Y-wing / A-Wing helmet ROTJ scratchbuild

Hi all,
I just thought I'd show you all some of my current project (in between working on the dalek).
I always really liked the ROTJ Y&A wing helmets and I fancied a scratch build, whilst I wait on a Boba helmet to get here from the US.

I started initially with all the reference pics I could find on the net from SW exhibitions and draw it up in Illustrator. From here I started work on a 3D render with StudioMax. I was considering build it up in Pepakura, but thought I'd build up the way it would have been by crew in the 80's with carving around a few motorcycle helmets.

Here are a couple of pics of the rendering.



...and some of the progress.



The plan is get a decent buck made I'm happy with and make a mould from there.

I will probably hold on from update pictures though until its about complete. I thought I'd let people know what I was working on!!

Dex

Nice, you don't see that helmet design often. 'm looking forward to following your build. It's always fun to see any helmet build.

Off to a great start , Its good to see the less popular helmets getting love.

Thanks a lot for the comments guys!

Looking good!

Looking gd. Nice to see more uk sculptors.
if u go down a slush casted route, happy to point u in the right direction mate.

Hi, thankyou Heatshock!
It's getting there and has moved on a little further since the above pictures.
Not like I need to think about it for a while, but I will probably go the fibreglass route (I've more experience of this after building a dalek dome) and plan to make the helmet in separate pieces.... that's my thinking at the moment anyway!
I want to have a practice with moulding in silicone too.

Best Regards,
Dex (Rich)

Hi, thought I'd let you all see a bit more progress on my rebel lid.
It's definitely heading in the right direction with a lot of the big work done.



I still need to work 2-3 areas I'm not happy with, and of course chop out for the greeblies areas.
Scale in my opinion seems about right.



See what you all think! I don't start moulding until I'm happy with it, but I am pleased with this for my first scratchbuild sculpt.

Dex (Rich)

Hi, thanks!
I found his pics on Flickr when I was looking for reference and it's his I use for an overlay when doing comparison photos.
There are pics of my Dalek and some of this build on Flickr too under the name Savaus.

I've got some greeblies for the helmet from a friend in Germany so that's something I don't have to make!

I've no experience of slushing, but I'm getting better at glassing, so I will go the GRP route.
The goggles I will want Vac formed of course, and will want someones guidance there! Not done any since Art College 20 years ago!!

Dex (Rich)

Ill show u slushing if u show me how to glass mate, I always make a right mess
if u using silicone mold, should be able to slush w it too!! 45 min to do it,, demold in 30 min

I have always had probs w visors. Many have suggested ptfe, which comes clear, but can be dyed to the right colour. Check w mojo fett or bobby fett uk, both have vav former exp

Mmmm... interesting! I'm not fibreglass expert mind you, but any gelcoating pointers, just ask! Took me a while to get it right.

I'll drop you a message when I get closer to making a mould up. I've not made a silicone mould yet, but I've seen plenty on the web that looks useful.
I looked through a tut of a clone pilot helmet scatchbuild by EVO3 was it? That build up was really quite impressive and vac'd his goggles.
Off over the garage/workshop and do some more tweaking shortly!

Dex

yeah pls do mate, the more of us doing builds like this in the UK the better!!
yep. I know abt Evo legendary builds, spoken to him a few times when I 1st started too
I have done several small silicone molds, and 3 helmet ones so far.
see this link - Hs Gm Bucket - A New Attempt - 501st CloneTroopers Detachment
lmk before you splash the cash too, got some nice links to supplies - pm sent

Nate

Hi here's a few more pictures of the progress. The front needed a little flatten as it was too round and that now looks more correct.



Also the hole (which will be an indent) with a chamfer for the side greeblie. Next up is the front lower chin greeblie indent and finish the rest of the indents including the connector indent. Which is the identity chip (apparently!!) Looks like a MOLEX connector to me!!



Then another touch of primer and a bit more tweaking until it is as good as I can possibly make it.

Dex

man thats looking real nice
great shape, any change to see it on your head?

Nate

Fantastic work,Rich !

Thanks guys! I'll take a picture of it on my head (or a dummy's) head soon! (Might be the same thing!!)
Slowly but surely getting there!!

Dex

Hi, here yet more pictures of my progress before I give it another coat of primer and see if I can find much else wrong with it.
From what many reference pics I have, I don't think I'm far off and will do too much more to it....






Then it'll be a big wet and dry job before I start looking at making up a mould..... silicone moulding will be a new experience for me!
..oh and I will upload one of my head or a dummy's head soon! The scale to my mind is about right...

Dex (Rich)

Perfect!

Beautiful work!!

Thanks! Here's another few of it back in primer... still a few minor changes to be made, but it's feeling quite close now.





