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Stormtrooper Comparisons -  ANH, ESB and RotJ Movie Helmets

Marcus Knorr from Germany contacted me recently and suggested I added a comparison page of real trooper helmets from the different Movies, so I've put the following together based on my current knowledge. If however you believe I've made any mistakes then please mail me and I'll update. Also if anyone has a couple of nice pics of the SE troopers (front on, side on) then please lmk. Thanks to the respective owners for the use of their pics. I really appreciate it when people with real film-used props are prepared to share their treasures. Many thanks also to the guys from the RPF who have already contributed to this info.

Note this page is W I D E S C R E E N  so I can get the pics in at a decent size/resolution. You therefore need to scroll ------->

Remember that all the helmets were HAND MADE therefore each one will be slightly different to the next and certainly when just looking at the original ANH helmets they varied considerably in shape dependent on how hot the mould or ABS/HDPE was when pulled. In addition the way the helmet is assembled and the face bolted to the back/dome also greatly affected its overall appearance. 

Looking at these helmets straight on the first thing that hits you is just how wonderfully asymmetrical they are. This is most evident when you look at the cheek tubes where the right tube (as you're looking at it) is significantly more rounded and bulbous than the left. This was due to the way the maker creator Andrew Ainsworth sculpted the helmet and this look has carried through to the RotJ helmet which was effectively "recast" of an existing ANH/ESB helmet and therefore still has the same asymmetrical look.

ANH (Stunt)
This is the main Stormtrooper helmet seen in Star Wars - A New Hope. About 50 were made so it was the most common helmet seen on-screen. Since it was the first helmet produced, all the Sandtrooper scenes on Tattoine used 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 that 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 and less sharp appearance.

Helmet: Manufactured 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: Around 56 made, 50 of which were Stunts (Khaki HDPE painted white) and six white ABS Hero's. 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, and unlike the Stunts were NOT painted.
Eyes: Hero's had single double-bubble thick acrylic lens - colour was either grey or green (not confirmed)
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: All Hero's had just 3 teeth on the frown. Also frown is thinner 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 with 3 centre ridges - rebuilt due to damage caused pulling all the Stunt ears.
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 including one or possibly two Heros. Essentially this was a repaint/touch up and the addition of decals instead of hand painted detailing. The Stunt eyes were cut wider with flashing removed.
Material: Physically the same helmets as used in ANH (Stunts) so were predominantly khaki coloured HDPE painted white. The one above (J Mollo's) was listed in the auction as a "Prototype" (again Khaki-coloured HDPE) although could have been screen used. At least one bubble lensed 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 to increase visibility, removing all "flash" around edges.
Detailing: Hand painted detailing has been replaced with grey and black stick-down 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 by recasting an existing ANH/ESB set before being modified. 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: Despite Location and Studio helmets made, both were manufactured in milky white ABS
Eyes: Most had two green bubble lenses, eyes cut right back. Some evidence that a few background troopers had flat lenses.
Detailing: Background Helmets (such as Death Star) have decals exactly the same as ESB, Location (USA) helmets slightly different. 
Mouth: Four "teeth" either side of hand painted black frown. Overall black frown area slightly larger than ESB. Some close up helmets have rounded mouth ends, Location helmets have sharper ends.
Mic Tips: Recast ANH Hovi Mix used on background helmets, evidence of "off shelf" aluminium mic tips for some location.
Ears: Ears are recast ANH ears except they've been cut back so are slimmer in profile. 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
  Below - comparison of decals ESB to RotJ showing that they were not the same. If you look at the right hand side of the photo (and the Right cheek of the Trooper), the first three stripes on the RotJ helmet at the top are a lot thinner than the two shots of the ESB helmet at the bottom. Similarly, looking on the left had side of the comparison photo the second stripe on the RotJ helmet is significantly different from the lower ESB shot. Remember if these were decals then all of them would match 100%.
 
To Look at more pics of the screen used Helmets & Armor then go here

For More trooper comparisons go here