The Helmet Project

I have decided to tackle as my next project from my legionnaire's wish list.

Here is the goal - a helm with padded aventail.

The wish list shows a plastic helm available from Wyrmwick. It is expensive and shipping from England could make it prohibitive.

I dabbled with making a helm from foam. It had potential but I never finished.

I then had an idea to convert a cheap Halloween costume item. I found this Viking helmet from Amazon for $14.

I removed the horns and braids. I love the spike but fear that it could pose a safety hazard so I reluctantly removed that as well.

I then made some additions:

• Cover the holes left by the horns with foam
• Decorate the foam with patriarchal crosses
• Add some foam to replace the spike. Soon you'll see what it's for.

8/3 - I removed the foam top. I decided it just did not look good.

Next step - plastidip the entire helmet.

8/5 - In the interim, I have begun the aventail portion. Actually, I am doing a bit of a cheat. I'm actually doing an arming cap with a long tail in back. I'm also not padded it. Padding is not really necessary because:

• I don't need it to count as armor
• I'm primarily using it to keep the sun off my neck.

Here is a picture with my cardboard template (left) and the unfinished cloth version.

I'm using the blue masking tape to hold it together while I fit it.

Here it is on my head.

I just need to sew it together.

8/8 - I sprayed on the plastidip.

8/15 - I made a few different attempt to plug the hole on the top of the helmet, where the spike originally went. My efforts met with failure, until I had a bright idea. Here is the result.

The half sphere at the top comes from a foam cat toy. I like how it looks.

Next, I painted it gold.

I plan to hit it with some clear coat.

To finish it up, I ordered a liner and chin strap from Dark Knight Armory. Unfortunately, the liner did not work out. It was too thick. However, I attached the chin strap.

Stay tuned for more updates.