After this I've just closed up the front section in preparation for the moulding process. Anyone got any links on here to a step by step moulding process?
Heatshock, I think I need your advice regarding moulding! Overall though I feel I'm getting there!

Dex

that's beautiful. I want one!

Rich,
there are some step by step moulding thtreads on therpf forum.Will see if I found some and send you the links.

Rich,
look at this link:
Senate Guard Helmet Build

Hi thanks!
That one and the one Heatshock mailed me of his build is great. Arca Barracks :: Building a New Lid - WE MUST DO BETTER. That tutorial is pretty good, but you need to register with Arca Barracks...

Rich,
look at this link from here :http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f47/e...d-9-6-a-33293/

...ahh there it is! That is an awesome helmet and a fantastic tutorial! Thanks for finding it and to Evo3 for kindly running through it step by step!

Rich

Dex, that's a gorgeous helmet! I have one of the RA Y-Wing helmets, and it built up into a nice display piece.
But yours looks much more accurate. If you consider doing a run sometime, I'd be interested.

Hi, thankyou! I've tried to get it as close as I possibly can with all the reference pictures I can find.
If I do a small run, I'll let members on here know first. It was going to be just one or two for me, but I may do a few complete with goggles.

Best Regards
Rich

This waiting for a helmet

Upps...double post

Whoa! Cool markings, Ywingfighter. Did you do the artwork yourself?

hey Ywingfighter - what ever happended to your vac formed molds mate?? Hope it got sorted

Dex - soz I've been on hols mate, pm replied. EVO3 did a very nice step-by-step process of his molding on CT.net EVO3's Helmet Molding 101 - 501st CloneTroopers Detachment
My version is a modified version of his with products and material available in the UK.

from your pm - I take it you have already read this page I posted over on ARCA = Prop Making Materials
the 2 companies I have used and recommended are on post #1 and #2 of the thread

lmk if you need any more info mate ;p

Nate

Superjedi: I use photographs of the original helmet markings...cut out the background and paint the markings over.Print them out on clear waterslide Decals.
Nate:My helmet moulds are destroyed and I no longer work on the helmet.To many errors! Waiting for a better one.

Love this! Can't wait to see how it goes! Keep it up, it looks awesome.

Originally Posted by ywingfighter

Superjedi: I use photographs of the original helmet markings...cut out the background and paint the markings over.Print them out on clear waterslide Decals.
Nate:My helmet moulds are destroyed and I no longer work on the helmet.To many errors! Waiting for a better one.

oh **** man - thought it was looking good mate
Dex's is shaping up real fine!

Nate

Originally Posted by ywingfighter

Superjedi: I use photographs of the original helmet markings...cut out the background and paint the markings over.Print them out on clear waterslide Decals.

Ah! Very nice.

Originally Posted by Heatshock

oh **** man - thought it was looking good mate
Dex's is shaping up real fine!

Nate

Yeah..Dex's helmet looks perfect!

Very nice work. Looks like you captured all the details. Awesome job. Now get to work on all the other pilot helmets.

Hi, it takes me too long! I'm just doing this one and will start the moulding soon. Then it's on with my ASOK CC helmet and I still really want a GMH!!

Thanks!

Hi, here's a quick update of the box and the cross section piece of wood just before I start with a 2 piece mould in Silicone...



Just got to close the gaps and add the pieces to align the 2 halves. Anything else I need to do? (Nate, I'm looking your direction!)

Rich

Looks very good Rich.Good luck with the moulding.

rofl - oops soz mate
text me next time mate- school hols starting soon, will be spending time with kids rather than near a PC
pm sent mate

Hi all,
Here's another quick update of the process so far...





Since these pics I've removed the wooden section and will be casting the 2nd side in RTV shortly.

Rich

Man, I'd love one of these!

My only concern is is that MDF board you're using for your flange?
Be extra careful it doesn't get wet and possibly warp, bro!

I've removed the board since these pics. It stayed nice and dry and flat.
I'll upload some other other pics in the next day or two.

Thanks!
Rich

Here's another couple of pics of the progress.




since this I've done more pours and it needs just 1 more later of RTV with thixo then I'll make the jacket in glass for this side.

I will be removing the plug from the moulds this week!

Rich

Very profesionell work ,Rich! Looking forward to you.

Hi all, at long last...(seemed like forever to me) I've got my moulds almost ready to go!





I removed the fibreglass mother moulds OK and the plug came out fine.

Big thanks to Nate (Heatshock) for giving me plenty of pointers as I went! Thanks dude!

I plan to go the fibreglass route and see how I go for the 1st pulls.... stay tuned rebel pilots!

Rich

Amazing looking mold!

Thanks dude! Its a good job we have the internets these days! The tutorials of Heatshocks, Evo3 and Volpin Props helped me no end!

