My Rubies Helmet Transformation

[AdenSolu]

Hello all,

I'm sure many of you acted the same way I did if you purchased the Rubies Fett helmet and expected that was a licensed Star Wars product to actual be of decent quality. When I opened the box I was horrified to see the actual contents of the package. Most of you know the quality of the Rubies helmet compared to the actual craftsmanship of helmets available on TDH from makers such as Sgt. Fang, Boba Maker, Fett Pride and more, however when I purchased this helmet a few years ago, I had no idea how the likeness would be so incorrect. Not only is the size and shape wrong, but the color scheme and details are so far off that it is a shame to even think of this as being licensed merchandise. Now while I am in the process of buying and piecing together a screen accurate Fett costume for myself, I have grown tired of the Rubies helmet I have sitting on my shelf for display purposes. I decided I had to do something about this monstrosity! I headed to my local craft store and picked up some paint, and now i'm in the process of hand] painting my Rubies helmet to actual look like Fett's helmet with the correct colors, visor, and details/scratches/weathering. Hope you all enjoy! Here is what the original helmet looked like...

 

[AdenSolu]

Now to begin, I took the rangefinder and stalk off. I painted the helmet all one color with a metallic silver spray paint, and then began hand painting everything onto the helmet. Until I get my digital camera back I won't be able to show some of the earlier steps, but I took a few pictures with my phone today after I worked on it a bit to show the progress so far. What do you guys think?

 

[AdenSolu]

I still have some touchups and work to do on the weathering, scratches, and stuff, but this is how far I've gotten so far on the front. Once I finish the front, i'll install the T-Visor I have, and then start work on the details on the sides and back. Eventually I'm going to have a decent helmet out of this Rubies piece of **** that I can actually display on my shelf!

 

[Nihkoute]

Nice job on that Rubies. I got one myself but can you tell me what color you used, that does not fall off, since the helmet is made of vinyl and flexible?

 

[batmann539]

Wow, already a substantial transformation from the original pics. Great job!

Sean

 

[AdenSolu]

Nihkoute,

Here is the color list I went with. I stopped into my local art and crafts store Michaels, which is a chain here in the US, to pick them all up. Since this was a Rubies helmet that I was hand painting, I didn't want to go with anything expensive as far as paints because I have a Boba Maker helmet for my actual costume on order that will be getting the real money put into it. Most of the colors I picked up in 2 fl. oz. sizes since they are the cheaper due to the size. Now as far as the issue of falling off, I started with the base coat of metallic silver because after painting the layers i've done so far, I took a sewing needle and scratched away the various layers I needed to remove to reveal the silver scratches and battle damage. The paint won't fall off, but if you do knock it into something, it will scratch it, so once i'm done painting it, i'll be sealing it over with a coat of all purpose dullcote or something else clear to seal it and keep the paint from being scratched. Anyways, here's the list...
Top and Cheeks - Moss Green
Visor - Wine
Kill Stripes - Mustard Yellow
Mandibles - Black

Then like I said, I started with a base coat of metallic silver in a spray paint can, and also picked up tan, grey, dark grey, hunter green and navy blue that I will be using to do some touchups and for the rest of the helmet as I begin work on the ears and back. If you have any other questions let me know.

 

[Nihkoute]

Thanks alot dude. Although i think, that i will use my airbrush, instead of painting by hand.
But after what you wrote i guess that you won't wear it for trooping.
So does anyone else have suggestions on how to harden the helmet from the inside?
I already thought of cutting a rough form of the interior out of sheet metal and then glue it inside.

 

[Terry19d]

The work you've done so far on that helmet is far superior than its original look - very nice. Goes to show that even a Rubies can be made to look good with some hard work and sufficient knowledge of how the screen-used prop appeared.

 

[AdenSolu]

Nihkoute,

No I won't be wearing it for trooping, but if that's the route you want to go with your Rubies, there are alternatives to attempting to line it with sheet metal. Oh and as far as airbrushing goes, that would be best, unfortunately, I don't have an airbrush so I had to do it by hand. One of these days I'm going to get myself one, and then I won't have to do everything the long way, but until then, by hand is all I have.Anyways, as far as making the helmet more durable, you can strengthen the inside by lining the interior with resin or fiberglass. It would be a much easier solution than sheet metal, and be much more malleable to work with to get it to fit the form correctly.

