Happy helmets...

[TK-7980]

I've been looking at several different makes of helmets and the different ways that people have painted the frown, and lots of them look like they're smiling or kind of happy.

 

If any of you know what I'm talking about, are there any ways to avoid this look and get a really mean looking frown?

[Smitty]

The trimming of the eyes has a big impact on the "mood" of your trooper. The cut of the eyes can cause an optical illusion that the "frown" is happy or angry. I've seen Angry troopers, happy troopers, sleepy troopers etc. Try it out put a happy helmet and angry helmet side by side and cover up the eyes and for the most part the frowns will look neutral.

 

 

[troopermaster]

Here's a mean looking helmet!

(Scott's RS Props helmet)

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

a lot of the viewpoint for a helmet is it's angle. looking down looks mean, while looking slightly up, or sitting on a table

it can look a lot different!

 

TM shows clearly how a helmet looks while on a pole.

 

take the same helmet and photograph it and you'll get a different aspect.

 

it also depends upon how you paint your vocoder and the tips of the frown. ie 4th tooth... ect.

[BananoPower22[TK]]

 

On 7/22/2011 at 3:30 PM, troopermaster said:

Here's a mean looking helmet!

 

(Scott's RS Props helmet)

 

 

 

 

 

[dashrazor]

like Vern said, its all how you are looking at it (perspective) and how you paint the tips of the frown. if you mask off to paint and tape along the natural contour of the helmet you will get a slightly happy frown

 

frown masked to contour with a slight grin

 

if you want a meaner look tape off at the end of the frown

 

 

 

just dont do it this way

[bobojuice]

No, that's not a light saber in his pocket, Lord Vader's just happy to see you.

 

[tk0000[501st]]

LOL!

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Just like everyone said above, mood and lighting can set the tone for how the helmet looks. Also, the angle of the helmet, and the eyes do play a part in it.

 

But, in my opinion, it is also the way the teeth are cut out, and the paint job that is done to the frown. If you look at the original screen used helmets from ANH, the teeth openings were very jagged and rough (due to the quick way they were assembled). I think that the paint job also plays a major factor. Some people take pain staking measures to get the frown lines straight and perfect, which can change the mood of the frown.

 

Also, some people take the approach of removing a lot of the material that gives the teeth the 3-D effect, with the openings to the teeth being perfectly straight without a lot of return edge to them. In my opinion this tends to make the frown look less menacing. One of the charming things that I love about the original ANH helmets were the gnarled jagged frowns.

 

Even though imperfections came from the quick assembly, my imagination built a back story as to why the helmets and armor looked battered and imperfect. They started out looking really smooth, with that showroom polished look but, then after a few years of being on the battlefield, taking care of Rebel scum, they kind of got some dents, chips, marks, dings and fragments missing (like you might see on helmets and equipment from World War II). One of my Uncles that fought in WWII, said that if you saw someone with an un-blemished helmet, then they had to be a "paper pusher" or someone that did not get on the battlefield.

 

I coin it the "shark tooth look". The have one mean, gnarled looking frown.

 

 

 

 

If you are wanting that gritty, mean look, you are going to have to make the teeth and the frown look a little rough.

 

Have a look at these diagrams that I made up using the original ANH lids, and you will kind of see what I am talking about with the jagged openings and the imperfect paint job on the frowns.

 

 

 

 

 

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

That shark tooth comparison is spot on - I never saw it that way before and now I already can't see it any other way!

Edited July 22, 2011 by ZeroRoom

[TK-7980]

I think Smitty hit the nail on the head with this one. Here are some pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about.

 

If I've used your picture please don't think I'm poking fun at your helmet or critiquing it negatively. It's just a preference on how I like my frowns. (I like 'em how I like my women.)

 

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

(I like 'em how I like my women.)

 

What? Round and rubbery?

[TK-2126_MD[TK]]

Alex, the pics u post ,are thous the happy troopers u are refering too?

[TK-7980]

A few of them yes. The one 3rd from the top looks quite a bit angrier than the other ones though.