Rich

Rich - was my pleasure mate, the more UK makers the better in my book ;P
mold looks excellent !!!! Very nice work mate
and dont sell yourself short mate, you obviously already knew a lot of what I was talking abt - glad I could help
good luck with your castings!

Nate

Hi all,
Having gelcoated and glassed the 2 sides late last week, I removed the 2 halves today from the moulds.



In these pics the majority of the sanding is done, just a little more to do before bonding the helmet together.





Once done it will be time to trim the front section out and starting thinking about making a former for the visor.....

Rich

This is really a good looking build.
Very clean.

I may have missed it, but is scale 1:1 with the screen used version?

There is a Pep version available, but seems a little small.

Originally Posted by Dex

Hi, yes full size with dimensions as close as I can guestimate!
It started with a (Medium) 80's motorcycle helmet as a start point (as you can see in this picture here)



Regards,
Rich

So what hat size do you think it would fit?

Could you give the measurement of the lower opening?

Thanks,
Graham

Well I don't know how many I'm making yet (this is #1). It is a big helmet that will need padding so your head sits where it should.
It's not that its oversize and the start point was a Medium...
I'll have a measure and let you know.

Regards,
Rich

Understood

If it's an option and the sizing works out, I'd be interested.

Either way its nice to see the process.

Thanks,
Graham

Here's a few more with todays progress.






Here you can get a good idea of scale compared to a Hasbro Clone Trooper lid.

Rich

Looks fantastic,Rich and I am sure it had the correct scale!

Hi Dex, any more work on this? Are you considering doing a run?

Hi, Im just doing the finishing touches on the buck for the vacuum formed goggles. I want to do some orange some pink. I'll add a picture of the buck shortly and hopefully I can get some done soon!

To answer your question, a small run yes! The 2 I've made are both fibreglass. Slushcast resin would be neater, but not as tough...
I'll upload some pics again soon!

Hey Dex - nice to see u still on the project

btw tough is a relative term IMHO. PU resin isnt as intrinsically hard as FG/PE resin, but it has a little more give; ie flexibility. I have tried with my own GM and have had stories of other makers, with dropping of slushed casted helmets that they do literally bounced with little or no damage. What they are though, is a little heavier than FG helmets.

give a go mate, the way you have made your mold you could easily experiment with slushing! Add to that the 1hr -1.5hr from 1st pour to demold time is a big bonus too.

Cool, look forward to seeing how your visors come out.

I don't know anything about molding and casting, so I will say. . . make them out of high carbon steel! That's as easy as resin, right?

I have no idea! I'll stick with GRP though! With these being 3-4 layers of resin and matting they're pretty tough! Carbon fibre mat looks cool though I grant you!

Thanks Heatshock! Oh yes still on the case, just been doing a bit on the dalek & University deadlines so been delayed a little bit. I may still have a go at slushing one yet...this cold weather isn't making me feel like doing much though...bring on the Spring! Brrr.....

Wow, you really did an excellent job capturing the look. I always liked this style helmet a bit more than the other rebel pilots for some reason. It's about time someone did this helmet some justice. Please add me to the list of interested.

That's coming along really well! I've managed to find the correct mic tip although I'm still in the process of finding the correct military connector which sits under the chin. ywingfighter did find the correct female connector which is attached on top of the bucket. The part under the yamaha greeblie is something I think will never be discovered and therefore will have to be made from scratch. Unlike the RA kit, this has quite spot on dimensions!

Thanks for the nice comments people!
I know I'm a bit slow, but I get there eventually!

The dimensions, and shapes I've tried to get as correct as I possibly could and although I was only ever going to build one, I will do a small run!
Here's a few more update pictures (complete with action figure!) The former is now as good as done with quite a good return on the inside of the helmet, so it looks like either me or someone over here in the UK is going to be vacuum forming soon!







Soon as I get some done (in both colours) I'll upload some more....

Ooooh, shiny!

looks outstanding! I love that you're doing the A-wing, don't see it done often.

Found the military connector!

The ribs on the right part are too tight together, don't think this is the exact one which was used on the prop.

Yes skynet your right,but found the correct Endpart!

Thanks ywingfighter (Frank) for hunting these bits and pieces down!
Between us we'll have all the greeblies to complete the helmets (or 1 variant of the helmets at least) with all the common, buttons, mic tips, connectors and Yamaha engine cover pieces, so that's cool.

I'm hopefully doing some vac forming Tuesday, so I'll let everyone know how that works out!

Dex

Originally Posted by superjedi

Whoa! Cool markings, Ywingfighter. Did you do the artwork yourself?

