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Why are the Hero helmets and Stunt Helmets different?


Toothdoc

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Stormtrooper Helmets - Hero's and Stunts?

The original contract was for the production of 50 Stormtrooper helmets. However, as soon as SDS began o produce them they he realised that the complex shape of their design (such as the male and female curves on the helmet rear) necessitated the use of a less than ideal kind of plastic, High Density Poly Ethylene. HDPE is a rubbery, flexible material now used to make things like milk cartons, which was better suited than ABS to handle the complex curves and undercuts. So the khaki-green HDPE helmets then had to be spray painted white after manufacture.

However, because painted helmets don't look all that great under close scrutiny, Lucasfilm/Mollo requested that Ainsworth also produce six "close up"  helmets when Stormtrooper were to be featured more prominently - such as when Luke and Han are disguised as Stormtroopers,  although they can also be seen in numerous other shots as well. We refer to these six as the "Hero" Stormtrooper helmets as they were made to a higher specification. Instead they were vac-formed in a shiny white ABS plastic, with higher quality detailing including curved eye lenses. Hence in the screen-shot above the Hero is on the Left, with the Stunt on the Right. Note that the armor is the same, only the helmets varied.

Three years later for The Empire Strikes Back, John Mollo and his team simply re-used the same Stormtrooper costumes and helmets that had previously been used in A New Hope. This was the simplest solution since only 12-14 were required - and it also saved them money on what was a strict budget since they only really needed a quick tidying up.  For Return of the Jedi over 50 were needed so new armor and helmets were produced - cast from an original ANH set. You can read more about these different versions in the following sections below.....

 

Some great Stormtrooper info can be found here: http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-stormtrooper-helmets-sub-submenu.htm

 

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Jez, the owner of Starwars helmets .com sometimes ventures on to our forums, if you are lucky enough to catch him, you can ask him questions as he has had first hand experience with plenty of original screen used helmets. He's also a nice guy to chat with.

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