Remaking a helmet

7 Comments / Journal, Puppetry / By

Cheap spartan helmet Sometimes when dealing with props I can’t find the real thing or even a replica of it, so I just have to make it. In this case, we needed a Pictish helmet as one of the apparitions in MacBeth. The halloween stores had loads of helmets, but were strangely lacking in anything Pictish. Spartan on the other hand… those were everywhere. So I picked up the helmet in the photo for $9.00. It’s cheap vacuformed plastic and only vaguely the right shape.

The nice thing about this type of material is that it cuts easily. I began be trimming it into the shape that I needed, which was pretty easy to do with a pair of scissors

Trimmed with braidNext up, I used basic braid to create the decorative flourishes from my reference photo. The spiral patterns I did with a judicious use of hot glue as a design element.

Meanwhile, inside the helmet, I ran a hoop of armature wire to stiffen it and get rid of the woogedy-woogedy movement. Seriously, if you’re a warrior, you don’t want your helmet quivering.

Painted helmet To finish it off, I spray painted the whole thing bronze and then spattered it with a little black to give it a patina of age. Ah… I love it when a plan comes together.

7 thoughts on “Remaking a helmet”

  1. Mike F

    Woogedy-woogedy is another puppetry term, right? I learn so much from the words you use. :) Actually, I get a good visual of what you mean from those words.

Comments are closed.

Start typing and press enter to search

Close the CTA

Join the Mailing List

First Name*

Email*

Birthday (I'll send you something special!)

Sign up for my newsletter and I'll send over an exclusive deleted scene from my forthcoming story, Apprehension.

Scroll to Top