|
Original
Scout Trooper/Biker
Helmets & Armor (ROTJ)
|
|
May 2010 -
We've just a NEW Photo and Video review of an original Biker/Scout Trooper
Helmet to a new section here.... |
|
|
For photos of other original Biker Scout helmets and costumes - just read
on.... |
|
|
| Produced for Return of the Jedi,
the Biker/Scout Troopers were designed by Nilo Rodis-Jamero to accommodate a
character who could move around quickly and freely on single-man speeder
bikes. Manufactured out of vac-formed ABS they have a really cool look about
them which probably explains why they've always been one of the fans
favourites. |
|
|
 |
|
Above a couple of standard promo shots, and below
Lucasfilm's biker exhibit seen at a number of shows, in this case the San
Francisco "MOM" Exhibition a few years back. |
|
|
| Below, here's a great shot from
Brinn 71 of him wearing one of the original Biker Scout costumes when
doing some work for Lucasfilm a few years back. Thanks for the pics Brinn! |
|
|
|
Below a great photo from Grant from a recent Lucasfilm
Exhibition of a screen-used Biker Helmet. Considering its age it
looks in really good condition. |
|
 |
| We've received some really photo's
and assistance from
the guys over at BikerScout.Net and a number of these photos have been kindly donated by them. |
|
|
| We've still not been able to track
down who manufactured these for RotJ. Certainly the design work was done by
Nilo Rodis-Jamero and there are shots of the being assembled at Lucasfilm's
HQ in California, suggesting it may have been done there. There are a number
of these helmets in the LFL archive and you can see that the one above is
different from the one below..... |
|
|
| However the interesting thing about
these helmets (which like many in the SW trilogy were Vac-formed ABS) is
that the cap, back and hood sections were all manufactured in two halves and
only the face section is a single piece. Therefore the Left and Right sides
had to be glued together, reinforced, filled and finally painted. Detailing
was then added to the nose section, acrylic visor added and finally the
decals - which are now extremely delicate. .and below a shot from Patrick
H who took a photo of the same helmet when "Star Wars In Concert" toured
Tulsa. |
|
|
| Below some more shots of this same
helmet seen at the Star Wars in Concert exhibition - this time they're taken
by Rog from Germany - who's also made a cool discovery..... |
|
|
| Perhaps the easiest way to identify
this particular screen-used helmet is the white crescent shaped scratch on
the front of its visor.... |
|
|
| Above, in this useful shot from
above you can see a slight crack going down almost its entire length of the
helmet - a give away from the twin-half design that saw the helmet made in
two sections (left and right), which were then attached, filled and
painted.... |
|
|
| However, it was the weathering on
its face that gave Rog an idea and having gone through some of his photo's,
when he found.... |
|
|
| ...that it looked VERY similar to
the one seen on the Kenner (and more recent Hasbro) toy figure card.....
Hence a quick zoom in and scan and voila! - a match.... In Rog's
great comparison below you can see how the weathering matches up perfectly -
hence we're able to place this particular helmet in the movie and as part of
the costume they used in so many of their publicity photos.....Well done Rog! |
 |
| ..and just to show how much this guy
gets around.... |
|
 |
| Rog has noticed him here (above
left), as well as below as the the Scout who takes a beating from Leia and
Wicket. The markings on the front and rear are real giveaways. So its good
that we've been able to nail this particular helmet in the movie and that's
its one of the most prominent. Its also nice to know that its been well
looked after in the Lucasfilm Archives. |
 |
|
|
| Below, one more great photo of this
helmet, this one kindly supplied by Zenwalker..... |
|
|
| Below, a couple of interesting shots
of what could well be a production made (although clearly unfinished) Scout
Trooper helmet that's in a private collection. We've not been able to see it
but apparently its made from the same materials as the originals and has
clearly been manufactured using the same techniques with the split left and
right sides.... |
|
|
| ...and from the rear you can see the
join and the presence of some filling. The rear section does look really
sharp although from the photo above the face section perhaps a little less
so - although that would be expected since front and rear sections are
not vac-pulled in specific pairs; instead everything is formed, cut and then
the parts randomly joined together. |
|
 |
Finally, below another original Biker
Scout -this one was previously owned by Steve Sansweet is now part of
Stephen Lane's private collection....Don't
forget to check out our HUGE review of this great helmet including full Video
overview here.... |
|
|
|
Back to Real/Original Helmets menu here |
