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ANH (Stunt)
This is the main Stormtrooper helmet seen in
Star Wars - A New Hope. About 50 were made so it's the most common
helmet seen on-screen. Since it was the first helmet produced, all the
Sandtrooper scenes on Tatooine were Stunt helmets.
Note that here the helmet is tilted back giving the appearance of a wider face when
comparing to the ESB. Pictures courtesy Brian R. |
ANH (Hero)
Only 6 Hero helmets were manufactured for Star
Wars- A New Hope and their higher spec had them set as "Close-Up"
helmets. They were used in scenes when the Luke and Han characters
masquerade as Stormtroopers, plus some other close-up shots on the Death
Star and Tantive IV.
Pics of the Hero helmet held within LFL archive, shown off at C4. |
ESB
Twelve of the helmets used for A New Hope
were reconditioned for The Empire Strikes Back. A quick repaint and
some minor detail changes (like the black frown) make them essentially the
same as the ANH Stunts. One Hero was also reused in ESB, although there
are no decent photos or screen grabs of that.
Pics courtesy Christies - note helmet missing Mic Tips. |
RotJ
When making Return of the Jedi in
1981, Lucasfilm realised they needed more than the 12 remaining
Stormtrooper helmets left from ANH/ESB so they made another 50 or so from
the moulds of one of the remaining ANH/ESB helmets. However the mould
collapsed during their manufacture, producing this distinctive squeezed
look and softer appearance. |
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Helmet: Fabricated by Andrew
Ainsworth at Shepperton Design Studios in Feb/March 1976.
Material: "Stunt" helmets made from a khaki-coloured HDPE (polyethylene)
which was painted white.
Eyes: Stunts had flat green "lens" material, a single acrylic sheet
covering both eyes on the inside. Flash is present around the eyes, amount
differing between helmets.
Detailing: All hand painted black and grey. Tube stripes were
painted Dark Blue with
silk-screen mask. Humbrol type enamel paint believe to have been used.
Mouth: On the "Stunts" there were typically four "teeth" either side of hand painted grey frown
(although this varied from 3 to 5).
Mic Tips: Either original "Hovi Mix Pa 2"
Rheostat/Air intake mixer (still not confirmed), or resin cast/vac pull off a Hovi
Mix. There are ridges down each shaft at quarter intervals.
Ears: Screwed into place in two places on side and on underside.
Flat screw heads are visible. 4 ridges on ear centre.
Brow trim: Either custom extruded by manufacturer (AA), or an off
the shelf product - not confirmed.
Other points: Original sculpt based on McQuarrie's sketches was
either by Liz Moore or Nick Pemberton (unconfirmed). Suits were assembled
by John Mollo and his costume team, including detailing, adding the strapping etc.
Most were ditched after filming, with a dozen reused in ESB. Mark Hamill has
a Stunt in his possession, not a Hero. |
Helmet: Manufactured by Andrew
Ainsworth at Shepperton Design Studios in April/May 1976.
Material: "Hero" helmets made from a slightly milky white ABS,
so
unlike the Stunts were NOT painted.
Eyes: Hero's had
single double-bubble thick green acrylic lens
Detailing: All hand painted black and grey. Tube stripes were
painted Dark Blue with
silk-screen mask. Humbrol type enamel paint is believed to have been used.
Mouth: All Hero's had just 3 teeth on the frown, which is
thinner and less wide than the Stunts.
Mic Tips: Either original "Hovi Mix Pa 2"
Rheostat/Air inlet mixer (still not confirmed), or resin cast/vac pull off a Hovi
Mix. There are ridges down each shaft at quarter intervals.
Ears: Screwed into place in one place on side of ear and on underside.
Flat screw heads are visible. Hero's had different ear section casting with 3 centre
ridges - rebuilt due to damage caused pulling all the Stunt ears from their
vac-form moulds.
Brow trim: Either custom extruded by manufacturer (AA), or an off
the shelf product - not confirmed.
Other points: Six white ABS Hero, "Close-up" helmets were made.
Suits were assembled by John Mollo and his costume team,
including detailing, adding the strapping etc. Four of the six Hero's were
"lost" following filming, Lucasfilm kept at least two which were reused in
the Holiday Special (eeeek!), and one in ESB. |
Helmet: 12 of the original ANH helmets
were "reconditioned" for ESB in 1978 for the new movie, 11
Stunts and one Hero.
Plus one NEW MK2 helmet (a cast off an ANH).
On the whole this this was a repaint/touch up for the reconditioned ANH
helmets, with the addition of decals
instead of hand painted detailing. The Stunt eyes were cut wider with
some edge flashing removed. In addition, around 8-10 new "MK2" helmets were
made for the latter stages of shooting although only "new" helmet can be
seen on-screen in ESB (in the Cloud-chamber scene where Chewy pushes a
couple of troopers away), the rest of the Mk2's were used for promo work -
however the mould was saved used was later used for RotJ....
Material: Physically the same helmets as used in ANH (Stunts) so were
predominantly khaki coloured HDPE painted white. At least one bubble lensed
(made from white ABS) Hero was also used
and can be seen on Cloud City).
Eyes: Same as ANH Stunts - single flat green acrylic sheet. However
eye area extended slightly as they were cut back, removing all "flash"
around edges.
Detailing: Hand painted detailing has been replaced with grey and
black
decals. Tube stripes are now blue on white decals. Ear, chin and frown detailing remains hand painted.
Mouth: Unchanged from ANH except frown itself hand painted black
instead of grey.
Mic Tips: unchanged, same as ANH.
Ears: unchanged, same as ANH.
Brow trim: unchanged, same as ANH.
Other points: Rumours are that the cost of "reconditioning" the helmets was actually
more than 30 times the cost of the original helmet manufacture! Sounds like
a case of creative accountancy! |
Helmet: Manufactured in 1981 (most
likely from the mould used to make the additional production/promo helmets
used in ESB). The helmet has a
slimmer, softer and
more streamlined appearance with a higher forehead. The original
ANH/ESB helmet was dissembled and the pieces were back filled with Plaster
of Paris, before ABS was vac formed over the top. The ABS was then used as
a mould to form the new epoxy aluminium vac-form dies, from which the
screen-used helmets derived.
Material: These new helmets were vac-formed in milky white ABS. Unconfirmed reports of differences in colour and
internal texture have not been substantiated.
Eyes: Vast majority had two green bubble lenses, eyes cut right back.
Some evidence that a few troopers had flat lenses.
Detailing: Most helmets feature new decals made for RotJ, although
helmets with the squared off frown have ESB decals.
Mouth: Four "teeth" either side of hand painted black
frown. Most helmets have rounded rounded mouth ends, with just a
few helmets featuring sharp/straight frown ends.
Mic Tips: Off the shelf" aluminium tips used for most of the
helmets produced, although "square frowned" helmets have recast ANH Hovi Mix's
made fro resin.
Ears: Ears are recast ANH ears except they've been cut back so are slimmer in profile
and glued into place
rather than screwed.
Brow trim: Looks like the ANH trim was duplicated except
on RotJ its applied reversed (i.e. front to back). In addition it was
glued into place not pressured. Brow is
typically lower over eyes than ANH/ESB.
Other points: Unknown how many made, guess at 50?
The original ANH/ESB face partially collapsed on the right hand side
during forming, giving the face an even MORE asymmetrical look. It also
considerably narrowed the width of the face piece as well |
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