Stormtrooper - Helmet

Even if you don't have room for an entire set of armor, just having a well-done helmet on display makes even non-SW fans, if there is such a person, ooh and ah. I purchased my helmet as part of a kit and basically followed the instructions so I am not going to repeat all that. There are a variety of modifications to the helmet on the web that I chose to implement so I will discuss those here.

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Cutting out the teeth. The movie helmet had the teeth area removed for effect and ventilation. I used a drill to cut a hole in the center of each tooth, used a Dremel to get it closer to the edges and then a small file set to square off the corners.

Painting the teeth instead of using decals. I don't like the teeth decals that came with the AFX or FX kit. It comes with two separate pieces and just looks cheap. I went for the painting option that I have seen most builders do. After you have cut the teeth holes, sand the teeth with a light sandpaper to remove the gloss coating. Mask off the area to be painted and use the same paint your kit recommends for the ear covers/thermal detonator (my kit reads: Rustoleum Hardhat Grey V2187. FYI the Gloss Black is V2179). I had trouble getting the spray paint to cover just the right areas so I spayed some into a cup and painted the edges of the mouth with a small paint brush.

Adding Screen. The actors wore black hoods so you couldn't see inside the helmet through the teeth. Since that is too hot to do here in Texas, people put screen over the teeth. The screen I used is three layers of the material used on screen doors. You want it to be black and you can hot glue it to the inside of your helmet. Some people attach fans or speaks to the back of the screens.

Decals. I was disappointed when my kit came with black decals for cheeks instead of blue. I am not one to settle so I ordered a set of replace decals in blue Trooper Decals. A great tip for putting on decals is to spray the surface and the decal with Windex(glass cleaner) before putting it on. This will give you a few minutes to move the decal into position before it sticks permanently.

Green flat lenses. I discovered a long time ago that many Sandtrooper and Stormtroopers have green flat lenses. The AFX kit comes with bubbled smoked lenses so those had to go. You can purchase flat lenses off of E-Bay or TK409 cut up a dark green face shield for his (see: Sandtrooper Conversion).

Source: Shepperton Design Studios

Ear Cover screws. The movie helmets had flat-head screws in the ear covers. You can download this template to use on your FX armor to add screw holes and line up your rank/screw cover. For the screws, I went to the hardware store and bought a package of white flat head screws use for holding the cover on the electrical outlets in homes.

Helmet Fans.




I purchased five "Enclosed 2x AA Battery Holders" from Radio Shack. Four battery holders will hold batteries and one will hold a switch.




I purchased two DC Blowers (DCB9852 DC BLOWERS 3 CFM NIDEC) from C and H Sales Company. The copper pipe is added to have something to connect the black tubing.




I drilled holes on both sides of the battery boxes and glued in black flexible wire loom. The battery boxes attach with velcro to the inside of the helmet.




When I put my system together, I ran the wires through the battery holders. In retrospect, I would run them through the wire loom and under the battery holders to make getting batteries in and out easier.

Resources

The SW Helmet Archive (Great Comparison of the different helmets.)
SDS Helmets.


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