The Current Judge Dredd Helmet that I based mine on
The watercolor sketches to the right are my design of how I thought it should look. The gray color represents an antiqued black leather, the red color would be out of veg tan leather that is painted, and the yellow color would be out of cold cast brass.
Veg tan leather pieces sewn together by hand with waxed thread
To create the helmet I began with a life-casting of a head, covering it in Plasticine to form the shape of the finished piece. Next I brushed a fast-setting resin over the clay so that tape would adhere to it, and proceeded to cover it in masking tape. With a felt marker I laid out the seams and cut the tape along those marks to create my individual patterns for the leather pieces.
The client wearing the finished helmet with the rest of his costume
I don't have time to accept many commissions, but when this one was offered I jumped at the chance because it sounded like fun. The job was to create a Judge Dredd helmet in a steampunk look. The client provided several sketches, and I took it from there, attempting to envision how Judge Dredd would have looked in the 19th century.
My preliminary sketches for a steampunk version of the helmet
Custom made cold cast brass parts
For the shield I studied pictures of 19th century eagles and flags and combined the two into a pleasing shape. I laser engraved this design into a piece of acrylic sheet. Then I molded it in silicone rubber and cast it in cold cast brass. After demolding, while the part was still warm and pliable, I gave it a slight curve by draping it over a bucket.
The ear covering was made by laser cutting the cross bars into a piece of veg tan leather, wetting it and stretching the leather over a drawer pull to get the concave shape. Then I molded it and cast it the same way as the shield.
