Harry Griffin
"We're all stories in the end, just make it a good one"
Artefact
For my artefact I knew that I wanted to make some kind of helmet so I went searching for different kinds of helmets from different countries from different periods throughout history.
I have gathered examples from Ancient Greece, the Vikings, Japanese Samurai, the Roman Empire, the Mongals , and medieval Britain.
You can definitively see that each time period and culture have their own style for armour and helmet, but they all serve the same purpose wether that is a practical or symbolic one.
The theme I have chosen for my artefact is Star Wars as it is something I am very passionate about and have a very wide variety of knowledge about it as well.
You can also see a lot of similarities between medieval helmets as well such as the fact that Mandalorian helmets have a lot in common with spartan helmets with how the front portion is formed. And just like real life helmets they all mean something different and symbolise a different regime or religion.
But each one is very unique in their own right. The clone troopers for example. There are millions of them and they are clones so look the same but they customise their armour and helmets to give them some individuality.
These are my initial sketches for my design. I have decided to do my own take on a Mandalorian helmet and I have thought a lot into this with that they are a very noble people with a lot of honour. This reminds me of the Japanese culture with the Samurai. Which is why I have given it the design I have especially with the side pieces
My plan is to make the helmet out of plastazote and add the detailing using worbla, I feel that with this I can achieve my goal and complete it to a high standard with a good finish.
I have now put my design onto Illustrator and make it more proportional and gave it some colour. You can now also see all of the different detail that I want to incorporate into my artefact. The colour scheme I have picked are strong, bold colours because this is how I think of the character I'm designing. But I'm aware the helmet could look quite menacing which is why I have added more white and gold to gunmetal grey. The front design of the helmet looks quite like a Samurai which was my main goal.
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My next step was to start the process of making my idea a reality. I started with a template and made sure they were the right proportions. My test model was made out of paper.
After I found out that it did all work I then went ahead and ordered the plastazote. I then used the template as a stencil and cut out the pieces for both halves of the helmet. I also added all of the connection lines to make sure everything lines up properly. In total, there were twenty pieces for the main structure of the helmet.
The next step was to start sticking together my pieces using Evo Stik. I built the helmet in two halves using the contact adhesive and then once both were build I joined them together to create the whole helmet shape. I also put the helmet onto my own head once it was the base was constructed and it has a perfect fit. All the joins are very neat and everything lined up as it should do but there are a few gaps but the primer will fill these in.
As you can see the next stage was to prime all of the necessary pieces of the helmet and its additional details. I added two to three coats of the primer to all the pieces. I then trimmed off any excess primer along the joins of the helmet.
My original helmet design was half white however after experimenting with the white hexflex paint using the spray gun it did not have the right effect that I thought it would so I made the decision for the whole helmet to be dark silver and all of the details would be gold. Despite this I feel the helmet still maintains the look I am going.
At this point, my whole idea has changed quite a lot for various reasons. I will no longer be adding the flared Samurai side pieces because of how much material they would use to make after testing this out, and this would require more primer and a lot more paint which would have raised the cost of making my helmet by quite a lot, so I have made the decision to stick with my original design but just take off those sections.
At this point, I am very close to being finished with the helmet. I need to use the adhesive to stick all the detailing on. I cut out a series of circles which would then be layered and put onto each side of the helmet. In the Star Wars universe these would have a function and would house the technology for communications.
This is a head sizer that you will commonly find inside of hard hats and bicycle helmets. I had a spare one and thought it would be perfect for my helmet as it would mean anyone could wear it without it wobbling about and falling off if it were to be used as cosplay
The very last thing to do was fix the visor in place on the front which is made out of black tinted plastic which I cut out and shaped using a heat gun. Despite not being able to do the flared-out pieces I am extremely happy with how this has turned out. The colours work very well together and it isn't overcrowded with detailing that takes away from everything else. The visor as well really brings the whole piece together. And with fixing the visor to the helmet it shaped the front properly to how I wanted it, as before it was very wide at the front when it needs to be quite narrow which it is now.
I have also included a video of me wearing the helmet and moving. I have good visibility inside of the helmet and manoeuvrability. This might not have been the case if the helmet had the Samurai side pieces. I have used all of the different methods and processes taught to me in Mixed Materials as well. If I were to do this again I would tidy up the seams a lot more down the sides.