Thought you might be interested in my on again-off again project. It's a modified and re-painted Chinese pilot/astronaut pressure helmet. I can't recall the designation but they're on eBay regularly. That's where this one came from a few years ago. I just finished it last night. It's not perfect, but I think it came out pretty well. Part of a bigger, ongoing Firefox project! Hope you like the pics.
The helmet is a TK-4, and here's one on eBay now. I can send you details of my modifications if you'd like to go with the pics. Thanks!
Being a fan of the movie FIREFOX since Day One, I've collected all things related to the movie and especially the fictional MiG-31 for over 30 years. Among those wanted items is a helmet. A few years ago I found a Chinese TK-4 Pilot/Astronaut pressure helmet on eBay and it looked like a good starting point since originals seem hard to come by. Here's a description of the work I did. All of the various hoses and cables that were connected at the lower front of the original helmet were removed and the holes filled with fiberglass and putty. The TK-4 uses an internal tinted visor that looks very much like the external tinted visors on standard flight helmets. This was trimmed to make room for the 'sensors' to be attached. The arms for the sensors are taken from David Clark headset mic arms. Based on photos, I'm reasonably sure that's what's used in the movie helmet. The little black 'sensors' themselves are "Sorry" game pieces, with the top tips removed and drilled to fit the screws in the arms and painted black. The mic I installed came from another old headset I had lying around and it looked the part. These items are epoxied into place. I attached a 1/2" pipe coupling to the lower right side for the blue aircraft AN elbow to attach to. I drilled a new hole forward of it and installed a grommet and piece of headset wire. The hose with another AN fitting was attached to the AN elbow, the wire zip-tied to it. I had this flexible hose lying around it too looked the part so I slipped it over the wire and hose. Since the lower connections were never really clear to me I used a headphone jack and a BNC female quick connect on the hose. I initially wanted the added external tinted visor to be functional, but since the only time it's down is when Gant steals the Firefox so I made it fixed in the raised position. The tinted visor is cut from a 12" smoke tinted acrylic dome. I painted on the frame. There is just enough clearance for the clear visor to remain functional, which is good as it can get stuffy in there! The round, tapered parts on the sides, presumably having to do with swivels or hinges, I originally planned to use those little plastic cups that 'to-go' condiments are served in but alas, they were a little to big, so I found rubber stoppers at the local hardware store that seem to look the part. The visor is attached with screws. The USSR res star on the top of the helmet is found on the internet and printed and glued on. It's been a real kick to my friends and it was fun and satisfying to make it. Now I just need the Firefox to steal...
Finished this last night. :)
In the late '90s/early '00s an action figure manufacturer released a Clint Eastwood head-sculpted cowboy figure. They didn't call him Eastwood nor one of his cowboy characters for legal reasons I guess, but among my hobbies, I collect 12" action figures, like GI Joe, etc. When I saw that figure, obviously I had to have it to make a Mitchell Gant. I cleaned the dust off of him last night. It's a fairly simple OOAK custom. The aforementioned figure, black GI Joe type coveralls, put on backwards and the collar turned up, with gold braid for the prominent zippers and model airplane decals for the USSR shoulder star patches and the CCCP name tag made on the PC. The helmet is the GI Joe Robert Crippen Space Shuttle Astronaut helmet painted black with a couple of black wires added and again, a model decal for the red star. I never did detail the helmet interior with a mic or the sensors. the boots and gloved hands are just regular 12" action figure items. Hope you like him. It's ok to post this to the site if you want.
Big thanks to Frank for sharing his creations with us! I've seen photos of his much larger "classified" project and I can assure you it is indeed EPIC! Hopefully when it's finished he'll share it with the world through this website...