Tan Djarka
Sr Member
A while ago I picked up the Black Series First Order stormtrooper helmet. There was never any plan to mod or weather it, and I really had no desire get the TFA version, even considering it was the TLJ/TROS version. A little bit ago I picked up a Rubies FO bucket for $5 at a thrift shop. Initially I thought I'd use it for a FO Stormtrooper to Death Trooper conversion I'd seen somewhere, as I already had the Disney Store Death Trooper half helmet and it seemed like an easy conversion. Once I made a critical comparison of the two elements, I quickly concluded that was going to be a little too much work for the results I was likely to get.
So the I decided I'd keep it a TFA bucket. In particular, the Jakku bloody hand print version. I've seen a few rebuilds here that have been both extensive and rendered excellent results. Once again, not gonna put that much effort into it. It'll be a display only piece seen only from the front most of the time, so I decided on some very basic cosmetic mods.
Most of what I've done is fairly straight forward. First I glued the front and back together and reinforced the seam with duct tape. Then, obviously, I replaced the fabric mesh of the visor with a smoked plastic document holder I probably picked up at a dollar store when I first started researching building my own helmets (still "researching", BTW). Initially it looked like crap as the white interior showed through, so I painted it black. While the lenses aren't bubbled as they should be, I doesn't look bad. And that's where I am.
And that's where it gets tricky. I looked online for reference regarding the hand print and weathering and... Between the "official" Anovos version and made fan mods, there is no consensus on exactly what it should look like. So I figured I'd go directly to the source, and examined freeze frames of TFA, but the infamous Star Wars continuity issues struck again! On Jakku, the helmet is relatively clean, with only a the hand print. Then when he removes the helmet on the drop ship, there's less blood on the helmet but it's covered in filth. Good grief!
I think I'll end up going somewhere in between with an idealized full hand print and slightly weathered version. I think. Pics to come...
So the I decided I'd keep it a TFA bucket. In particular, the Jakku bloody hand print version. I've seen a few rebuilds here that have been both extensive and rendered excellent results. Once again, not gonna put that much effort into it. It'll be a display only piece seen only from the front most of the time, so I decided on some very basic cosmetic mods.
Most of what I've done is fairly straight forward. First I glued the front and back together and reinforced the seam with duct tape. Then, obviously, I replaced the fabric mesh of the visor with a smoked plastic document holder I probably picked up at a dollar store when I first started researching building my own helmets (still "researching", BTW). Initially it looked like crap as the white interior showed through, so I painted it black. While the lenses aren't bubbled as they should be, I doesn't look bad. And that's where I am.
And that's where it gets tricky. I looked online for reference regarding the hand print and weathering and... Between the "official" Anovos version and made fan mods, there is no consensus on exactly what it should look like. So I figured I'd go directly to the source, and examined freeze frames of TFA, but the infamous Star Wars continuity issues struck again! On Jakku, the helmet is relatively clean, with only a the hand print. Then when he removes the helmet on the drop ship, there's less blood on the helmet but it's covered in filth. Good grief!
I think I'll end up going somewhere in between with an idealized full hand print and slightly weathered version. I think. Pics to come...