 

[AdenSolu]

Thanks for all the love people have expressed so far. I should have my digital camera back tomorrow so I'll try and take some higher quality pics of the helmet instead of the ones from my camera phone that I had originally put up. I'm also planning on working on the helmet a little more tomorrow night, so I should have some of the paint corrected in spots, and more details and grey colors added to the battle damage.

 

[AdenSolu]

I wanted to post some pics now that I have my digital camera back of the helmet on the costume I have completed so far. I still have work to do on the helmet since I haven't had time to do anymore painting with other projects going on, but here's some of the costume. I'm hoping for some more time to finish the painting, but currently have a Predator bio mask i'm sculpting as I begin work on a life size, accurate costume of that, and sculpting some zombie/lifeless corpse type faces to turn into latex masks for a low budget zombie (resident evil type) film some people I know are working on. Once the bio mask is completed, I'll be most likely casting that and offering that to interested people on the Hunter's Lair boards and TDH as well. Anyways, I just ordered a compressor for my old airbrush set that I had found, so I'm hoping to be able to do some of the finer details on the Rubies helmet with airbrush instead of by hand, but we'll see. Thanks again, and please continue to let me know what you think of the helmets transformation.

 

[Tankboy]

the helmet is looking much better, but you really need to fix the visor area. I don;t know how, but it needs to be narrowed... way to wide. Aside from that, it's great! The rest of the costume is excellent as well!

 

[AdenSolu]

Tankboy,

Thanks! Yeah the visor area looks like that because the visor is actually not attached in yet. It's just sitting behind the helmet and propped forward against the mannequins head. Once I attach the visor either by glue or bolts, it will pull it in and make it narrower. Once I get that attached properly, I'll post some more pics.

 

[TheBobaFett]

Nice Job mate, colours look way way better now. I love the transformation so far!

 

[Nihkoute]

Hehe nice pictures there. Our progress on the costume is nearly the same
But i think that my neck is just too long for a Rubies. Or i need a good neckseal and have to shift up the collar armor a bit.

 

[shenphong]

Definitely some nice work. I have one of these sitting in storage and I think you've just helped me to decide if I should pull it out and rework it or just put it up for sale. Looks like I'll be going with the first option. =)

 

[AdenSolu]

Thanks for the compliments. Yeah that was my same problem. I had the helmet just sitting around, but wanted an actual Boba Fett helmet to display on my shelves, and obviously I was not happy with the Rubies product. With just a little spare time you can actually make it into something either wearable for trooping or displayable. I've been pretty tied up with a project I just finished, but now I'm done so I'm looking at starting some more painting on this to further the transformation. Stay tuned and I'll post the pictures as soon as I get to work on it.

 

[chaosMonkeyPoo]

I was in the same boat, that I bought a Rubies version not knowing how bad the final product was. A large reason for me checking out the dented helmet was to see what I could do about modifying the helmet and making it part of a decent Halloween costume. Thanks to the tips on here about replacing the visor and the rattlecan painting I've managed to make a tolerable helmet for costuming (not to mention the whole trashcan armor brilliance helping me make a sweet set). I went a little overboard on the silver paint, but I doubt anyone at work or the parties are going to notice an innacurate paint job.

 

[elusivesolution]

I was in the same boat, that I bought a Rubies version not knowing how bad the final product was. A large reason for me checking out the dented helmet was to see what I could do about modifying the helmet and making it part of a decent Halloween costume. Thanks to the tips on here about replacing the visor and the rattlecan painting I've managed to make a tolerable helmet for costuming (not to mention the whole trashcan armor brilliance helping me make a sweet set). I went a little overboard on the silver paint, but I doubt anyone at work or the parties are going to notice an innacurate paint job.
View attachment 47066

That's not the most intricate paint job, but I'm surprised at how much better that looks than the stock helmet. Good job!