Helmet Flare?

[SPY007]

I know this has been covered in the forums, but I can't find it. Can anyone tell me why Boba Fetts's helmet apprears so much wider at the bottom (left to right/lower ears) in TESB? Camera angle doesn't seem to be the cause and I think camera lense distortion would make the whole suit look wierd. And by wider, I mean so much wider than the replica helmets with links to the actual prop. Thanks

 

[Funkyred]

The helmet in question was damaged and repaired during production. There is a crack on the right side or the right mandible, a bulge on the right cheek and signs of damage in the upper ridge of the visor near the turn signals.

 

[SPY007]

So the damage caused the widening at the bottom, or the repair removed the widening? Where did you get the info that there was damage?
Thanks.

 

[SPY007]

In the History of the helmet section, it is stated the esb helmet was "damaged and repaired AFTER filming." If it was damaged during filming, it makes sense that the look of the helmet changed. But if the helmet was flared out at the bottom the entire film, dosen't that make the damage "Screen accurate?"

 

[SPY007]

Here are two quick shots of my helmet. If I push down on the lower mandibles, I get a widening at the bottom of the helmet and more of an angle on the ears. If I push with both hands, it really begins to look like the TESB on screen helmet. The vertical crack near the right ear and the crack at the left temple that happend to the screen used helmet makes sense if the helmet had been squeezed face and back. It seems resonable to think it was damaged prior to or during filming.

 

[zemzero]

I always wondered about this, I always preferred the wider flare look.

 

[SPY007]

Me too. I always assumed it was camera angles. Getting squashed makes sense.

 

[Funkyred]

In the History of the helmet section, it is stated the esb helmet was "damaged and repaired AFTER filming." If it was damaged during filming, it makes sense that the look of the helmet changed. But if the helmet was flared out at the bottom the entire film, dosen't that make the damage "Screen accurate?"

The crack over the left temple was created after filming

 

[intwenothor]

There is flare to it but this cannot be achieved by simply pushing out the helmet sides at the bottom; this creates the flat face and back syndrome seen on some helmets. The ESB is a wider and rounder helmet than some of the others. It is wider, side to side, around the orbital band as well as at the base. Looked at from above and the dome should look quite round. A PP2 cast will look more egg shaped from above and will be longer front to back than an ESB cast.

 

[SPY007]

So was is a different sculpt entirely?

 

[intwenothor]

So was is a different sculpt entirely?

No, I don't think so. Just led a different life. Think how different stormtrooper helmets are and they all had common ancestry, granted different manner of construction and materials.
It's long been posited than many of the peculiarities to the ESB might be due to being:

Laid in fibreglass cloth and not chopped strand

Extremely thin

Might not have cured well or properly.

This last point would explain a number of ESB deformities.

I do believe the base sculpt for all 6 helmets was the same.

 

[MinuteFett]

Edit: whoops wrong thread

 

[RafalFett]

Andy, you are correct with your assumptions and I would go as far to say that the ESB helmet was the first cast of the 6. I assume that the right upper cheek bulge is the product of the not properly cured work, more exactly it is positioned in the area where the right upper visor screw with clamp is cemented from the inside. Also this is the only helmet (from the limited helmet inside shots we have - Pre-Pro #2, Pre-Pro #3 and ROTJ) that has putty applied to the cheek-ear area to strengthen the helmet structure and maybe this is the source of the flare we can see in ESB:

 

[intwenothor]

I also think it was made first. Fibreglass cloth just seems an odd choice for this sort of job. Sort of thing you'd use once and realise it was a bad idea. Of course, you could apply a similar logic to have it made last i.e. chopped strand had been tried so let's do something different for the last one.
Funnily enough, I think this came up before and someone, Keegan maybe, was of the view it was made last. Possibly even in another flare thread.

 

[MinuteFett]

The crack over the left temple was created after filming

Andy, you are correct with your assumptions and I would go as far to say that the ESB helmet was the first cast of the 6. I assume that the right upper cheek bulge is the product of the not properly cured work, more exactly it is positioned in the area where the right upper visor screw with clamp is cemented from the inside. Also this is the only helmet (from the limited helmet inside shots we have - Pre-Pro #2, Pre-Pro #3 and ROTJ) that has putty applied to the cheek-ear area to strengthen the helmet structure and maybe this is the source of the flare we can see in ESB:
View attachment 189258 View attachment 189262 View attachment 189259 View attachment 189260 View attachment 189261

Levi,
has it ever been discussed that this supertrooper helmet may be the esb bucket before paint? The dent seems spot on. Would be great to have a picture comparison between this picture and how the helmet looks now.

tried doing a search but not many results regarding this topic.

 

[RafalFett]

Levi,
has it ever been discussed that this supertrooper helmet may be the esb bucket before paint? The dent seems spot on. Would be great to have a picture comparison between this picture and how the helmet looks now.

tried doing a search but not many results regarding this topic.

Luis, I think that this helmet was converted to the ROTJ one. Here's a comparison image a did a while ago:

The front arrows and the dent was taken from the ST helmet. It lines up perfectly:

 

[RafalFett]

I also think it was made first. Fibreglass cloth just seems an odd choice for this sort of job. Sort of thing you'd use once and realise it was a bad idea. Of course, you could apply a similar logic to have it made last i.e. chopped strand had been tried so let's do something different for the last one.
Funnily enough, I think this came up before and someone, Keegan maybe, was of the view it was made last. Possibly even in another flare thread.

According to the Boba Fett progress report sheet the 6th helmet was painted gray and sent to the US which became the ESB Hero, but this is not the indication that it was cast the last:


(Note that the order is my interpretation).

 

[SPY007]

I just don't know how these two helmets can look so different. Movie shots and production stills all have a wider looking bottom. I think rules out lense distortion.

 

[RafalFett]

The 2nd image you posted is one of the ROTJ stunts cast from the ESB Hero. Possibly during the casting process, the left temple of the helmet cracked and was repaired (along other damages) and this might be the fact that the helmet lost that prominent flare.

 

[intwenothor]

It looks as if early indications of the ESB left temple crack are already evident on the stunt cast. Also worth noting that the stunt cast exhibits a far rounder dome than we see on the ESB today, which seems now quite flat.