Original Screen-Used Empire
Strikes Back
Stormtrooper Helmet
After having a chance to visit Christies I've decided to devote a complete
page to this great new helmet find. Many thanks to Helen and Sarah at Christies
for allowing me such great access.
History
Made by Andrew Ainsworth at Shepperton Design Studios for Star Wars- A New
Hope in the spring of 1976. This was one of the HDPE/Polythene
"Fishpond" helmets which were produced before the move to ABS a few
months later.
The helmet was most probably used in ANH but was certainly
used for The Empire Strikes Back filmed in 1978/79 (again at Elstree Studios)
and can clearly be seen in the following shot.
Material
Though not the ideal material to use, the khaki-green Polythene was used as
it was "lying around the factory" at the time and was a lot
easier to pull than the ABS later used for the Hero helmets - most especially
the undercuts mpost apparent on the rear of the helmet. However it
proved to be difficult for other reasons, namely;
1) The HDPE was a Khaki colour so unlike the ABS Hero's, it had to be
painted. However, getting the paint to stay on was very difficult and they had to "sand
the surface to get the paint to key, even then it would chip and flake easily".
Andrew Ainsworth remembers their "Joy when they were able to start on
the ABS Stormtroopers", no paining!
2) Getting a decent pull from the vac-former was difficult in other ways to
the ABS. Polythene typically expands and contracts as its being pulled
off the mould and this is apparent when you look at the 'pinched areas' such as
the tears and also the 'crinkly' interior of the helmets (the insides of the ABS
helmets were smooth).
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As you can see the overall finish, despite its age is
extremely good. the first thing that strikes you when picking up these
original helmets is their weight. People look at them and they have a
"weighty" look about them when in fact they are extremely light,
about the same as the modern helmets. |
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Both of the original "mic tip's" are in place and although
there has been some paint peeling, is considerably less than the John Mollo's
helmet sold the previous year (which also had the mic tips missing). In the photo below you'll
notice an interesting thing. The marks on the right hand side of the
helmet (as you're wearing) are NOT from chipped paint showing the khaki
HDPE below but actually what look like glue or some kind of residue.
Interesting that no one bothered to remove them when they were filming!
Note as well the white mark on the right eye is actually a build up of
paint, not flashing. |
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If you look closely at the "Hovi Mix pa"
Mic tips you can see an inner white section which has a convex end. The
outer section is black although the paints come off the front areas
showing the white underneath. From a distance this gave it a reflective
quality almost like they were made of metal. In the shot below you can
also see that the right tip (left as you're wearing it) looks unpainted
from half way down. |
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the overall finish is quite glossy although from this
angle you can see the many surface bumps, the result of the finish of the
HDPE as its pulled from the moulds, some dust and debris which found its
way into the vac former when pulling, some surface inconsistencies in the
moulds (some caused by repeated usage of the moulds) and finally the problems with
painting. |
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You can also see (above) the cut/split between the
cap/back section above the left ear (as you're wearing it) |
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in the past there has been some discussion over the
decals and specifically their colour, but this photo should clear up a few
points. As you see from this pic above, the ESB decal grey is actually
VERY similar to the ANH colour as this colour-matched ANH sheet shows
(from a 2004 AA Helmet). Again the tube stripes below are very similar in
colour, although slightly darker (but then that may be the effects of
time). In addition note that the ESB decals had white and blue bands on
the tube stripes (below) and
not just blue bands on a blank background. |
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Below, for the ESB helmets the green acetate visor was
held in place with a black stick-rubber type material and not draft
excluder. Even now in 2004 it was still sticky and pliable. In addition
notice how rough the internal surface is very pitted (especially the
cap/back section) - as mentioned at the top of the
page this is partly a by product of using Polythene, as well as the state
of the moulds and the vac former itself. The internal surface looks to
have been painted with some sort of grey primer. |
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| Below a shot of one of Andrew Ainsworth's 2004
helmets in comparison with one of his 1976's. From the front they look
VERY close which substantiates AA's claims over the original moulds still
being used. |
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| From above you can see how the 1976 Polythene Helmet on the
right is very warped. Again as mentioned at the top of the page this is
indicative of the problems Shepperton Design Studios had when working with
Polythene. |
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Below a side angle shot with the screen-used ESB helmet
in the foreground |
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| ...and a view from the rear with the original helmet
showing the fabric badge which must have been stuck on by one of its
previous owners. The modern SDS suffering with a much reduced undercut and
less "bell" shape around its base. |
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| Interesting point. The original helmet at 580 grams weighed
just 40 grams more then the new helmet. Given that's the weight of about
half a slice of bread that's probably the additional weight of the paint! |
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| Finally a couple of nice Studio Shots of this great
original Stunt helmet. |
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Props |
