Judge Dredd helmet

[Dunk!]

There's now a gap in the market for a mannequin headstand, with a large chin and grim down-turned mouth, to display these helmets on.

When folks aren't wearing them around the house obviously. :)

[Robin Low]

"The helmet badge is probably going to cost the same whatever. I agree that the corners shouldn't be too sharp but we're going for the Steve Dillon flat look rather than the Cliff Robinson rounded bars."

That's fair enough, but even the Dillon version has the bars a little raised, with gaps between them. I think it would just look a little better if it wasn't simply smooth and flat.

However, apart from that I wouldn't change a thing. I've not been tempted by the guns, but I might be tempted by this.

Regards

Robin

[Wake]

My plan for the helmet badge is to have it 4mm thick for the bars and 2mm thick at the grooves, with the same sandblasted effect in the grooves as on the Dredd badge. Obviously the paper mock-up doesn't show this.

Cheers,

Wake

[Robin Low]

"I have already checked that the bottom edge of the visor can be higher. I'm not sure if it can also be horizontal, but I'll ask."

On the basis of the picture of someone wearing it, I'd say the bottom edge of the visor is about right.

I'm not sure you'd want to mess with the shape of the visor - it's just the natural consequence of a rounded helmet, and changing it would look unnatural, I think.

Regards

Robin

[Robin Low]

"My plan for the helmet badge is to have it 4mm thick for the bars and 2mm thick at the grooves, with the same sandblasted effect in the grooves as on the Dredd badge. Obviously the paper mock-up doesn't show this."

I'm with you. Nice one.

Regards

Robin

[JOE SOAP]

***It beats me why they didn't use this excellent design in the Stallone Judge Dredd film.***


Probably because there is very little visibilty, realistically, with the inverted V nose guard so close to the eyes and no peripheral vision at the side, that's why the visor was a bit more open on the movie version although I'm sure they could have made it closer in look to the comic. They obviously wanted a design that would be a bit more "futuristic" in a plastic 80's/90's kind of way rather than the more interesting/unique "future medieval" type comic Dredd.


One thing I wonder about Wake is, does the helmet really need to be so large, can it not be designed to fit around the average human head without the need for a short forehead with a humongous jaw? Looks like a lot of space in that helmet. Looks great though.

[sixmo]

"Probably because there is very little visibilty, realistically, with the inverted V nose guard so close to the eyes and no peripheral vision at the side, that's why the visor was a bit more open on the movie version although I'm sure they could have made it closer in look to the comic."

That's one thing about the movie designs I never understood. I don't really care if the actor can see out or not. I reckon if they topple over some bit of set 'cause they can't see out, they can just shoot the scene again, no? (or not in the case of that Star Wars head bumping thing).

You're right though garageman, they must have wanted to make it seem more "futuristic" (in their eyes). Thank goodness we've got this new version which looks better every time I look at it.

Another thing I'm reminded of is a weird effect people in riots and other similar life threatening situations is that their peripheral vision becomes much more acute. This has been reported by riot police also, who found that despite their helmets in theory restricing their vision, after they had been in a few hairy situations, they could pick out dangerous stuff around them extremely well. In my own experience, I've tried on some medieval type helmets with little eye slits. They start out VERY restrictive vision wise, but after a few minutes getting used to it I could see out surprisingly well (there was also some joker who wanted to "test" the helmet by swinging some sword type things at it which may have helped in this regard!).  

[JOE SOAP]

***That's one thing about the movie designs I never understood. I don't really care if the actor can see out or not. I reckon if they topple over some bit of set 'cause they can't see out, they can just shoot the scene again, no? (or not in the case of that Star Wars head bumping thing). ***

Well if you've ever worked on a movie, you'd know that such things like mistakes & impractical costume designs can hinder performances -especially if you can't see the actors you're acting with- and also cost a lot of money due to extra time shooting. It's just not worth it. It's alright if the costumes of extras and minor characters are a bit duff -think stormtroopers- but when the main actors are hampered, it's very noticeable in the end product.

[JOE SOAP]

Another thing I'm reminded of is a weird effect people in riots and other similar life threatening situations is that their peripheral vision becomes much more acute. This has been reported by riot police also, who found that despite their helmets in theory restricing their vision, after they had been in a few hairy situations, they could pick out dangerous stuff around them extremely well. In my own experience, I've tried on some medieval type helmets with little eye slits. They start out VERY restrictive vision wise, but after a few minutes getting used to it I could see out surprisingly well (there was also some joker who wanted to "test" the helmet by swinging some sword type things at it which may have helped in this regard!).

If you look at Wake's version of the helmet, you will see there is little or no peripheral vision though, whereas with medieval & spartan helmets there is space for peripheral vision because the metal slits of the helmets is very close to the skin around the eyes  and nose whereas a Judge's helmet is built around and out from the eyes because it contains a visor and the sides of the helmet block peripheral vision. Riot helmets allow for peripheral vision because the visor curves around the side of the eyes.


I'm sure a helmet could be made that's closer to the comic version but allows for good vision. I think Wake's idea was to just make an exact comic version, which is brilliant in itself, and would look great even just hung on the wall.

[Quirkafleeg]

>Could the bottom of the visor be straightend out to change the sort of downcurve on each side where it meets the sides of the helmet? (

Errr.... not unless you want to change the laws of geometry - and potentially allowing in lovercraftian beasties from beyond the dimensions!, no.

[Quirkafleeg]

>Could the bottom of the visor be straightend out to change the sort of downcurve on each side where it meets the sides of the helmet? (

Errr.... not unless you want to change the laws of geometry - and potentially allowing in lovercraftian beasties from beyond the dimensions!, no.

[sixmo]

Of course, Stallone took the bloody thing off at the earliest opportunity! I don't think the most well designed costume would have helped him much!


"I'm not sure you'd want to mess with the shape of the visor - it's just the natural consequence of a rounded helmet, and changing it would look unnatural, I think." - Robin Low

I was just thinking of the look of the visor in
head-on elevation view. The image of the the visor in my mind is that it's bottom edge would run straight across from one edge of the helmet to the other (it would, of course, be curved outwards, but this would not be visible in the elevation view).

How does the tint work on the visor, Wake? Is it a kind of film that is stuck on to the clear bit beneath? would it be possible to get a bit of subtley mirrored stuff for the eye flashes? I'm sure you've investigated a good few options already.

[sixmo]

Wake, I would now like mine with a multidimensional devil squid in place of the respirator, please!

[JOE SOAP]

...aren't the eye flashes meant to be just comic style reflections of light and not actually white lines on the visor? Therefore in reality they would look a bit stupid.

[Wake]

How does the tint work on the visor, Wake? Is it a kind of film that is stuck on to the clear bit beneath?

Correct and in principle a mirrored bit could work but I think it would be overly complicated, disrupt vision and not serve an imaginable function. Of course there's nothing to spot helmet buyers experimenting with this themselves.