticed, I've been scarce the past few weeks. Typical business with the membership has been hindered a bit, and orders have met some delay. I do apologize for the snail's pace, but at least now it is clear why this has been. I wish to apologize for not being able to discuss it until now and thank you all for your great patience
I also want to say how thrilled I am to be involved the restoration of the Grant McCune helmet. It was my pleasure to work with Art in restoring this piece of history. Thank you Art, for the opportunity
As the restoration project neared completion, it occurred to me that we had in hand, a very fine mold that would set on a shelf somewhere and do no one, a bit of good so I approached Art about possibly putting it to good use. It really didn't take a lot of twisting his arms, and legs … before he agreed to allow me to share his new artifact with the communityOf course, I'm kidding about twisting his arms and legs. Art is a most gracious guy and because of it we all now have an opportunity to possess a little piece of rare movie history. This is a truly great day for the Fett community.
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Keep in mind, this is a preliminary picture. Art will be taking more professional photos in a couple of days when he receives his casting. Until then, there is plenty to bone up on. So let’s get into specifics.
THE PROCESS :
Make no mistake, this was a full on restoration. If you've already done your homework, you will remember that this helmet had its issues when Art received it. Obviously, his original couldn't be used, as it was too brittle to risk. After having made a mold of his casting, I pulled a copy to use as a new master. Taking great care of course, to choose the best materials to minimize the possibility of shrinkage in the casting process …
After realizing that most of the minor paint details would have to be lost, we decided to focus on putting this helmet back together in as close to it's original "Lucasfilm" condition as possible. What this means is, instead of covering up a few "boo-boo's", we wanted to restore the helmet back to the condition it was prior to primer and paint by Lucasfilm. This meant erasing erroneous molding anomalies that can be found on most helmets that share the GMH's lineage, even many times removed such as a "Mystery Helmet", “Lava Helmet”, or even a "DP Deluxe" derivative . All suffer from lumpy domes, caved in domes, warped head bands and a plethora of other issues. Art and I agreed to focus on using the PreProduction #2 helmet as our goal instead of making a sterilized generic Fett helmet. If the PP2 specific scratches bother you, you can fill them right?
The biggest concern in regard to restoring some of the warped areas was globbing body filer all over the helmet to fix the issues, only to result in a complete loss of pedigree. I instead decided to take a more risky and delicate approach. I pulled a very light gelcoat casting, with fiberglass resin slushed in to reinforce the brittle gelcoat, but NO glass fiber whatsoever. This left an eggshell of sorts. If it were dropped, it would shatter like glass. My approach was to have a thin enough shell to experiment with a heat gun. If anyone has used a heat gun on fiberglass in the past, you will know it's virtually impossible to make significant changes when there is glass fiber in the way. The fiber doesn't "give".
My gamble paid off and I found success in straightening out a few minor details. That left the big stuff; the dome and sides of the helmet. This time simply heating wasn't quite enough. But heating and burning little fingertips did
What does this mean for us? This means that the GMH is going to be as true to original PreProduction #2 helmet as is possible because I was able to heat massage the whole helmet back to its former state. I'll undoubtedly be asked, how much was heat massaged, how much was body filler. I can honestly say that there is not one single drop of body-filler used on this new master, with the exception of a rush touch op on the visor areas that obviously gets cut out
There was one area that did need to be altered, the back of the helmet right at the original damaged mold seam line. This could not be avoided. The great news is, after one cut up the original seam line and applying heat, the rear of the helmet fell right back into place. This process was a complete success.
INTEREST:
Art and I want to make sure that everyone who wants one can get their hands on a GMH so here is my new approach to making them available to you:
This helmet will NOT be offered as a "Premium Kit" at this time. This will be a very basic kit, like the old days; a helmet shell and resin cast ears.
Why?
While it may only take me an hour to an hour and a half to cast up a helmet, it can take up to 6 hours to make the greeblies for a a "Premium Kit" and I don’t want this project to be a never ending waiting list. I want this run to move swiftly, and smoothly and at a later date I will offer a more comprehensive accessory kit that can be purchased separately. Parts such as the RF and chin cup can be sourced elsewhere if necessary or the time being. The point here is, making sure everyone has an opportunity to share in this awesome offering.
There is another reason for going this route this time around… Cost. Pure and simple.
By offering fewer of the time consuming “premium” accessories, less of my time and cost is involved, therefore less cost is passed on to you. One might think that you would rather pay more for a comprehensive kit. But wait? You haven't been told the price yet?
COST:
Because of the lineage and rarity of this helmet you might be thinking that copies are going to cost an arm and a leg, right? If you are thinking this, you would be wrongArt and I, both, WANT to share this with everyone and want to make sure it is affordable to virtually every Fett fan! It's that simple. This is the biggest piece of Fett that has ever been made available to the public. So rejoice at the pricing…
(1) GMH (with resin ear caps) - $235 + $17 shipping in the U.S. and $45 for overseas shipping.
This is only a few bucks more than an FP Budget helmet. You can't beat it with a stick!
*** A Special Note to existing customers ***
For those of you that may have an order already placed for a Premium or Budget helmet in the last 4 weeks, I've purposely drug my feet just a little bit. The reason being is that I want to make sure that everyone is happy. It would be horrible to pay for one thing, only to find that a couple of short weeks later something like the GMH is now available. So to those individuals who already have an order placed, I'm offering an upgrade at no additional cost.
If you have a Premium Order, I will substitute for a GMH with Premium Accessories. Again, the premium accessories will not be offered in this run. This is for this special circumstance only.
If you have a Budget on order, you are welcome to substitute for a GMH at no extra cost.
This substitution is by volunteer only, meaning you MUST contact me if you prefer a GMH! I will not be contacting you due to time constraints. Again, if you would like to substitute, YOU MUST CONTACT ME!
Now that it's clear what I've been up to, I hope you can take comfort in knowing that you are still in good hands
This is the OFFICIAL INTEREST thread for the GMH. I will start the list, based on your posts, like the old days. Payments will be accepted for pre-order immediately. If you're interested, please make your post, and remit your pay-pal payment to:
fettpride@fettpride.com
If you would like to send a Money Order, please contact me at consult@fparmor.com
One final note :
Patience, as always, is key. This is a great project to be involved with but please understand, if you are of a sensitive nature, or impatient, or are on a tight timeline for an event, or function, I would ask that you not participate at this time. I need to make sure it is understood, that once again I am offering a service to this community. Threats and abuse don't make things happen faster… nor does incessant status checks. I do my very best to serve the community, and would ask you for the patience and respect that service deserves.
Thank you all. And again, Thank you Art, for making a great thing happen for this community
Chris
Originally Posted by woodman 
So allow me to clarify. I should have already, I apologize. I felt that I may have been getting a bit winded in my initial post 
