Steel Boba Fett Helmet (Picture Heavy)

[Icetalon]

I've been a Boba Fett fan since I was a small child. Back a while ago I saw Gold Point Props video about making a Boba Fett helmet, but never thought I would have the skills to make it out of metal. Five years later, as an Engineering Student, I re-watched the video and realized I knew how to use all of the tools, and made the decision to make my own. I am very excited to have started this project. Its currently in progress now. I used wizardofflight's template for all of these pieces, but I'll need to do some measuring for the dome, as the paper template for the dome section isn't exactly sheet metal compatible.

 

[ToEleven]

Now THIS is the way.

 

[NathanB41]

I am about to attempt this myself. What grade steel did you use? Did you find it easy/hard to bend? Whats it like to weld? I want mine to feel like actual armour and not too flimsy but also not too heavy. Nice job!

 

[Icetalon]

I am about to attempt this myself. What grade steel did you use? Did you find it easy/hard to bend? Whats it like to weld? I want mine to feel like actual armour and not too flimsy but also not too heavy. Nice job!

I wanted mine to feel like actual armor as well. I used 18 gauge cold rolled steel sheet metal. hand bending was very hard but not impossible, I recommend using a hammer and an English wheel for shaping bits, and for welding, I ended up redoing the shown piece because the way I did it caused too much shrinkage in places I didn't want. When i redid the piece I tack welded with a MIG machine, which ended up far better, gave a solid hold and after grinding made a continuous piece of metal. Also if you end up using steel, the helmet will end up pretty heavy, but not unwearable heavy. It will also require painting or clear coat as cold rolled steel rust pretty easily. Given the current global situation I have been unable to complete mine, and the pieces are away from me right now, but once this is over I plan to have this project finished as soon as possible. Hope this was helpful.

 

[RamSkirata]

Icetalon Do you have pictures of the redone pieces? Im into real metal mandos as well (The armor you see in my profile pic is all aluminum except for the helemt) so Im looking at this with intrest.

 

[tykyu]

Amazing!! You know, now that we're actualizing real armor, I've always wondered what it would be like if we had bulletproof actual fett armor (not the tactical looking one I always see around the web) but like just normal looking armor that can actually protect you. BP glass in the visor, kevlar maybe in the back? Talk about home defense ahaha.
Just a rambling fantasy: I think it would be cool. ^^

 

[Icetalon]

Icetalon Do you have pictures of the redone pieces? Im into real metal mandos as well (The armor you see in my profile pic is all aluminum except for the helemt) so Im looking at this with intrest.

I unfortunately do not have the redone pieces with me, and I hadn't taken pictures of them yet, but I have gotten access to a few auto body tools (hammer & dollies, English wheel, bead roller etc.), so I will be able to work out a lot of the pieces. I do not have access to a welder currently so the pieces will all be separate, and I will have to wait till September or later to weld them, unless I get lucky and gain access to a welding machine. I will start posting pictures once I get that under way.

 

[Icetalon]

Amazing!! You know, now that we're actualizing real armor, I've always wondered what it would be like if we had bulletproof actual fett armor (not the tactical looking one I always see around the web) but like just normal looking armor that can actually protect you. BP glass in the visor, kevlar maybe in the back? Talk about home defense ahaha.
Just a rambling fantasy: I think it would be cool. ^^

Gotta admit I would be lying if I said I have never thought about this

 

[RamSkirata]

I unfortunately do not have the redone pieces with me, and I hadn't taken pictures of them yet, but I have gotten access to a few auto body tools (hammer & dollies, English wheel, bead roller etc.), so I will be able to work out a lot of the pieces. I do not have access to a welder currently so the pieces will all be separate, and I will have to wait till September or later to weld them, unless I get lucky and gain access to a welding machine. I will start posting pictures once I get that under way.

thank you for the reply, I hope once you get a chance to look at them, you will take some pictures

 

[alexturner125]

Amazing!! You know, now that we're actualizing real armor, I've always wondered what it would be like if we had bulletproof actual fett armor (not the tactical looking one I always see around the web) but like just normal looking armor that can actually protect you. BP glass in the visor, kevlar maybe in the back? Talk about home defense ahaha.
Just a rambling fantasy: I think it would be cool. ^^

Amazing!! You know, now that we're actualizing real armor, I've always wondered what it would be like if we had bulletproof actual fett armor (not the tactical looking one I always see around the web) but like just normal looking armor that can actually protect you. BP glass in the visor, kevlar maybe in the back? Talk about home defense ahaha.
Just a rambling fantasy: I think it would be cool. ^^

I've actually been planning a project like this. I don't know if it'll be "bulletproof", seeing as either real bullets hit a little bit harder than blaster bolts or beskar is quite a bit stronger than any material I know of. That said, however, I hope to make mandalorian body armor plates out of 5160 spring steel and play with the heat treating to get just the right balance of hardness and flexibility for taking bullets. It's a tentative plan, but I'm thinking of backing the plates wit a padded kevlar vest for shock absorption. My goal is to have it at least be able to take a 9mm round at an average pistol range. Not that I ever hope to have to trust my life to it of course, but I figure it never hurts to have a functional set of mandalorian armor on my wall.

 

[Icetalon]

Big update on this tomorrow night!

 

[Icetalon]

Sorry for the long wait. Big update on the helmet. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the shops that I used to do my metalworking in, I had to find a new way to continue my hobby. Over the past year I have invested in several different pieces of machinery in my garage for this and future projects. I bought myself a hammer dolly set, English wheel, MIG welder, bead roller, shrinker, and stretcher, in addition to the things that I have previously owned. Unfortunately, some unexpected personal life circumstances had still left me unable to do more work on the project until recently. However, I have since been doing a lot of work on this helmet. Introducing, the Mark II. The second attempt at this helmet, after I welded in places I shouldn't on the Mark I that I pictured above, this attempt at the helmet has so far come much further than the first. New pieces, which I talked about earlier last year, including the rolled front and back, were cut out of the templates just before the pandemic hit last year. Those pieces have since been reobtained, and I brushed off the rust that had accumulated on them, and reapplied the template patterns. I then spent a while shaping the dome, which, as this was my first metalworking project, was a very steep learning curve. The pictures shown held up against my plastic dome template are about 2/3rds of the way through the process. Eventually, I got it acceptable, and I welded it together, attached the front and the back, and ground the welds decently smooth. The famous dent, was applied using a metal pipe piece as a blank, allowing for local deformation without affecting the curve as a whole. Unfortunately, as this is my first project, there are a lot of imperfections in this helmet, but I plan to bondo this thing to perfection. Fortunately, my vast experience with composites has allowed me to become very skilled at using bondo to perfect a surface, so any imperfections you see here will (hopefully) disappear once the full helmet shape has been achieved, and I prepare for painting. Soon I will add the cheekbones, the earpieces on either side, the microphone, and the vent in the back, but more updates on those additions to come as they are completed.

 

[Icetalon]

Also, shoutout to my friend Sean Eike, a freelance artist in comic art, digital painting, traditional gouache (watercolor) painting, and costume design and fabrication. He does 3D printing projects and printed me an exact shape for Boba Fett's helmet dome. This allowed me to slowly match the metal to the template and eventually get a pretty good dome shape. He also printed me a Beskar Ingot from the Mandalorian! I highly recommend checking out his work. If you want to check it out I have linked it below.

Facebook: Sean Eike - Artist