SuperJedi, those helmet decals are MY work, not ywingfighters, I made those decals in fireworks8 on my pc almost a year ago, hand cut them out of tamiya tape and airbrushed them onto my helmet...

Sign In - The Emerald Garrison

whole build is here...

Rebel Legion :: View topic - my Y-wing helmet

and here !

Hey lowbacca,
the Artwork are my own work!!!! Not a copie of yours! I didn't see yours!

Originally Posted by lowbacca

SuperJedi, those helmet decals are MY work, not ywingfighters, I made those decals in fireworks8 on my pc almost a year ago, hand cut them out of tamiya tape and airbrushed them onto my helmet...

Sign In - The Emerald Garrison

whole build is here...

Rebel Legion :: View topic - my Y-wing helmet

and here !

Hi Lowbacca,
Your stencils for the markings came out excellent!
Back in post #34 Ywingfighter explained that he used photo reference of the screen used helmet to create waterslide decals of the markings.
I can see several differences in the proportions and shapes of the markings to believe that is actually what he did.

Originally Posted by superjedi

Hi Lowbacca,
Your stencils for the markings came out excellent!
Back in post #34 Ywingfighter explained that he used photo reference of the screen used helmet to create waterslide decals of the markings.
I can see several differences in the proportions and shapes of the markings to believe that is actually what he did.

I didn't use all the stencils on my helmet, I changed some of them to get the proportions right. sorry if I'm wrong guys but they look suspiciously like my originals, although set out differently. anyway, great work on the helmets. I wish this thread was active when I started mine.

Originally Posted by Dex

Soon as I get some done (in both colours) I'll upload some more....

I can't wait to see how these visors turn out. Having two color options is going to make it difficult to decide which version to do.

We'll know soon enough! I'm going to have a go tomorrow.....
If I can't manage it (or get as good as I'll want) then I'll have to have a rethink.



I think the former is OK though! I've just ordered some fuchsia dye so the first few are going to be the purple colour.

Here's the first 3 helmets and I'm trial fitting the connector (greeblie) on the brow of the grey one....
Lets see how we go!

I am in the process to made all resin parts for the helmet.Waiting for the military connector.Show pictures soon.

Picture !

Looking good!

What's the lens made of ?

Thanks!
2mm Acrylic

Frank(Y-wing fighter is having the 1st one and I bet he gets it built almost overnight!)

Visor came out looking really nice!

Is that 50 pin connector plug socket thingy the same one used on the B-wing pilot's chest box?

The black block near the top, above the hose? I don't know, maybe. It does look quite similar.

Thanks! I'm pleased with the goggles too. Hopefully I'll get the 5 trimmed this weekend and might have a go at dyeing them.
Got to make some minor tweaks to help me get the former out the arcylic for next run those will be 2mm Arcylic again, but I may try some 3mm.

Dex

Its the same connector!

Hi,
Here's todays progress with 5 of the goggles trimmed and dyed.



Looking OK!

I beg to differ sir. It is looking just OK. It is looking great. I think you got the color of the visor perfect, and it looks great on your sculpt. Excellent work.

Thankyou!
I'm a little wiser for the next batch anyway! I'd have liked them a "little" darker, but I left a tester (scrap one) in the dye overnight....
9 hours later, no change! I was surprised at that, I did read about adding Acetone? I did add a small amount, but may try a little more next time...
They're even and all the same colour anyway, so that's good!

It will be a few weeks (months) probably until I get chance to paint one up. The first one "should" be getting posted from here (UK) to Germany this week, so I look forward to seeing one built up and painted!

Awesome work Dex... very clean lines!
Have you considered making vac moulds from the 2 halves of the silicone?

Hi, at the moment, just GRP and maybe a slush cast... I'd worry about wrecking the silicone!

Thankyou! Rich (Dex)

Originally Posted by Dex

I'd worry about wrecking the silicone!

The silicone will be fine, you're only using the existing moulds to 'create' vac-formable bucks from... then you'd have both options? GRP and for the purists the vac formed.
Gav

Originally Posted by Dex

Hi,
Here's todays progress with 5 of the goggles trimmed and dyed.



Looking OK!

Hard to tell with flash photography, but the tint looks good to me.

@mojo
I'm actually curious as to what you'd recommend making high temp resistant bucks out of. I thought I remembered seeing that smooth-on made something for thermo-forming but I always wondered what would work best.

Originally Posted by BactaWork

what you'd recommend making high temp resistant bucks out of. I thought I remembered seeing that smooth-on made something for thermo-forming but I always wondered what would work best.

I'm not too familiar with smooth-on products? but I use an aluminium enfused resin? purpose made for vac-forming. I used it to make some TK helmet bucks for another UK guy.

Sorry to slightly de-rail Rich....
Look forward to seeing more pisc!

Way impressive!